I am looking for the parents of Robert Greer/Grier born in Antrim on 3/12/1806. One book says he landed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1826 with his mother and 6 siblings. He became a founding member of a Methodist church - so not catholic.
I deeply appreciate your assistance.
Methodism hadn’t started as a separate denomination in Ireland at the time of Robert’s birth, so he won’t be in any Methodists baptism records in Ireland. Most probably he was Church of Ireland, but could have been Presbyterian. A high percentage of the population of Antrim were of Scots origins and were mostly Presbyterian.
The name is very common. In the 1901 census there were 44 Robert Greers in County Antrim. It would have been equally common in the early 1800s. You would really need to know roughly where he lived to narrow the search. Not all churches in Ireland have records for the early 1800s and of those that do, they are not necessarily on-line. A trip to PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast may be needed if you can narrow the search area..
You haven’t given Robert’s parents names. I assume you have those. It might help identify the family more easily if you add them to this string.
The North of Ireland Family History Society is running a special DNA project. You might want to participate in that. Go to DNA project on their website.
As I said, I am looking for his parents' names. But I truly appreciate the education. I will try to find more history books online for Maryland and Ohio.. Unfortunately, theshipslist site has been discontinued, so finding arrival information for Baltimore may not be possible. Maybe the US National Archives.
Rene, Here's a Robert Greer baptized in Antrim on 14 March 1803. You have his date of birth as 12 March, so a baptism two days later makes sense.
How sure are you of the 1806 date? As you likely know, year of birth in old records can vary a lot. This Robert may be the one you are seeking, despite the discrepancy.
This Robert's father was also called Robert.
Name: Robert Greer
Date of Baptism: 14-Mar-1803
Address: Knockmore Blaris Co Antrim
Parish/District: Blaris
County Co. Antrim
Denomination: Church Of Ireland
Father: Robert Greer
Mother: [no name]
I found him! In the ship manifest from Ireland to Baltimore he is listed only as Robert but a few lines above is an Anne Greer and four daughters, on the next page there are two male GREERs. The Knox county histoery book said he has four sisterrs and two brothers.All birth years match. They landed in Baltimore in 1826 and She was buying land in Ohio in 1827. There were already a lot of Greers there. On all census and tax lists she is listed as head of household. My gut tells me she was a widow. I'm going to start gathering the naturalization packets for her and all the kids. I'll also see if she has a probate file in Ohio.
And I'll research the Irish records for a possible fater named Robert.
Thank You!