John Neer

John Neer, son of Henry Neer and Susanna Potts, was born in 1771 (?) or 1789 (?) in Loudon Co, VA and died in either Loudon Co, VA, or Williams County, OH. John married Sarah.

John may have been the father of our ancestor Eden (Edon, Eaton) Neer. We take him to be Eden’s father only as an unproven theory on the basis of the following:

1. A John and Sarah Neer were the parents of Nancy Neer, in whose house Eden’s services were held. (The County of Williams, Ohio Historical and Biographical published in Chicago in 1882, in its entry on Bentley Hannon, describes his wife, Nancy A. Neer, as "born in Trumbull County, Ohio, February 11, 1816... the daughter of John and Sarah Neer, who were born in Virginia and who settled in Trumbull County in the fall of 1815.") Nancy went to Williams County, and specifically to Center, near Melbern, at the same time Eden did, and could thus be his sister.

2. A John Neer (the only one I see in Ohio) was buried in close proximity to Eden Neer's land holdings in Williams County. (That gravestone puts his life-span from 1771 to 1849. The Williams County publication of cemetery records describes the Melbern or Neidhardt cemetery as a family plot located in Section 21, Center Township. It contains a marker for "Neer, John, d. Mar. 7, 1849, ae 78y." An estate record, inventory and bill of sale for a John Neer who died in 1849 are in the Champaign County Court of Common Pleas.)

Donald Edwin Hunter's book, Early Clark Co., OH Families Vital Statistics lists John Neer and some of his siblings, the children of Henry and Susanna. He gives John's birthdate as 1789, which would seem to make him slightly too young to be the father of Eden, and it would make him much too young to be the John in the Melbern cemetery. However, various birthdates he gives for some of John's siblings conflict with other sources for the same birthdates, so his dates may not be accurate. Hunter says that this John had three children who came to Ohio, but that he himself stayed in Virginia.

So there may be multiple men named John Neer, whom I have trouble sorting out. 1) One problem is that all references to that John Neer found online put his birth at 1774 or 1775, and give no evidence connecting him to any children at all. The only family tree posted online connecting John to Eden is that of Richard Rhoads, whom we have emailed but with whom we have had no contact. 2) To make matters more complicated, the John Neer who died in Ohio in 1849 was married to a Mary, and left minor children, which makes a match still less likely.