Title: Thomas A. Greene Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1863-1894

Creator:

• Greene, Thomas A., 1827-1894

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss E

Quantity: 1.6 cubic feet (4 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of Thomas Greene, a Milwaukee druggist, relating to his hobby, the collection of fossils and minerals. Greene acquired specimens through exploration of Wisconsin quarries, through exchanges with collectors and paleontologists in other states, and through purchases from individuals and from scientific supply companies. After his death the collection of specimens was given to Milwaukee-Downer College and later moved to the possession of Lawrence University. Greene's correspondence concerns the location, identification, and acquisition of his fossils and minerals. Among his notable correspondents were Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, Philo R. Hoy, James Hall, Charles Wachsmuth, and Robert P. Whitfield. One folder of letters, 1884-1891, concerns the collections of the Milwaukee Public Museum, of which Greene was a trustee. Four volumes include catalogues of his collection, an account book recording purchases of fossils, and a notebook listing the sources from which he obtained mineral specimens.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil0000e

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Born in Providence, Rhode Island, November 2, 1827, the son of Welcome Arnold and Sarah Gardner Greene, Thomas A. Greene was educated at the Friends' Boarding School of Providence, and the Fruit Hill Collegiate Institution in Smithfield, Rhode Island. At the age of sixteen, as a compromise with his father who wanted him to become a doctor, Thomas apprenticed to a retail drug firm in Providence and remained there for four years.

His employers were said to have been good chemists, and one was an enthusiastic botanist. When young Thomas received his certificate and set out for the middle west he was well qualified as a druggist and already interested in fossils and minerals. Stopping in New York to discuss the possibility of establishing a drug business with Henry H. Button, he proceeded to Chicago, Racine and Southport, and finally settled on Milwaukee as a good place in which to start his business. He bought the store of Henry Fess, Jr., and in the fall of 1848 Button joined him and the partnership of Greene and Button was established for the purpose of “... Carrying on the wholesale and retail drug business in Milwaukee, Wis. ...”

From its original assets of 5,000 dollars, the business prospered and in 1873, when younger members were admitted to the firm, the name was changed to Greene and Button Co. In its early years, the druggists did not employ salesmen. Once or twice a year one partner or the other made trips by rail or team to towns in southeastern Wisconsin, Mr. Greene usually going in the summer, and “Doc” Button in winter. Generally, Mr. Greene gave his attention to buying and selling, and Mr. Button had charge of finances. After the deaths of Dr. Button, 1890, and Mr. Greene, 1894, the corporation became known as Jerman, Pflueger and Kuehmsted Co., and in 1906 the corporate name was changed to Milwaukee Drug Company.

Having been influenced by his first employers in Providence in developing an interest in botany, Thomas A. Greene made many stops on his way west in 1848 to observe the flora of the region. As a druggist in Milwaukee, he became a collector not only of plants but also of minerals and fossils; and the hobby grew in scope as his success in business became more assured. His collection of minerals was outstanding for its completeness, and his fossils, according to his son-in-law, were considered to be “the most valuable ... [collection] west of Philadelphia.” In 1911, his children, Mrs. Horace A. J. Upham and Colonel Howard Greene, presented their father's collection of 75,000 to 100,000 specimens to Milwaukee-Downer College; and two years later the Thomas A. Greene Memorial Museum was dedicated on the campus.

Mr. Greene avidly collected specimens from early quarries, himself, and was in communication with geologists, supply houses, and other collectors all over the country, through whom he made purchases and exchanges. Through his reading and contacts with other collectors, he became acquainted with the leading paleontological authorities of the day, and exchanged letters with many of them, seeking information and advice. He was also in constant communication with supply houses from whom he obtained specimens.

This collection contains the correspondence Mr. Greene carried on in connection with his acquisition of fossils and minerals, and includes letters exchanged with collectors such as W. C. Egan concerning the fossils of Cook County, Illinois; and with paleontologists such as Charles Wachsmuth, Robert P. Whitfield, and James Hall. Mr. Hall, in fact, made several trips to Milwaukee to help Mr. Greene identify specimens.

After the mineral and fossil collections, and this related manuscript material, were presented to Milwaukee-Downer College, Mr. Greene's manuscripts were organized to some extent by the college. The letters were grouped by correspondent, and correspondence for each was arranged in chronological order. This arrangement has been retained and completed, and the folders are filed in alphabetical order. A major portion of the A. G. Warner correspondence is also accompanied by typewritten copies.

In addition to correspondence, and some miscellaneous receipts and lists, there are four volumes that Mr. Greene evidently kept. These catalogue many of the fossils and minerals, and record the sources and costs. Finally, there are two photocopied documents including an application for the Thomas A. Greene Memorial Museum to the National Register of Historic Places with a biography of Greene and a description of the building of his collection.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Milwaukee-Downer College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 10, 1964. Accession Number: M64-182

Processing Information

Processed by Margaret R. Hafstad, July 14, 1964.

