Honoring Pioneer Children

A beautiful new memorial opened in Salt Lake City this week to honor the children who crossed the plains with their pioneer parents. There is a touching section of large rocks engraved with the names of the children who died along the way. There are three names that are significant to the descendants of  John Harris Greer:

1850 Emma Eliza Camp age 6

Little Emma was Catherine Ellen Camp Greer's baby sister. She travelled with her family and their large herd of cattle in the Shadrach Roundy Pioneer Company. Less than a week out, Emma died. The company records do not give a cause of death, but Grandmother Greer later wrote her memories of crossing the plains and mentions a little girl who got trapped in a stampede and died. Presumably that was her little sister Emma.

1855 Ira Abner Greer age 15; John Irvine Greer age 11 [he is incorrectly listed as age 15]

Within a week of setting out from Kansas, cholera broke out in the Seth Blair Pioneer Company claiming the lives of nearly one-third of their number. Within twenty-four hours, John Harris' grandmother Nancy lost not only these two sons but her husband as well. Seth Blair wrote the following to Brigham Young:

        Nancy Ann Terry Roberts Greer was now a widow, heartbroken with the loss of a husband and sons besides many other loved ones who now lay buried along “Pioneer Trail,” but realizing she must assume new and difficult responsibilities, that faith, courage and determination were needed. She knew she was one among many who likewise must sacrifice much for the Gospel; and that only with the help of Him who never fails, could she carry on and face the future undaunted.

        As soon as the sick were ready to travel, with the help of her loyal sons, they began the onward trek to Salt Lake City. Their long train of heavily laden wagons with three yoke of oxen to each wagon and hundreds of fine horse and cattle being driven, must have attracted much attention when they arrived in Salt Lake City….


On this Pioneer Day, may we remember the huge price the members of the Greer family paid for the Gospel.

Important Family Dates for May

In May we commemorate the death of the family patriarch, John Harris Greer. Click the link with his name for all of the posts about him on this blog.

@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

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.]