John P. Greer
Constitutional Delegate. Born: October 21, 1812, Montgomery County. Married: Elizabeth Patty, June 20, 1837. Died: November 28, 1889, Topeka KS.
Born in Montgomery County, Ohio, on October 21, 1812, J. P. Greer practiced law, married Elizabeth Patty on June 20, 1837, and moved to Kansas from Ohio in September 1856. He soon settled with his family in Topeka, where he lived the next thirty plus years. At the polls on June 7, 1859, Greer, "an ardent Free State man," led the field of eight candidates for three Shawnee County seats at the Wyandotte Constitutional Convention-he received 543 votes, John Ritchie polled 335, and H. D. Preston got 325; the remaining candidates tallied between 50 and 171 votes each. In the years following the convention, Greer edited the Topeka Tribune for a year, beginning on February 9, 1861, served briefly during this same period as judge advocate general in the Kansas adjutant general's department, "enlisted in the state militia [Second KSM] and was severely wounded in the Price raid," was elected probate judge of Shawnee County, and was appointed as consul to Matamoras, Mexico, 1869-1870. Judge Greer, who, according to his Daily Capital obituary, "was an able lawyer, ... a good citizen and a true friend," died in Topeka on November 28, 1889.
Greer was relatively active at the Wyandotte Convention. Rising to deliver some lengthy remarks on the issue of representation and apportionment on the third day of the convention, Greer insisted that the Convention was "omnipotent" only for the purpose assigned to it by the people-"to make a Constitution."
Entry: Greer, John P.
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: June 2011
Date Modified: March 2013
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
