THE GEER GENEALOGY A HISTORIC1\L RECORD OF GEORGE AND THOMAS GEER AND THEIR DESCENDANTS · IN THE UNITED STATES FROM 1623 TO 1923 BY WALTER GEER ILLUS'I'RA'I'ED NEW YORK •• BRENCfA.NO'S COPYRIGHT 1923, BY WALTER GEER All rights resmetl THE PLIMPTON PRESS NOi!. WOOD•MASS•ll'•S•A Jn £!1!}emotiam EVEREI I SELDEN GEER 23 FEBRUARY 1850-24 OCTOBER :i:917 FOREWORD N PRESENTING a revised and enlarged edition of the Geer Genealogy, it may be of interest to place on I record some facts in relation to the two works already published, and also tell the story of one which never appeared. In 1856, James Geer, of Ledyard, Connecticut, pub­ lished a little book of eighty-four pages, entitled His­ torical Sketch and Genealogy of George and Thomas Geer from r62r to r856. James Geer was then seventy-two years of age. He was a descendant in the fifth generation of George Geer, through his fourth son, Robert. His family had always lived on the homestead of George Geer, which is also still the home of his own descendants. As much of the material contained in the First Part of this volume is taken ~rom the Genealogy published by James Geer, we quote here a part of his Introduction in which he states the origin of his work: " Living as the writer does upon the homestead of George Geer, and having in his possession many of th~ original papers belonging to him and his children, it very naturally prompted frequent inquiries respecting the pa:.'t history of the Geer Family on the part of those de­ scendants who visited the spot once trodden by our honored and revered sire. This spirit of inquiry, ac­ companied by many urgent solicitations that the gene­ alogy of the family, as far as possible, might be collected together, suggested the idea of this memoir. " That this has required much time and labor no one can doubt. To collect and arrange the names of so many in the appropriate places, from such fragmentary and obliterated materials, has been no easy task, nor [vii] FORE\VORD without considerable expense. But the author felt that it had been already too long neglected and that, if undertaken, it must be done at once; and while he could wish that more able hands had undertaken it, yet the posse~sion of many more documents than were possessed by any other, seemed to indicate that he should attempt it, and so far complete it as his declining years and de­ caying faculties would permit, being now ( I 8 56) in his 73d year. " The design of the work is to give correct statistical information. To secure this, the author has made care­ ful research of the records in New London, Groton, Nonvich, Preston, and the old Colony records at Hart­ £ord. He also visited Enfield and Springfield, and gleaned from their records such information as he could obtain respecting Thomas Geer. Besides this, much information has been collected from family Bibles, tomb stones, and extensive correspondence. In some cases, the names by which persons were familiarly known have been changed to correspond with the true name of the person as found on re,Jrd. The dates are made to correspond with the records so far as any could be found, by which to be guided. " ,·, ,1ile the author has endeavored to secure correct­ ness in all parts of the work, yet it will not be surprising if errors have crept in, though it is hoped and believed that there are but few." About 1878, Everett Selden Geer, of Hartford, Connecticut, began to collect material for a new edition of the Genealogy. He was then a young man of twenty­ eight years. His family for many years had been the publishers of the Hart£ord City Directory, said to be "the best city directory on earth." The James Geer Genealogy was printed by this house in I 8 56. To secure information for his work, Mr. Geer person­ ally visited many members of the family; corresponded with many mor!, and collected a large amount of ma­ terial. Unfortunately, he left his travelling bag, with his manuscript and papers, on a railway train, and never [ viii J FORE\VORD succeeded in recovering them. About the same time he began to have trouble with his eyes, and so gave up the entire project. He was a descendant in the seventh generation of Thomas Geer, through the younger line of this branch of the family. He died at Hartford 24 October 1917. His portrait and a brief sketch of his life are given in this volume. About 1890, the present ,vriter, in preparing papers for admission to some of the patriotic societies, becan1e interested in the family history. Later, a professional genealogist was engaged, who visited many of the places identified with the family history; searched town, county and state records; corresponded with members of the