John Portineus Greene (September 3, 1793 – September 10, 1844)[1] was an early leader in theLatter Day Saint movement.
Greene was born inHerkimer, New York. He was aMethodistminister atMendon, New York. He was friends withHeber C. Kimball and they claimed to witness "signs in the heavens" on September 22, 1827.[2] He later metLatter Day Saint missionarySamuel Harrison Smith, who gifted Greene a copy of theBook of Mormon. Greene joined theLatter Day Saint church in April 1832,[3] as did the family of his wife Rhoda, which includedBrigham Young.[4][5]
Greene would serve a total of 11 missions for the church. In May 1834, Greene baptized three people while serving as a missionary inVillanova inChautauqua County, New York.[6] He was the originalpresident of the Eastern StatesMission in May 1839.[7] He published a pamphlet about the 1838 expulsion of the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fromMissouri in 1839 entitledFacts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter-Day Saints from the State of Missouri, Under the Extermination Order.[8] This was one of the first significant historical works published by a member of the Church.[9]
In 1844, Greene was the city marshal[10] inNauvoo, Illinois, who supervised the destruction of the press of theNauvoo Expositor. WhenJoseph Smith and his brotherHyrum submitted to incarceration inCarthage, Greene was part of a group of men that accompanied them to theCarthage Jail.[11]
Afterthe Smiths were killed, Greene is alleged to have supported the succession claims ofJames Strang, but Greene died amid thesuccession crisis. TheChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) alleges that Greene was "martyred by poison ... for disclosing that James Strang was appointed by Joseph Smith."[12] However, in addition to the lack of historical evidence for the Strangite claim, Greene's support of James Strang seems inconsistent with events surrounding the succession crisis and John P. Greene's final days. John was present at the meeting on August 8th, 1844 in which Sidney Rigdon and Brigham Young addressed the Latter-day Saints regarding the future leadership of the church. John was in full agreement with the vote of those in attendance who supported his good friend and brother-in-law, Brigham Young. On August 11, 1844, John P. Greene was in attendance with Brigham Young, Heber C Kimball and other church leaders in a prayer meeting in which he was consulted about the direction the Church should take. His son Evan writes that on September 2nd, 1844, Brigham Young visited the now deathly ill John P. Greene and attended to ordinances for him. Young's diary confirms that he performed the sealing ordinances, binding John to his first wife Rhoda Young (deceased) and his second wife Mary Eliza Nelson as he was dying.[13]
For more information, including original documents, please see JosephSmithPapers.org[14]
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