BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Green, John Patterson(1845–1940) - Politician, Chronology, A Loyal Republican
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At a time when blacks in the North were unable to provide a population base to support an African American political candidate or to provide a voting block to draw attention to their community’s issues, John Patterson Green became the first African American elected to the Ohio Senate. His success was preceded by his appointment to other governmental positions such as justice of the peace and state representative and followed by appointments as U.S. postage stamp agent and acting superintendent of finance for the Post Office Department. As a successful lawyer and loyal Republican, Green was able to enter the Ohio political system. Tempered by cautiousness and conservatism, he never criticized Republican leaders on civil rights issues or the increasing tide of racism in the post-Reconstruction Era. In some ways, Green’s role in Ohio politics may show a racial liberalism by white voters, but his approach toward accommodation, as defined by Booker T. Washington, let many whites escape being accountable for equal rights among and protection of all citizens.
John Patterson Green was born April 2, 1845 in Newbern, North Carolina, to John R. and Temperance Green, free blacks with mixed ancestry. Green’s fraternal grandfather was John Stanley, a Yankee privateer during the Revolutionary War, and his grandmother was Sarah Rice, an African and servant to North Carolina representative Jesse Speight. Green’s father was a tailor and his mother was a seamstress. Many free blacks learned a trade through an apprenticeship at an early age, to assure their ability to take care of themselves and their families. When Green was five, his father died, which left the care of Green and his two siblings to his mother. Initially, using her skill as a seamstress, she was able to maintain the family in North Carolina, but in 1857 she moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio. First, Green attended a private school for free blacks run by John Stuart Stanley in North Carolina. After arriving in Cleveland, Green was sent to Oberlin, Ohio to learn a trade and live at the home of John Patterson, a bricklayer and plasterer. He subsequently was apprenticed to John Scott, a harness maker. When this did not work out, Green returned to Cleveland. There he spent a year and a half in the Mayflower School before leaving in 1859 because of family financial difficulties. In order to assist his mother, Green took on various jobs: he caned chairs, did odd jobs, and hired himself out as an errand-boy for $4 a month. In 1862 he found employment at the East Cleveland Street Railway, and he also tried his hand as a tailor and as a waiter.
Green realized the importance of education and continued his studies on his own. He was learned independently about Latin and algebra. To earn money for his education, Green wrote the 1866 pamphlet Essays on Miscellaneous Subjects by a Self-Educated Colored Youth . As a result of spending a year doing lecture tours and promoting the essays, Green sold more than 1,500 copies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, New York, and the District of Columbia. He subsequently enrolled in Cleveland Central High School and completed a four-year classical program in two years, two terms and two months. He graduated from Cleveland Central High School in 1869 at the head of his class of twenty-three students, married Annie Walker, and enrolled in Cleveland’s Union Law School. Green graduated in 1870, receiving his LL.B and he and his wife started a new life in North Carolina.
Green was only in North Carolina for a short time, however. He worked as a clerk in a local grocery store and then moved to South Carolina to run his own grocery business. In South Carolina in 1870 Green was admitted to the bar and began a lifelong relationship with the Republican Party. This relationship made it possible for him to be elected in 1872 as a delegate to the State Republican Convention in South Carolina and as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. In the fall of 1872 Green decided to return to Cleveland because of health reasons. He became a practicing attorney and began a lecture tour. In the spring of 1873 he was elected as justice of the peace in Cuyahoga County. This position, which had both judicial and police power, made Green one of the first elected African Americans in the North. Green served three terms and in those eight years decided more than 12,000 cases. He was very popular with both black and white voters and was nominated in 1877 to the Ohio House of Representatives. Initially he was elected by a sixty-two vote margin but after a recount his Democratic opponent was elected. Green unsuccessfully claimed that the recount was fraudulent and that he had won the election
John Patterson Green was born April 2, 1845 in Newbern, North Carolina, to John R. and Temperance Green, free blacks with mixed ancestry. Green’s fraternal grandfather was John Stanley, a Yankee privateer during the Revolutionary War, and his grandmother was Sarah Rice, an African and servant to North Carolina representative Jesse Speight. Green’s father was a tailor and his mother was a seamstress. Many free blacks learned a trade through an apprenticeship at an early age, to assure their ability to take care of themselves and their families. When Green was five, his father died, which left the care of Green and his two siblings to his mother. Initially, using her skill as a seamstress, she was able to maintain the family in North Carolina, but in 1857 she moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio. First, Green attended a private school for free blacks run by John Stuart Stanley in North Carolina. After arriving in Cleveland, Green was sent to Oberlin, Ohio to learn a trade and live at the home of John Patterson, a bricklayer and plasterer. He subsequently was apprenticed to John Scott, a harness maker. When this did not work out, Green returned to Cleveland. There he spent a year and a half in the Mayflower School before leaving in 1859 because of family financial difficulties. In order to assist his mother, Green took on various jobs: he caned chairs, did odd jobs, and hired himself out as an errand-boy for $4 a month. In 1862 he found employment at the East Cleveland Street Railway, and he also tried his hand as a tailor and as a waiter.
Green realized the importance of education and continued his studies on his own. He was learned independently about Latin and algebra. To earn money for his education, Green wrote the 1866 pamphlet Essays on Miscellaneous Subjects by a Self-Educated Colored Youth . As a result of spending a year doing lecture tours and promoting the essays, Green sold more than 1,500 copies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, New York, and the District of Columbia. He subsequently enrolled in Cleveland Central High School and completed a four-year classical program in two years, two terms and two months. He graduated from Cleveland Central High School in 1869 at the head of his class of twenty-three students, married Annie Walker, and enrolled in Cleveland’s Union Law School. Green graduated in 1870, receiving his LL.B and he and his wife started a new life in North Carolina.
Green was only in North Carolina for a short time, however. He worked as a clerk in a local grocery store and then moved to South Carolina to run his own grocery business. In South Carolina in 1870 Green was admitted to the bar and began a lifelong relationship with the Republican Party. This relationship made it possible for him to be elected in 1872 as a delegate to the State Republican Convention in South Carolina and as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. In the fall of 1872 Green decided to return to Cleveland because of health reasons. He became a practicing attorney and began a lecture tour. In the spring of 1873 he was elected as justice of the peace in Cuyahoga County. This position, which had both judicial and police power, made Green one of the first elected African Americans in the North. Green served three terms and in those eight years decided more than 12,000 cases. He was very popular with both black and white voters and was nominated in 1877 to the Ohio House of Representatives. Initially he was elected by a sixty-two vote margin but after a recount his Democratic opponent was elected. Green unsuccessfully claimed that the recount was fraudulent and that he had won the election
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