RetiredGuy

Chink Greer of the Slant Eyes

Posted on November 12, 2014March 21, 2015 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

Posted on November 10, 2014March 21, 2015 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”

Regulating Guns in Pennsylvania

Posted on November 1, 2014February 18, 2018 by Jack

The state of Pennsylvania not only forbids local governments from regulating guns but went beyond that with a new NRA-supported law allowing the allowing the NRA and other organizations members with living in Pennsylvania or actual residents of the Commonwealth to sue the municipality for not only injunction to stop the law but for any actual or punitive financial damages they feel are warranted.

For example, Philadelphia and many other communities require the reporting of lost and stolen firearms. Since our state government will not act against making of “straw” purchases, many municipalities have. Both are important tools to fight gun trafficking without interfering with the possession of guns by ordinary citizens. Continue reading “Regulating Guns in Pennsylvania”

FREE online newspaper article

Posted on October 29, 2014March 21, 2015 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”

A visit to the Big Duck

Posted on October 24, 2014October 24, 2014 by Jack

Last week we decided to visit the Big Duck.

As you can see the duck is really big, dwarfing the flagpole and building in the Background of the picture. My wife and I decided to take a driving tour of part of Long Island and since the Big Duck was one one route we could take, we decided that was the way to go.

We thought we would use one day to explore the South Fork and visit the Hamptons and Montauk. We planned the day so our journey passed the Big Duck. We were staying in about mid-Island so we took the Long Island Expressway to the NY-24 exit just before Riverhead and headed south through Flanders, NY on route 24. The Big Duck was sitting there off to the left of route 24 as we went south before we reached route 27 and 27A.

Other than saying “you can’t miss it”, I don’t think more explicit directions are needed. After all, if you can’t see a 20 foot high duck by the side of the road, you probably should not be driving.

Matthew Greer, the younger, part 3

Posted on October 20, 2014October 16, 2014 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

Posted on October 17, 2014October 15, 2014 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

Posted on October 15, 2014October 15, 2014 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

Posted on October 10, 2014 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

Posted on October 8, 2014October 15, 2014 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

Posted on October 4, 2014 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

Posted on September 27, 2014March 21, 2015 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

Posted on September 26, 2014October 9, 2014 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

Posted on September 23, 2014January 12, 2015 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”

Costello vs Trivedi congressional race for PA-6

Posted on September 19, 2014September 19, 2014 by Jack

Ryan Costello and Manan Trivedi are fighting for the congressional seat of the 6th District of Pennsylvania.

I am not quite sure where I stand in this Costello vs Trivedi race. Our current congressman is retiring. Continue reading “Costello vs Trivedi congressional race for PA-6”

Chink Greer of the Slant Eyes

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Charles “Chink” Greer

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Regulating Guns in Pennsylvania

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FREE online newspaper article

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A visit to the Big Duck

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Matthew Greer, the younger, part 3

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Matthew Greer, the younger, Part 2

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Horace A. Greer, New York City to Los Angeles

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Matthew Greer of Great Neck, NY

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Genealogy Trails

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Genealogy search engine

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U.S. Historic Newspapers at Library of Congress

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Horace A. Greer and Sadie French

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Keep genealogy records free by indexing

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Costello vs Trivedi congressional race for PA-6

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