Born in Richfield, Otsego county. New York, on the 4th of March, 1819. His mother was Deborah Brown, who sprung from a very early Massachusetts family. Silas Greene moved to the vicinity of Oswego, on Lake Ontario, when Benjamin was four years old. There the son was reared on his father's farm, picking up a fair education in the common schools, and beginning to teach during the winters when only sixteen years of age. In 1838, anxious to see the west, he came out as far as Belvidere, Illinois, farming four seasons and teaching two winters; returned to Oswego in 1842, and read law and taught school until the spring of 1846, when he came to Iowa, taught a few months at Utica, Van Buren county, and then two years at Keokuk. Mr. Greene first saw Adel in April, 1849, when the village consisted of perhaps half-a-dozen log cabins. He had a little over two hundred acres of land devoted to agriculture and horticulture. For the last sixteen or seventeen years Mr. Greene has given his attention mainly to nursery and fruit growing, and has done a great deal to encourage fruit-raising in the county. Mr. Greene was elected school-fund commissioner about 1850; served one term, and during that time disposed of a large quantity of the lands in Dallas county selected for that purpose. In 1852, and again in 1856, he was elected a member of the legislature, attending in his second term the last session ever held in Iowa City. He has served several times in the board of supervisors and on the school board, and is an eminently practical and efficient business man. Mr. Greene is of federal stock in politics, voted the Whig ticket in his early manhood, was a republican from 1856 to 1872, and has since been ranked among the independents. In religion he is equally independent. He is a great reader of scientific works, and forms his opinions therefrom. Mr. Greene was joined in wedlock with Miss Permelia C. Sturges, of Van Buren county, Iowa, on the 11th of October, 1848.

A native of Otsego County, New York, born March 4, 1819, and his ancestry can be traced back to the nobility of England. He is of both English and Welsh descent. At the age of sixteen Benjamin Greene entered upon his business career as teacher of a public school. He had acquired his own education largely through his own efforts, never attending school but three months after the age of fourteen years, yet he was studious, ambitious to learn and made the most of his opportunities. At the age of eighteen he went to the home of a brother in Belvidere, Illinois, where he remained for four years, and then returned to New York, where he studied law and taught school until 1846. Seeking a broader field of labor and opportunity he went South and traveled through Mississippi, and not finding any suitable situation he returned North by boat up the Mississippi river to Keokuk, Iowa, where he followed the profession of teaching until early in 1849, the date of his arrival in Adel. In the fall of 1848, before locating in Adel, Mr. Greene was married, in Van Buren county, Iowa, to Miss Permelia C. Sturgis, who was born in Smyrna, New York. In January, 1849, Mr. Greene opened a little shop of general merchandise in Adel, the first store in the town, which he conducted for about five years, then sold out. His business interests have ever been managed with excellent ability and his straightforward, honorable dealing has secured him the confidence of all. In this connection it may be mentioned that Mr. Greene, with others, took a prominent and active part in the organization and projection of the railroad running from Waukee to Adel, now known as the Des Moines & Northwestern. Mr. Greene has also been prominent in public affairs. His political support was given to the Whig party in early life, and he cast his first presidential vote for General Harrison in 1840. On the organization of the Republican Party he joined its ranks, voting for John C. Fremont, in 1856. He has since been a stalwart advocate of the party, doing all in his power to promote its growth and insure its success. In 1852 and in 1856 he was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, and as a statesman fully discharged the trust reposed in him, laboring for the best interests of the general public. He was also School Fund Commissioner of Dallas County in an early day, and for several years was president of the school board of the independent district of Adel. The cause of education has ever found in him a stalwart friend. For many years he was president of the board of Supervisors of Dallas County. Other local offices he has filled, with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents.