Benjamin Greer

A Patriot of the American Revolution for NORTH CAROLINA with the rank of CAPTAIN. DAR Ancestor # A048025

Biography

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102744698/benjamin-greer

Benjamin Greer (1746-1816) was a son of John Greer Jr. and first wife, Sarah Ann Elliot.

He first married "Nancy Wilcocksen"(DAR Patriot Index), which also lists his military service as "NC, CS, Commissary." He served under the command of Col. Benjamin Cleveland in the Revolutionary War.

They settled at "Old Fields" on the west bank of the New River in what is now called Ashe Co., NC.

He second married Mrs. Sarah Atkinson (Thomas) Jones, bond date: April 26, 1791, in Wilkes County, Bondsman: Benjamin Jones, witness: Chs Gordon. (North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868 and State Archives in Raleigh, NC)

They were both listed as members of the Three Forks Baptist Church of Watauga Co., NC. Sarah was dismissed by letter in 1808, when they moved and settled in Green River, Green Co., KY.

Source:

Family

https://yeahpot.com/greer/greerjames/pafg04.htm#8341

32. Benjamin Greer 1 (John , John , James ) was born on 9 Feb 1746 in Albemarle, Virginia, United States. He died on 23 Oct 1816 in Green, Kentucky, United States.

Benjamin married (1) Nancy Wilcoxson 1 in 1767 in Ashe, North Carolina, United States. Nancy was born in 1745 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. She died on 3 Oct 1790 in Wilkes, North Carolina, United States.

They had the following children:

+ 129 F i Rachel Greer was born on 31 Mar 1768. She died in 1840/1850.
+ 130 M ii John Greer was born on 14 Jan 1770. He died in 1850.
+ 131 M iii William Greer was born on 21 Jan 1772. He died in 1862.

	132	M	iv	Benjamin Greer 1 was born on 14 Feb 1774. He died in 1795.

	133	F	v	Nancy Ann Greer 1 was born on 26 Apr 1776 in North Carolina, United States. She died in 1816 in North Carolina, United States.

	 	 	 	Nancy married Thomas Holman 1 in 1787/1790.

+ 134 M vi Jesse Greer was born on 14 Nov 1778. He died on 17 Sep 1869.
+ 135 M vii David Greer was born on 2 Feb 1781. He died in 1850.
+ 136 M viii James Greer was born on 17 Sep 1783. He died in 1844.
+ 137 M ix Samuel Greer was born on 26 Nov 1785. He died on 20 Apr 1872.
+ 138 M x Joshua Greer was born on 8 Apr 1788.

	139	M	xi	Thomas Greer 1 was born on 3 Oct 1790 in Ashe, North Carolina, United States.

	 	 	 	Thomas married Hannah Ketron 1. Hannah was born in 1789.

Benjamin married (2) Sarah Atkinson 1 on 26 Apr 1791 in Wilkes, North Carolina, United States. Sarah died in Wilkes, North Carolina, United States.

They had the following children:

	140	F	xii	Sally Greer 1 was born in 1792.

	 	 	 	Sally married Robert Erwin 1.

	141	F	xiii	Elizabeth Greer 1 was born in 1794.

	 	 	 	Elizabeth married Elisha Biggs 1.

+ 142 M xiv Aquilla Greer was born on 10 Oct 1796. He died on 6 Apr 1874.

	143	F	xv	Mary Greer 1 was born in 1798.

+ 144 M xvi Edmond Greer was born in 1805.

Greer Family.--Benjamin Greer was a soldier of the Revolution. His Wife was a Miss Wilcox, and their children were John, who married nancy Owen; William, who married Hannah Cartright and died when 103 years of age; Jesse, who married Mary Morris; Thomas, who married a Ketron; James, who married a Hampton; David, who married a Ketron; James, who married a Hampton; David, who married Nancy Hodges; Samuel, who married Sallie Church; Joshua, who married Jennie Church; Rachel, who married Robert Judd and moved to Kentucky; Ann, who married Thomas Holman and went West.

