Ezekiel Greer

Ballymoney (Antrim)

Searching for more information for my great x 3 grandfather, Ezekiel Greer:

B: 1802 Tober, Kilraughts, Ballymoney

D: 1882 Ballynaloob, Ballymoney

Married Annie Taggart July 16, 1832 who was born in Knockahollett, Kilruaghts, Ballymoney. She died before 1882.

Occupation: Shoemaker

One of their three children: John: B:1840 Ballymoney area D: 1908 in River Hebert, Nova Scotia, Canada, was my great, great grandfather. His siblings were Sarah and James. John left Ireland in 1856/57 with two other young men from Ballymoney aboard the ship Mary Ann that landed in Saint John New Brunswick, Canada. One of the other men was a Taggart, possibly a cousin?

Ezekiel most likely remarried and had other children. His death notice/certificate was signed or witnessed by a Martha Greer B: 1836 D: 1906 Ballynaloob. Sister? Daughter? Second wife? Unclear.

Any information about Ezekiel, his wife Ann/Annie their parents and their son John would be appreciated.

I spent most of September 2023 in Ireland and spent a day in the Ballymoney/Dunloy, KIlraughts, Ballynaloob areas with a researcher.

Ezekiel was Presbyterian and the Greer plot is in Dunloy in the church there, simply marked Greer Ballynaloob.

GK1964

last year

Martha Greer’s death certificate records her as a spinster which, if correct, indicates she never married. Informant appears to have been Samuel Greer, her grandson.

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1906/05573/4564974.pdf

Possibly this family in the 1911 census:

https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Killagan/Ballynaloob/128151/

Samuel’s birth. Note that the informant was Martha Greer:

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1890/02422/1902186.pdf

John Greer & Jane Stewart/Stuart’s marriage in 1883. His father was named as William Greer, a labourer, though if he was illegitimate, that might not be accurate. John was living in Dirraw at the time of his marriage.

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/marriage_returns/marriages_1883/10938/5997239.pdf

Martha & family in 1901:

https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Killagan/Drumadarragh/944425/

Her marital status isn’t recorded but her age fits with being Samuel’s grandmother.

Ezekiel and Annie only had 3 children, the last apparently born c 1842. You would have expected more in those days. That suggests to me that Ann died around 1842. (1 in 8 women of child bearing age died of birth or post-natal problems then). If she did die in the 1840s, there’s probably no record of it. Death registration didn’t start till 1864 and Presbyterians rarely kept burial records, and she doesn’t appear to be named on the gravestone you have found. If Ezekiel had remarried any time from April 1845 onwards, it should be in the statutory marriage records. I don’t see any re-marriage for him in those records. So he probably didn’t.

The age difference between Ezekiel and Martha is too much for her to be a sister. She could be his daughter but I don’t think she was his wife. If not a daughter then a niece perhaps. If you can trace any of John Greer & Jane Stewart’s descendants today, you might be able to compare DNA and see if that helps. There are trees on Ancestry with the family eg the Mallon family so you could contact them. The daughter Sarah seems to have died in Australia but she did marry and have children who might well be alive today.

Getting back earlier than Ezekiel will be challenging. There are no church records to consult. (Finvoy Presbyterian was founded around 1690 or earlier but has no records before 1843). Being Presbyterian, having a Scottish surname and living in Co Antrim points to the family being of Scots origins. They likely arrived in the 1600s.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

last year

Ezekiel Greer

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