The Geers

of New London County, Connecticut

My Geer ancestry begins with my great-great grandmother, Lydia Geer, who was a 4th great-granddaughter of George Geer, the immigrant ancestor who emigrated to Boston from Heavitree, near Exeter, Devon, England in 1635, and settled in New London County ca. 1651.

According to the 1923 Geer genealogy by Walter Geer, George, born 1621, and his younger brother Thomas, born 1623, were orphaned as children in Heavitree and placed under the guardianship of their uncle.  The uncle apparently did not have his nephews best interest at heart, because he arranged to have them shipped to the American colonies in order to obtain their inherited property. A great-great grandson of George Geer, Jeptha Geer, made the following statement for the Geer genealogy about the circumstances under which George and Thomas Geer made their way to the American colonies:

"George and Thomas were left orphans when quite young and were brought up by their uncle, and as they were heirs to a considerable estate it was the desire of their uncle to remove them out of the way that the inheritance might be his.  To enable him to realize his wishes without hindrance, he wrote to the captain of a ship about to sail for America, requesting him to take the lads with him. George and his brother were sent with the letter, with orders to remain on board until they received an answer.  They remained as directed, but to their surprise, while waiting, found themselves the victims of deception and already on their passage without the possibility of returning."

"The above facts I received from my father, Thomas Geer, but mostly from Joseph Geer, grandson of George, when I was fifteen years of age."

Jepthah Geer

The ship transporting the Geer brothers arrived in Boston in 1635.  The brothers were sent ashore with no money or adult contacts.  It  is presumed the brothers lived near Salem, Massachusetts at some point during their first years in the colonies.  No records are found of them until 1651, when George arrived in New London, Connecticut and 1682, when Thomas arrived in Enfield, Connecticut. It is presumed that George came to New London with Robert Allyn, who later became his father-in-law, and that Thomas remained in Salem until after 1675.

On 17 February 1658, George married Sarah Allyn, daughter of Robert.  They settled in the part of New London that later became Preston, and had 12 children between 1659 and 1683, all who survived to adulthood and married into the established families of the area: Parke, Howard, Williams, Gates, Spicer, Tyler, Lee and Hilliard.

Both of my maternal grandmother's parents descend from George and Sarah (Allyn) Geer, my great-grandfather through their son Joseph who married Sarah Howard, and my great-grandmother from their son Robert who married Martha Tyler.  My two lines of descent from George Geer and Sarah Allyn, down to my maternal grandmother, are as follows:

Direct Descendants of George Geer

Line 1

1 George Geer + Sarah Allyn

2 Joseph Geer + Sarah Howard

3 Joseph Geer + Susannah Silsby

4 James Geer + Mary MacKneel

5 Silsby Geer/Gere + Lydia Allyn

 6 Samuel Geer + Lucy Tracy

 7 Lydia Geer + Rowland Burdick

8 Abel Burdick + Susan M. Phillips

9 Frank Rowland Burdick + Sarah Hannah Clark

10 Bertha Melissa Burdick

Line 2

1 George Geer + Sarah Allyn

2 Robert Geer + Martha Tyler

3 Mary Geer + John Spicer

4 Mary Spicer + Roswell Button

5 Barthena Button + John Chapman

6 Mary Chapman + Amos Heath

7 Sarah Heath + Francis Clark

8 Levi Clark + Carrie Larkham

9 Sarah Hannah Clark + Frank Rowland Burdick

10 Bertha Melissa Burdick