James Frederick Geer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Capt. James Frederick Geer (September 21, 1824 - March 1, 1905) was a soldier, farmer and Baptist churchman in Penfield, Greene County, Georgia. Most likely named for his two grandfathers, He is noted in numerous county and church records in Greene Co., serving on the grand jury, as trustee for Woodville Academy, member of the Democratic Club, a Commissioner for the Poor and member of the Baptist church at Bairds where he was ordained a Deacon.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Ancestry
The only child of David Geer (April 5, 1791 - October 22, 1855) and Sarah "Sally" Greer (December 18, 1805 - November 20, 1826), James was born September 21, 1824 in Greene Co. His father, David, and uncle, William Geer, were early settlers in Greene Co., coming from Wake County, North Carolina before 1820. He was the grandson of Frederick Geer (bef. 1755 - 1840) and Sarah Reeves (aft. 1755 - d. bef. April 15, 1822) of Wake Co. and James Greer (abt.1773 - bef. March 12, 1812) and Ann Nancy Haynes of Greene Co. Interesting to note of the Geer and Greer families in Greene Co. is the marriage of James Greer’s widow Ann Nancy (nee Haynes) Greer to William Geer, James Frederick Geer’s uncle. William Geer was made guardian of James Greer’s minor children: Elizabeth Greer, Sarah “Sally” Greer (James Frederick Geer’s future wife), Vinson Greer, Henry Greer and Nancy Greer, in the Greene Co. Court of Ordinary May 3, 1813. William Geer and Ann Nancy (nee Haynes) Greer Geer later became the parents of James Madison Geer, John L. Geer, [[Emily Geer and Evaline C. Geer, whose families are noted in the records of Morgan County, Georgia and Walton County, Georgia. This is just one complicating factor in disseminating the Geer and Greer families in Greene Co. and in the records of the neighboring counties of Wilkes and Oglethorpe. The Geer and Greer surnames are often misspelled or transposed in these records with the names variously spelled Geer, Gear, Gier, Greer and Grier. The research task is further complicated by the fact that both families used identical first names of David, James, William and Frederick in descendant lines.
[edit] Geer Farm
James and Mary Callaway Geer resided on a plantation located along Fishing Creek in Greene Co. that consisted of some 316 acres. There, James ran a farming operation that included crops of cotton, tobacco and vegetables as well as horses, cattle, sheep and pigs. Cotton, however, was the main cash crop. Commonly known as Captain Geer’s farm, the central point of the homestead was the 8-room farmhouse, built between 1828 and 1833 by James’ father David before his second marriage to Mrs. Helena Ligon McWhorter (October 5, 1793 - September 24, 1853) on July 26, 1833 in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Helena was the widow of Hugh McWhorter (August 24, 1788 - May 11, 1825) of Oglethorpe Co. and daughter of Joseph Ligon, III (1740 -1828) of Winterville, Clarke Co., Georgia) and Mary Church (bef. July 29, 1759 in Hinton Waldrist, Berkshire, England - died in Halifax County, Virginia). Today the location is identified as County Road 146, or Geer Road. The symmetrical exterior of the home highlights the architectural transition from the Federal to the Greek revival period. Double front doors with sidelight windows and transom lights lead into a foyer with French doors leading to another hallway, both with walls of horizontal boards. All the rooms have horsehair plaster walls and heart pine floors. Six rooms have built-in cabinets, an unusual feature for the time period. The eight fireplaces, each with a different mantel motif, add warmth to the five bedrooms, parlor, dining room/library and kitchen. The original kitchen, which stood behind the main house until the late 1930’s, was connected to the house by a raised open breezeway. A new kitchen was incorporated into the main house when electricity was added to the home in the late 1930’s. Water, however, still comes from a brick lined well that was expanded from it original twenty-five foot depth to 360 feet in the 1980’s. Under the house, a corner was dug out to form a root cellar and enclosed with a wattle and daub combination of hand-hewn beams and clay. These beams set on pillars of hand-made brick and fitted with pegs, hold the entire house together like a giant puzzle. The clapboards on the outside of the house were also hand hewn. In the attic rest the mortise and tenon supports for the hipped roof. They form an “X” under the main part of the roof, while smaller supports fit under the outlying portions of the roof. The original roof was made out of pine shakes. In front of the house lies the six-acre north pasture containing a four-stall barn with hay storage, tack room and the Family Cemetery where James and Mary are buried along with other family members. The homestead remained in the Geer family until 1980 when the last family occupant, granddaughter Nora Aleene Geer (February 25, 1897 - May 15, 1980), passed away and the farm was sold. The original farmhouse and some 60 acres, however, remain intact and continues as a private home with the addition of a fenced bricked patio, an 18 x 36 pool, separate heated spa/Jacuzzi, sunroom, central heat and air-conditioning to the house and barns and a 1-acre pond stocked with bream and bass.
[edit] Military Service
James enlisted in Company "C," 3rd Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Wright's Brigade (known as “The Dawson Grays”) during the War Between the States where he was elected 2nd Lieutenant. He fought briefly on the North Carolina coast in October 1861 before moving to Virginia and fighting at Malvern Hill (July 1, 1862). He was elected Captain April 28, 1862, but resigned July 22, 1862 due to disability.
