JOHN A. GRIER
Grier family1900
Written by his Great Great Granddaughter, Betty Terrell OWENS September 2003
John A. GRIER moved to Texas prior to 1850 when he was enumerated in the Census of Smith County, Texas. Between 1850 and 1860, he moved to Henderson County, Texas and applied for a grant of land south of Chandler, Texas. He volunteered to serve in the Confederate Cavalry during the War Between the States, and married Mrs. Martha PERKINS CRUMPLER on 12 September 1865 in Henderson Co. Texas. He died there on January 1, 1892, and is buried in Hines Cemetery in that county. Martha Grier, b. October 8, 1833 in North Carolina, died in 1906 and is buried beside John Grier. John’s paternal great grandfather, Robert Grier, came to America from Ireland in the 1750’s with his wife Catherine Elizabeth (MCMURRY- BURNS-last names no known proof). They lived in York County, Pennsylvania before they moved to Wilkes County, Georgia. The family included Moses Grier, b. 1759 York Co. Pa-d. 11 Aug 1837. Moses fought in the American Revolutionary War. Tradition is that his wife was Martha HAYS. Their children included Joseph Grier, born 1789 in Georgia, who married Mary STEWART. One of Joseph and Mary’s children was John A. Grier, born about 1817. Around 1820 or so, the Moses Grier family, along with some of his married children moved to utauga County, Alabama, where numerous parcels of land were acquired. John A. Grier’s maternal great grandfather Thomas Stewart also moved to Pennsylvania from Scotland or England. His wife was Catharine NEWELL. While living in Cumberland Co. Pennsylvania, on January 13, 1760, a son was born to them who was also named Thomas Stewart. The family subsequently moved to North Carolina. Thomas Stewart, the son, fought in the American Revolutionary War. He married Mrs. Elizabeth Grier Campbell, the widow of Hugh CAMPBELL, and also the sister of Moses Grier. They moved to Georgia, and then on to Alabama, where Stewart died February 13, 1839. Thomas and Elisabeth Stewart’s daughter, Mary, married Joseph Grier. Joseph Grier served in the War of 1812 from Georgia. Four of Joseph and Mary Grier’s children moved to Henderson County, Texas: Thomas, John, Robert Monroe, and Moses Gaines Grier. Their uncle, George A. Stewart had moved to Smith County, Texas before 1850. Documents recorded in Autauga County, Alabama shed some light on Grier’s early life. On August 2, 1830, his uncle, John N. Stewart, deeded him a heifer for $1.00, and in doing so, provided the first court records discovered, to date, for John A. Grier. He would have been about twelve years old. John A. Grier signed the marriage bond of his brother, George W. Grier, married 1846 in Autauga Co. In 1853 he and his brother, Moses Gaines Grier sold the land and houses owned jointly by them in Autauga County, Alabama. Their business affairs settled, John A. Grier, Moses Gaines Grier, and Robert Monroe Grier moved permanently to Texas. Their parents remained in Alabama. It is not known to the author the exact date of John A. Grier’s first arrival in Texas. His brother, Thomas, had children born in Texas in 1850 according to the 1860 census. Thomas was married to Sarah LUTER. On the 1850 Census of Smith County, John was living in the household of Jonathan LEWTER, and made his living as a wheelwright. As a single man age forty four years of age, John A. Grier enlisted in the 17th Texas Cavalry Company C. with the rank of Private to fight for the Confederacy. After the war, he married the widow of William A. Crumpler, Mrs. Martha Perkins Crumpler. She had moved to Texas in the 1850’s with her parents, Hardin Perkins and Catherine DORSEY PERKINS. After Catherine’s death, Hardin married Mrs. Margaret Franks HOPKINS on 4 August 1866 in Henderson County, TX.
Martha and William A. Crumpler were the parents of: Mary L. Crumpler b. c1856 married Louis N. WORRELL James Albert Crumpler b. c 1857 married M.E. WATKINS John Henry Crumpler b. c 1858 married Josephine HAMILTON Sam F. Crumpler b. c 1860 William A. Crumpler b. c 1863
Martha and John A. Grier were the parents of: Martha Frances Grier (1866-1928) twin, married Green PARMER Johnson Pickens Grier (1866-1932) twin, married Dora Alice CADDENHEAD Andrew Jackson Grier (1868-1934) married Sarah Elisabeth POWELL (1870-1948) (the author’s ancestors) Robert Monroe Grier (1870-1938) married Florence HICKS Sarah Elizabeth Grier (1871-1938) married Emmet O. RAY Catherine Ophelia Grier (1873-1940) never married Joseph Floyd Grier (1875-1943) married Hattie YANCY Emily Jane Grier (1877-1960) married Walter Ed MORMAN
John A. Grier lived the rest of his life on his grant of land south of Chandler, TX. Because so many of their descendants stayed living near each other in the community, some of them began spelling their names GREER, because their mail was always getting mixed up. John A. Grier’s lineage to Moses Grier and Thomas Stewart has been documented and is an approved line to the Daughters of the American Revolution. John A. Grier’s lineage to Joseph Grier is an approved line to the United States Daughters of 1812 . John A. Grier is an approved ancestor for the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
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