Biographies: John P. "Pete" Gresham, 1968, Winn Parish, LA. Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** From: September 5, 1968 Winn Parish Enterprise-News American Mr. J. P. Gresham GOOD OLD DAYS MEANT WORKING FROM 'TIL TO CAN'T FOR PETE by Wanda Cornelius "There's only one way I know of to keep from getting old, and that's to die young". These are the sanguinary words of one of Winn Parish's elder "young men", Mr. John P. "Pete" Gresham, lifelong resident of Atlanta. Pete's "never get old" philosophy has surely worked for him, and work is one of the key words on which the gentleman has based his life. "Some fellows' height of ambition is to hurry up and get 65, so they can retire. They then don't have anything to do," Pete said. "But, I'm already nine years overdue the run-of-the-mill retirement age and I don't plan to quit, either," he continued. "As long as I feel like getting up, I'll do something." And that is why he keeps getting up, around six every morning, eats a hearty breakfast of an egg, bacon, hot rolls with fig preserves, a tomato as big as your fist, and a glass of milk. Mrs. Gresham, Lilly D. Lee Gresham, has to rise early to get the breakfast and sent Pete on his way to the J. P. Gresham Pole and Piling Company in Winnfield. John Phillip Gresham was born in Atlanta in 1894, the sone of S. P. B. and Liller Gresham. He went to school in Atlanta and then decided to work on the railroad, which he did for seven years in West Texas. It was there he married Lilly Lee in the early 1900s. Then they moved back to his home town where Pete and family have resided since. The Greshams are the parents of three daughters, Mrs. H. E. (Ruby Dale) Allen of Lake Charles, and Mrs. J. R. (Gay Nell) Wallace of Atlanta. The third daughter, LaFay, died as a baby after contracting pneumonia and whooping cough at the same time. In 1921, Pete Gresham joined the crew in the woods. "We worked from 'til to can't" he said, translated "don't start working until you can see, getting up at about 4 a.m., and quit when you can't see or dark." Those were the days when the boys in the woods worked hard, cutting the trees with a crosscut saw, the saw with a thousand teeth, and skidding the logs out of the woods with mules or horses. A couple of good men could cut down 50 trees a day with the crosscut saw. FIRST TRUCK OWNER IN ATLANTA Pete was the first man in Atlanta to buy a truck, a Ford, which was a big help and faster than moving the logs to the nearest delivery point. In those days a thousand board feet went for 10 bucks, and now the same thing sells for six times that much or more. Money wasn't so plentiful in the 20s, but the workers had more fun, Pete recalls. "We enjoyed mingling together, telling tall tales, while we worked," he said. After a long day at the woods, a man was just too tired to worry about recreation at the end of the day, but still found time to fish and hunt. "Back in the 40s when they 'broke' so many trees, we really had a pole business," Pete Gresham said. He started the pole and piling yard by the railroad track on the Alexandria Highway about 35 years ago. "The best week we ever had was in the 40s and we loaded 46 railroad cars, 50 poles per car." He contracted about 15 truckers to bring poles to the yard and most of the poles went to Texarkana. FAITHFUL EMPLOYEES Twenty-eight years ago J. D. Shelton started working with Pete and over 15 years ago J. E. Shumake joined the group. Others have been with him a long time. It is obvious why they stay with Pete. He admits being a joker and claims the "boys" try to pull one on him at least once a day. This in turn keeps Pete pretty busy thinking of one to keep up with them. All in all, the atmosphere on the pole and piling yard is scintillating. The trucks bring the poles to the yard and the men grade and mark them and load them into the railroad cars. some are used for telephone poles, others are for highway piling and for railroad piling. But first they go to a treating plant, perhaps Shreveport, Little Rock, or Texarkana. SEVEN TIL FOUR The men start working at the pole yard about seven o'clock and quit at four. After work Pete often heads for a domino game, a pasttime he has enjoyed since he was old enough to play. Pete spends most of his working day standing, and the domino game gives him an opportunity to sit down. "I probably might not play the game if I couldn't sit down" he said. There are others who join Pete Gresham in the feeling that retirement doesn't necessarily have to come at the magical age of 65. C. L. Campbell began working with Pete about 45 years ago for 15 years, when he started out on his own. Last week, Mr. Campbell returned to his old place of employment and Pete is really enjoying the swap talk of the "good old days." In fact, Mr. Pete has kept a bit of the "good old days" with him through the years. Old friendships mean a lot to him and new friendships are always welcome. It's spontaneous, the good humor he disperses. But if you pull a good joke on Pete Gresham, you had better be prepared for a whopper in return.