Greer

SAMUEL H. GREER, Ohio County, was born in Nelson County, June 15, 1829. He is the son of Samuel and Minerva (Cooper) Greer and grandson of Samuel Greer, who was for seven years a Revolutionary soldier under Washington. He was a native of Ireland, and, about 1790, immigrated to Nelson County, Ky., then a wilderness, where wild beasts and Indians roamed. He was the father of three sons and five daughters, of whom the father of our subject was the youngest son. Many of the descendants now reside in Nelson and other parts of Kentucky, and are generally prominent and well-to-do people. Samuel H. is the second of a family of nine children. At the age of fifteen he lost his father by death, and the care of his mother and the younger members of the family devolved upon him. By industry and energy he overcame all difficulties, and acquired a good home and other property. He was married, January 5, 1854, to Mary Elizabeth Ward, the eldest daughter of James, and Nancy (Cooper) Ward. She was born May 8, 1828. Their children are John, married to Olivia Jane Burks — they have one child: Millie; Nancy, born December 14, 1857, died April 28, 1878; Samuel, married to Mary Lee Allen Ralph; Bluford Thomas; Fanny Ann; James Marion; Mary Drucilla; Minerva Ellen; Rebecca Susan. Mr. Greer has been school trustee for several years, and is now overseer of roads. He owns a farm of 400 acres of productive land in Ellis Precinct, near the town of Whitesville. His farm house is large and pleasant. He owns a fine herd of cattle and horses and much other property. There are of his father's descendants, now living — including children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren — nearly 200 representatives. Mr. Greer takes a deep interest in the education of his children. In politics he is a Democrat.

JOHN C. GREER, Ohio County, was born in Spencer County, near Mt. Eden, Ky. June 17, 1831, and removed to Daviess County, Ky., with his parents, Samuel and Minerva (Cooper) Greer, at the age of one year. At the age of eight years, his parents removed to Bartlett Precinct, Ohio County, where he was reared on a farm and attended the common schools, and at the age of twenty-one commenced farming for himself. At a very early age, he was left, by the decease of his father, with the care of his mother and a large family of younger children. His father was born in Nelson County in 1805, and his mother in the same place in 1812. The father died in 1855 and the mother about seventeen years later, and to the close of their long lives were consistent members of the Christian Church. His father was a well-to-do farmer and a successful man of business. John C., subject, was married March 2, 1854, to Martha E., third daughter of James and Nancy Ward, the former of whom died May 13, 1883. Mrs. Greer was born May 26, 1837. To them were born nine children: Amanda Ann, wife of Thomas H. Westerfield; Sanford Marion, married to Elizabeth A. White; James William, married to Lueinda White; Manora Ellen, wife of Leonard Bunger; Mary Elva, wife of Cornelius Hoover; Margaret Elizabeth, wife of Hiram C. Powers; Coleman D.; Mortina; and John Thomas. Mr. Greer weighs 215 pounds, and is the lightest of his father's family. This family of eleven, including the parents, averaged in weight 260 pounds each, and were probably the heaviest family in the State. There are eight children, eight grandchildren and fifty-eight great-grand-children. Mr. Greer, his wife and three children are members of the Christian Church. He owns 175 acres of good land, with comfortable buildings. He is well known as an intelligent and prosperous farmer. Mr. Greer himself has twenty-one grandchildren.

BLUFORD C. GREER was born in Ohio County, Ky., March 22, 1840, and is the seventh child born to Samuel and Minerva (Cooper) Greer; of their children, eight are now living, viz.: Samuel H., Margaret, John C., James, Fannie A., Bluford C., Thomas, and Mary E.  Samuel Greer was reared in Nelson County, Ky., where he married and soon after removed to Daviess County, Ky., and then to Ohio County, where he lived until his death; his widow continued to reside in Ohio County until her death on November 14, 1871. The grandfather, John Greer, was a native of Ireland and came to America before the Revolutionary war; fought with Washington until the close, when he assumed the peaceful life of a farmer; he was among the first settlers of Nelson County, Ky. Elizabeth, wife of John Greer, was a native of Scotland. When Bluford C. was six years old, his father died. The disadvantages contingent to a new country deprived him of an education, his assistance being necessary also to the support of the family of his widowed mother until the age of twenty-two, when he began life for himself, working by the month until the beginning of the war. He enlisted in November, 1862, in Company F, Twenty-sixth Kentucky Infantry, and served under Brig. Gen. Van Cleve, in Gen. Buell's division; was engaged in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Fort Anderson, Saltville (Virginia), Wilmington and Sugar Loaf Mountain, besides numerous skirmishes; he received an honorable discharge from the United States service in February, 1865, and returned home, raised a crop on his mother's farm, then farmed on shares — the next year with his brother-in-law; then returned home and farmed his mother's place until November 14, 1879, when he married Fannie Ann Rebecca, daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth (Kelly) Wade. They have been blessed with five children: Annie V., Morris L., Joshua A., Delilah E. and Minerva E., all of whom are living. After marriage, Mr. Greer continued to farm on the farm where he now lives, having a short time previously bought 214 acres; he cleared and put under cultivation seventy-five acres, which are well fenced and improved with good dwelling, barns and out-houses, all of which Mr. Greer has accumulated by his own labor and his wife's assistance. He was a member of the National Grange, and served in the capacity of treasurer of "Sawis Grove" Grange No. 744. In politics he is an independent Democrat. Mr. Greer takes a great interest in schools and in the education of his children.

Source: J. H. BATTLE, W H. PERRIN, & G. C. KNIFFIN 1895