Benjamin Greer married a second time, after the death of his first wife, Mrs. Sallie Atkinson Jones, widow of Thomas Jones, who died from a wound received in the Revolution. She reared children by both husbands. They moved to Green River, Ky., where he died in 1810. Samuel Greer has three children living here: Elizabeth Hendrix, now ninety-four years of age; Finley Greer, ninety-two years of age; Riley Greer, ninety years old.

Mary Ray Greer was born September 22, 1813, and died March 26, 1906, at the Critcher hotel. Her grave is in the cemetery at Boone. She was the daughter of William Ray, of Elk Creek, above Todd, and the wife of Thomas Greer. Her daughter, Jennie, married J. L. Phillips, while Evelyn became the wife of George Grubb; Martha the wife of Julius Elliott, of Rowan, and Millie the wife of Thos. J. Coffey. Her son, Larkin, was killed in the Civil War. The latter was about to marry Sarh Ferguson, of Meat Camp, when he was at home once during the Civil War on furlough, and was on the way to the magistrate's to be married when they were met by her sister, Martha Ann, who faced them about and prevented the marriage. Sarah afterwards married Zecharih Moretz. Martha Ann never married.

The Will of John Greer was probated June Term 1782, Wilkes County, NC. Mentions his wife, Nancy - whole of plantation where I live; Jessey Greer - above at decease of wife; Dau, Ann Mitchell, negro girl Pheby and no more; Hannah Demoss - negro girl, Hannah; Balance of estate to be equally divided between Aquilla, John, Benjamin, Joshua, Jessey Greer, Rachel Mitchell, Sarah Hardgrave and Hannah Demoss. Execr: wife, Nancy. Friend, John Brown. Wit: Archelus Walker, Nancy Walker and Sarah Greer.

(It is possible John was NOT Nancy's son and that Benjamin had married Mattie Lipps first. While this John is mentioned among Benjamin's children in his will probated in Green Co., KY in 1816, he is not listed among the children of Benjamin and Nancy Wilcoxsen Greer in the Jesse Greer Notebook. The name Mattie Lipps came from someone years ago who is now dead and she didn't give her source. In the meantime no one has been able to find where that name came from. In a letter written by Jesse Greer, Jr. to Lyman C. Draper regarding his grandfather, Benjamin, Jesse does mention his Uncle John. Just to make my life and database a little simpler, I've got John as a child of Benjamin and Nancy with an explanatory note about this). Mary Floy Katzman

Arthur's "A History os Watauga County" (1915) states on page 313: "Benjamin Greer married a second time, after the death of his first wife, Mrs. Sallie Atkinson Jones, widow of Thomas Jones, who died from a wound received in the Revolution. She reared children by both husbands. They moved to Greer River, KY, where he died in 1810. [Will probated in Greer Co., KY, 1816] There is a Wilkes Co. Marriage Bond, at the State Archives in Raleigh, dated April 26, 1791, for Benjamin Greer and Sarah Jones. The children of the second marriage are unknown, except that Arthur and John M. Greer of High Point, N.C., give a son Thomas Greer (no date of birth), who may have been a son of Benjamin by his second wife. [There is no mention of a son named Thomas in Benjamin's will, but names five (5) additional children not named in this notebook - children by Sarah.] Mrs. Mary Wilson Smith of Farmville, N.C., in her D.A.R. application in 1938 claims that the second wife of Benjamin Greer was a Cutbirth, a niece of his first wife. According to "Wilcoxson and Allied Families" by Mulfeck (1958) pages 18 - 24, Sarah Cutbirth, daughter of Benjamin Cutbirth and Elizabeth Willcockson was born ca. 1772 and nothing further is known of her, but at 19 she would not likely have been the widow Jones who married Benjamin Greer in 1791. Mrs. Smith also claims that Benjamin Greer (Sr.) was the son of Andrew Greer and Ruth Kincaid of Elizabethton, Tenn. I have been unable to find any evidence to this effect. [Estate papers for Andrew Greer filed in Carter Co., TN do not show a son named Benjamin nor grandchildren of a son named Benjamin]. On the contrary the statement on page 9 herein that Benjamin was the son of John Grear and Nancy appears to be correct. John Greer, Sr., of near Wilkesborn, left a will, probated in Wilkes Co., N.C. on June 5, 1782, which mentions his wife "Nanney" and children: John, Benja., Joshua, Jesse, Aquilla, Ann Mitchell, Rachel Michell, Sarah Hardgrave and Hanah Demoss.

