{{Short description|American harness racer (1851–1924)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox horseracing personality | name =Edward Geers | image =File:Edward Franklin "Pop" Geers.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name =Edward Franklin Geers | birth_date =January 25, 1851 | birth_place =Lebanon, Tennessee, U.S. | death_date =September 3, 1924 | death_place = Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S. | resting_place = | nickname = Pop Geers | occupation = {{hlist|Harness racing driver}} | sport=Harness racing | years_active = | career wins = | career winnings = | race = | horses= | honors =United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame (1958) }} '''Edward Franklin Geers''' (January 25, 1851 – September 3, 1924), nicknamed "'''Pop'''", was an American harness racer and author of 'Ed Geers' experience with the Trotters and the Pacers.'<ref>{{cite news |title=50,000 Pay Tribute To Geers's Memory. Activities at West Virginia Fair Are Suspended Out of Respect to Dead Driver |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/09/05/archives/50000-pay-tribute-to-geerss-memory-activities-at-west-virginia-fair.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date= September 5, 1924|access-date=2010-12-17 }}</ref><ref>McCormick, Mike (August 16, 2014). "Historical perspective: Edward 'Pop' Geers and the 'Four-Cornered Track'". Terre Haute Tribune Star. Retrieved December 10, 2017.</ref>

==Early life== He was born on January 25, 1851, in Tennessee to William Gideon Geers and Emily Woolard.<ref name="Tribstar">{{cite web|last1=McCormick|first1=Mike|title=Historical perspective: Edward 'Pop' Geers and the 'Four-Cornered Track'|url=http://www.tribstar.com/features/historical-perspective-edward-pop-geers-and-the-four-cornered-track/article_cf46ef36-2581-11e4-b3db-0019bb2963f4.html|website=Terre Haute Tribune Star|access-date=2017-12-10|language=en|date=August 16, 2014}}</ref>

It was in Wilson County, Tennessee that Geers first discovered the passion for horses that would shape his entire life, developing his training and driving abilities from boyhood.<ref name="Time">{{cite web|title=Sport: Dead|date=|url=https://time.com/archive/6652354/sport-dead/|website=time.com|access-date=April 11, 2026}}</ref>

==Career== He took charge of training a string of horses at the age of 20.<ref name="The New York Times. (1924)"/> Geers recorded his first victory at the Wilson County Fair, driving Little Dave across the finish line in 3:04. Four years later, he laid further groundwork for his professional ascent, founding his own stable at the Swell Stock Farm owned by Major Brown in Spring Hill, Tennessee.<ref name="Wilson County Agricultural Hall of Fame. (2023)">{{cite web|title=Edward "Pop" Geers|date=December 29, 2023|url=https://wilsoncountyaghalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/edward-pop-geers/|website=wilsoncountyaghalloffame.org|access-date=April 11, 2026}}</ref>

thumb|left|200px|Geers, {{c.}} 1912 Geers settled in Nashville, Tennessee in 1873, and it was there that he developed the talents of Brown Hal, giving rise to the renowned Hal family.<ref name="The New York Times. (1924)">{{cite newspaper|title=POP' GEERS DIES IN TRACK ACCIDENT.; " Grand Old Man of Trotting Turf" Is Hurled From Sulky When Horse Falls|date=September 4, 1924|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/09/04/archives/pop-geers-dies-in-track-accident-grand-old-man-of-trotting-turf-is.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2026}}</ref> Following the closure of his Nashville training stables, he relocated in 1876 to the early fairgrounds in Columbia, Tennessee.<ref name="Ohio County Public Library. (2024)">{{cite web|title=Special Program: The Life and Times of Pop Geers|date=November 21, 2024|url=https://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/calendar/special-program-the-life-and-times-of-pop-geers/3757|website=ohiocountylibrary.org|access-date=April 11, 2026}}</ref>

His introduction to New York racing came in 1877, when he competed at Fleetwood Park Racetrack.<ref name="The New York Times. (1924)"/>

Among the first to recognize the potential of the bicycle wheel, Geers embraced the innovation early.<ref name="Wilson County Agricultural Hall of Fame. (2023)"/> In 1892, he guided Nancy Hanks to a 2:04 mile in a then-revolutionary ball-bearing, pneumatic-tire, featherweight sulky that reshaped the sport of harness racing.<ref name="Time"/>

On August 18, 1916, Geers drove his first sub-two-minute mile, clocking 1:59 3/4 at Driving Park Racetrack.

==Death== E. F. Geers died on September 3, 1924, in Wheeling, West Virginia, United States.<ref name="Tribstar"/> The veteran driver passed away from injuries suffered in a racing accident at the West Virginia State Fair.<ref name="Ohio County Public Library. (2024)"/> When his mare Miladi Guy fell, he was thrown from his seat, fractured his skull, and died while still unconscious.<ref name="Time"/> He was laid to rest in Rose Hill Cemetery.<ref name="Visit Columbia TN">{{cite web|title=Edward Franklin 'Pop' Geers|date=|url=https://www.visitcolumbiatn.com/listing/edward-franklin-pop-geers/725/|website=visitcolumbiatn.com|access-date=April 11, 2026}}</ref>

==Legacy== Geers was honored in 1926 with the dedication of a memorial park in Columbia, Tennessee featuring a granite obelisk.<ref name="Visit Columbia TN"/> Pop Geers Park originated as the first community park developed by the city.<ref name="Daily Herald. (2022)">{{cite web|title=Sheila Hickman: About Edward Franklin (Pop) Geers, Columbia harness racer|date=June 23, 2022|url=https://www.columbiadailyherald.com/story/opinion/2022/06/23/sheila-hickman-about-edward-franklin-pop-geers-harness-racer/7709129001/|website=columbiadailyherald.com|access-date=April 11, 2026}}</ref>

His decades of competitive racing translated into nearly $2,000,000 in accumulated prize winnings.<ref name="Time 2">{{cite web|title=Sport: Hambletonian|date=|url=https://time.com/archive/6749793/sport-hambletonian/|website=time.com|access-date=April 11, 2026}}</ref> He was inducted into the United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1958.<ref name="Harness Museum">{{cite web|title=EDWARD F. GEERS|date=|url=https://harnessmuseum.com/content/edward-f-geers|website=harnessmuseum.com|access-date=April 11, 2026}}</ref> In 2009, he was inducted into the Wilson County Agricultural Hall of Fame.<ref name="Wilson County Agricultural Hall of Fame. (2023)"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Edward Geers}} * {{Find a Grave|31219760}} * [https://www.harnessmuseum.com/content/edward-f-geers Harness Racing Museum, Hall of Fame, Edward F. Geers]

{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Geers, Edward F.}} Category:1851 births Category:1924 deaths Category:American harness racers Category:American harness racing drivers Category:American horse trainers Category:American harness racing trainers Category:United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from Lebanon, Tennessee Category:Sportspeople from Tennessee Category:19th-century American sportsmen Category:20th-century American sportsmen