Family of Samuel Greer, Corlust

Apologies for the very long delay in answering your message. Have you learned any more about the above?

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

Hi Clare -

Actually, we visited PRONI in July and were able to find confirmation that Moses (#4) was indeed married to a woman called Isabella (Bell) and their first three children (the first two previously listed above as "4. unknown child") were:  John (b. 1825) , Alexander (b. 1827), and Samuel (b, 1828) - which confirms information from our family history.  We believe, but cannot confirm, that there was a fourth son, Willim, b. about 1830 and who married, first Mary Jane McCart in 1850 and then Elizabeth Dermott in 1860 in Mullabrack.  Because we have been able to trace Wm. and Elizabeth to Minnesota, U.S.A. in 1868, we would dearly love to confirm that this William is indeed the son of Moses and Isabella (his marriage record to Elizabeth Dermott indicates that his father was Moses, a farmer in Corlust, but there were several Moses farmers in that area at that time).  Do you have any suggestions for how we might be able to confirm this connection between William and the Moses who was married to Isabella?

Hi I am Christy and my ancestors were Greer & Hart from Ballymore Parish in county Armagh, the Greers were most likely the descendants of Moses Greer, or James Greer, or another one of their siblings.

John and Sarah Greer were the parents,both born before 1800.(possibly Sarah Watson)

Samuel Greer was born about 1818, son of John Greer a carpenter and farmer, and Sarah his wife, (possibly Sarah Watson).

On 28 October 1852,  at Clare Presbyterian Church Samuel Greer, a carpenter of Druminure married Martha Hart of Druminure, daughter of Samuel Hart, miller and farmer and his wife Elizabeth McKee.  
1st June 1854, Elizabeth Greer was born to Samuel Greer and Martha Hart at Tandragee.
In 1855, Samuel Greer and family travelled on the "Conrad" via Plymouth England to Australia  and settled in Helidon Qld. Their children were Elizabeth b 1854, James Samuel b 1857, Maryb 1857, John b 1859, Violet Hart Greer b 1860, Jane Watson Greer b 1864.
Samuel Greer died aged  27 August 1881 aged 63 years and Martha Greer (maiden name Hart) died 10 May 1890 aged 70.

We think this newspaper inquest notice is possibly for our ancestor John Greer's death, (or another close relative named John Greer.) This man was born in 1778, and would have been 40 in 1818, when our ancestor Samuel was born, so it could be Samuel's father John Greer or a close relative with the same name as our ancestor. 
 Source: The Belfast News Letter Friday 20 August 1852. Details about the accidental death of a man named John Greer on Sat 14 August 1852.
" An  inquest was held on the 16th instant at Druminure, near Clare, before Edward D Atkinson Esq, coroner, and a respectable jury, on view of the body of John Greer, aged 74 years. It appeared that on Sat, the 14th instant, the deceased and a neighbour had been in Tandragee where they drank whiskey in at least four different public houses...the deceased fell head foremost about eight feet down againsgt the stones of a well, and fractured his skull from which he died instantly. A verdict of accidental death was returned."

Two other deaths for John Greer were found :  John Greer of Corlust who was killed by his mill died on 1st Dec 1817, (Tyrone Ditches Presbyterian) Another John Greer of Loughgilly died 4 March 1823, Tyrone Ditches Presbyterian church records.

Interested in finding out about the other early Greers in Ballymore parish and making connections. regards,Christy

Delighted you have connected - if you would like to swap emails privately please contact me at cdoyle@irelandxo.com

Best wishes

Clare

Genealogy Support

Dear ChristyMac:

I have received a lengthy reply from another researcher who has a lot of information about the Greer family and their descendants from 1850 when they sailed to Australia.  Would you please email me at:  jhalloranryan@irelandxo.com so that I can pass this information to you?  If others reading this post including M Greer are also interested in contacting this person, please let me know.

Kind regards,

Jane.