MORE INFORMATION:

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db...

•ID: I4962

•Name: Benjamin Greer

•Sex: M

•Note:

"Benjamine Greer was a revolutionary war soldier of some reknown. He was born 9 February 1746 (according to a listing in the DAR PATRIOT INDEX, probably obtained from a family Bible record) and died 23 October 1816 (according to the same source, which also gives the name of his first wife as Nancy Wilcoxson). Benjamine was born in Albemarle County, Virginia and grew up in Franklin County (Virginia). Soon after obtaining his majority, Benjamine settled in the area that is now southwest Wilkes County, North Carolina. This was a part of Rowan County until 1777. No Greer's appear in the Rowan County records, which have been well abstracted, not on any of the surviving Rowan tax records in Surry County deeds either, although this is a period of invisibility in the land records of the northwest part of North Carolina. The area was a part of the Lord Granville District, in which the lord was reserved sole proprietary rights to make land grants. However at his death in January of 1763, a dispute arose among his heirs that proceeded into lengthy litigation. The result of this was that Lord Granville's land office closed down and never reopened until the Revolution abrogated the property rights in 1778. The result of this was that in Wilkes County, where very little settlement had taken place before 1763, there were almost no established titles to land until 1778 when the change in government produced a rush to make land entries and thus protect the settlers claims to land they had already occupied for a number of years.

"Benjamine probably moved to Wilkes County about 1770 along with other Greer's and began clearing land, building cabins, and starting farming, all in the region around Cub Creek in the southwest part of modern Wilkes. We first find Benjamine in Surry County on a tax list of 1771, on which he and his brother Aquilla appear. By 1772 his father John and brothers Joshua and John Jr. were also taxed there. Surry County Will Book 1 (page 102a, abstracted by Jo White Linn) lists among the purchasers at the sale of the estate of James Burk, 28 October 1776, Acquilla Greer, Benjamine Greer, and John Greer.

"Benjamine probably married just before or soon after his arrival in North Carolina, although a bond does not survive here. his first wife was Nancy Wilcoxson, and this another family which, like the Greers, appears to have come from Maryland.

"We late find in the Wilkes County Land Entry Book for 1778 - 1781, under the date 4 March 1778 (page 75): "Benjamine Greer enters 200 acres joining Francis Hardgrave, including the improvement where on the said Greer now lives." The official entry was recorded with the Secretary of State under the date 7 June 1778 and the tract, on Cub Creek joining Francis Hardgrave, James Mitchell and William Smith, was granted 22 September 1785 (Wilkes #620 - photostat attached [in book]). The land was surveyed on 8 October 1789 but the names of the chain bearers are not given. A few years later Benjamine moved to the area that is now Watauga County, entering claimes to tracts on the south fork of New River in 1781 and 1789.

"At the first court of Wilkes County in March of 1778 Benjamine's father, John Greer, qualified as a Justice of the Peace and Benjamine became constable in Capt. Hargrave's district which is said to have been in the area of Moravian Creek (see Johnson J. Hayes, THE LAND OF WILKES, page 31).

"During the revolution Benjamine Greer apparently saw various services in the Wilkes County Militia, although documentary record of this is scarce. One account of his most famous exploit, the rescue of Col. Benjamine Cleveland from the Tories in April 1781 near Meat Camp Creek, is related in A HISTORY OF WATAUGA COUNTY (Appendix B [in book]. The source of this account, in its earliest published version, is apparently Lyman C. Draper's KING'S MOUNTAIN AND ITS HEROES, 1881, photostats from which that relate to the rescue are also attached (as Appendix F [in book] as well as a few pages of supplementary material from John Preston Arthur's WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: A HISTORY, 1730 - 1913 (which is Appendix E [in book]. This adds the tradition, preserved in the Greer family, that is was Ben Greer who fired the shot that killed Col. Ferguson at King's Mountain. Lyman Draper unfortunately does not cite his sources for his account which, although probably factual, was likely based on hearsay evidence and also, perhaps, papers of Col. Cleveland. Wilkes County Militia rosters do not survive, not are any original pay vouchers issued to Benjamin Greer extant. However proof that he did recieve payment for militia service is contained in the books of the North Carolina Treasurer and Comptroller, Revolutionary Army Accounts. In Book A of this series (Vol. 40, page 221) is recorded a payment in 1782 (?) Morgan District, which included Wilkes County, as follows: "0879. To Benjamine Greer for Service pr ditto -.16-." The ditto refers to the statement "for Service pr Pay Roll" a few lines above.

