PARENTS: --Probably --George Gresham, Sr. and Miss Waugh
              --Possibly --George Washington Grisham, Jr. and his first wife

WIFE:  Gillie Mason nee Olive
BORN:  about 1815, VA
DIED: after 1860 and before 1870--perhaps as early as 1861 or 1862

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Andrew Jackson Grisham, Sr.

Anderson Family Cemetery, Prentiss County, MS

. Gillie (Olive) (Mason) Grisham

4. Andrew Jackson "Jack" GRISHAM, Sr.   (1.George¹) was born about  1815 in Virginia.  Perhaps he was a son of  George GRESHAM, Sr. and his first wife, Miss WAUGH.   It is by tradition that the first wife of George Gresham, Sr. was Miss Waugh.

[Jo Carolyn Bebee has exchanged information with a descendant of Solomon GRESHAM (second son of George GRESHAM, Sr.) who believes that the first wife of the George GRESHAM (who died in Lawrence County, TN in 1852) was Martha Thornton.]

It is plausible that Andrew Jackson, Sr. could have been a son of George Washington Grisham, Jr.  and his first wife.  George Washington Grisham, Jr.  died in 1849 in Tishomingo County, MS.  The identity of the first wife of George Washington Grisham, Jr. has not been established.  This George Washington Grisham, Jr. was the oldest son of George Gresham, Sr. and Miss Waugh.  

For clarity, George Gresham, Sr. will be referred to as the George Gresham who died   in Lawrence County, TN in 1852 and his oldest son, George Washington Grisham, Jr. will be referred to as the George Washington Grisham who died in 1849 in old Tishomingo County, MS.

I have not found:

• Andrew Jackson Grisham in any US Census prior to 1850.
• a marriage record for  Andrew Jackson Grisham and Gillie Olive or Gillie Mason or Sarah Olive or Sarah Mason.
• a marriage record for Gillie Olive to a Mr. Mason.
• The identity of Andrew Gresham who was married to Roena Gibson on 24 October, 1835, in Lawrence County, TN, by Thomas N. Thornton.
• Any legal document which would establish the father of Andrew Jackson Grisham, Sr.

Andrew Jackson Grisham, a farmer,  married about 1841/1842 Gillie (Olive) Mason,  who was born about 1824 in Wake County, NC.  Jo Carolyn (Anderson) Beebe has determined that Gillie was a daughter of   Jesse Olive and Monicah Massey.  Jesse Olive was the sixth son of James Olive, Sr. and Monicah was a daughter of Richard Massey.  

Andrew Jackson Grisham, Sr. and Gillie  (Olive) (Mason) Grisham were enumerated in 1850 and 1860 in old Tishomingo County, MS. When Prentiss County was created in 1870, the descendants of Andrew Jackson and Gillie  became residents of the new county.

Jo Carolyn (Anderson) Beebe has thus described for her descendants the conditions during the Civil War in Tishomingo County, MS:

During the Civil War some military deserters followed Andrew home and shot him in front of his wife and children.  According to the family story told by the my grandmother, Ida Rose Anna (Grisham) Fergusson and by Noel Grisham, Gillie was so distraught  at seeing her husband's being murdered by marauders/Civil War deserters that she drowned herself  in a well.   According to the family story told by the descendants of Matilda Jeanette "Tilda," Gillie   was so unhappy living with her oldest son Ephraim that she jumped into a well shortly after Andrew's death.

As a child I recall hearing family discussions about Andrew Jackson and Gillie, but I did not like to hear the details, so I tried to ignore the story.

Andrew and Gillie were interred in the Old Baptist Cemetery--now called the Anderson Family Cemetery, in Tippah Hills, Tippah County, MS.  (The Grishams lived near the county line of Prentiss County and Tippah County.)  Their graves were unmarked for decades until Joseph Forest Anderson placed tombstones on their graves in the 1980's. 

"The Anderson Cemetery where my great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents are buried was once known as the Old Baptist Cemetery. It became known as the Anderson Cemetery because for years the only markers there were for Joseph R. Anderson and Matilda J. Anderson who died in 1915 and 1914, respectively. Four of their babies are also buried there: Willie J. (d. 1873), James R. (1873), Luther I. M. (1875), and Oscar P. (1881). About nine years ago sandstones were replaced with markers for Matilda's parents, Andrew Jackson Grisham and Gillie Olive Grisham. These eight graves are in a single row. This cemetery is located in a wooded area near County Line Cemetery (Prentiss-Tippah). At one time there were other graves there. There are sandstones scattered about, but because of the underbrush it is hard to identify grave locations. We (some Anderson and Grisham descendants) are wondering if there are others who have ancestors buried there who would like to put up some kind of acknowledgement regarding their people. We're hoping to install a chain link fence around the area before the site is swallowed up by nature or run over by a logging truck. Let me know." --Jo Carolyn Beebe, descendant of Matilda Junette Grisham Anderson

Children:

• 14.  i Elizabeth  GRISHAM (OR Mason), born 1838 [I  think that Elizabeth was Elizabeth Mason, daughter of Gillie's first husband. It appears that she was the Elizabeth Mason who married Isaac G. "Black Ike" Grisham in 1859 in Tishomingo County, MS. [IF Andrew Jackson and Gillie died as early as 1862, Elizabeth and Isaac G. appear to have been the most likely people to assume care of the orphaned children of Andrew Jackson and Gillie.]
  
• 15. ii Ephriam "Eaf" GRISHAM, born 19 December, 1842
  
• 16. iii Matilda Jeanette "Tilda" GRISHAM, born 10 February, 1844.
  
• 17. iv Martha A. "Mattie" GRISHAM, born 22 July, 1848.
  
• 18. v James Lemuel "Jim" GRISHAM, Sr., born 29 December, 1849.
  
• 19. vi Rachel Ellen GRISHAM, born about 1851.
  
• 20. vii Andrew Jackson "Jack" GRISHAM, Jr., born 01 December, 1854.
  
• 21. viii George Washington GRISHAM, born 1856.
  
• 22. ix Richard Robert "Dick" GRISHAM, Sr., born 16 March, 1861.

Andrew Jackson and Gillie (Olive) (Mason) Grisham, Sr. were enumerated on 17 April, 1850, in the Southern District of Tishomingo County, MS, Pg. 96, Visit and Family Nos. 150/150

Andrew Jackson Grisham, Sr. and Gillie (Olive) (Mason) were enumerated on 20 June, 1860, at Blackland Post Office, Tishomingo County, MS, Pg. 34, Visit and Family Nos. 223/223.

It appears that Elizabeth (Mason) Grisham and her husband Isaac G. "Black Ike" were enumerated in the next household #224/224

1870 Census Records
Prentiss County, MS
Post Office: Boonville
Dwelling No. and Family No.: 189
Family of Ephraim "Eaf" Grisham and Elizabeth "Bettie" Patterson
with 3 younger brothers of Ephraim

Jackson (Andrew Jackson Grisham, Jr.), George (George Washington Grisham) and Richard (Richard Robert Grisham) were the younger orphaned brothers of Ephraim.

1870 PRENTISS COUNTY, MS 
POST OFFICE: BOONEVILLE
Twp. 5, Range: 6 East
July 28, 1870
Pg. 365A, Sheet 15
Family of Harriett A. Garner Jones (Widow of William Tolliver Jones)

On 7 November, 1872, James Lemuel Grisham married Harriett Jones' older daughter--Margaret Amanda E. Jones

.Sources