Person:Andrew Greer (5)

Andrew Greer, Jr. was one of the Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia

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Andrew GREER Jr.(40) was born on 4 Mar 1763. Parents: Andrew GREER and Ruth KINCAID.

http://www.mindspring.com/~wsgriffi/greermisc.htm

From: "Colonial & Revolutionary Lineages of America, Vol. 12, pp. 224-233:

The name Greer, according to an authority on the dirivation of the surnames, is a shortened form of "Gregor", a watchman, or from the Latin Gregorious, meaning "be watchful." Henry Harrison: "Surnames of the United Kingdom".

ANDREW GREER, according to records accepted by the Daughters of the American Revolution, was the ancestor of thre Greer family of Tennessee and Texas. He was "born in Ireland" in "1730" and "died in Tennessee". According to these same records, he "was a member of the Washington County, Tennessee Court, and rendered patriotic service." As these said records name his first wife as Ruth Kincade and his second as Mary Vance, the items listed below are of interest, as well as the formation of the various counties. Washington County, Virginia, was formed in 1776-77 from Fincastle and Montgomery Counties. Montgomery having been formed in 1776-77 from Fincastle, Botetourt and Pulaski, while Botetourt had been formed seven years ealier, 1769-70 from August and Rockbridge Counties. August County land records, prior to Botetourt's formation, include these significant entries (abstracts): Nov. 19, 1760, Samuel Carr, or Kerr, and wife Margaret, conveyed to James Hughes and Andrew Greer for 120 pounds, 224 acres on Big Meadow Run by patent Aug. 16, 1756, Beverly Manor line (Deed Book No. 9, p. 18).

August 18, 1762, James Hughes and wife Euphemia, and Andrew Greer and wife Ruth conveyed to John Cochran, for 122 pounds, 224 acres on Big Meadow Run, a branch of Cathey's River, line of Beverly Manor. (Deed Book No. 10, p. 532).

August 23, 1766, Andrew Greer and wife Ruth conveyed to David Stuart one moiety of 321 acres on Back Creek originally surveyed for Alexander Walker and sold by him to Patrick Martin, and by Martin to Andrew Greer and Samuel Cowden, the same tract whereon Patrick lately lived, joining John Moffett and Samuel Young, the other moiety being lately mortgaged by Samuel Cowden to David Stuart. (Deed Book No. 13, p. 84).

Botetourt County, Virginia, records, contain the following (abstract):

At a court held for Botetourt County, Feb. 11, 1773, Andrew Greer served as juryman. Sept. 21, 1776, Andrew Greer conveyed to Andrew Woods 212 acres on both sides of Roanoke River, Botetourt County.

In the same county, Sept. 14, 1785, John Kincade was fined ten pounds for not returning execution against Andrew Grear.

The following items appear in Washington County, Virginia, records:

Andrew Greear and John Kinkead were two of the twelve men who served on a Washington County jury, Aug. 18, 1779. Two days later, Aug. 20, 1779, Andrew Grear and Joseph Vance were two of a Washington County jury of twelve.

At a Washington County Court, March 17, 1784, one case was: Michael Montgomery against Andrew Grier order for Dedimus and a Copy of a Record of Washington Court North Carolina respecting an attachment of said Grier against said Montgomery.

A Tennessee historian, J.G.M. Ramsey, states that Andrew Greer, an Indian trader "at a very early period, perhaps 1766, came to the West" and that he and Julius C. Dugger "are believed to be the first white men that settled south of the Virginia line." A more recent writer, Samuel Cole Williams, adds: It is not improbable that Greer, as a trader to the Cherokees, had a way station or cabin on the Watauga, but it is certain that he did not become a permanent settler prior to 1770. His home, as late as February 1773, was in Botetourt County... Andrew Greer is said to have come from Ireland about 1750, and soon settled in Augusta County, Va. where about 1753 he married Ruth Kinkaid.

When peace was attained with the Cherokees after the August Conference in 1763, "a number of traders from the Valley of Virginia promptly struck the trail to the towns on the Little Tennessee. So much in need of goods were the Indians because of the war's long continuance that those men were enabled to reap handsome profits. Andrew Greer, in this way, laid the foundation of a considerable estate."

It is evident Andrew Greer removed to the Watauga section of what is now Tennessee as early as 1788 from two entries int eh Journal of the noted Methodist Bishop, Francis Asbury: April 29, 1788, near the head of the Watuaga, "About nine o'Clock we came to Grears." A footnote to the printed copy explains: Andrew Greer who lived across Watauga River from the present Elizabethton, above the mouth of the Doe. Saturday, Nov. 1, 1800. Came twenty miles to Knoxville... We visited my old friend Greer. (Indexed as Andrew Greer).

