GREENWOOD GENEALOGIES, 1154-1914
Chapter 9 • IN GENERAL
Two books of exceeding interest are in the hands of Francis A.
Thayer, 38 Park Row, New York City. Both are of old print and
have come down from the sons of Thomas-1 Greenwood to the present
generation. One of these books is entitled, "Commentaries
on the Lamentations of Jeremiah," London, 1602, in which
is written the autograph avowedly of "Rev. Thomas Greenwood,
his book, 1714." and under "John Greenwood, 1720"
and on another fly leaf -- "Jno Greenwood's ex Doro patris"
without date. The autographs are in a handsome hand. There is
also written: "Noah Greenwood, 1786."
Another book, "The Sermons of Christian Religion Delivered
by Zacharias," has written on the fly leaf: "Abiah Carpenter,
his book the 25th April 1659." "Jno Greenwood, his book,
bought of Capt. Butterworth, Jan'y 8, 1724." (Same fine hand
as the other book.) "Oliver Greenwood, his book, January
1783." (In an uncultured hand.)
The Rev. Thomas-2 Greenwood made his entry on one of this parish
registers at Rehoboth, Mass.:
"My hon'rd father Dyed (Friday) Sept. 1st, 1693, In ye evening."
In March, 1770, there was a tide waiter named Thos. Greenwood,
in Boston, who fired on the populace from a Custom House window
at the time of the Bloody Massacre. He was accused of having killed
Crispus Attucks, but the jury decided that soldiers of the 29th
Regiment were the guilty parties. It is not learned that this
Thomas was a New England resident.
There are 33 towns in the United States and Canada bearing the
name of Greenwood. They derived their names from the woodland
or forest that were prominent where the places were located.
The word Boisvert, which means greenwood (bois -- wood, vert --
green) is in very common use in France as a surname and where
ever the French language is spoken.
Among the Germans there is a word written Gruenwald, which is
used as a surname and the word has the same significance as the
family name Greenwood.
It is remarkable with the Greenwood family how the Christian names
James, John, Thomas and William were maintained and have been
passed down from one generation to another. The Greenwood wills
recorded at York are alive with these names, while the church
registers at Heptonstall and all other public documents are so
full that positive identification of individuals bearing these
names is difficult. Even Thomas Greenwood, who settled at Newton,
Mass., 1665, gave his own four sons these same names. In the parish
church registers at Heptonstall, the in the list of marriages,
we find, July 15, 1641, a Thomas Greenwood married Sarah Crossley;
Oct. 15, 1641, a Thomas Greenwood married Ellen Wood and then
Apr. 30, 1642, a Thomas Greenwood married Sarah Sutcliffe. Here
is further illustration of the frequency of that one name Thomas:
In 1700, in the Wragby parish register, a Thomas Greenwood is
mentioned as curate. In 1703 a Thomas Greenwood was curate of
Lightcliffe; 1706 a Thomas Greenwood was curate of Luddenden;
1712 a Thomas Greenwood, A.B., was curate of Heptonstall and held
that position until 1744. In 1711 a Thomas Greenwood was pastor
of the Baptist Church at Rodhill End, in Heptonstall. The latter
was a man of some means and in 1737 gave the use of a building
he had purchased to the church society. Among the trustees of
this church was a John Greenwood of Hawksclough in Sowerby, yeoman,
and William Greenwood, of Stone Slack, in Heptonstall. This Thomas
Greenwood died 1742.
 Greenwood Genealogies Index
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