[edit] Marriage and Family
James’ marriage to Mary Bethany Callaway on January 18, 1844 is recorded in the Ordinary Court in Wilkes County, Georgia. Mary was the eighth child of noted Baptist preacher Rev. Enoch Callaway (September 14, 1792 - September 12, 1859) and Martha “Patsy” Reeves (April 8, 1796 - March 10, 1879) of Rayle, Wilkes Co. and a second cousin to James’ grandmother Martha Reeves of Wake Co. She was born February 23, 1825 in Wilkes Co. and died May 4, 1908 in Athens, Clarke County, Georgia at the home of her daughter, [[Alice Angela Geer[[(Mrs. William H.) Weatherly, at 83 years of age. James had died three years earlier on March 1, 1905 at the home of his son Enoch Callaway Geer in the village of Penfield, Greene Co. located four miles southwest of the Geer homestead and seven and a half miles northeast of the county seat of Greensboro. James was just over eighty years of age and had shared 61 years of marriage with his beloved wife. James Frederick and Mary Callaway Geer raised twelve children on their antebellum plantation:
1. Sarah Martha “Sallie” Geer (December 25, 1844 - November 4, 1925) married October 17, 1865 in Greene Co. James N. “Jim” English (March 4, 1843 - October 17, 1865) son of Henry English, Jr. (August 25, 1796 - May 7, 1845) and Elizabeth Dicks/Duke (May 22, 1804 - January 28, 1862). They are buried in Penfield Cemetery, Greene Co.
2. Mary Helen Geer (October 10, 1846 - February 4, 1892) married November 3, 1864 in Greene Co. James Henry McCommons (October 6, 1844 near Lexington, Oglethorpe County, Georgia - March 15, 1940 in Greensboro, Greene County, Georgia) the son of Abraham McCommons (abt. 1818 - April 11, 1848) and Rebecca Caroline Young (February 17, 1822 - September 6, 1857). Mary Helen is buried in the Geer Family Cemetery on Geer farm, Greene Co. Mr. McCommons took as his second wife, Mary Helen’s sister, Ann Elizabeth Geer.
3. David Paul Geer (October 1, 1848 - September 28, 1895) is buried in the Geer Family Cemetery on Geer farm, Greene Co.
4. Anne Elizabeth Geer (September 30, 1850 - August 10, 1902) married January 18, 1893 in Greene Co., her sisters widower, James Henry McCommons (1844 -1940). James is buried in the Greensboro City Cemetery, Greene Co.. Anne Elizabeth is buried in Penfield Cemetery, Greene Co.
5. Lydia LaBelle “Belle” Geer (July 22, 1852 - March 30, 1903) married a Henry L. Winfrey (d. before 1879) on September 13, 1868 in Greene Co. She took as her second husband Andrew Williams on August 7, 1879 in Greene Co.
6. Ella Caroline Geer (August 22, 1854 - August 7, 1876) married James B. Harlow on February 16, 1874 in Greene Co. They were the parents of a daughter Katie Harlow. Ella is buried in the Geer Family Cemetery on Geer farm, Greene Co.
7. James Frederick Geer, Jr. (June 22, 1856 - January 26, 1890) married December 12, 1883 in Greene County Anna Tallulah “Lula” Colclough (September 15, 1855 - May 15, 1933) daughter of William A. "Bill" Colclough (March 9, 1827 - June 10, 1896) and Matilda James Moore (May 20, 1833 - February 18, 1919) of Greene County. They are buried in Penfield Cemetery, Greene Co.
8. Julia Alline Geer (July 16, 1858 - December 8, 1884) is buried in the Geer Family Cemetery on Geer Farm, Greene Co.
9. Enoch Callaway Geer (April 24, 1860 - April 14, 1926 in Decatur, DeKalb County, Georgia) married November 20, 1889 in Greene Co. Charlotte Eleanor “Elnora” Simpson (February 2, 1877* - August 27, 1908) the daughter of William Henry Simpson (December 14, 1839 - December 1, 1910) and Sarah Jane Hancock (May 14, 1834 - June 15, 1905) of Greene Co. They are buried in Penfield Cemetery, Greene Co. (*Note: Her tombstone gives birth year as 1879.)
10. Joseph Jefferson “Joe” Geer (July 30, 1863 - 1924) married November 25, 1885 in Greene Co. Minnie Young (b. abt. 1865) daughter of Rev. J. L. Young. Joe is buried in Greensboro City Cemetery, Greensboro, Greene Co.
11. William Brantley Geer (June 30, 1865 - October 19, 1894) is buried in the Geer Family Cemetery on Geer Farm, Greene Co.
12. Alice Angela Geer (May 10, 1867 - December 25, 1930 in Athens, Clarke County, Georgia) married William H. Weatherly of Clarke Co. (October 19, 1865 - before 1930) on November 20, 1889. He was the son of Joseph M. Weatherly (b. abt.1837) and Mary A. Vanderhost (b. abt.1843).
