Fitzhugh Green Sr. (August 16, 1888 – December 2, 1947) was an arctic explorer on the

Crocker Land Expedition The Crocker Land Expedition took place in 1913. Its purpose was to investigate the existence of Crocker Land, a huge island supposedly sighted by the explorer Robert Peary from the top of Cape Colgate in 1906. It is now believed that Peary fraud ...

and a writer.

Biography

He was born in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri, Buchanan County, Missouri, United States. A small portion of the city extends north into Andrew County, Missouri, Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the princ ...

on August 16, 1888, to Charles Edward Green, a cotton broker; and Isabelle Fitzhugh Perryman. He attended the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

and graduated in 1909. He was commissioned an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in 1911. Green then received an

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1913. From 1912 to 1913, he was assigned to the

Bureau of Ordnance The Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) was a United States Navy organization, which was responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval weapons, between the years 1862 and 1959. History The Bureau of Ordnance was established as part ...

. In 1913, he requested the permission of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

to join Donald B. MacMillan's

which lasted until 1916. While on that expedition, he shot and killed Piugaattoq, his

Inuk Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labr ...

guide, but was never prosecuted for his deed. He was promoted to commander in March 1927. He married Natalie Wheeler Elliot on November 27, 1916, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. She was the daughter of Richard McCall Elliot, a business executive of Philadelphia. They had three children: Fitzhugh Green Jr., Elisabeth Farnum Green, who married Richard Hooker Wilmer; and Richard Elliot Green. The couple later divorced. On November 15, 1933, he married Margery Durant Campbell Daniel. She was the daughter of the automobile manufacturer

William Crapo Durant William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry, founder of General Motors and co-founder of Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple brands – ...

. She had been married threes times previously, first to Edwin R. Campbell, and then to

Robert Williams Daniel Robert Williams Daniel (September 11, 1884 – December 20, 1940) was an American banker who survived the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912, and later became a gentleman farmer and served in the Virginia Senate. Early and family l ...

and to John Hampton Cooper. Green also served in the Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In September 1947, Fitzhugh Green and Margery were arrested for possession of

opiates An opiate is an alkaloid substance derived from opium (or poppy straw). It differs from the similar term ''opioid'' in that the latter is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain ( ...

along with a private detective, Clemens P. Deisler and they pleaded guilty. He died on December 2, 1947, at the

Danbury Hospital Danbury Hospital is a 456-bed hospital in Danbury, Connecticut serving patients in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut, and New Haven County, Connecticut as well as Westchester County, New York, Putnam County, New Y ...

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the third-largest city in Western Connecticut, and the seventh-largest ...

. Green authored the novel ''ZR Wins'' (1924), about a dirigible flight to the North Pole in search of a lost colony of

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

References

External links

Fitzhugh Green, Sr. papers
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Fitzhugh Sr. 1888 births 1947 deaths United States Naval Academy alumni Crocker Land Expedition American people convicted of drug offenses

Biography

Archive

References

External links