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Ancestors and Siblings of
MARY MARTHA GREASER GREY
my great-great grandmother

 

MARY MARTHA GREASER GREY b: Abt. 1832 in Germany
d: June 29, 1865 in Leopold, Doddridge,
West Virginia
married November 21, 1848 in Cumberland, Allegheny, Maryland
(Sponsors Francis Gray {Franz Griese - Mary's brother}
& Catherin Wonstret {probably one of the groom's sisters)

GERHARD JOHN HENRY WANSTREET b: November 18, 1824 in Neuenkirchen, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, Germany d: September 14, 1911 in Leopold, Doddridge County, West Virginia
Buried: St. Clare Catholic Cemetery, St. Clara, Doddridge, WV

 

 


RICHARD GREASER

1 Richard Greaser b: Abt. 1790 in Ankum, Kingdom of Hanover, Prussia d: Abt. 1848 Burial: St. Joseph Roman Catholic Cemetery, German Settlement, Howesville,
Preston County, VA (now West Virginia)
married Margaret N. Unknown Abt. 1812 in Hanover, Prussia

Their children are:


Johan Dirk "George" Griese Greaser b: July 23, 1814 d: October 26, 1873

Herman Henrich Griese b: February 26, 1816 d: March 12, 1818

Johann Herman Henrich Griese Greaser b: October 9, 1817 d: October 23, 1902
.....married 1st September 14, 1845 Mary Ortman b: 1820 d: October 21, 1855
.....married 2nd 19 April 1856 "Margaret" Frazer b: March 1827 d: June 6, 1890

Anna Maria "Ann" Greaser b: August 19, 1819 m: July 27, 1841 Francis Hyer b: 1817

Johann Heinrich Griese b: December 14, 1821 d: December 21, 1822

Johann Theodor Griese b: October 20, 1823

Richard "Dietrich" Greaser b: 1824 d: 1866 married Abt. 1852 Anna Deahl b: 1836

Franz Griese b: September 22, 1825 d: December 4, 1901 married Abt. 1853
.....Mary W. Schulte b: 1830

Margaretha Maria Greaser b: October 13, 1827

Maria Catharina Griese b: September 23, 1829

Johann Heinrich "Henry" Greaser b: November 14, 1831 d: January 14, 1875

Mary Martha Greaser Grey b: Abt. 1832 in Germany d: January 29, 1865 (age 33)
...in Leopold, Doddridge County, West Virginia
........married November 21, 1848 in Cumberland, Allegheny, Maryland
......... Gerhard John Henry Wanstreet b: November 18, 1824 in Neuenkirchen,
......... Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, Germany
......... d: September 14, 1911 in Leopold Doddridge County, West Virginia

Johann Wilhelm "Billy" Henry Greaser b: January 14, 1834 d: January 19, 1917
.....Mary J. Borgman b: July 23, 1840 d: October 6, 1919
.....(Great Grandfather of Sunset Hayes.)

Information in this table is from Sunset Hayes.
Her website is
http://sungenweb.net

Information from IGI Film 1761084 sent to me by Peg email 5-21-2000:
Elizabetha Christina Greasser
Christened 17 February 1792
St. Bonifacious Church
Neuenkirchen, Auto Damme in Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, Germany
Father: Johann Rudolph Greasser
Mother: Katharine Elizabethe Metz
Peg says "This is the same church where all of Joannes Henricus Wanstroth's children were baptized."

 

 

1850 Census Doddridge County, (W) VA

Family Dwelling No. 34

Henry Wanstreet 59 M Farmer 300 Germany
Catharine Wanstreet 54 F Germany
John H. Wanstreet 25 M Farmer Germany
Mary M. Wanstreet 18 F Germany
Henry 23 M Shoemaker 150 Germany
Samuel P. 11 M MD (MD is Maryland)
Josephine 4/12 F VA
J. H. Diss Debar 30 M Land Agent 8500 France


Mary Martha is living in a 3 generation household which has some historical relevance. Joseph H. Diss Debar is the Land Agent from France that sold land to a number of my relatives in the St. Clara Colony; Wanstreet's being one; Brannon's another.
On March 13, 1871, John Wanstreet purchased property in the St. Clare Colony, Leopold, from J. H. Diss Debar.
He was the godfather of Josephine listed here as 4 months old.


