The Greer Way West, the web page of the Nathaniel Hunt Greer Family Organization — This page was last updated on May 30, 2008.

Letter from Sarah Hunt (Greer) Johnson
to Matthew Simeon (Babe) Greer — 21 OCT 1888

Before it was discarded and lost, this document was procured in 2007 by Mr Ron Carlisle from a Matthew Simeon Greer descendant who cared little for genealogy or family history. We are deeply indebted to Ron Carlisle for saving this document and sharing it with us.

To view an image of pages 1 & 2 of this letter, click here.

To view an image of pages 3 & 4 of this letter, click here.

[Transcription by William N Greer who added the bracketed note and the footnotes that follow]

Uinta ,Co Wyoming Teritory1 oct the ,212 Dear Brother3 I received the sad news of the death of our dear old Mother4 and feel very sad and worse if possible because I could not see her nor have the comfort of doing something for her  it seems hard to think that she had only two Girls5 and neither of us could be with her in her last hours but as you said if there is peace & rest for the weary she is gone there  I was thankfull to hear that she had good attension and did not seem

[page 2]

to suffer for this seem to be a world of pain and suffering  Oh, I fell so sorry for Brother William6, he must feell so lonely  he had allways been with her but he mus think for the best  we have all got to go sooner or lateer & ought to try to live as she did  we would be glad to have him come and live with us or spend the winter any way  Mr, Johnson7 would go a hunting with him & catch fish and pass the hours away as same as in days of youre  Mr Johnson has gone to Evanston8 to attend to some business  I am looking for him evry day

[page 3]

he had his trial9 this Spring and came out all right but it cost him considerable  he has not lived with his other woman10 for over 2 years.  we are all tolerable well  there has been considirable sickness this year  my oldes Daughter Mary11 has been sick considerable this year  she has had an absess on her jaw, and it is still runing a little  I and my youngest Boy John12 is at her hous now  times is very dull here  I wish you would send me the pictueres of the Girls and the Boys13  I send mama so long a go as I have not got any that was taken then  the others Billy14 or you

[page 4]

can keep if you like  what has Sophia15 named her two last girls16 and are they as pretty as Hetta17 write soon  my love to all as ever your loving Sister Sallie H Johns[on]18 Lone Tree19 Po Uintah Co20 Wyoming

1	Wyoming Territory was created on 25 JUL 1868 and statehood was achieved on 10 JUL 1890.
2	The year was 1888 since this letter was written just after the death of Nancy Ann Terry Roberts.
3	Matthew Simeon (Babe) Greer	(15 APR 1845 – 21 JUN 1915)
4	Nancy Ann Terry Roberts	(4 AUG 1805 – 20 SEP 1888)
5	Willmirth Margaret Greer	(18 NOV 1824 – 31 MAR 1902) was Sallie's sister.
6	William Redick Greer	(18 NOV 1828 – 6 FEB 1900)
7	Snellen Marion (Cub) Johnson	(27 OCT 1827 – 10 JUN 1900)
8	Evanston, the seat of Uinta Co, was	created in NOV 1868 and incorporated in 1873.  On 16 DEC 1868, the first train arrived.  One-way travel between Lone Tree and Evanston took two days.
9	Abraham Lincoln signed into law the	Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act (8 JUL 1862) which forbade polygamy in US territories and became effective in Wyoming Territory on 25 JUL 1868.  The Edmunds Act, signed into US law on 23 MAR 1882, made polygamy a felony — thus revoking polygamists right to vote and eligibility for jury service or holding political office.  Exactly three years later, the US Supreme Court ruled in Murphy v. Ramsey (23 MAR 1885), that the Edmunds Act was not applied ex post facto to plural marriages because polygamists were charged for their continued cohabitation, not for the prior illegal marriage.  This ruling apparently worked in Cub's favor (his cohabitation ceased in the mid-1880s) despite his open admission of polygamy on the census taken 28 JUL 1880 at Spring Gulch, Sweetwater Co, WY, in which Rebecca was clearly listed as "wife no. 2" and both families resided at the same domicile.  In a memoir (ca 1959) Alley Vernon (Johnson) Taylor, wrote "Sallie, our dear old grandmother often told us that giving consent for her husband to marry another woman was the greatest trial of her life.  But, as the years went on, these two wives loved each other, shared each other’s joys, sorrows and privations."  Plural marriage was officially banned by the LDS on 6 OCT 1890.
10	Lydia Rebecca Baker	(9 JUN 1841 – 1 APR 1934) was the 2nd wife of Cub Johnson.
11	Mary Wilmirth Johnson	(3 JAN 1864 – 30 MAY 1940)
12	John Lycurgus Johnson	(14 APR 1876 – 24 DEC 1932)
13	It is unclear to which family this reference is made.
14	This appears to be a nickname for William Redick Greer.
15	Sophia Elizabeth Lane	(14 FEB 1854 – 4 AUG 1926) was the 2nd wife of Matthew Simeon (Babe) Greer.
16	As of the date of this letter, they were:
	Esther Mignon Greer	(19 JUL 1886 – 15 AUG 1915)
	Sarah Wilmirth (Wilma) Greer	(17 AUG 1888 – 12 JUL 1962)
17	Hettie Sue Greer	(15 JUL 1879 – 28 JUL 1943)
18	Sarah Hunt Greer	(26 FEB 1836 – 30 JUL 1925)
19	Lone Tree is 45 miles ESE of Evanston and only about 3 miles from the UT border.
20	Uinta County, created 1 DEC 1869,	was originally a huge strip of land 50 miles wide and stretching from UT to MT along the entire 280-mile border with ID.