Green was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on January 7, 1871. Her parents were Henrietta Howland Robinson and Edward Henry Green. Her brother was Edward Howland Robinson Green (1868–1936). She married Matthew Astor Wilks (1844–1926), great grandson of America's first millionaire, John Jacob Astor. They were married in Morristown, New Jersey February 23, 1909; she was 32 and he was 63. When her brother died in 1935, she inherited his estate, rather than the estate going to his widow.