William Sanders Green
Anne Arundel County Court Clerk, 1810-1845
MSA SC 3520-13136
Biography:
William Sanders Green was born in 1778. He was the first son of Frederick and Anne Saunders Green. Frederick worked as the co-publishisher, along with his brother Samuel, of the Maryland Gazette. Their father Jonas Green began publishing the Gazette in 1745, and their mother Anne Catharine Green took over the job after her husband's death. William had three other siblings: Anne, Lewis, and Jonas, II. On May 28, 1808, Green married Mary Harwood. They had several children: Nicholas Harwood Green, who became Clerk in 1851, Harriet, Elizabeth, Emily, and Matilda. Mary Harwood died in 1830, and on September 22, 1832, Green married Matilda Elizabeth Bowie. The couple also had several children: Mary Mackall Bowie, Alice Bowie, Fannie Nicholson, and Gordon Winslow.1 According to the 1830 Census, there were 15 people living in the Green home, including 8 slaves and one free African-American female. In 1840 there were 14 people living in the home, including 10 slaves.2 Green held several pieces of property in and around Annapolis. He purchased lots in the city from John Johnson in 1811. In that same year, he purchased a portion of Nicholas Harwood's Lot 75, near Church Circle in Annapolis. In 1815 Green was issued a patent for 158 1/4 acres of land called Cherry Stone, and in 1820 he received a patent for a 15 1/2 acre area called Plattsburg.3
Green served as Clerk of the Senate in the early 1800s.4 He became Clerk of the Court for Anne Arundel County in 1810 and served until 1845.5 Green was one of the longest serving individuals of this office. He died two years later, on March 23, 1847.6 No will, inventory, or obituary was found. There was a dispute over Green's estate, which was heard in the High Chancery Court. Those in behalf of Green felt that money earned from commissions while serving as Clerk for Anne Arundel County Courtmoney was still owed to him . The state's Comptroller at the time, however, felt that Green had not sent in proper payment to the state treasury. This case sought to solve disagreements over payment of these fees 7
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