family whose addresses could be obtained, and also consulted other published genealogies which contained information regarding the Geer and allied families. A great deal of valuable material was also contributed by a granddaughter of James Geer, Miss Ellen Geer, of Norwich, Connecticut, to whom a special word of ap­ preciation is due. She passed a,vay in October r917, much regretted by all who knew her. After many years spent in these researches, in the autumn of 1913, the writer began to put the material in shape for publication. But the work of compiling a genealogy, like that of making a dictionary, is never done. While the book was in the hands of the printer, additional information continued to come in, and the sec­ tion of the book set aside £or such material increased be­ £ore publication to over twenty printed pages. At the same time, information ·was also received regarding a previously unknown branch of the family, on the Pacific Coast, the descendants of Joseph Cary Geer, who was the grandson of Captain Aaron Geer, the grandson of Jonathan, eldest son of George Geer. Joseph Cary Geer was born in Windham, Connecticut, in r795; moved to Ohio in 1818; later to Illinois; and finally in 1847 to Oregon, where he died in 1881, leav­ ing 165 living descendants. Through his grandson, Gov­ ernor Theodore T. Geer, of Oregon, and his great-grand- [ i.x:] FOREWORD son, Willard Geer, of Ne,v 'York City, over twelve printed pages of information were obtained regarding this branch of the family. This material was published in a sepa­ rate st:ction, under the heading of the " Oregon Branch," as it was too late to insert it in its proper place in the body of the book. Even after the publication of the work, in March 1914, much ne,v information continued to come to hand. In January 1918, a letter of inquiry was received from Miss Sara Marie Starkhouse, of San Francisco, a grand­ daughter of Keziah Geer, ,vho was the daughter of George Geer's great-grandson Roger. It appeared that Miss Starkhouse's father had been much interested in the family history; that he had corresponded with Everett Selden Geer at the time the latter was collecting ma­ terial for his proposed book; and that he had left a great many notes regarding the family history. All this ma­ terial, Miss Starkhouse sent to the writer, and supple­ mented it with much additional information which she obtained by correspondence with various members of her immediate family. This makes quite a complete record of Roger Geer and his descendants up to the present day. All of this new information, and also the results of more recent research, have been embodied in the present book. \VALTER. GEER. NEw YoRi.: C1rr, December 192.3. [x] CONTENTS PAGE THE GEER GENEALOGY • • I ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY • • 3 THE ENGLISH ANCESTORS • 5 THE AMERICAN ANCESTORS 7 ORIGIN OF THE NAME 8 THE GEER. AR.MS • • • • • • 9 PART ONE . • II GEoRGE GEER. AND His DESCENDANTS • 13 PART TWO . • 2 95 THOMAS GEER. A.'ID His DESCENDANTS 297 PART THREE . • • 343 ALLIED FAMILIES • • 345 UNPLACED GEERS . • • 365 ADDmONAL INFORMATION • 370 INDEX • • • • • • • •• • 393 PART I, DESCENDANTS OF GEORGE 393 PART 2, DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS 414 PART ;, ALL OTHER. SOR.N.ua:s 417 FAMILY RECORD .•..••.• 449 [xiJ ILLUSTRATIONS l"ACC-:CPACE THE GEER ARMS • • • • • . Frontispiece THE GEER CouNTRY (1780) 3 ]AMES GEER, OF LEDYARD, CONNECTICUT 98 RonERT GERE, oF SYRACUSE, NEW YoRJC • 99 G1LDERT GEER, OF TRoY, NEW YoRJC • 146 REv. GEORGE JARVIS GEER, D. D., OF NEW YoRJC C1TY 147 NATHANIEL BELLOWS GEER, OF LEDYARD, CoNNECTICt1T 166· RoDERT NELSON GERE, OF SYRACUSE, NEw YoRx . 167 · GEORGE CLINTOS GERE, oF SYRACUSE, NEw YoRK I i4 W1LLIAM H. H. GERE, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YoRK lj5 G1LDERT GEER, JuNIOR, OF TROY, NEW YORK zoo' GoVERNOR JoHN HENRY GEAR, OF IowA . 201. GEORGE JARVIS GEER, OF NEw YoRK C1TY • 208 REv. WM. MosTAGVE GEER, S. T. D., oF NE,v YoRK 209 IRA JEWETT GEER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS . • • 236 Wu.I.JAM CLARKE GEER, oF.TRoY, NEw YoRK • 237 OuvER JOSEPH GEER, oF NEW YoRJC C1TY . 252 GoVERNOR. THEODORE THURSTON GEER, OF OREGON . 253· GEORGE JARVIS GEER, Jus10R, OF NEw YoRK C1TY • 262 MARSHALL GEER, OF NEW YORK C,TY .• 263 !.ANGDON GEER, OF NEw YoRK C1TY ••• 268 FRANK HAMILTON GEER, OF TOLEDO, OHIO 269 ANDREW ]ACKSOS GEER, OF CHAR.LESTON, s. C. 282. BENSETTE EUGENE GEER, OF GREENVILLE, s. C. 283· EDWARD FRENCH GEER, OF NEW YORK C1TY . , , 292' LYNFOR.D ELLIOTT GEEK, OF MANITOWOC, W1sc0Ns1N • • 2 93 ( WALTER. GEER, oF GLENS FALLS, NEW YoRK • 316 AsAHEL CLARKE GEER, OF WASHINGTON, D.