Green, Norvin, 1818-1893

Norvin Green was a physician and businessman, most notably associated as a leading executive of Western Union in the late nineteenth century.

Born in New Albany, Indiana, on April 17, 1818, Green moved to Kentucky as a child and gained experience working on the Ohio River as a young man. He financed his own education at the University of Louisville, receiving a degree in medicine in 1840. Green also married Martha English of Kentucky in 1840. The couple had five children over the course of their marriage.

Green practiced medicine in Louisville during the 1840s before getting into local politics. In 1850, he won an election to the Kentucky House of Representatives, and served in office until 1853. Upon leaving office, Green received an appointment to oversee construction of a federal customs house and post office in Louisville. Perhaps because of this project, he took a strong interest telegraphy. He started the Southwestern Telegraph Company to connect Louisville to New Orleans, and in 1857 moved to New York to expand his career in telegraph development. Over the next nine years, Green helped bring together various small telegraph companies to form Western Union in 1866. He initially served as vice president of the new corporation, rising to president in 1878 (upon the death of William Orton). Green also formed the American Institute of Electrical Engineers with Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell in 1884. Attesting to his status among these powerful figures, Green was elected the institute’s first president.

Green died on February 13, 1893. He is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.

(Wikipedia)

Norvin Green belonged to the following social groups: