by Glenn N. Holliman
The Troubled Marriage of John, Sr. and Sarah Day Greer My generation's 7th great grandfather, John Greer, Sr. was born about 1688 along the Gunpowder River in Joppa, Maryland. He married Sarah Day, b 1686 in Baltimore County, at St. John's Parish, March 4, 1704.
John Greer, Sr. inherited the 75 acres that Arthur Taylor had given James Greer and Anne Taylor, and seems to have traded this land and others, buying and selling acreage around the Joppa area, a land speculator if you will. For example, in 1718, he sold land which stood above Nicholas Day's plantation and near to an Indian cabin. An interesting tidbit of history has made it through the centuries - in 1738 John Sr. was bitten by a rattle snake above the mouth of the Long Green River.
St. John's Episcopal Parish moved several times in its history. Both John Greer, Sr. and John Greer, Jr. would be married in the parish. As Joppa Town deteriorated, Edward Day, a descendant of our Day ancestors, built a new St. John's. Ironically, another set of my 7th GGPs were married at St. John's - Samuel and Mary Harrod Stansbury on April 1, 1761. All you Stansberys, please make a mental note. In time, we will trace the Stansbery line from Maryland to Tennessee and beyond. He was evidently snake bit in marriage also. According to vestry books in Baltimore County, our John Greer Sr. found himself admonished for co-habitating unlawfully with one Chloe Jones. While no date is given, he claims to have married Cleo. They had four children, evidently born out of wedlock.
My generation's 7th GGM, Sarah, went to live with a son, Aquillaat the Chilimara Plantation in Maryland, and later she remarried one Obadiah Pritchett. We are not sure when Sarah died - sources differ but her name is on no legal deed releases after 1747. Greer family compilations put her death between 1742 and 1747.
St. John's Episcopal Parish moved several times in its history.