Dear ChristyMac and MGreer:

There is another person who has made direct contact with me who is related to the same line of Greers.  If both of you would please email me directly at:  jhalloranryan@irelandxo.com  and allow me to share your email address with this person, I would appreciate it.

I look forward to hearing.

Kind regards,

Jane

Hello,

I am interested in Alexander Greer #1 who travelled to Canada with either James or Francis Jones around 1823. I have corresponded with M Greer some years ago re these two. It was believed at the time the two were from neighbouring farms in Corlust. The parents of Jones were Robert Jones and Mary Bell, who emigrated with nine children in 1824. The family settled in Prince Edward County, Ontario, where there are connections between both families again on neighbouring farms.  I have been trying to trace any family connections remaing in Ireland. I believe there was a William Jones in Corlust and others possibly in Auglish. The anectdotal evidence I have is that Robert has Welsh/Irish parents and his wife Mary Bell"s Father was William Bell and her Mother was Eavey Sinton whose family were in Tandragee. I have considerable information about the family descendents in Canada, but would love to know more of the antecedents. thank you for any assistance you may be able to provide.

Hi Patsy -

The only  information we have about the Jones family in Ireland is that Robert Jones farmed inear Scarva (Auglish), County Armagh (from farm lease records we saw at PRONI).  This makes sense if Mary Bell's mother was a Sinton, as that was and is a prominant name in that area.  Today there is a bridge called Sinton's Bridge on the B10 off Auglish Rd in Scarva.  There is a great restaurant almost at the bridge that we ate at in 2017.

Hope this helps!

Marianne

Hi Again Patsy -

I did a quick search on Robert Jones and came across a family tree.  You may already have this information - on the other hand, there were no sources documented, so I am not sure of how good it is, but it may give you a starting point to continue your research....

Robert Jones' (1780-1870) father is given as Absalom Jones Jr., whose father was Absalom Jones (1761-1816), married to Anne Ragland (1746 -?).  Already it looks as though there may be a problemn with the dates - perhaps the latter Absalom Jones was actually Robert's father at age 19???  And it is unlikely, but possible, that that Absalon Jones married a woman 15 years older than himself.  If she was Robert's mother, she would have been 34 at the time of his birth.

Mary Bell's (1780-1871) parents are, as you indicated, William Bell and Eavey Sinton, with her parents given as David Sinton (1727- 1785) and Isabella ? (1725-1785).

Also, I thought I'd mention that Auglish and Scarva are near the border of County Armagh and County Down and the records for County Down are often more complete, so you might try doing some search there as well.

Good luck!

MG

Hi Marianne,

Thank you for the information it helps to fill in som much older information from several years back that at the time didn't seem to go anywhere. I was in touch with you prior to your trip a few years ago. I expect by now you have found all the information in Prince Edward County. There is a map on line that shows where names are shown with location. My brother went to school in Hillier and recalls at the end of Cold Creek Road near the schoolhouse there was a Greer road. This was around 1961-62 and the one room school is now a private home. In Ireland there was a Greer that was a tenant of Bell in the early 1800s. I have been looking for a marriage connection in PEC because one of my family named his son Greer so there must have been a close relationship.  Thanks again for your help, Patsy (also known as Susan) I am on both Ancestry and My Heritage but accounts are private at this time until I can verify information

Hi Patsy/Susan -

Good to hear from you again.  Yes there still is a Greer Rd just north of Wellington - it actually was named for our ancestor, Alexander Greer - his farm and home were just south of that road, not far from the crossroads.  His son, Henry farmed right next to the original Greer farm.  The Jones farm was noit far away, as you can see on the land registration maops of the mid- to-late 1800 available at the Library in Wellington.  We made a trip to PEC a few years ago and met with some "cousins" descendant from Alexander's younger so, George Warner.  James Jones used the name "Greer" as secondary names of two of his children.  I don't have the information about a Greer renting from a Bell in Armagh/Down in the 1800's and would love to see your docuymentation about that.

Marianne