Category: Genealogy

Charles Greer who escaped from Sing Sing

Charles Greer who escaped from Sing Sing

Posted on by Jack

I’ve written several times about the Charles Greer who escaped from Sing Sing in 1922. I believed he was the child of John and Julia Greer of New York City.

I did find a newspaper article that seemed to confirm I was right but I was hoping to find a second source. Yesterday I found it.

Ancestry.com now has added some Sing Sing admission records and a little searching led to the record of Charles Greer received in 1920 and convicted of murder as reported in the newspapers. Julia Greer of 1487 Amsterdam Ave, NYC was listed on the record.

Chink Greer of the Slant Eyes

Chink Greer of the Slant Eyes

Posted on by Jack

According to the Yonkers NY Statesman of January 4, 1924, the Charles Greer who escaped from Sing Sing was known as Chink Greer of the Slant Eyes to the New York police and was a brother to Horace Greer of Mabel Normand scandal fame. The author of the article is unknown since a byline is not included but the article is called “Brother of Dines assailant killed local man in 1920”.

According to this article Charles “Chink” Greer developed a disease as a result of exposure of the elements During his escape and the two days before his recapture. After he was recaptured, he was sent to Clinton Prison in Dannemora, NY where is died on December 27, 1922.

Charles “Chink” Greer

Charles “Chink” Greer

Posted on by Jack

In my reading about collateral relatives I’ve been filling in information on the John Greer and Julia Mary Hopkins family of New York City, I found some interesting stuff on Charles John Greer, a son born around 1900.

The first hit that this might be interesting Continue reading “Charles “Chink” Greer”

FREE online newspaper article

FREE online newspaper article

Posted on by Jack

Over the past couple weeks I wrote about finding online newspaper articles about a great grand uncle named Matthew H. Greer. I found several articles about his death and his will. Several articles from paid sites. But the final word on his will (at least so far) came from a newspaper I found in a free online newspaper article.

The free online newspaper article Continue reading “FREE online newspaper article”

Matthew Greer, the younger, part 3

Matthew Greer, the younger, part 3

Posted on by Jack

So in the earlier installments of this story we had Matthew Greer dying in Great Neck, NY in 1936 and leaving his $ 10,000 estate to his niece Jennie Zweifel.

His sister Sarah Mahan was not mentioned at all in part 2 but some of you may have noticed her name in the tags. So what does Sarah have to do with it? Continue reading “Matthew Greer, the younger, part 3”

Matthew Greer, the younger, Part 2

Matthew Greer, the younger, Part 2

Posted on by Jack

So now Matthew Greer, the younger, is a bit less of a mystery to me. I have an arrival from Ireland in 1883 and a death in Great Neck, NY in the 1936. That was covered in Matthew Greer of Great Neck, NY part 1 of this story.

For those not familiar with the New York City area, Great Neck is on the north shore of Long Island. The area in often called the Gold Coast or some might prefer to call it Great Gatsby country. Continue reading “Matthew Greer, the younger, Part 2”

Horace A. Greer, New York City to Los Angeles

Horace A. Greer, New York City to Los Angeles

Posted on by Jack

I’ve been writing about Horace A. Greer who was born in New York City in 1894, moved to Los Angeles, got into the Mabel Normand Hollywood scandal in the 1920s, and kept a fairly low profile after that. I’m fairly certain he died in 1966 in the LA area since the California Death index records his death with birthday and his mother’s maiden name (Hopkins).

I’ve had found quite a few records Continue reading “Horace A. Greer, New York City to Los Angeles”

Matthew Greer of Great Neck, NY

Matthew Greer of Great Neck, NY

Posted on by Jack

I have often wondered about Matthew Greer, the younger. He was born in Sligo, Ireland shortly before the death of his father. I have written about his parents Matthew Greer and Ruth Allingham. Several of the Greer children had emigrated to New York and widowed Ruth Allingham Greer decided to join them taking her remaining 3 children with her. This was in 1883 and young Matthew was about 9 years old.

After that he vanished. Continue reading “Matthew Greer of Great Neck, NY”

Genealogy Trails

Genealogy Trails

Posted on by Jack

Genealogists look for information – mostly old information – having to do with our family history. We collect that information, try to figure out what is fact, and try to assemble a true history of our family.

But information can be hard to find. We often have to pay and sometimes that is worth while. But what I really like is when I find information for free. Continue reading “Genealogy Trails”

Genealogy search engine

Genealogy search engine

Posted on by Jack

Speaking of free websites that are useful to genealogists (which I have been doing lately), you should be aware of a free genealogy search engine which searches across multiple sites that could be of interest to genealogists or historians.

A recent search of some ancestors turned up links to Google News archives, the Library of Congress historic newspapers, files in the US GenWeb archives, the internet archive, various university newspaper archives and much more. Continue reading “Genealogy search engine”

U.S. Historic Newspapers at Library of Congress

U.S. Historic Newspapers at Library of Congress

Posted on by Jack

One of the unexpected resources for genealogy that I found while researching Sadie Evahn of Spokane WA is the Library of Congress Historic Newspapers program.

Seems like they have thousands of newspapers published between 1836 and 1922. Some runs that they have preserved are relatively short and some longer. Many are microfilmed but a good number are online and searchable.

I got lucky Continue reading “U.S. Historic Newspapers at Library of Congress”

Horace A. Greer and Sadie French

Horace A. Greer and Sadie French

Posted on by Jack

It seems certain that Horace Greer married Sadie French. But who is this Sadie French? I looking for more evidence (maybe even some proof). But so far I have pile of circumstantial evidence.

By the way, my interest is Horace A. Greer who moved from New York City to Los Angeles, got into the Mabel Normand Hollywood scandal in the 1920s, and kept a low profile after that. For more on Horace, just google Horace A. Greer. Continue reading “Horace A. Greer and Sadie French”

Keep genealogy records free by indexing

Keep genealogy records free by indexing

Posted on by Jack

I mentioned before that I am a big fan of volunteer indexing. Family search has has millions of genealogy records free. Yes, free and millions is an understatement. Continue reading “Keep genealogy records free by indexing”

Mystery Monday: Sadie Evahn Spokane WA

Mystery Monday: Sadie Evahn Spokane WA

Posted on by Jack

I found Sadie Evahn several times in Spokane, WA in the early 1900s. I was really looking for Sadie French and I think this is her before she got married.

Evahn is unusual name and I don’t think it is a mistake in spelling since it is so consistent. But I’d like to hear if anyone has experience with this name as a misspelling. Continue reading “Mystery Monday: Sadie Evahn Spokane WA”

Frances Greer and Horace Johnston marry

Frances Greer and Horace Johnston marry

Posted on by Jack

Several weeks ago I had written about the marriage of Frances Greer and Horace Johnston in New York City on December 24, 1892.

I saw an abstracted record on familysearch.org and was pretty sure Frances was a daughter of Matthew Greer and Ruth Allingham of Sligo, Ireland I had not previously known about. Continue reading “Frances Greer and Horace Johnston marry”