"The account of Benjamin's rescue of Col. Cleveland implies that he had moved his residence further west by 1781 to the South Fork of New River near the present Watauga - Wilkes border, and in the area where Joshua Greer later lived. First, on 24 January 1781 he entered a claim to 100 acres, apparently obtained from one Stringer, which was granted 9 July 1794 (#1121, photostat attached [in book]. Chain carriers for the survey, 20 January 1791, were his sons Wm. Greer and John Greer. This land is said to have been four miles above Cleveland's plantation at the "Old Field" where Gap Creek enters the South Fork. After the war Benjamin continued to increase his holdings here; on 16 July 1789 he entered a claim to 100 acres at his own line which was issued 9 July 1794 (Wilkes #1199, photostat attached [in book]. That he had actually moved his residence to this plantation is shown by the fact that he sold his Cub Creek land in 1790: "Wilkes County Deeds B-1:73): This Indenture made this Twenty seventh day of April ... 1790 Between Benjamin Greer of the ... County of Wilkes ... and Turner Hampton of the county ... aforesaid ... witnesseth that for ... one hundred pounds ... hath ... sold ... unto the sd Turner Hampton ... a certain tract of parcel of alnd containing two hundred acres Lying ... on the Waters of cub creek, Beginning on a post oak and red oak sapling on a flat in Francis Hardgrave line ... John Greers line by a Path ... (signed) Benjamin Greer ... Witness: Rowland Judd, Isaac Walker, Francis Hardgrave."

"Benjamine was a member of the Three Forks Baptist Church in Watauga from 1790 to 1800 (according to A HISTORY OF WATAUGA COUNTY) but had to leave the church in 1801 because of his intemperance.

"Benjamine obtained one other tract of 100 acres on the South Fork of New River, purchasing a warrant from Jacob Holeman (sic) on 14 March 1798, which was issued to him 7 June 1799 (Wilkes #1590, photostat attached [in book]. Benjamine's daughter Ann married Thomas Holman, evidently a member of this family. Benjamine Greer is listed in Wilkes County on the State Census of 1787 and the Federal Census of 1790, and in Ashe County (created in 1799) in 1800. Sometime in this period his first wife died. In Wilkes County on 26 April 1791 he married his second wife who is said by the HISTORY OF WATAUGA COUNTY to have Mrs. Sallie Atkinson Jones (although the DAR PATRIOT INDEX states he [Benjamin] married secondly ________ Cutbirth). Mrs. Jones was the widow of Thomas Jones who died of a wound received in the Revolutionary War.

"Benjamine sold the "Holeman" tract in 1800: "(Ashe County Deeds A:176): This Indenture made this Seventeenth Day of October ... 1800 between Benjamine Greer of Ashe County ... and Elizabeth Blackburn of said county ... witnesseth that he the said Greer for ... sixty pounds ... hath sold ... one hundred acres ... on New River, Beginning at a chestnut near a branch ... granted to the aforesaid Greer by a State deed Dated August the third ... 1778. (signed) Benjamin Greer. Witness: Jacob Holman, James Propitt."

"He sold the bulk of his remaining lands to Philip Church on 10 August 1803 consisting of two tracts, one of 15 acres on the north side of New River (B:349), and his 100 acre home tract described in the following deed: "(B:348): This Indenture made this tenth day of August ... 1803 between Benjamin Greer of the County of Ashe ... and Philip Church of the County aforesaid ... witnesseth that the said Benjamin Greer ... for ... Three Hundred dollars ... hath sold ... land ... beginning in his other line on a Red oak corner on a Ridge, then South crossing the River Seventy Poles to a stake, then with the River one hundred and sixty Poles to a Stake on the Bank of the River, then North fifty West thirty six Poles to a White oak, then North seventy Poles to a stake, then East one hundred and sixty poles to the first station, being one hundred acres lying on the South Fork of New River, being the tract of land Greer now lived on ... (signed) Benjamin Greer. Witness: William Greer, Jesse Greer."

