Surname Saturday: GRESHAM - Denton County, Texas, 1940

Betty Dickson Gresham with grandson Mark Edward Gresham, circa 1943

My husband's paternal grandparents, Marvin/Mark Ellis (often known as Ellis or M.E.) Gresham (1886-1941) and Betty Dickson Gresham (1888-1976), were likely living in the same place in 1940 as they were in 1930 - a rural area near Krum in Denton County, Texas.   I know this primarily because of an article about Ellis' death in the Denton Record-Chronicle of February 8, 1941 (below).  It states that Ellis Gresham "had lived in...Denton County 13 years.  He was engaged in farming."  While the couple may not have been on Stony Road outside of Krum, as they were in 1930, it's highly likely they were still somewhere in the same area in 1940.


Therefore, in preparation for the upcoming release of the 1940 US Census, I decided to use Stephen P. Morse's 1930/1940 ED Converter utility. The enumeration district (ED) for Ellis and Betty Gresham in 1930 was 61-20.  Plugging this into the converter, it tells me the 1940 US Census ED for Marvin/Mark Ellis and Betty Dickson Gresham is 61-22.

Sadly, my husband never knew his paternal grandfather, as he had passed away about six months before my husband was born.  We don't have any photographs of him.  While he had two brothers who lived in the area, no records indicate the name of their father (my husband's great-grandfather), who died before the 1900 US Census. My husband's great-grandmother Lula does appear on the 1900 US Census in Texas, but at this point she had remarried.

© Amanda Pape - 2012 - click here to e-mail me.