Evidence of Andrew Greer's service in the Revolutionary War apears in the State records of North Carolina, in a resolve of the House of Delegates in favor of Greer, April 24, 1777: Mr. Speaker and Gentleman of the Senate: We herewith send for your concurrence a Resolve of this House impowering the Treasurers or either of them to advance to Mr. Andrew Greer, of Washington District, the sum of fiteen hundred pounds to enable him to provide for the militia stationed in said District. The Senate concurred with the same.

"About 1930 the John Carter chapter, Elizabethton," dedicated twelve trees, one to Andrew Greer. "Andrew Greer", it was stated, "was one of the first two white men to come to the Watauga Association. He died about 1806. Fought in the Indian War and the Revolutionary War. He was one of the first magistrates and helped to survey, the town of Elizabethton." In a list of "Revolutionary Graves," this item appears: "Andrew Greer, died in 1817, lived on Goose Creek." The following record of interest indicates that he was deceased in October 1809.:

Petititon of Vance Greer, attorney for the heirs of Andrew Greer, deceased, asking they be given the right to appeal to the courts on a decision of the Commissioners of East Tennessee as to land grants. Dated October 28, 1809:

Andrew Greer married (first) Ruth Kincade, who conveyed land with him in 1762 and 1766. He married (second) in or before 1775, Mary Vance.

Children of the first marriage, probably others:

1. Joseph, born in North Carolina and died in Tenn. Feb. 23, 1831, served as a private at King's Mountain. He is mentioned in "Tennessee, the Volunteer State" as follows: Joseph Greer was the son of Andrew and Ruth Kincade Greer who came to this country from Ireland about 1750. At the time of the Revolution, Joseph Greer was a mere boy, but it is said that he was more than seven feet tall, although his father was so small that he was dubbed "Wee Andy". After the battle of King's Mountain, Joseph Greer was chosen to carry the news of the victory to the Continental Congress then in session at Philadelphia... In 1814, he located in Lincoln County and became the progenitor of a large and distinguished family of descendants. He married first a Carter? and married (second) in 1811 to Mary Ann Harmon who died in 1857.

2. Andrew, born in March 1763, died February 17, 1819, and was buried in Andrew Greer's graveyard on Goose Neck. One record mentions him as "Andrew Greer, son of Andrew, Watauga settler, brother of Alexander who carried the news of King's Mountain to Congress." He married Sarahk, surname not found, who was born August 15, 1775, died March 15, 1851, and was buried beside her husband. Child: Andrew Wiley, b. Nov. 29, 1805, died. Sept. 15, 1822, buried near his parents.

Children of the second marriage:

John or John Thomas born in 1775; married in 1797, Mary R. Buckingham, who was born in 1776, and died in 1837 - child: David Alexander (1802-1837) married Lucinda D. Wyly.

VANCE GREER, son of Andrew and Mary (Vance) GREER, was born, probably in Tennessee between 1775 and 1788, and was living in Lincoln County, Tennessee in 1820. The two records found of him are the 1809 petition regarding his father's estate and the enumeration of his family in the 1820 census of Lincoln County, Tennessee, wherein these details appear: Vance Greer, head of family, 2 males between 26 and 45 4 males between 18 and 26 2 males under 10 1 female between 26 and 45 1 female under 10 5 slaves.

The parentage of Vance Greer is apparent from the fact that he was born not long after the marriage of Andrew Greer and Mary Vance and, that he rather than a brother of the same marriage, was the father of Lewis Vance Greer, who was born abt. 1806 and presumably named in honor of his father. The name of his wife has not been found, but from the above census record she was born abt. 1780 and was living in Lincoln County, Tennessee in 1820.

Vance Greer was evidently, the father of the following children, who from various records are shown to be brothers to each other, their exact oder of birth not known:

1. Colonel John Alexander Greer, born in East TN July 1, 1802, died in San Augustine Co., TX in 1856. Removed to Texas abt. 1836-37 where he was active in the historic events of that Republic and later, State, of which he was Lieutenant Governor in the late 1840's. He is shown in the Federal Census for 1850 as a resident of San Augustine County, Texas, age 48, born in Tennessee, estate $20,000.

2. David Greer, mentioned in "Two Centuries in East Texas" as a brother of Lewis Vance and Colonel John A. Greer.

3. Dr. Lewis Vance Greer, was evidently a son of Vance Greer, and grandson of Andrew and Mary (Vance) Greer. He was born in Tenn. abt. 1805-06, and died in San Augustine County, Texas in 1887. About 1836 he left Covington, Tenn. where he had practiced medicine while a young man in Tennessee and later a farmer in Texas. He married Maria McLauren, b. VA and died prior to 1870. Lewis Vance Greer died at the age of 82 and was an elder and constituted member of the Methodist Church. 1870 census shows L.V. Greer, age 64, b. TN and sons F. Hall, age 11, b. TX; George Clapp Greer, age 8, b. TX and a daughter Catherine R. Greer, age 8, born TX.

