Recently we shared the Green Brother letters. These letters were written from the summer of 1918 to the early spring of 1919 by two brothers: Rex and Alfred Green. In these letters the brothers mention quarantine from the Spanish Flu and what it was like to celebrate Armistice Day. Today we’ll take a look at the Green Family, and finally answer where Rex and Alfred ended up after World War I.
Rex and Alfred Green were the eldest sons of William N. Green and Mattie A. Green (nee Martha A. Jones). Rex William Green, the elder brother, was born in November of either 1892 or 1893. Alfred Nelson Green was born in 1897. Both boys were born in Texas, though Mattie and William were originally from Mississippi.
In 1900 Mattie and William were living in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma William found work as a “merchant”. We also see that three other “Green” family members are listed as children of Mattie and William a: John Green (20) , Ben Green (17) , and Lulu Green (14). These “siblings” of Rex and Alfred’s are not mentioned in the following Census which leads me to a theory. These are siblings of William Green's, not his children. By the time of the 1910 Census Mattie and William had been married since 1890 for nineteen years as it is recorded. I believe the 1900 Census is mistaken in assigning these three children to Mattie and William when rather they are William’s siblings.
At the time of the 1910 census the Green family of six -- Mattie, William, Alfred, Rex, Veta and Selma -- was living in Chaves, New Mexico. The time of the 1910 census the brothers Green were 17 and 13 years old. The two younger Green children, Selma and Veta, were 8 and 6 years old respectively. In 1910 William N. Green was listed as a “farmer” with his parents hailing from North Carolina (Father) and Alabama (Mother). Both Mattie and William were able to read and write, as were Alfred and Rex.
World War One:
In June 1917 Rex joined the Army. Here is his actual draft card:
He was discharged from the Army in January 1919 for “industrial reasons” likely following the acceptance of the affidavits mentioned in the Green brother letters.
Alfred joined the Navy in May 1918 and was discharged in March 1919.
Life After the War:
In either 1926 or 1929 (different records conflict), Rex married Carrie Whaling (nee Krimerer) in Canadian, Oklahoma. Carrie Whaling was ten years older than Rex -- 38 to his 27 -- but twenty years younger than her second husband, Edward Whaling. Whaling and Carrie married in 1911. In the 1910 Census it’s indicated that Carrie, now mother of 2 year old “Don Hines” was widowed--possibly by a Claud Hines. Claud died in 1935. Other records indicate Carrie had a daughter named Lelia Hines in 1900 though nothing else could be found on her, indicating possibly an early death.
Records indicate that in the 1920 Census Carrie was living with Edward and a “Don Hinds” (17) who was listed as stepson to Edward and son of Carrie. It is unclear when Edward and Carrie separated though he died in the 1960s. However we do have this marriage record from 1926 which states one Alfred Green did marry a Carrie Whaling. The circumstances of which we may never know.
By 1930, Carrie and Rex were running an apartment building in Los Angeles, California. It looks like this might have been Rex’s profession when he died eleven years later. Rex Green died in Los Angeles, California in August 1941.
There is much less to be found about Alfrred’s life after the war. Alfred Green married Floyce Lee, with whom he had three children: William Emmet, Glen, and Mary Louise. All are now deceased. Alfred and Floyce married in approximately 1926. In the 1940 Census the family was living in Oldham, Texas. From that same census Alfred was listed as employed as a “Trucker”. Alfred Green died in Oldham, Texas in 1961.
