Frank Lester Greene
United States Senator fromVermont
In office March 4, 1923 – December 17, 1930
Preceded by	Carroll S. Page
Succeeded by	Frank C. Partridge
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVermont's1st district
In office July 30, 1912 – March 3, 1923
Preceded by	David J. Foster
Succeeded by	Frederick G. Fleetwood
Personal details
Born	(1870-02-10)February 10, 1870 St. Albans,Vermont
Died	December 17, 1930(1930-12-17) (aged 60) St. Albans,Vermont
Resting place	Greenwood Cemetery, St. Albans, Vermont
Party	Republican
Spouse	Jessie Emma Richardson (m. 1895-1930, his death)[1]
Children	3
Occupation	Newspaper editor Militia officer Legislator
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	Vermont Militia United States Army
Years of service	1888–1900 (Militia) 1898 (United States Army)
Rank	Colonel
Unit	Vermont Militia 3rd Brigade, First Division,Third Army Corps
Battles/wars	Spanish–American War

Frank Lester Greene (February 10, 1870 – December 17, 1930) was a Vermont newspaper editor and militia officer. He is most notable for his service as aUnited States representative andsenator.

A native ofSt. Albans, Vermont, he was educated in St. Albans andCleveland, Ohio, and began working as a teenager to help support his family after his father became disabled. He became a clerk for theCentral Vermont Railway, and later became a journalist and editor of theSt. Albans Messenger newspaper. Greene also served in the militia; enlisting as aprivate, by the time of theSpanish–American War he was a company commander with the rank ofcaptain. He later served on the military staff of GovernorEdward Curtis Smith, with the rank ofcolonel; Smith had been his employer at the Central Vermont Railway andSt. Albans Messenger.

Long active in politics and government as aRepublican, in 1912 he won a special election to complete the term of CongressmanDavid J. Foster, who had died. He was reelected to a full term in November 1912, and won reelection to four more terms. In 1922, Greene was elected to theUnited States Senate. He was reelected in 1928, and served until his death. In 1924, Greene was wounded whenProhibition agents attempting to apprehend the owners of a Washington, D.C., moonshine still accidentally shot him in the head. Greene never fully recovered, and was left partly paralyzed. He died as the result of surgical complications while being treated for a hernia, and was buried in St. Albans.

Frank Greene was born inSt. Albans, Vermont, on February 10, 1870, the son of Lester Bruce Greene and Mary Elizabeth (Hoadley) Greene.^[2] He attended the public schools in St. Albans andCleveland, Ohio.^[2] The Greene family had relocated to Cleveland because Lester Greene had become Secretary/Treasurer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. When Frank Greene was 13 his father became ill and could no longer work. The family returned to Vermont and Frank quit school to help support his family by taking a job as a messenger with theCentral Vermont Railway.^[2] He remained with the railroad until 1891, learningshorthand and stenography and advancing to the position of chief clerk in the general freight department.^[2] Having worked part-time as a correspondent forThe Boston Globe and other newspapers beginning in 1888, in 1891 Greene made journalism his full-time career, first as a reporter for and later as editor of theSt. Albans Messenger.^[2] He was president of the Vermont Press Association from 1904 to 1905.^[3]

Greene served in theVermont National Guard from 1888 to 1900.^[2] Enlisting as aprivate, during theSpanish–American War he commanded aninfantry company as acaptain.^[2] Greene later served asadjutant of 3rd Brigade, First Division,Third Army Corps, with duty atCamp Thomas,Georgia andAnniston, Alabama.^[2] After the war Greene was commissioned acolonel on the staff ofEdward Curtis Smith, theGovernor of Vermont, and Greene's former employer on the Central Vermont Railroad and theSt. Albans Messenger.^[4]

ARepublican, Greene was Chairman of Vermont's Young Men's Republican Club in the 1890s.^[2] He was Chairman of the St. Albans Republican Committee, and a Delegate to several county and state conventions.^[2] He was an Alternate to the1904 Republican National Convention and a Delegate to theone in 1908.^[5]

In 1906 Greene was appointed to head a commission that examined the statenormal schools, and in 1908 he was a member of the commission that proposed amendments to theVermont Constitution.^[6][7]

Greene was elected as aRepublican to theHouse of Representatives during the62nd Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death ofDavid J. Foster. He was reelected every two years from 1912 to 1920, and served from July 30, 1912, to March 3, 1923.^[8] In 1914 he was chairman of theVermont State Republican Convention.^[9] He was aRegent of theSmithsonian Institution from 1917 to 1923.^[10]

In 1922 Greene was elected to the U.S. Senate.^[11] While in the Senate, he was Chairman of the Committee on Enrolled Bills (69th through the portion of the71st Congresses as preceded his death in 1930).^[12] Greene was reelected in 1928^[13] and served from March 4, 1923, until his death.^[14]

On the evening of February 15, 1924, Greene was walking with his wife near an alley onCapitol Hill whenProhibition agents were about to arrest several men unloading astill from their car.^[15] Thebootleggers ran, the agents fired their guns, and Greene was struck in the head by a straybullet.^[16][17] Greene was in critical condition for several weeks, and never fully recovered.^[18][19] His right arm was paralyzed, and his legs were severely weakened.^[20]

Greene died in St. Albans on December 17, 1930, from complications duringsurgery for ahernia.^[21][22] He was interred atGreenwood Cemetery in St. Albans.^[23][24]

Greene was a member of several veterans organizations, including theSons of Union Veterans of the Civil War,Military Order of Foreign Wars, andUnited Spanish War Veterans.^[2] He was also a member of several civic and fraternal organizations, including theVermont Historical Society,Masons,Knights Templar,Shriners,Elks,Grange,Owls,National Press Club andArmy and Navy Club.^[2][25]

Greene received anhonoraryMaster of Arts degree fromNorwich University in 1908.^[26] He received an honoraryLL.D. from Norwich in 1915.^[27]

In 1895 Greene married Jessie Emma Richardson (1873–1949).^[2] They were the parents of three children: Richardson Lester Greene (March 27, 1896 – May 28, 1980); Dorothy Greene Alexander (November 18, 1897 – December 5, 1991); and Stuart Hoadley Greene (December 2, 1901 – December 15, 1973).^[2][28]

• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1900–1949)

• United States Congress."Frank L. Greene (id: G000425)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• U.S. Congress (1931)."Frank L. Greene, Late a Senator from Vermont".U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office – viaHathiTrust.

• 1870 births
• 1930 deaths
• American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
• Editors of Vermont newspapers
• Republican Party United States senators from Vermont
• Burials at Greenwood Cemetery (St. Albans, Vermont)
• Republican Party United States representatives from Vermont
• Vermont National Guard personnel
• People from Franklin County, Vermont
• 20th-century United States senators
• 20th-century United States representatives

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