On-line Resources
- Postmasters & Post Offices of Greer County, 1881-1886
- 1890 Certificate of Qualification, Greer County Texas
- 1891 Certificate of Election, Greer County Texas
We invite you to use the message board at Ancestry for your queries.
Queries concerning settlers after 1896 should be directed to the OKGenWeb Project Greer County. The original Greer County, Texas, covered the current Oklahoma counties of Beckham, Greer, Harmon and Jackson, and parts of Texas counties Childress, Collingsworth, Hemphill, Lipscomb and Wheeler.

History
On February 8, 1860, the Texas legislature passed an act providing for the formation of Greer County, with boundaries "beginning at the confluence of Red River and Prairie Dog Town River; then running up Red River, passing the mouth of the South Fork (Elm Fork) and following main or North Red River to its intersection with the twenty-third degree of west longitude (the 100th meridian); thence due south across the Salt Fork to Prairie Dog River, and thence following that river to the place of beginning."The act went into effect at once, but because of the confusion consequent to the outbreak of the Civil War little was done immediately toward organizing and putting into operation a system of county government. Greer County was named for John A. Greer, Senator, Secretary of State, Republic of Texas; Lieutenant Governor, 1847-1853. In 1884, 144,000 acres of land was patented to the Day Land and Cattle Company, which also leased 203,000 additional acres. By 1885 there were in the county some ten families and 60,000 cattle belonging to seven or eight firms that employed 100 men. The Francklyn Land and Cattle Company owned 40,000 cattle there. In July 1886 the settlers of Greer County met at Mobeetie and organized Greer County on the authority of the act of 1860. Mangum was named the county seat, and provision was made for a county government. Soon the county commissioners began building a county jail, planned to cost $11,000. Two post offices were established, one at Mangum and another at Frazier. A school system was set up, and by 1892 sixty-six school districts had been formed with an enrollment of 2,250 pupils.
But the comparatively rapid development of Greer County was disturbed by a dispute between Texas and the United States over the ownership of the area. The controversy had origin in an 1819 treaty fixing the line between United States and Spanish territory. A map designating the Red River and 100th meridian as boundary lines was part of the treaty; but the map aroused dispute, for it incorrectly marked the 100th meridian and showed only one fork of a two-forked Red River.
Texas claimed the north fork and meridian shown on map defined territory, and legislation and occupancy by Texans decided sovereignty. The United States contended south Fork (larger of the two) and true 100th meridian marked boundaries. Three joint survey commissions failed to settle the issue. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1896 ruled that the region was in 1819 part of the United States' unorganized Indian Territory.
Old Greer County Texas was comprised of all of present day Greer County, Jackson County, and Harmon County, Oklahoma, and parts of present day Beckham County, OK, Lipscomb County, TX, Hemphill County TX, Wheeler County, TX, Collingsworth County, TX, and Childress County, TX.
Compiled from The New Handbook of Texas, The Texas Almanac, and Texas Historical Markers.
Some Links
United States vs. Texas, 162 U.S. 1 (1896)
Old Greer County Map
Time-Line to 1896
Old Greer County Website
Old Greer County History
Oklahoma Organic Act
USGenWeb Archives, Greer County, Texas
USGenWeb Archives, Greer County, Oklahoma
USGenWeb Archives, Texas
Greer County named for John Alexander Greer
Handbook of Texas Online: Greer County
Red River
North Fork of the Red River
Salt Fork of the Red River
Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River
John Alexander Greer 1802-1855
Francklyn Land and Cattle Company
Canadian River Expedition
All TXGenWeb Counties
Old Greer County Map
Time-Line to 1896
Old Greer County Website
Old Greer County History
Oklahoma Organic Act
USGenWeb Archives, Greer County, Texas
USGenWeb Archives, Greer County, Oklahoma
USGenWeb Archives, Texas
Greer County named for John Alexander Greer
Handbook of Texas Online: Greer County
Red River
North Fork of the Red River
Salt Fork of the Red River
Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River
John Alexander Greer 1802-1855
Francklyn Land and Cattle Company
Canadian River Expedition
All TXGenWeb Counties
