Rev. John Haran Gresham ^78,143,144

  General Notes:

[The following is from Collin County, Texas, Fammilies, Volume II by Allice Ellison Pitts and Minnie Pitts Champ. The entry is titled "Gresham, John Haran", by Mike W. Thompson and Bobby G. Lane:]

John Haran Gresham was born Feb. 24,1829 in Lawrence Co., Tennessee the son of George Gresham and Nancy (Ann) Chaffin. On Jan.27, 1847 in Odes Co., Tennessee he was married to Mary Caroline Langham the daughter of Ransom Langham and Francis Wiltshire.

John Gresham moved to Maury Co., Tennessee near Culleoka about 1850. He was born of the Spirit and received into the Methodist Church South, in 1854. Four years after that he was licensed to preach by Reverend J.E. Hughes, presiding elder, July 28,1858. On October 8,1865 he was ordained deacon by Bishop Kavanaugh at Nashville, Tn. and was ordained elder by Bishop Enoch M. Marvin Oct. 9, 1870 at Harrell's Chapel, Hunt Co., Texas. He passed to his reward April 3, 1892. His wife Mary Caroline died Oct. 22, 1914. Both were buried at the Honaker cemetery near Farmersville.

When the dogs of war were unleashed by the federals in 1861. John volunteered as chaplain of the 9th Battalion Tennessee Cavalry at Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee. While serving in the command of Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest, he was captured at Fort Donelson on Feb.16, 1862. He was shot in the head by a guard while being held as a prisoner of war at Terre Haute, Indiana which was one of the contributing causes of his death in his sixty-third year.

Recovered from his wound and exchanged in Sep. 1862, Gresham returned with his battalion to active operations near Port Hudson, Louisiana. Attached to the brigade of Colonel John L. Logan, this body of troops operated up and down the Mississippi River, from Vicksburg to Baton Rouge, having many lively engagements with the enemy, who was trying to occupy the country. On one occasion the battalion surprised and captured the 14th New York Cavalry, with all their arms, equipments. etc. During the siege of Port Hudson, the brigade made a raid on the federal supply base at Springfield Landing on the Mississippi River. The result of this raid was the destruction of the garrison, the burning of over half a million rations and a large quantity of quartermaster stores, together with a very large train of wagons.

In Nov. 1863, the battalion was sent on a raid to destroy federal communications in south central Tennessee then occupied by the enemy. Gresham no doubt made a quick visit to his family at this time as his son Joshuary was born nine months later. Unfortunately, while returning to his unit, he was captured again and sent north to the prison pen at Camp Chase, Ohio.

Exchanged in March of 1864, Chaplain Gresham returned to his unit in north Georgia now attached to Wheeler's Cavalry Corps under the command of General Joseph E Johnston and the Army of Tennessee. In the bloody battles for Atlanta the battalion made quite a reputation for gallantry and efficiency and was always assigned to a post of danger, and was engaged in active work almost daily. The services from this to the close of the war were entirely in the field, in the front, on the flank, or in the rear of the enemy.

In Nov. 1864, the 9th Battalion with Wheeler's cavalry, not over four thousand strong, moved to oppose Sherman's army of over sixty thousand in its march through Georgia and the Carolinas. The Confederacy had been reduced to a shell by this time and there was not sufficient troops to oppose Sherman. He made war on old men, women, and children, burned cotton-gins and dwelling-houses and destroyed property at will. His army could be traced by the light of burning houses by night and the smoke by day. The 9th Battalion did all it could to assist in preventing the federals from spreading over the country, and succeeded to some extent.

The battle of Bentonville, North Carolina was the last major engagement of the war. It was fought on the 19th and 20th of March, 1865. Gresham's unit, now reduced to fewer then one hundred men, successfully held a portion of the line against Sherman's infantry assaults. The remnants of the Army of Tennessee were surrendered at Charlotte, North Carolina on May 3, 1865. However, elements of the old 9th Battalion were not aware of the surrender and fought the last engagement of the war east of the Mississippi River at Henry Court House, Virginia on May 4. Neither side knew the war was over and the feds were soundly whipped.

John Gresham returned to his family in Maury County. The country side was ravaged and an oppressive military rule was in force. After the death of his mother in l869, he brought his family to Farmersville, Texas and lived next door to a former member of his old battalion, James L. Montgomery.

