Happy National Tartan Day!

In 2008, George Bush signed a Presidential Proclamation making April 6th National Tartan Day to celebrate Scottish history and the achievements of people of Scottish descent. The Greer family descends from the MacGregor clan. Though there are other tartans associated with this clan, the current chieftain has restricted the wearing of the rest of the tartans and has declared that descendants wear either the MacGregor Red & Black (also known as the "Rob Roy" MacGregor tartan) or the MacGregor Red & Green.

Important Family Dates for April

Here are some dates that are significant to the family in April:

1: Nathaniel "Nat" Greer died on this date in 1958 at the age of 65 from throat cancer. He is buried in Costa Mesa, California.

5: Margaret married local school teacher Warren Nichols on this date in 1917 in St. Johns. They had two children together and later divorced.

8: While working in Holbrook, Arizona, Irvin Babe Greer met the beautiful, red-haired Florence Virginia Johns, who was divorced and had a six-year-old son, Albert Francis. They married on this date in 1931 in Green River, Utah, and eventually had five children together whom they raised in American Fork, Utah.

9: Laura Sherwood became Jim's second wife on this date in 1938 in Mohave, Arizona. He adopted her daughter Lorene and they had a son together whom they named James Sherwood Greer.

15: Tom died at the young age of 41 on this date in 1936 from massive head injuries sustained in a car accident outside of St. Johns. He and his wife Nellie had been married only eighteen years, and he left her a widow with nine young children (the youngest of whom was only six months old).

Happy Birthday, Orpha!

With a little detective work and Google Maps, Jimmie James and his brother (descendants of Orpha's youngest brother, Joseph Franklin Nicoll) discovered the home Alexander Nicoll built in Washington, Utah, just north of St. George. Orpha was three when they moved into this home and lived there with her family until she was twelve, at which time the family accepted a call from Brigham Young to help settle eastern Arizona and moved to St. Johns. Today is Orpha"s 151st birthday as well as her 133rd wedding anniversary.

[As of July 2013 the home is abandoned (for quite a while it seems from the older photo) but still standing. It sits behind an occupied home. Using the address 142 East 100 South, Washington, Utah, you should be able to find it on Google Maps.]

Lucky You--You're Irish!

At least one branch of the Greer family tree comes from Ireland (there could be more--the Lacy line in particular needs some more research done to find out their country of origin). Harris Greer's fifth great grandparents, Thomas and Rachael Sarah Morton Greer, were both born in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. Thomas' grandparents moved to Ireland from Scotland in the late 1600's, but Sarah's line goes further back in Ireland.

County Armagh is where St. Patrick established his first church in Ireland--so you have extra reason to celebrate! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

An Invitation to All Descendants of John Harris & Orpha Nicoll Greer

Come join the family!

@1918 L-R Back row: Jim, Margaret, Tom, Myrtle, John, Bina, Irvin; Middle row: Lillian,
Harris, Orpha, Nat, Kate, Irvin; Front row: Nathan, Ray, Flossie, Leland

All of the descendants of the John Harris & Orpha Nicoll Greer family are invited to participate in commemorating their 133rd wedding anniversary during the month of March. These gatherings were held for years at the park in St. Johns, but are now held virtually on this blog. Choose an activity that will mean the most to you and/or your immediate family. Some suggestions are:

• visit a FamilySearch Discovery Center for a fun, interactive, high-tech experience (or go online at FamilySearch.org)
• visit the cemetery where your ancestors are buried
• get together and share family stories and photos
• read the stories of your ancestors on this blog
• submit photos and stories of your ancestors to add to this blog

If you would like to share what you did with the rest of the family, please send information and photos to barbaraballantyne@hotmail.com and they will be posted here. We look forward to connecting with you!