This continues with the Texas Greer family from pages 230-233...

From: "Colonial and Revolutionary Lineages of America" Volume 12, pp. 325-330 (which was found at the Tenn. State Library and Archives in Nashville), the following information on "The Greer Line" was extracted from "Matthews-Greer" line of that publishing:

Page 325: Joseph Greer, with his wife Ann, was a resident of North Carolina in 1764, when their son Greenberry Greer, was born. Available early provate records of North Carolina reveal only one Greer estate up to about 1800, ie. that of an Andrew Greer, who, in his will proved in Beauford Co., N.C. in 1798, mentioned his brothers, Joseph, James and John. Beaufort County is on the coast, about sixty miles from VA and over 250 miles from Tennessee. Andrew Greer, the testator in 1798, evidently left neither wife nor children, and was presumably a comparatively young man. If the Joseph Greer mentioned in this will of 1798 was the one who married Ann before 1764, he must have been well past the age of fifty when Andrew Greer died. At the time of the first available census of Tennessee, that of 1820 (which some counties are missing), there were in that State as many as eighteen Greer families, the heads of which are found in the following age groups:

Age over 45 (born before 1775): Jane and Thomas in Bedford County, TN; George, Greenbury, Martin and William, in Davidson County, TN. Joseph in Lincoln Co., TN

Age 26 to 45 (born 1775 to 1794): Benjamin, Isaac and Joseph in Davidson Co., TN Andrew in Jackson Co., TN Alexander, James, John and Vance in Lincoln Co., TN James in Williamson Co., TN

Age 16 to 26 (born 1794 to 1804): Joseph A., and Robert in Bedford Co., TN Moses, in Davidson Co., TN

Page 326: The father of Greenberry Greer, Joseph Greer, if living in 1820 must have been aged about eighty years or more and if then a resident of Tennesseee, is not identified in the available census records. The Joseph Greer who was in Lincoln County, Tennessee, "over 45" in 1820, evidently had a wife under 45 and six children under six years of age. Hence it may be assumed that the aged Joseph Greer of Caswell Co.?, North Carolina, either remarried there, or had died before 1820.

The best known among the early Greers, probably, was Andrew Greer, who was "born in Ireland in 1730," and "died in Tennessee", before 1810. In point of time, any or all of the Tennessee Greers who were "over 45" in 1820 may have been the children or grandchildren of this Andrew Greer. However, one of the seven, Greenbury Greer, "over 45 in 1820" is known to have been born in 1764, and could hardly have been the grandson of a man who was born in 1730. Neither was he a son of the said Andrew, for it is a matter of record that Greeberry Greer's parents were Joseph and Ann Greer.

Returning the the 1798 will of an Andrew Greer in North Carolina, who mentioned his brothers Joseph, James and John, it is noted that three of these four names are identical with the names of three of the children of Andrew Greer, "born in Ireland in 1730"; namely, Joseph, Andrew and John. Hence it seems probable that the fourt brothers concerned in the 1798 will may have been the sons of Andrew, who was born in 1730.

The peculiar given name Geernberry, is an unusual one in the Colonial records, but it does appear as a surname at an early date in Maryland. Colonel Nicholas Greenberry, born in England in 1627, died in Anne Arundel County, Maryland in 1697. He and his wife Ann had at least three children: Colonel Charles, born in 1672, whose three children all died young; Ann, who married John Hammond; and Elizabeth who married John Goldesborough. Possibly Nicholas Greenberry had other children and some one of his sons or daughters may have been an ancestor of Greenberry, son of Joseph and Ann Greer, of whom further. The name "Ann" in both families is possibly more than a coincidence.

