Biographical Details
Date of Birth: October 21, 1811
Birth Location: Dayton, OH, USA
Major Study: Law
Graduation Year(s): 1849
Degree(s) Earned: Bachelor of Laws
Date of Death: November 28, 1889
Death Location: Topeka, KS, USA
John P. Greer
Life Experience
John P. Greer worked as an attorney-at-law. After graduating from IU in 1849, he moved to Topeka, Kansas, where he became editor of the Topeka Tribune. This was Topeka’s first daily journal. From 1861 to 1866, he was a member of the Kansas Territorial Legislature. He fought in the Civil War and was severely wounded at the Battle of Little Blue which was fought in Missouri on October 22, 1864. He was given the rank of colonel before returning to Kansas politics.
Greer was a member of the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention that drafted the state constitution of Kansas. He was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to serve as U.S. Consul to Mexico; he served from 1869 to 1871 before resigning due to poor health. He then returned to Kansas, where he was elected probate judge of Shawnee County twice. From the 1870s to the mid-1880s, he lectured extensively on temperance, agriculture, and horticulture.
Marriage and Family
Greer married Elizabeth Patty in 1837; they had five children.
References
- Wylie
- Findagrave.com
- Wikipedia
- The Topeka State Journal 11/30/1889
- The Walnut Valley Times (El Dorado, KS) 12/02/1889