Jonathan H. Green

Jonathan Harrington Green (1813–1887) was an American gambler, inventor, writer and later reformer in New York City during the early-to mid 19th century. In his youth, he was known as one of the most skilled card players in the United States. Following his retirement from gambling in 1842, he became an active crusader against illegal gambling and was responsible for enacting anti-gambling laws in several states.

As an agent for the New York Association for the Suppression of Gambling, he conducted an exhaustive report detailing illegal gambling operations active in the city in 1850-51. He later toured the country as a lecturer and eventually published his memoirs entitled Twelve Days in the Tombs (1851), The Gambler's Life (1857) and The Reformed Gambler (1858).

Biography

Jonathan Green was born in Ohio in 1813, although the Library of Congress catalog gives 1812 as the year of his birth. He became an accomplished professional gambler as a young man, popularly known from Texas to Boston as "Captain Green", and was a regular riverboat gambler on the Mississippi River. Among his most noted accomplishments was winning $23,000 in one night at the old Chestnut Street Arcade during the 1830s. After living in Texas for several years, he suddenly abandoned gambling in 1842. Making restitution to those who had lost money to him, he traveled the country as a lecturer exposing common gambling tricks and spoke out against illegal gambling for the next nine years. His popularity as "the Reformed Gambler" gained a significant following and helped pass anti-gambling laws in several states. He also wrote several books on the subject including "Green on Gambling", An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (1843),Gambling Unmasked (1844), The Secret Band of Brothers (1848), Gambling in Its Infancy and Progress (1849) and An Exposition of Games and Tricks with Cards (1850).