References: W.W. Clayton: "History of Davidson County, Tennessee", pp. 372-73. Fred A. Olds: "An Abstract of North Carolina Wills from 1760 to 1800", p. 15 Martha Lou Houston: "Tennessee Census Reports", No. 2 (Bedford County), pp. 14,15, 21, 24; No. 3 (Davidson County), pp. 8, 22,25,26, 29 32; No. 10 (Jackson County), pg.7; No. 12 (Lincoln Co.), pp. 1, 10, 19, 23, 38; No. 21 (Stewart County), p. 15; No. 26 (Williamson County), p. 13. "Daughters of the American Revolution", Lineage Nos. 51631, 88121, 88511, 89365, 96468, 102741. Lyman Chalkley: "Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia", Vol. III, pp. 365, 389, 445. Lewis Preston Summers: "Annals of Southwest Virginia, 1769-1800", pp. 175, 404, 556, 1043-44, 1046-47; 1173, 1271. Samuel Cole Williams: "Dawn of Tennessee Valey and Tennessee History", pp. 271, 347-48. Jeanette Tilloston Acklen: "Tennessee Records: Tombstone Inscriptions and Manuscripts", pp. 187, 381-82, 389, 466. Mrs. Edith Whitley (some records spell the name Edyth Whitney): "Tennessee Court Records", vol. V, pp. 15, 16. and "The Virginia Magazine of HIstory and Biography", Vol. XXV, p. 443. Jane Baldwin: "The Maryland Calender of Wills," Vol. III, p. 244. Harry Wright Newman: "Ann Arundel Gentry," p. 217. "Maryland Historical Magazine", Vol. II, p. 185.

Page 327: I. Joseph Greer, earliest known ancestor of one Tennessee Greer family, was born probably about 1740 or earlier. The date or place of his death has not been found, but he may have died before 1790, when Anne Greer was listed as a taxpayer in Hillsboro District, Caswell County, North Carolina. He resided in North Carolina. Joseph Greer married, before 1764, Ann, whose surname is not known. It possibly may have been Greenberry. Among their children was: Greenberry - son of Joseph and Ann, born in North Carolina September 15, 1764, and died, probably, in Davidson Co., TN, in or after 1820. "He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and came to Davidson Co., TN at an early date in the county's history... Before his death he had become a prosperous and extensive farmer, owning a farm of 700 acres, and reared a large family of children." He resided in District No. 14, beginning on the Williamson County line, where the Lower Franklin or Natchez Trace-road crosses that line, and runs westward with the county line to the Cheatham county line, on the waters of the South Harpeth..., bordering the Strange place, F.P. Sullivan's... There were taxed in 1816, within the limits of this district and west of the Harpeth River, the following named persons: William, James, and Silas Dillahunty, John, Thomas, Henry and Lewis Demoss,... Isaac, Greenberry and George Greer.

Greenberry Greer was aged 52 years in 1816 and the Isaac and George Greer, who were taxed in the same district with him, may have been his sons or his brothers. It seems more probable that the latter may have been the brother from the fact that the 1820 census for Davidson County, Tennessee, included a George Greer, "over 45". The only Isaac Greer in said census was aged between 26 and 45, and could have been either a brother of a son of Greenberry Greer.

Page 328: Greenberry Greer married, but the name of his wife has not been found. Among his children were: 1. A son. 2. James L., called "the second son of Greenberry Greer" was born Nov. 25, 1806, died August 5, 1869, as was buried in the old DeMoss Cemetery beside his first wife; married (first) April 16, 1829, Hannah Dillahunty, "originally spelled De La Honte. She died June 2, 1849. He married (second), September 20, 1849, Luzaney P. deMoss, daughter of Thomas de Moss; she survived her husband and resided in the old homestead on an excellent farm consisting of from six to seven hundred acres. Children probably all by the first marriage were: Green B., died at the age of 25 years; Silas, married Susan Bledsoe; John T., married Josephine Dillahunty; James L., followed farming as his occupation, married Deliliah Dilllahunty, and had four children. 3. Greenberry, born in Tenn. abt. 1808. In the 1850 Census, the locality of his birth is given as "Virginia".

There is a mention on later pages of a Green B. Greer of Missouri - who appeared in census of 1850 in Scott Co., Missouri...

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lillian/lilliangreer.htm

5. ANDREW GREER, JR., fifth child of Andrew and Ruth Kinkaid, was born March 4, 1763. He married SARAH BURKE. She was born August 15, 1775 and died March 15, 1851. Andrew died February 17, 1819 in Smith County, Tennessee.

The children of Andrew, Jr. and Sarah Burke:

Index The Children Date of Birth Notes a. Sarah Sophia Greer 08/??/1790 married W. I. Martin b. Matilda Golden Greer 06/??/1792 married George Wilson c. Ruth Talbott Greer 04/??1794 married George McNeil d. Mary Vance Greer 01/??1797 married Jonathan Pickett e. Emily Ann Greer 1799 married Archibald McNeil f. David B. Greer 1801 died ca 1850 g. Joseph A. Greer 1803 - h. Andrew Wiley Greer 11/29/1805 married Sarah H. Martin, died 09/15/18 i. Sarah Walker Greer 1808 - j. Elihu Hall Greer 1810 - k. Jane Barrow Greer 04/??1813 married Calvin Jackson l. Margery W. Greer 04/??/1813 married Leroy Suttle m. Archibald O. Greer 07/??/1815 married Mary Ann Ferguson