Reverend Gresham was enrolled in the Farmersville Methodist Church in 1870. He became a circuit rider and kept up a regular monthly appointment for seventeen years and married numerous early Collin and Hunt County residents. Some quotes from his obituary are as follows;

"His preaching was clear, forcible, unsparing of the ungodly, full of sympathy for the suffering and love for the righteous. All understood that he preached because he loved the souls of men."
In 1874, Reverend Gresham bought a small farm just south of Merit near the Collin County line. Until his death he was a man of service to his church and to his com-munity.

The great Christian-gentleman Robert E. Lee said, "DUTY IS THE SUBLIMEST WORD IN OUR LANGUAGE.DO YOUR DUTY IN ALL THINGS.YOU CANNOT DO MORE. YOU SHOULD NEVER WISH TO DO LESS."
The epitaph on John Haran Gresham's tombstone reads, "HE WAS FAITHFUL TO EVERY DUTY."
The children of John Gresham and Mary Caroline Langham;

1. Thomas Wesley b. July 1, 1848 Lawrence Co., Tn. d. Jan. 24. 1921 Merit, Hunt Co., Tx. m. Margaret S. Wylie Nov. 16, 1867 Maury Co., Tn.

2. George Louis b. Jan. 20, 1850 Culleoka, Maury Co., Tn. d. 1904 Huckabay, Erath Co., Tx. m. Callie D. Wylie Sep. 7, 1872 Collin Co.,Tx.

3. Ida E.C. b. Jan. 1, 1852 Culleoka, Maury Co.,Tn. d. after 1914 Walla WaIla, Washington. m. William P. Wolf Feb. 14, 1872 Collin Co.,Tx.

4. Cerragorde b. 1854 Culleoka. Maury Co., Tn. d. after 1914 Santa Anna, Coleman Co., Tx. m. J.F. Oaks July 13, 1873 Collin Co., Tx.

5. Mary F. born 1856 Culleoka, Maury Co., Tn. d. July 5, 1862 Maury Co. Tn.

6. Martha A. born 1858 Culleoka, Maury Tn. d. June 7, 1862 Matiry Co. Tn.

7. lrabell A. born May 27, 1859 Culleoka, Maury Co., Tn. died Mar. 5, 1943 Port Aransas, Tx. m. William T. Thompson Nov. 4, 1880 Hunt Co., Tx.

8. John D. b. Feb.15, 1862 Culleoka, Maury Co., Tn. d. Aug. 5, 1872 Collin Co., Tx.

9. Joshuary B. b. July 8, 1864 Culleoka, Maury Co., Tn. d. Dec. 27, 1864 Culleoka, Maury Co., Tn.

10. Harriet S. b. Mar. 15, 1866 Culleoka, Maury Co., Tn. d. Nov. 22, 1903 Hunt Co., Tx. m. George Benson.

11. Hettie G. b. May 7,1870 Farmersville, Collin Co., Tx. d . Dec. 18, 1870 Farmersville, Collin Co., Tx.

12. William Marvin b. Oct. 22, 1873 Farmersville, Collin Co., Tx. d. July 7, 1945 Rogers Co., Ok. m. Dollie Mutinger May 4, 1913 Collinsville, Ok.

13. Alice Langham b. Mar. 25, l876 Hunt Co., Tx. d. Jan.16, 1957 Port Oconner, Calhoun Co., Tx. m. James Fletcher Griffin Dec. 24, 1893 Hunt Co., Tx.

In 1995, the descendants of Reverend John Gresham, under the leadership of Mr. Bobby 0. Lane, gathered together donations and moved his remains from the abandoned and overgrown Honaker Cemetery to the Merit Cemetery. We are all very proud of this man and take inspiration from his character. His memory lives in our hearts.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Military: Civil War, 9th Battalion Tennessee Cavalry, 1861.

2. Residence: Farmersville, Hunt County, Texas, After 1869.

3. Residence: Lawrence County, Tennessee, Between 1829 and 1850.

4. Residence: Near Culleoka, Maury County, Tennessee, Between 1850 and 1869.

5. Religion: Methodist Minister, 1854.

John married Mary Caroline Langham, daughter of Ransom Langham and Francis Wiltshire, in 1847 in Giles County, Tennessee. (Mary Caroline Langham was born on 20 Mar 1830 in Murray County, Tennessee, died on 22 Oct 1914 in Port, Texas and was buried in Honaker Cemetery, Farmersville, Collin County, Texas.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

1. Children: 13, 7 lived to be adults.