AUTHOR: Mary Caroline Greene Robbins
My grandfather Benjamin Greene was born in Blowing Rock, North Carolina on August 1, 1844. He had a twin brother named Joseph.
Benjamin Greene fought in the Civil War for the Confederate Army. I do not know rank or where he served. Joseph, his twin, fought for the Union Army. Benjamin returned to Blowing Rock after the war; Joseph moved to the West, I believe to Washington State.
Benjamin was married to Lora Greene on April 21, 1872. They had nine children: Albert Fonzo, Reuben, Rombuluss, Theodore William, Henry Harrison, Emily Leota, Pemberton, and Lucretia. Lora died in June 1892.
Two years later, on October 18, 1894, he married Emma Thurga Austin. They had five children: Elizabeth Naomi, Alma, Robert Lee (my dad), Eloise, and Benjamin Daniel.
My grandfather Benjamin Greene died in May 1921. Sometime in the early 1950s, my Aunt Alma read in a “Good Housekeeping” magazine that widows of Civil War veterans could apply for a pension and told my grandmother. She applied and received $50 a month for the remainder for life. My grandmother Emma died in February 1967.
