Her portrait hangs in the dining room of the Parson Thorne Mansion, but Ann Pettigrew Greer never lived in the stately home. The Pettigrew House stood next to Avenue United Methodist Church and was demolished by the church. There is a marble marker that commemorates the home.
Ann was the daughter of Captain John Pettigrew of Virginia who served in the United States Navy during the Revolutionary War. Captain Pettigrew was appointed a lieutenant in the navy by the Assembly of Virginia in 1776. Much of the land owned by the family was from land bounty given to those who fought in the Revolution.
She was born in Accomac County, Virginia, in 1784 and moved to Milford when she was four months old. She had one sister, Leah, who married James Millechop. The home she and her sister grew up in was built before 1800 and was used as an inn. She also operated a store in a small building just west of the house.
In November 1813, Ann manumitted her slave, Jerry, setting him free when he turned 28 on January 1, 1815. Census reports show that only free blacks lived in her home from that point on.
Ann married Dr. Mark Greer on December 21, 1813, in the same house where she grew up. The couple had three children, a son and two daughters. In 1816, her husband purchased a little over seven acres of land on what is now Milford Harrington Road. It was on this land that he and Ann established a farm which she operated after his death at the age of 49 in 1821. Ann never remarried.
The couple’s son, Mark Anthony Greer, was thrown from a horse while he was young and died. Another daughter died in infancy and the second, Sarah Maxwell Greer, considered the “pride of the town,” died of consumption in 1844.
“She was a woman of strong mind and character, masculine in her tastes, but had a remarkably amiable disposition,” her obituary read. “She never used a needle, or made a garment of any kind or a loaf of bread in her life. She kept a housekeeper and plenty of servants, but had no taste for such matters herself.”
Ann did not tolerate those who overindulged and became unruly. One evening, Ann refused a customer a drink because she felt he had already imbibed too much. He staggered out of the tavern, climbed the roof and sat down on the chimney, blocking the opening.
Smoke filled the tavern, driving out the rest of the customers and Ann where they discovered the gentleman on the chimney. He refused to come down unless he was given his drink. Ann, being a shrewd businesswoman, reconsidered and agreed to let him have the drink.
Many in town sought advice from Ann over the years. She was so well-known as a businesswoman, Judge Henry A. Wise of Virginia carried on a legal correspondence with her for many years. Ann signed her name “A.T. Greer” and the judge believed he was corresponding with a man, often complementing “him” on “his” business ability. Judge Wise never knew that he was corresponding with a woman as she never corrected him.
During her lifetime, Ann held ownership to several properties. In addition to the lot in her husband’s name at the corner of Front and Church, her name appears as the owner of a lot close to the intersection of what is now Church and Walnut in 1832.
When Ann died, her obituary noted her as the “oldest person in Milford.”
“She was a reader, a thinker and a handsome woman. She kept a store, carried on a farm and was the oracle and general counselor for all her friends in town,” the obituary read. “Her whole life was more one of honor, purity, integrity and piety. No woman that ever lived in town had a grander or purer charm or was more universally esteemed.”
