Reuben Green was born in February, 1783, in Sussex County, New Jersey. In the summer of 1786, he made the long and arduous journey with his brother Henry and his United Empire Loyalist parents Charles and Rebecca (Scritchfield) Green from New Jersey to Canada. As they passed through the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania, three and a half year old Reuben, seated in the saddle basket (pannier) of their horse, had a terrifying view of the deep gorge below; this memory of the journey haunted him for the rest of his 90 year life. They crossed at Lewiston to Queenston on 18 September 1786 and settled in Mount Dorchester, (later known as Stamford, and finally as Niagara Falls). Eight days after their arrival his pregnant mother gave birth in the Bender’s barn to his sister Rebecca; the first white child born in the district.

Reuben’s father was given a 200 acres land grant for being a United Empire Loyalist. This land was known as Lots 132 and 133; it included the land bounded by present day Lundy’s Lane to the S, Dorchester Rd. to the E. and Kahlar Rd. to the W. The family home was located in the area where the present day Hydro Canal crosses the land and faced Dorchester Rd. His father Charles gave the road allowance for Lundy’s Lane and donated two acres of land to the Methodist church on which the Red Meeting House was erected. Today the junction of Lundy’s Lane and Montrose Rd. is known as Green’s Corners.  Present day Green Rd. and Greendale School and Lundy’s Lane Cemetery are situated on the original land grant.

Reuben grew up clearing the land and working on the family farm until he was old enough to marry Elizabeth Fortner by whom he had 14 children. Two years before the War of 1812 he bought 100 acres of land in the Beechwoods just south of Lundy’s Lane and he lived here during the struggle. He served as a private and then as a sergeant in Robert Hamilton’s and John Burch’s companies of the Flank Company, 2nd Regiment Lincoln Militia. He was present at the Battle of Beaver Dams, the Battle of Chippawa and the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. Tales of his exploits in the war are treasured among his descendants and include such as the following:

The militia had been dismissed to their homes at the time when US troops led an expedition to Beaver Dams. Reuben heard the noise of the firing and ran two or three miles to the scene of action but arrived just too late to “get a shot at the yankees”.

His deadly shooting while acting as a sergeant of the guard at the ferry below the falls marked him as the quarry of a special man-hunt by United States dragoons when the invaders held the lines just before the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. His wits and the good sense of his horse saved his life. For forty years after the war he never crossed the Niagara River, for fear of an assassination attempt.

Most of the actions of the Niagara Campaigns took place within walking distance of Charles Green’s farm (and his son Reuben’s) while in the so-called Battle of Lundy’s Lane several thousand troops were massed on the Green, Buchner and Lundy farms and along the humble country lane which ran between them.

At one time Reuben was also a Justice of the Peace. Reuben’s father Charles petitioned for, and received, another UEL land grant after the war which Reuben later purchased in 1831 for £56. This land was located in Humberstone, on Lot 6, Conc 5, and was owed by the family for the next three generations. Reuben had a son Reuben II, who also had a son Reuben III who had a son Reuben IV.  One of the sons of Reuben III was William C who had a son Ernest T who had a daughter Catherine L (Green) Redekop.

Reuben died on 29 March 1873, aged 90 years and one month and is buried in the Drummond Hill Cemetery beside his wife Elizabeth (Fortner) Green who predeceased him on 28 Feb 1850.