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Greer and Allingham, Sligo and Leitrim, Ireland

Matthew GREER was from Scotland. I don't know where. (That's as specific as it gets on his son's death certificate (William GREER)). William's mother was Jane BURKARD , also of Scotland. Next thing you know, Matthew is a widower, living in Sligo, Ireland and getting married again.

On 23 Feb 1854, he married Ruth ALLINGHAM of Glencar in the parish church of Glenlough, Co Leitrim. He is listed as a shoemaker on the certificate. His residence is Sligo. (The Mall in Sligo seems likely). His father is listed as Archibald GREER. Ruth's father is Thomas ALLINGHAM, a farmer in Glencar.

Glencar lake straddles the Sligo / Leitrim border. It is very close to the road from Sligo to Manorhamilton.

I have information on several births between 1862 and 1874 (Elizabeth, Letitia, Sarah, Rebecca, Ruth and another Matthew). There may have been other children born in the first 8 years of this marriage. Matthew GREER's occupation is listed as letter carrier on the birth certificates. His residence is Ballinode townland in Sligo. The clerk in the county registar's office remarked that he was an educated man, as he signed his name instead of making his mark. He died in 1875, married to Ruth. Ruth died later in the United States.

My great-grandmother Elizabeth GREER emigrated from Sligo to NY City in the US in 1878. In the 1880 census, she is listed as a servant at the Presbyterian Home for Aged Women on E 73rd St. In 1887 she married John Tracey, an Irish emigrant from Dublin. In 1937, Lizzie Tracey died in Valley Stream NY.

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