Political visionary made Mount Vernon home

MOUNT VERNON — In the history business, we often trace the origin points of later prominent figures and emphasize their roots.

But it can also happen that major figures later end up in places that matter for local history purposes. This month, I have some stories that fit this later bill.

Almost no one today remembers a man by the name of Israel Green. One might stumble across his small gravestone in Mound View Cemetery and not think twice about him.

If one were to dig a little bit into the business history of Mount Vernon in the late 19th century, one would find that he was a prominent figure in town who for many years ran a popular drugstore on South Main Street, near the intersection with Gambier Street.

But that wouldn’t tell you why Green is remembered in some quarters today. Green matters because he had a political vision, apparently before anyone else in the United States:

It appears that in 1858, Green was the very first person to publicly propose that a certain young statesman — Abraham Lincoln of Illinois — would make a good president.

Green is cited today as the singular person who started the ball rolling that would eventually get Lincoln elected as the nation’s 16th president.

Israel Green was born and lived the first half of his life in northwest Ohio, where he became involved in politics.

A fierce foe of slavery, he was particularly interested in the growth of anti-slavery political movements, and thus became a committed follower of the newly emerging Republican party of the 1850s.

One of the party’s early stars was Abe Lincoln, and his fame became widespread after he participated in a famous series of debates with Senator Stephen Douglas.

The short-term result of that campaign was that Lincoln lost to Douglas. But the long term was that people recognized Lincoln’s eloquence as a speaker and leader.

One of those who had been following Lincoln’s speeches as they were published in Ohio newspapers was Israel Green.

Lincoln was a newly emerging figure, but Green recognized the integrity, intelligence, and leadership quality that Lincoln displayed in his talks.

He foresaw that such a leader could navigate the US through the rough seas that would accompany the end of slavery.

Green took up his pen and wrote a letter to a widely-read newspaper, the Cincinnati Gazette, which was published in August of 1858.

The newspaper editor made no comment about Green’s suggestion that Lincoln should be the Republican party’s nominee for president in 1860, nor, apparently, did any other readers write in to agree nor disagree with Green’s view.

As late as the Republican convention in 1860, there was still no movement to push Lincoln into the limelight …

At least, until the convention stalemated and another prominent Mount Vernon resident, Columbus Delano, started the push to nominate Lincoln. The movement suddenly became a surge of support, and the rest is history.

Delano is likely to have seen Green’s suggestion back in 1858. He was likely already thinking the same thing, though he probably hadn’t publicly said so that early.

While it isn’t known if Delano knew Green at the time — they were, however, both active in the Ohio Republican party — they surely knew each other later on, after Green moved to Mount Vernon and opened up a drugstore.

As late as 1863, Green was still living in Hancock County, Ohio, but by the 1870 census, he is well-established in Mount Vernon. Interestingly enough, after this early burst of political vision, Green pulled back from politics, perhaps because he had his hands full running a successful business.

His name was no longer heard in later Ohio politics, but his contribution was remembered, featured in articles that spread around the country even before Green’s 1892 death, and again afterwards.

And thus Israel Green is a small but important connection between Knox County and the profound history of this nation.