Our Ancestors From The Prairie, About Us

Our Ancestors from the Prairie...and Their Stories - Tracing and Placing Our Family Roots

Tracing the ancestors and descendants of the people who settled in Mercer County Illinois takes us through the ages from 200 A.D. to the present. Have you ever been to a family reunion with 500 - 800 people in attendance? I have.

How many of you can say that when you were growing up you had two Grandfathers, two Grandmothers, two Great Grandmothers, ten Great Uncles, 12 Great Aunts, eight Uncles, and eight Aunts who were all living and you knew each of them personally? I can.

My paternal Grandfather, Ernest Craig Greer was one of 13 children of Thomas 'Tam' Franklin and Eliza Celeste Marsh Greer. I feel very blessed that out of these 13 children I personally knew eight of them and their spouses. I also knew the spouses of three of the others whom had passed away before my birth in 1955. These were not just people that I knew of; these were people who lived down the street, around the corner or just a few miles from me. I, my sister, Ellen, my brother, Warren Charles Greer and my parents, Nellie Rose Bridger and Ernest Maynard Greer, spent many a happy hour visiting them or while they visited us.

When I was in school at the Aledo Seventh-Day Adventist Church School, Aledo, Mercer County, Illinois, I found a birthday book that had belonged to my Great Aunt Pearl Vivian Graham Greer (1894-1968) who was married to Horace F Greer (1894-1952). I started with the names and events listed in her book and began to realize that Aunt Pearl did not enter just members of the Graham's, Greer's and Marsh's in her birthday book, she had all the people she knew.

Many of my relatives have sent me notes of interest and copies of journals and documents kept by several of our ancestors. Whenever available I have entered the information from funeral memorials, obituaries, tombstones, photographs, family Bibles. I have searched the web for verifiable information to make the data I present here as complete and accurate as possible.

I want to be sure to include everyone who went to the Aledo Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) church and Aledo / Marsh school...Wait...I don't want to stop there...whether you are related to any of the people mentioned on this site or to Mercer County Illinois, why not join us and grow your own family tree here with us...and "Our Ancestors from the Prairie". Contact me at webmaster@ourancestorsfromtheprairie.ws to request your own tree with your family name. We won’t sell, rent or share your information with anyone!

If there are websites already out there that contain information you think should be part of this history, please contact me at webmaster@ourancestorsfromtheprairie.ws.

I am now presenting this data to aid you in your search for your family roots and to provide you with a centralized depository for your findings and to honor your fathers and mothers. Thanks to Ellen Greer Wherry, Eugene Greer, Gary Greer, Jennifer Greer, Jessica Greer Anderson, Hal (Harold) Greer, Barb and Harold Marsh, Mike Marsh, Ramona Greer Trubey, Elizabeth Greer (Clough) Culver, Rebecca Greer Twomley, Rose Greer Stoia, Sandy McIntyre Zellers for sharing their knowledge and personal archival collections to provide the initial data for this website.

As we reflect on the words of our newly elected president, Barack Obama. Let us remember our forefathers and the spirit which they carried with them on their quest for a better life in unknown lands and go forward in a manner which will bring honor to them.

"So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

p.s. Are you taking care of an older family member? My good friend and neighbor, Terrie Dennard Johnson has written a most insightful book about her adventures in elder care.

"Lord, Help! Here Comes Mom! offers a true, slice-of-life look into the lives of a single mother, two teenagers, and a college student as they embark on the journey of caring for their 85-year-old mother and grandmother after she sells the home she has lived in for 47 years and moves across the country to live near them. Readers will roar with laughter at times while being moved to tears at others as they find themselves caught up in this timeless story of family, love, commitment and renewal. CLICK HERE to order