Who was Hetty Howland Green?

Hetty Howland Robinson was born in 1834 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Hetty lived most of her life in Bellows Falls, Vermont in a house overlooking the Connecticut River.

She was the daughter of Abby Howland and Edward Mott Robinson. Her mother Abby was quite wealthy being the heir to a fortune amassed through foreign trade and the ownership of a large whaling fleet. Her father and grandfather, Gideon Howland, taught her the business skills necessary to manage and invest money.

At the age of 6, Hetty began reading the daily financial newspapers to both her father and grandfather. Her early immersion into the world of business and finance helped her succeed in increasing her fortune, but Hetty also inherited a fortune from her parents.

On Hetty's 21st birthday (1855), she removed the unlit candles from her cake, claiming it a waste of money. She cleaned them and returned them to the store for a refund. This was ironic since on this very day Hetty was entitled to claim an inheritance of sevenand a half million dollars! ($7,500,000.00)

In 1860, Hetty's mother passed away and her and her father moved to New York City and lived with Hetty's aunt Sylvia Howland. Five years later, both her aunt and father died leaving Hetty about 10 million dollars ($10,000,000.00) in outright bequests and trust funds. Hetty was left less than half of her aunt's fortune. Sylvia Howland had left the greater portion of her money to charities. Hetty contested the will of her aunt on the basis of a deathbed will she had stating she was the sole heir to all Sylvia's fortune.

During this time, she had met and married Vermont millionaire Edward Green whose fortune was made through the trade of silk, tobacco, and tea. By mutual agreement they kept their finances separate. When the deathbed will was judged a forgery, Hetty was charged with the crime, and she and Edward fled to London. While living in London, they had two children, Ned and Sylvia. When the forgery charges were dropped in 1879, they moved to Edward's family home in Bellows Falls, Vermont overlooking the Connecticut River.

Learn more about how Hetty managed her finances.