"We know from A HISTORY OF WATAUGA COUNTY ... (see Appendix B [in book] that Benjamin left Ashe County for Kentucky, leaving many of his sons behind. This move is probably dated by the 10 August 1803 sale of the 100 acres on New River "being the tract of land said Greer now live on ...". Benjamin made a will 21 February 1816, proven 25 November 1816 in Green County, Kentucky (Green County Will Book 2, page 3, photostat attached [in book]) in which he left property to his wife Sarah and younger children. The ten older children were bequeathed only $1.00 each and none of them settled in Green County.

"Benjamine Greer and his first wife, Nancy Wilcoxson, apparently had ten surviving children. The not altogether consistent evidence of the census suggests they should be dated as follows: [list shows eleven children, with birthdates, however, Benjamin appears to be duplicated]. Benjamine Greer and second wife Sarah had issue: [list of six children with approximated census dates]." (OUR GREER FAMILY HERITAGE, 1983, by Thomas H. Greer, 335 Minamontes Avenue, Half Moon Bay, California 94019, pages 29 - .)

"Besides Joshua Greer, two other Greers, said to be his brothers, settled on the South Fork of New River. These were David Greer and Samuel Greer, both of whom left descendants in Watauga County. It appears that most all the Watauga County Greers descend from Benjamin. The other early Greers listed in Wilkes County in the 1790 Census all appear to have resided within areas included in modern Wilkes County or Ashe County, rather than Watauga." (OUR GREER FAMILY HERITAGE, 1983, by Thomas H. Greer, 335 Minamontes Avenue, Half Moon Bay, California 94019, page 27.)

"Benjamin Greer was a soldier in the Revolutionary War under the command of Col. Ben Cleveland. There were several Greers in the Battle of Kings Mountain. It was during this time that the famous "Greer Hint" was coined with Benjamin a participant. One of his fellow soldiers stole Benjamin's tobacco from him. When Greer threatened he would whip him for it, Col. Ben Cleveland remonstrated with him and urged strong reason against it saying his men should fight the enemy and not each other. "I'll give him a hint of it anyway," said Greer and when he met the tobacco pilfer he knocked him down. "Greer's Hint" was long a byword in all that region. That saying "Greer Hint," somewhat modified to read "you don't have to knock me down with a hint" is still a byword with the family." (KINGS MOUNTAIN AND ITS HEROES by Draper, 1881.)

"Benjamin Greer was in Ashe County, North Carolina in 1799." (GREER FAMILY HISTORY, by Mrs. Ellen A. Fawcett, North Little Rock Arkansas. This was recieved by Frances Gosney Hoover, 5815 Gladstone Blvd, Kansas City, Missouri 64123-1517 in 1981, who in turn sent it to Ralph Terry in 1995. It appears to be a part of a collection of families, as it appears on pages 78 to 82.)

"Benjamin and wife, Nancy Wilcoxin, settled at Old Fields on the west bank of the South Fork of New River in Ashe County, North Carolina. About 1890 the old chimney was still standing where the old home had been. Later in years, he married a Mrs. Jones, whose husband had died from wounds received in the Revolution. Late in life, he moved to Green River in Western Kentucky, where he died." (Glen C. Roberts, 2097 Superior Avenue, South Charleston, West Virginia 25303.)

"They (Nancy and Benjamin Greer) went to Virginia; Rowan County, North Carolina when her family went, and to Kentucky when Daniel Boone went to Kentucky." (BOONE'S by Sarah Ridge Street Rockenfield (Route #1, Box 8, Sullivan, Indiana 47882, tel: 812-268-5493), printed by Whipporwill Publications, Evansville, Indiana, 1987, page 357.)

