William  Frame  Green,
M.D.,  Shelbyville

          It has been customary to speak of men who have raised themselves to honorable stations in life without the aid of wealth or influential friends, as "self-made men."  There is more significance in this expression than people suppose who use it. It might seem to imply that there were some successful men who were not self-made, and that the qualities necessary to render a man successful in life need not be acquired, but might be conferred.  Such is not the case.  All men who are made are self-made; there is no exception; it cannot be otherwise.  In whatever department one may enter, if he desire success he must work for it.  There is no short cut, no patent process.  It is work that makes men, and that work must be done by the man himself who would achieve success.  Dr. Green is an eminent illustration of a self-made man, who, without fortune or influential friends to help him on in life, with no resources but those within him, no capital but his brains, no stimulus but his dauntless courage, has succeeded in placing himself among the leaders of his profession in the county.  He was born in Rush Co., Ind., April 1, 1831, and is the son of  Lot  and  Anna  (Cooper)  Green,  natives of Kentucky. His youth was passed on a farm, and he followed the occupation of a farm laborer until he attained his manhood.  In the meantime, he attended the schools of his neighborhood in the winter seasons, a part of the time riding four miles in order to obtain the advantage of the instruction of a better teacher than his district school afforded.  He so improved his time that he was competent to take charge of a school in his 19th year, teaching two winters.  Shortly afterward, he attended the high schools of Knightstown and Shelbyville, which completed his literary education.  In 1852, he began the study of medicine in the office of  Drs. Selman & Bussel, of Shelbyville, afterward studying under his brother in Rush Co.  In the winter of 1853-54 he attended a course of lectures at Rush Medical College, Chicago; then returned to Shelbyville and formed a partnership with Dr. Selman, which continued eighteen months.  In the winter of 1855-56, he attended his second course of lectures at Rush Medical College, graduating Feb 20, 1856.  He immediately came back and continued practice alone, and has ever since been considered one of the leading physicians of Shelbyville.
          He was married in this city, May 6, 1856, to  Miss Jennie Doble,  to whom have been born two children.  She is the daughter of  William A. and  Margaret J. Doble;  he a native of Virginia, and she of Kentucky, who were early pioneers of this county.  Dr. Green is a member of the M.E. Church, and Superintendent of the Sabbath school of that denomination in Shelbyville, which position he has filled many years, either as Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent.
          In his mature years, Dr. Green bears in his character the fruits of a thorough self-training of mind and conscience; and, in the close application to study which occupied his early years, the growth of his mind received an impetus which has been naturally accelerated as passing time brought to him the study of their new developments.  Among the citizens of the county, he is respected as a man and trusted as a physician.  He is kind-hearted and liberal; will not see suffering or distress if he can relieve it, and is ever ready to lend a helping hand to a good cause or a meritorious enterprise.
Illustrated Atlas of Shelby Co., Indiana, Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co, 1880, pg 27.
Copied by Christine A. Doyle, M.D.

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