GREAT UNCLE ZEE GRESHAM Contributed by Sherry Gritzbaugh ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ He was the third child born to Sarah Hammock and William Thornton Gresham on the first day of May, 1853 in the state of Georgia. He is interred in the Gilgal Cemetery located near Harris, Louisiana. On the 27th. day of July, 1881 in Claiborne Parish, La. he married Mary Ann Elizabeth "Mollie" Patton. She was born on the 30th. day of March, 1864. She died in prison for her part in the murder of Uncle Zee. Mary "Mollie" is interred in the Corinth Cemetery. Ref: 2485 dated 1913 Felton Green and Others No. 2521, page 326, dated 14 April, 1914 Exceptation substained. Verbal motions for appeals granted. To the union of Mary Elizabeth Gresham and Onesiphorus Zephus "Zee" Gresham there was born: 1. Willie Lettie Gresham born 7 January, 1887. She may be the same as Mittie Lieuindy Gresham born 3 July, 1889; died unmarriedc 6 December, 1912. 2. Jesse Thornton Gresham born 3 September, 1888 in Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana. According to Bk. 6, page 365, 1909, he married Della Lorent Strother. They were the parents of: 2.1. Otis Aubrey Gresham 2.2. Ruby Gresham The second marriage of Jesse Thornton Gresham was to Bertie Lee Cagle. They were the parents of: 2.3. Lamar Marvin Gresham born 14 February, 1818. 2.4. Jesse Bert Gresham born 3 April, 1921. 2.5. Mary Elizabeth Gresham born 11 Sept. 1924. 2.6. Donna Faye Gresham born 26 nov. 1931. 3. Arthur Pinkney Gresham died as an infant on 12 October 1890. 4. Carl A. Gresham born 20 September, 1892 and first Ethel Pair. Bk. 8, pg. 53 dated 1912. They were the parents of: 4.1. Dovie Inez Gresham 4.2. Grafton Gresham 4.3. Faustine Gresham The second marriage of Car Gresham was to Zelma Franklin Whaley. 5. Minor Eugene Gresham was born 12 December, 1895 in Minden, Webster Parish, Louisiana. On the 18th. day of August, 1923 he married Mae Messo. The Murder of Great Uncle Zee Gresham Onsiphorus Zephus "Zee" Gresham, son of Sarah Hammock and William Thornton Gresham, a descendent of William Thornton who was also the ancestor of Matthew Thornton who signed the Declaration of Independence. The family moved from Ga. to Ala. down to Louisiana with the building of the railroad. Great Grand- father was section foreman in charge of the laying of the wooden rail which was reputed to have ended at Yellow Pine, Louisiana. During the civil war, the Union soldiers along with the indians sometimes burned the rail faster than Great Grandfather and his crew could lay it. THE SIGNAL-DEMOCRAT Minden, Louisiana Friday, February 7, 1913 Volume No. 20 SENTENCES PASSED Mrs. Gresham gets 15 years and son 7. Fretwell and Green are given Life Terms and then some. ................................ The sentencing of Mrs. Mary Gresham and son, Jesse last Friday morning was probably one of the most pathetic scenes ever enacted in the District Court of this parish. It is a rare think for a white woman especially an old citizen of the parish to be a defendant at District Court. Naturally a curious crowd assembled in the court room Friday when it was discovered that Mrs. Gresham was to be one of the prisoners to receive sentence on the opening day of court that morning. When called up before the bar to be sentenced, Mrs. Gresham was asked the usual formal questions, if she had anything to say and why sentence should not be passed upon her. In reply to the Judge's question she vigorously proclaimed her innocence, say- ing that all the gold in the world could not have induced her to commit the awful crime, and that if she were guilty as charged she would indeed have a black heart, but that she was innocent and was not afraid to die and face her God. She then broke down and wept while Judge Sandlin was passing sentence on her. After hearing her protestation of innocence, Judge Sandlin said that he wished he could believe that she was innocent, but on the other hand the preponderance of the evidence as brought out at the trial compelled him to believe her guilty; that he believed she had taken advantage of the situation that had developed to get rid of her husband by conspiring with the two boys, who wanted to get him out of the way and who finally carried out the plot by murdering the old man on the fatal Sunday night. He said if it were a personal matter between himself and her, he would be glad to say to her to go and sin no more, but that he had a sacred duty to perform - at the same time one of the most unpleasant that he had ever yet been called upon to discharge from the bench. He believed her guilty after hearing the evidence and that while the jury had recommended her to the mercy of the court, he felt that she had already been shown all the mercy she was entitled to. He then passed sentence. He then passed sentence upon her, giving her fifteen years in the penitentiary. *(Note: She died in prison in 1915.) Jesse Gresham also protested that he was innocent when he was called up to the bar, saying that he was as innocent as any man ever walked upon the face of the earth. He, however admitted that he did wrong in going off and leaving his father to the mercy of his cruel enemies, but claimed that he had no idea that such a traggic fate awaited his father. He was given 7 years, the judge remarking in passing sentence upon him that he believed he was sorry for the part he had taken in the crime but that probably he had been unduly influenced. Felton Green and John Fretwell, the two white boys who actually carried out the foul plot by murdering the old man at his home on the fatal Sunday night and who had previously confessed to the crime were called up and given life sentences. They were also sentenced to ten years each for burglary and two years each for larceny. The men received their sentences without a tremor and as if such proceedings were every day occurences to them. Mr. W. R. Percy, one of the attorneys for Mrs. Gresham and son, before they were sentenced made a strong argument urging the court to set aside the verdict of the jury on the grounds that it was contrary to the law and the evidence for the reason that the crime could not be designated as manslaughter for it was not committed in the heat of blood, but was premeditated. The Judge would not entertain the motion, but held that the court would only be justified in setting aside a verdict of a jury when, in his opinion a grave injustice had been done the defendant at bar. In this case, in his opinion the defendants had been found guilty of a lesser crime than the evidence adduced at the trial would warrant, hence they could show no grounds for having the verdict set aside. An appeal to the Supreme Court was then taken, which was made returnable some time in April. Pending its decision Mrs. Gresham and son will remain the the parish jail. Mrs. Gresham (the former Mary Ann Elizabeth "Mollie" Patton) has been living in the place where her husband was murdered for the past twenty years. She came to the parish from Claiborne after she married Mr. Gresham. She was raised near Summerfield in Claiborne Parish. Felton Green is also a native of Claiborne, and was living in that parish and was living in that parish at the time he committed the crime for which he will have to spend a life term in the penitentiary. John Fretwell, his accomplice, also came to this parish with his family from Claiborne parish and had lived out east of town near the Greshams to whom his family was related only about two years. * (Note: He was related to Mary Patton Gresham's family, not Uncle Zee's family.) These boys were conveyed to Baton Rouge last Saturday by Deputy Sheriff Hilman and turned over to the penitentiary authorities. A touching scene was witness at the jail on the departure when the relatives of the young men met there to bid them a LAST FAREWELL. Young Fretwell's mother, two sisters and a younger brother were present, as was also the young wife of Green. The parting was apparently sad to the women, but the unfortunate young men who so early in life, had put their very lives in jeopardy, and who in reality had forfeited their liberty for the remainder of their natural lives, did not seem very much affected by the solemnity of the occassion. *denotes that the information was not part of the newspaper article and was added by the compiler. # # #