"In the name of God, Amen. I, Benjamin Greer, of the County of Green, State of Kentucky, being through the goodness and mercies of God though weak in body, yet of a sound mind and perfect understanding and memory, do constitute this my last will and testament and desire it may be recorded as such. I most humbly bequeath my soul to God who gave it, beseeching ... (page was torn and taped at this point and part missing) ... and my body buried like seed in the ground, not to be lost, but here buried to remain till the morning of the Resurrection through Jesus Christ our Lord. As to my burial, I do desire to be interred, at the discretion of my Executors, thereafter named, who, I doubt not will arrange it with prudence. As to my worldly estate, I will, and positively order that all my debts be paid. First, I do bequeath to my two youngest sons namely Aquilla and Edmond Greer, the two tracts of land I now live on to be equally divided between them: and the rest of my estate to be equally divided between my three daughters: namely Sally, Elizabeth and Polly Greer; but my wife, Sarah Greer, to hold the same in her hands during live; but the said children to have their equal part as they become of age or marry. At the discretion of my Executors to which I do appoint my wife Sarah Greer, Aquilla Greer and Robert Erwin, and do constitute the executors of this my last will and testament and trustees for my wife and children. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty first day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and sixteen. N. B. and I do will that all my other children namely, John, Rachel, William, Benjamin, Ann, Jesse, David, Samuel, Joshua and James have one dollar each out of my estate. Signed Benjamin (X) Greer, witnesses: Benjamin Bayly, Christopher Hinker, James (X) Lile" (Green County, Kentucky Will Records.)

"The genealogy of Benjamin Greer is also recorded in "A Factual History of Early Ashe County, North Carolina," page 160, as well as a typescript of his will. The daughter, Ann or Nancy Ann, is not mentioned in this typescript, but is mentioned in the genealogy. She was probably left out in error." (Ralph Terry.)

(NOTE FROM RALPH TERRY: John M. Greer wrote GREER, A FAMILY RECORD about 1942, about this Benjamin. His publication is the one that somehow used a photograph of Duart Castle on the island of Mull, Scotland and misnamed it "Lag Castle." He used the assumption that his Greer family descended from the line of Henry Greer of Ireland, son of Sir James Greer of Lag. He admits that his direct connection to the Irish Greers "becomes blurred" with the immigration of one of Henry descendant's, but still goes on this assumption. More recent research, done by the descendants of Daniel Boone, has shown that John M. was a decendant of James Greer, the immigrant, brother of Henry, whom John M. thought they descended through. (This Benjamin was a son-in-law of Sarah (Boone) Wilcoxson, sister of Daniel Boone.) This family is still related to Henry Greer's descendants, just not directly. The information about John M.'s ancestor, Benjamin, was correct, John M. just plugged his data into the wrong line. Benjamin was a son of John, but not the John, who descended from Henry Greer. Even though John M. had a bad assumption and a misnamed photograph, his family should, nevertheless be proud of the work that he did. Anyone who takes the time to research, write down and publish what they know of their family is to be commended. I feel certain that some of our descendants will, some day, appreciate the work that each of us has done.)

Warren H. Houck, 1388 Wm.T. Calloway Road, Todd, North Carolina 28684, tele: 336-877-5258; email: whouck@skybest.com>, has provided much information about some of the descendants of Benjamin Greer and Nancy Wilcoxson, 2002.

•* Birth: 9 FEB 1746 in Albemarle County, Virginia

• •Death: 23 OCT 1816 in Green County, Kentucky

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Revolutionary War Veteran - Captain Benjamin Grier DAR # A048025 North Carolina

Birth: 2/9/1746 Bladen County, NC
Death: after 11/25/1816 Green County, KY.

Colonel Benjamin Cleveland and Constable, 1778, paid for services rendered.

Spouse: 1. Nancy Wilcocksen
Spouse: 2. Sarah Atkinson Jones

Children:

1. Jesse married Mary Morris
2. David married Nancy Hodge
3. William married Hannah Cartwright
4. Aquila married Mary Ferril Smith
5. Joshua married Jane X
6. Samuel married Sarah Church
7. Sarah married Levi Blackburn

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References

1. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102744698/benjamin-greer
2. https://yeahpot.com/greer/greerjames/pafg04.htm#8341