George Gill Green



George Gill Green (January 16, 1842 – February 26, 1925) was a patent medicine entrepreneur, and Colonel in the US Civil War.

He was born in Clarksboro, New Jersey to Ellen (1826-?) and Lewis M. Green (1818-1894). George's mother was from Pennsylvania, and his father was working as a butcher. George attended the University of Pennsylvania medical school for two years, but left in 1864 before he graduated. He enlisted in the 142d Regiment, Illinois Volunteers during the Civil War. In 1867 he started a wholesale drug business in Baltimore, Maryland but the factory was destroyed by a fire. He moved to Ohio and married Angie Brown and had their first child there. They moved to Woodbury, New Jersey on Thanksgiving Day; November 23, 1872. They had a son: George Gill Green II (1883-1971) who was born on January 17, 1883 and died in January of 1971.

George bought the rights to "Green's August Flower" and "Dr. Boschee's German Syrup" from his father, Lewis M. Green (1818-?), who sold the elixir under the name "L.M. Green". George created a marketing campaign involving mass mailings of free samples, and the distribution of thousands of his almanacs. Both elixirs were mostly laudanum. He became a millionaire and in 1880 he built Woodbury's Opera House. In 1898 he built the Castle Green in Pasadena, California as an annex to his Hotel Green. Hotel Green is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the California State Historic Register, and the City of Pasadena Register of City Treasures. He also had a summer home at Lake Hopatcong. His patent medicine business declined after the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906 and by 1916 the products were discontinued. He died in Woodbury, New Jersey on February 26, 1925.

Timeline

 * 1842 Birth of George Gill Green on January 16
 * 1864 Leaves the University of Pennsylvania before graduation
 * 1867 Move to Baltimore, Maryland
 * 1883 Birth of George Gill Green II, his son on January 17
 * 1894 Death of Lewis M. Green, his father, on January 26
 * 1898 Built the Hotel Green now called the Castle Green in Pasadena, California
 * 1925 Death of George Gill Green on February 26

Publications

 * G.G. Green's Diary & Almanc (first produced in 1878, printed millions of copies each year, distributed all over the world, produced until 1916)
 * George G. Green; Wit and Wisdom (1887)