Individual Details

"Thomas Lacy Greer was born September 2, 1826 at DeKalb County, Georgia and moved with his parents to Texas in 1837. He volunteered and fought in the Mexican War, which began in 1846 and served in the 6th Cavalry division of the Texas Volunteers. He fought from 1846 -1848 and participated in battles leading to the capture of Mexico City. He received a medal and citation for a shoulder wound he received from which the bullet was never removed, causing a partial disability and suffering in the latter part of his life. He was under General Winfield Scott in the drive to Mexico City. In late 1848 he received his honorable discharge from the U.S. Army. In 1855 he left with his parents for Salt Lake City. He helped complete the plans for establishing a store under the name of Blair, Greer and Basset. He was a Bookkeeper for the company as long as he remained in Salt Lake City. He married Catherine Ellen Camp. From her diary, "the first time I saw Mr. Greer he was wearing a large white beaver hat. I knew he was a Texan, but I didn't like the hat. We soon got acquainted. He asked me if I would go to church with him. I said "yes". We did not stay apart much after that. In Nov. 1855 we married in my father's house by Judge Sprouce (sic), a Justice of the Peace. I was 18 years old the 17th, of Oct. 1855 and he was 30 the 2nd of Sept 1855. We had $50,000 when we were married. We had a merry time that winter. Mr. Greer did not have to take care of the cattle that winter. He was bookkeeper at the store and I went to dancing school. Soon after the their marriage he was called on a mission to Texas and planned on leaving in the spring. The winter of 1855-56 was the most severe winter the "saints" had experienced. The cattle were frozen in their tracks and the amount of loss to the church was a calamity. The Greer boys lost most of their cattle and became discouraged so when Thomas Lacy Ellen left for their Texas Mission, the other Greer boys took their mother and went with them in June 1856. They arrived in Hill County, Texas in October of 1856 and put up several homes. The families included those of the Phelps, Lane, Gilbert Greer, Mammy Greer and Thomas Lacy. The other went on to Bosque County while Thomas and Ellen stayed in the Hill County for two years then went to Bosque County. Thomas Lacy was a good financier and became a wealthy man, one of the "Cattle Kings" of Texas. In 1876 they left Texas for Arizona, and arrived in Arizona in 1877. He traded 3 head of horses for the Dan DeBoise Ranch with some cattle included. In 1878 he purchased land and named it the Greer Ranch. He was appointed Treasurer of Yavapai County by John C. Freemont, territorial governor of Arizona, who also had served in the war with Mexico. He served as Treasurer 1877-1879 when Yavapai County comprised the territory covering the present counties of Apache, Navajo and Yavapai. The Greer ranch became one of the finest cattle ranches in Arizona. Thomas Lacy Greer became 11 a wealthy cattleman and a highly respected citizen-father of 12 children and the beloved husband of a wonderful woman" He died 30 July 1881 at his home at the age of 55 years." (Eliza M. Wakefield, A Greer History, 1953.)

(NOTE FROM RALPH TERRY: Some information on the family of Thomas Lacy Greer was taken from a Greer Chart by Leonard Greer of Lancaster, Pennsylvania as per GREER FAMILY, 1980 by William Greer Peck, page 117. Hunt, Arizona is now a ghost town near Thomas Lacy Greer's ranch. Additional information on the descendants of Thomas Lacy Greer from a descendancy chart from Josephine Greer, 1995.)

Birth	September 2, 1826	DeKalb County, Georgia
Marriage	November 25, 1855	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah - Catherine Ellen Camp
Death	July 30, 1881	Greer's Ranch, near Hunt, Apache County, Arizona
Burial	August 3, 1881	Saint Johns, Apache County, Arizona

Spouse	Catherine Ellen Camp (1837 - 1929)
Child	Nathaniel William Greer (1856 - 1938)
Child	Thomas Riley "Tom" Greer (1858 - 1873)
Child	Gilbert Dunlap Greer (1860 - 1895)
Child	Deseret Diannah "Dessie" Greer (1861 - 1898)
Child	Richard Decatur Greer (1864 - 1937)
Child	John Harris Greer (1866 - 1926)
Child	Oasis Ann Greer (1867 - 1958)
Child	James William "James Willie" Greer (1870 - 1871)
Child	Lacy Greer (1872 - 1904)
Child	Harriet Mary "May" Greer (1875 - 1907)
Child	Ann Terry Greer (1877 - 1964)
Child	Greer (1878 - )
Child	Margaret Ellen Greer (1879 - 1967)

Father	Senator Nathaniel Hunt Greer (1802 - 1855)
Mother	Nancy Ann Terry Roberts (1805 - 1888)
Sibling	Captain Gilbert Dunlap Greer (1822 - 1910)
Sibling	Wilmirth Matilda "Margaret" Greer (1824 - 1902)
Sibling	William Reddic "Uncle Bill" Greer (1828 - 1900)
Sibling	Stephen Decatur "Uncle Kate" "Cate" Greer (1830 - 1905)
Sibling	Christopher Columbus Greer (1832 - 1854)
Sibling	Americus Vespuccius "Uncle H" "H" Greer (1832 - 1896)
Sibling	Dixon Hamblin "Dick" Greer (1834 - 1918)
Sibling	Sarah Hunt "Sallie" Greer (1836 - 1925)
Sibling	Nathaniel Hunt Greer Jr. (1838 - 1838)
Sibling	Ira Abner Greer (1840 - 1855)
Sibling	Parley Wiley Greer (1842 - 1851)
Sibling	John Irvine Greer (1844 - 1855)
Sibling	Matthew Simeon "Babe" Greer (1845 - 1915)