In 1848 Debar was married to Clara Lenassor of Cincinnati. She died in 1849 at the age of nineteen, leaving a son seven weeks old. He later married Amelia Cala, a native of Gilmer County. In 1852 Debar built a home in the settlement.  The house was located about eighteen miles south of West Union and is known as the Joe Hinter farm.

When the settlement became prosperous enough to have a post office it was named for his wife, Clara, whom he thought of as a Saint. Thus the whole settlement including all the land of the syndicate was called St. Clara for the time.The name now applies only to a small community to where the post office was moved.  The site of the original  Clara post office became Leopold. Having colonized the community, Debar turned his attention entirely to the field of politics.

In 1845 Debar drew a picture of a hunting party and gave it to his friend Henry Schmidt, one of the first settlers. This picture was adopted in 1865 as the West Virginia State Seal.

In 1875 Debar's official connections with West Virginia ceased. He died at the age of 85 at Philadelphia, and was buried there.

There is an excellent article in "The History of Doddridge County, West Virginia 1979"

For picture and books about and by him:

http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/dissdebr.html

Also a good article:

http://www.wonderfulwv.com/archives/april00/

 

 


Sunset says on her website page http://sungenweb.net/shipinfo.htm

My G-Grandfather, William Henry Greaser came to America as a young boy with his father Dietrich (Richard) and mother Margaret. I suspect they emigrated from Bremen sometime around mid-late 1830s. I know they lived in the  Cumberland, MD area for 5-10 years before they migrated to Preston County, VA (now WV). Some of their children were married there, and grandchildren born there. I am currently still searching for their Ship (Sep 1999). In 1845, they were instrumental in building the first St. Joseph's Church structure (made of logs) in Preston County, VA.

 

 

On Sunset's page http://sungenweb.net/nat_greasers.htm she shows a copy of the Naturalization paper for Deterich Griese and says:
The file below is a transcript of the Naturalization paper for Deterich Griese.   Deterich means Richard. I'm not certain right now if this is Richard Griese (Greaser) the father of all our Greaser's, who was born about 1790 in Prussia, or his son Richard, who would have been about 21 years old in 1845. I hope to determine that soon.

 

Here are some of Sunset's pages on which Grieser Family members are mentioned.

BIRTHS, Preston County, WV 1868-1884
http://sungenweb.net/b_1868pres_co.htm
There is a surname "Deal" mentioned here.

MARRIAGES, 1868-1900, Preston County, VA/WV
http://sungenweb.net/b_marr1868_wv.htm
St. Joseph Cemetery
http://sungenweb.net/births_josephs_cem.htm
PRESTON COUNTY, WV, DEATH RECORDS 1868-1920
http://sungenweb.net/b_deaths_pres_co.htm

 

Information from Sunset and from her page http://sungenweb.net/cenwgre.htm
(
who is the descendant of William Henry Griese http://sungenweb.net/cen_w&mgre.htm )
leads me to believe that Mary Martha Greaser Grey is the daughter of
Richard Griese b. Abt. 1790 and Margaret N. Unknown b. 1794.
Mary Martha's age is established on the 1850 Doddridge County, (W)VA Census,
as well as on Mary Martha Greaser Grey's Death Record from
MARY M. WANSTREET Death Reg. 3 1853-1898 page 9 line 28:
Mary M. Wanstreet died 29 Jan 1865 at the age of 33y (Source: Doddridge Co.
OBIT/NOTES: COD: unknown. b. Germany d/o Richard & Margaret ___. SP: John Wanstreet

 


GRIESE (Low Ger.) Nickname for a grey-haired man. 
It's a cognate of the Eng. "GRICE" which came originally from the Old French "gris" (grey)
which, in turn, apparently came from a word of Germanic origin.
Source: A Dictionary of Surnames by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges

GRIESE (Low German) 1. Nickname for a grey-haired man.  Cognate of the
English "GRICE" which comes from Middle English "grice, gris" (grey) (Old
French "gris", apparently of Germanic origin, and probably a distant
cognate of "Gray".


 

Page Updated:
August 25, 2003