Thanks for checking out my GREER family page! I certainly hope your visit is a productive one, not only for you but also for me!
There has been some progress made but still the entire purpose of this page is to help me gather more information on my Greer lineage.
Of course, the Greers you will read about below have long since passed away, but somewhere I have Nieces, Nephews...Cousins that obviously don't know about my branch of the Greer family tree!
Fortunately on my mothers side of the family (Hasting/Light), my ancestry has been traced back to before the year 1800. On my fathers side...it's a much different story.
I never had the chance to meet my Grandparents and for various reasons I have never seen a picture of them! I suspect that there are some photos that exist but it would be my so far undiscovered cousins that would have them! (I hope...)
I am searching for a very narrow part of Greer ancestry.
Please, if you read this....Ask yourself if your Grandmothers or Great Grand mothers name was "ANNA". Maybe she could even be your GREAT, GREAT GRANDMOTHER!
Was your Great Grandfather or Great, Great Grandfathers name "WILLIAM"?
Is your GREER ancestry somehow connected to North/Northeast Missouri/Southeastern Iowa?
Check my Greer Names & Dates page.
Take a good, heartfelt look around and ask yourself if any of this could be connected to you.
My cousins have been very hard to find. But I know they're out there....somewhere. Please take a long hard look!
Please read on.
My father was the youngest of 5 children by William Greer/Grear and Anna F.Taylor . I am one of only two children by my father and I am also the youngest. He was 48 years old when I was born in Davenport, Iowa in 1952. By that time, both of my Grandparents had long been deceased as well as ALL my fathers siblings.
The photo to the right is of my father being held by his sister, Netta M. Greer. My father is 3 1/2 years old in this picture which was taken in 1907. It is one of only two photos of my aunt, Netta M.Greer & the earliest picture I own of my father.
When my father passed away in 1984 at the age of 80, I was 32 years old and it took me another 14 years to get "bit" by the Genealogy bug. Suddenly, I found myself trying to recall all the information my father had ever told me about our family history. Names, dates, locations...does this sound familiar? How I wish I'd paid more attention to what he had told me....How I wish I had him here to ask questions of... But, I was young and inattentive, and I mostly just smiled and nodded, trying to get him to change the subject....but now I'm paying the price, trying to put together the bits and pieces that I do remember.
My mother, who was born on March 23rd, 1910 and is alive and well and still quite sharp. She has helped me a lot. But, there is much that I don't know.
Such as:
Whatever happened to my Grandfather, William Greer? I know him and my grandmother must have divorced and that he eventually moved to Appanoose County, Bellair TWP, Iowa, because I found him in the 1910 census.
Also in the same census I found my Aunt, Netta Arnold, living in Walnut TWP. which is just to the North of Appanoose TWP.
It is quite difficult to make out the chicken scratch of the census taker but it appears to state that my grandfather was, "Working on Rail Road Sidings"
I remember my father telling me that my grandparents were buried in an unmarked grave in Kahoka, Missouri but I've never been able to find any documentation to confirm this.
Did my grandfather die in Appanoose County, Iowa and was the body transported to Kahoka to be buried or was my father mistaken when he told me about this?
Where and when was my Aunt Netta born and where and when did she die?
Where is my Uncle "Orville Vanburen" burried? Did he ever marry and have children?
I now have the names of all the children of my uncle Alphonso J Greer, aka: Charles Alfred Greer, thanks to the posting online of the 1930 census.
Please click on the "Greer Names and Dates" link below to view them!
Through some good fortune and a little help from my daughter-in-law, I have been successful
in finding some distant cousins that are related to Flossie Greer.
Flossie is the daughter of my uncle Alphonso J Greer, AKA:Charles Alfred Greer.
Flossie would be my 1st cousin and through an obituary, I discovered that her married name was "Clark". With that information and some more luck I was finally able to contact one of her children, Tom Clark. He is my 1st cousin, once removed.
From what I have learned from him I am able to continue my search for my roots AND he has given me some clues as to who might have some of those all important photos!
Of course, as anyone who pursues this genealogy thing knows, discovery only brings up the specter of more questions!
My quest continues and, God willing, I will be able to keep this website updated!
PLEASE check out the links below. There you will find almost all the information that I have so far about my Grandparents, Uncles & Aunt.
