Alexander Greer (b. circa ? - d. 1839)
MSA SC 5496-050725
War of 1812 Claimant, Charles County, Maryland, 1828
Biography:
Alexander Greer was a property owner who lived at Smith’s Point
in the Nanjemoy District of Charles County, Maryland. Greer emigrated
from Ireland to America in 1795. He married a widow, Sally Massey
Stoddert. Sally was the widow of William Truman Stoddert, a wealthy
Charles County resident. Through his marriage to Sally, Alexander Greer
inherited a vast amount of property including land and slaves. Greer
made many transactions in the land records of Charles County.
In
June of 1812, America declared war on Britain. By 1813, British vessels
of war arrived in the Chesapeake Bay, placing a blockade on Maryland
Waterways. On April 2, 1814, British Admiral Alexander Cochrane issued
a proclamation offering immediate emancipation to any person looking to
take up arms with the British or wanting to relocate to a British
Territory.
In August of 1814, three enslaved men, Moses
Hanson, York Stuart, and Joshua Stuart, escaped from Greer. At the same
time, a slave belonging to Sarah Dyson, escaped with Greer’s
slaves. The escaped slaves went on board the British vessel Euryalus
when it was acending the Potomac River. John Truman Stoddert, a close
friend of Greer, who also lost slaves to the British, went on board a
British vessel seeking to have their slaves released. Stoddert was
turned away and the slaves that escaped in Charles County were carried
away.
After the war Marylanders submitted claims to the Department of State for the loss of their property to the British. A commission was formed to handle the claims. It was decided that Maryland and Virginia property owners would receive $280 for each enslaved person that they lost to the British during the war. Each one of the enslaved men that escaped from Alexander Greer was worth $500. Greer submitted his claim to the commission, which included sworn depositions by himself and close friends who were well acquainted with his slaves. Greer was awarded $280 for the loss of his three enslaved men to the British.
In later years Greer sent one of his slave women, Ellen Cooper, to live in Knox County, Ohio. Ellen left behind a family whom she corresponded with with through letters. Alexander Greer sold his farm Stump Neck to A.B. Waller.Alexander
Greer died in Charles County, Maryland in 1839. Greer appointed his
close friends, John T. Stoddert, Walter H. J. Mitchell, and William B.
Stone, to be the executors of his his last will and testament. In his
will, Greer left his tracts of land and all of his slaves to Lucinda
Stoddert, daughter of John T. Stoddert. He bequeathed to Stoddert's
other daughters, Mary and Elizabeth Stoddert, their choice of his
feather beds. He manumitted for slaves Stephen, Manuel, Little Harry
Cooper and Tom. Greer's slave Harry Coopery, father of little Harry
Cooper, wasn't manumitted but was to receive $50 per year during his
life. Greer also left money to members of his family who lived in
Danville, Knox County, Ohio.
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