Milwaukee Mss E Box   1 Folder   1	Biography, 1964
Box   1 Folder   2	Business papers, 1878-1886, undated
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   3	Abbott, J. T., 1886-1887
Box   1 Folder   4	Allbright, William, 1883-1887
Box   1 Folder   5	Barton, S. W., 1882-1892
Box   1 Folder   6	Bements, C. S., 1880-1885
Box   1 Folder   7	Bergen, W. S., 1875-1878
Box   1 Folder   8	Brewster, Charles G., 1884
Box   1 Folder   9	Bundy, W. F., 1885
Box   1 Folder   10	Calvin, S., 1885
Box   1 Folder   11	Chamberlain, T. C., 1880-1885
Box   1 Folder   12	Chatfield, D. S., 1887
Box   1 Folder   13	Conrad, A. H., 1884-1886
Box   1 Folder   14	Crane, W. E., 1884
Box   1 Folder   15	Day, F. H., 1880-1892
Box   1 Folder   16	Dee, James, 1879-1881
Box   1 Folder   17	Duty, J. T., 1880-1889
Box   1 Folder   18	Egan, W. C., 1880-1891
Box   1 Folder   19	English, George L., 1888-1890
Box   1 Folder   20	Evans, J. H., 1862-1882
Box   1 Folder   21	Foote, A. E., 1878-1887, undated
Box   1 Folder   22	Green, George K., 1885-1886
Box   1 Folder   23	Hall, James S., 1879-1892
Box   1 Folder   24	Harris, S. C., 1885
Box   1 Folder   25	Hermann, W. A., 1879
Box   1 Folder   26	Hill, W. D., 1882
Box   1 Folder   27	Hindshaw, Henry H., 1880
Box   1 Folder   28	Horlick, J. A., 1879-1891
Box   2 Folder   1	Howell, Ward, 1882-1883
Box   2 Folder   2	Hoy, P. R., 1879-1888
Box   2 Folder   3	Knowlton, W. J., 1879-1885
Box   2 Folder   4	Kunz, George F., 1879-1885
Box   4 Folder   9	Limbach, S. M., 1881-1882
Box   2 Folder   5	Loper, Samuel Ward, 1884-1889
Box   2 Folder   6	Manning, R. P., 1882
Box   2 Folder   7	Marsh, W. A., 1886
Box   2 Folder   8	Miller, S. A., 1878-1885
Box   2 Folder   9	Milwaukee Public Museum, 1884-1887
Box   2 Folder   10	Moss, Milton, 1880-1884
Box   2 Folder   11	Newberry, J. S., 1880-1888
Box   2 Folder   12	Norton, William H., 1881-1885
Box   2 Folder   13	Orton, Edward, 1885
Box   2 Folder   14	Parrish, W. J., 1882-1885
Box   2 Folder   15	Pennypacker, 1883-1890
Box   2 Folder   16	Perey, Harold, 1886
Box   2 Folder   17	Perkins, F. S., 1879-1885
Box   2 Folder   18	Plankinton, W. M., 1891
Box   2 Folder   19	Powers, H. C., 1885-1887
Box   2 Folder   20	Preston, H. G., 1881-1882
Box   2 Folder   21	Rankin, W. L., 1880-1882
Box   2 Folder   22	Rinqueberg, N. S., 1884
Box   2 Folder   23	Safford, J. M., 1884-1885
Box   2 Folder   24	Schofield, W. D., 1886
Box   2 Folder   25	Senior, I., 1880-1883
Box   2 Folder   26	Seymour, E., 1864-1881
Box   2 Folder   27	Southwick and Jenks, 1880-1887
Box   2 Folder   28	Stadtmuller, Louis, 1871-1887
Box   2 Folder   29	Teller, Edgar, 1882-1891
Box   2 Folder   30	Thomas, W. G., 1879-1882
Box   2 Folder   31	Van Horne, W. C., 1881
Box   4 Folder   1	Wachsmuth, G. S., 1886-1892
	Warner, A. G.
Box   3 Folder   1	1881-1887
Box   3 Folder   4	1881-1893
Box   3 Folder   2	1888
Box   3 Folder   3	1889-1893
Box   4 Folder   2	Washburn, D. E., 1878-1879
Box   4 Folder   3	Washburn, R. R., 1888
Box   4 Folder   4	Went, C. E., 1886
Box   4 Folder   5	Wettstein, G. A., 1879-1886
Box   4 Folder   6	Whitfield, W. P., 1880-1887
Box   4 Folder   7	Wolfram, Christ, 1882-1885
Box   4 Folder   8	Worthen, A. H., 1884
Box   4 Volume   3	Account book, Persons who Bought Minerals and Fossils, 1863-1893
Box   4 Folder   11	Books and subscriptions, 1879-1887
Box   4 Volume   1	“Catalogue of Fossils in Cases in Mineral Room, 2nd Story,” 1893
Box   4 Volume   2	“Contents of Drawers in the Case in Mineral Room, First Story,” undated
Box   4 Volume   4	Catalogue of Minerals, undated Note: Probably compiled by Thomas A. Greene (1791-1867), New Bedford, Massachusetts, the uncle of the principal of this collection.
Box   4 Folder   10	Miscellaneous, 1879-1891
Box   4 Folder   12	Miscellaneous, undated
Box   4 Folder   13	Thomas A. Greene Memorial Museum