David R. B. Greenlee, a distinguished physician and surgeon in Faulkner County, Arkansas, was born on December 8, 1829, in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He was the son of David and Hannah (Grigsby) Greenlee. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1852, he practiced medicine in West Virginia and Arkansas. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army and was wounded. Post-war, he resumed his medical practice in Arkansas, later moving to Wichita, Kansas, and finally to Faulkner County in 1885. Married to Amanda (Boone) Gifford, a relative of Daniel Boone, he had two daughters. Greenlee was active in the Masonic fraternity and the Presbyterian Church.
David R. B. Greenlee, an esteemed and able practicing physician and surgeon of Faulkner County, was born December 8, 1829, in Rockbridge County, Va., his parents being David and Hannah (Grigsby) Greenlee, both of whom were also natives of Rockbridge County. David Greenlee was born in 1781, and died in the county of his birth. He was a son of John Greenlee, likewise of that county, of which he was the first white child born, and the only one surviving the Indian massacre in 1750. Descended from Scotch blood, he was the last sheriff of the English colony in Virginia. Hannah (Grigsby) Greenlee was born in 1799 and died in 1862, having spent her life in her native county. She had seven daughters and five sons, four now living.
David R. B. Greenlee received his literary education in Emory College, Washington County, Va., and his medical instruction in the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, graduating in 1852. He commenced the practice of medicine the same year in Mercer County, W. Va., where he remained five years, spending the next four years in Chicot County, Ark., after which he went to Harper’s Ferry and joined the Confederate army as a private in Company C, First Virginia Cavalry. He took an active part in all the principal battles in North Virginia excepting Seven Pines, and received a wound on the left leg, being struck by a shell.
At the close of the war, returning to Chicot County, Ark., Dr. Greenlee resumed the practice of medicine, and remained there until 1868, when he moved to Wichita, Kansas, which was his home long enough for him to see the wilderness blossom into a town of 3,000 inhabitants. In 1885 he removed to Faulkner County, where he has an extensive practice, being justly considered one of the most skillful physicians and surgeons of this part of the country.
In December, 1871, Dr. Greenlee married Mrs. Amanda (Boone) Gifford, daughter of Hezekiah Boone, and great-grandniece of Daniel Boone. She was the mother of three children by her first husband, two of whom are living: Anna (wife of W. B. Hergis) and Fred B. Two daughters are the result of her marriage with Dr. Greenlee: Maude G. and Kate T.
Dr. Greenlee has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1852, having taken nine degrees in that order. He was representative to the Grand Lodges in Virginia, Kansas, and Arkansas, and is one of the oldest Masons in Faulkner County. He is a member of the Agricultural Wheel, and held the position of school director several years in Wichita, Kas. Politically a Democrat, he cast his first presidential vote for Scott, being a Whig in those days. Dr. Greenlee and wife are useful members of the Presbyterian Church.