Lately I’ve been filling in some details on close but not direct ancestors in hopes I’ll find something that gives me some insight or additional direction on my more direct line. So that’s what this is about. One of my great grandmothers was Elizabeth Greer born in Ireland to Ruth Allingham and Matthew Greer.

Elizabeth had an older brother named John Greer who was born in Ireland about 1860. I believe he came to the US in the 1870s and married Julia Mary Hopkins in 1888 in New York City (NYC).

It seems that John died before the 1910 census but Julia was still alive for the 1940 census and living with her eldest daughter and son-in-law.

The eldest daughter Jennie Greer was born around 1890. She was married by 1910 to Charles F Zweifel. As far as I know there were 4 children: Charles F Jr. (1911-1994); Horace (born about 1916); Dorothy (1919-1964); and Leticia (1932-2011). Leticia had married Charles O’Neill Sr. and lived in Punta Gorda, Florida. Charles F Zweifel Junior had married Lenora Flinn and was living in Gladstone, NJ at the time of his death.

The second child of John and Julia Greer was called Letta or Lottie in various census records and was born around 1892. My guess is that she was actually named Leticia as that name is fairly common in this extended family. It appears she was married to a Mr Dresher and then a Mr. Hembon or Hermfon or something similar (the handwritten record is not very clear) and had at least 2 children – Marie and Rita.

The 3rd child is the infamous one. Horace Aloysius Greer was born in 1894 in NYC and probably died in California in 1966. I base that on the California death index record which exactly matches the birthday and gives his mother’s name as Hopkins. Certainly not definite evidence but seems very likely to be a match. Several pieces of evidence also tie him to the shooting of Courtland Dines in the Mabel Normand scandal of the 1920s. Here is another account of the Normand-Dines-Greer scandal. But other that his beginnings, and the scandal, and his likely ending, I know relatively little about him. But he is an interesting character and I’m trying to find more.

The fourth child (and second son) is John J. Greer. Various records place his birth between 1895 and 1897 but all seem to agree it was December 21 or 23. He may have moved to California in the 1930s or 40s.

David John Greer was number 5 and seems to have been born in 1898. I’ve not much luck in finding records on him after the 1930 census. But in 1920, he, his wife Anna, and baby daughter Rita lived in the same apartment building at 1487 Amsterdam Ave. in Manhattan as his mother. He lived in the same building in 1930 but his mother had moved away. He had another daughter Julia who was born around 1924.

There were 2 more sons Charles and Matthew but I’ve not found much on them yet. There was a daughter Marrie born around 1910 who seems to have died in childhood.

If any of this sounds familiar to anyone, please leave a comment.