Walter Grisham - Lakeview Cemetery - Galveston, TX - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Handbook of Texas Online, "GRESHAM, WALTER," by Anne W. Hooker

"GRESHAM, WALTER (1841–1920). Walter Gresham, lawyer, legislator, and railroad executive, the son of Edward and Isabella (Mann) Gresham, was born near Newton, Virginia, on July 22, 1841. He was educated at the Stevensville and Edge Hill academies in Virginia. He enlisted in W. H. F. Lee's rangers, the Twenty-fourth Virginia Cavalry, at the beginning of the Civil War and afterwards served in other regiments. He took part in most of the battles fought in northern Virginia and surrendered at Appomattox. In 1863 he graduated from the law department of the University of Virginia. On December 31, 1866, he moved to Galveston, Texas, where he began the practice of law."

"In 1872 Gresham was elected district attorney for Galveston and Brazoria counties. He was a stockholder, director, and attorney for the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway and served for a time as its second vice president. In the infancy of the railroad he was much in the field, selecting routes, securing rights-of-way, locating towns, and superintending other business. In 1887 and 1888 he represented Galveston at conventions in Fort Worth, Texas; Denver, Colorado; and Topeka, Kansas. At Topeka he was made chairman of a special committee to petition the United States government to finance a deepwater harbor at the best point on the Texas coast. He was instrumental in having the Fifty-first Congress amend the River and Harbor Bill to provide for contracts for work to give Galveston one of the finest harbors on the American coast. Gresham's home, known now as the Bishop's Palace for the Catholic bishops who later resided there, was designed by architect Nicholas J. Clayton. Gresham represented the Sixty-fourth District in the Texas House of Representatives from 1887 to 1891. He was elected on the Democratic ticket from the Tenth District to the Fifty-third Congress in 1892 but was unsuccessful in the race for reelection. In 1901 he served as president of the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress."

"On October 28, 1868, Gresham married Josephine C. Mann, with whom he had nine children. He died in Washington, D.C., on November 6, 1920, and was buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Galveston."

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Biographical Directory of the United States Congress GRESHAM, Walter, (1841 - 1920)

GRESHAM, Walter, a Representative from Texas; born at “Woodlawn,” near Newtown, King and Queen County, Va., July 22, 1841; attended Stevensville Academy and Edge Hill Academy, and was graduated from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1863; served as a private in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1867 and commenced practice in Galveston, Tex.; district attorney for the Galveston judicial district in 1872; member of the State House of Representatives 1886-1891; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-third Congress (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1895); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress; resumed the practice of law in Galveston, Tex.; died in Washington, D.C., November 6, 1920; interment in Lakeview Cemetery, Galveston, Tex.

Description: Texas Transportation Archives - Gresham, Walter 1912 Notables of the Southwest. Walter Gresham, biography c. 1912 [from Notables of the Southwest] Source: Press Reference Library (Southwest ed.). Notables of the Southwest, Being the Portraits and Biographies of Progressive Men of the Southwest. Los Angeles, Cal: Los Angeles Examiner, 1912. "GRESHAM, WALTER, Attorney-at-law, Galveston, Texas, was born July 22, 1841, in King and Queen County, Virginia, the son of Edward Gresham and Isabella (Mann) Gresham. He married Josephine C. Mann at Galveston, October 28, 1868. There were born nine children, Edward (deceased), Estha, Walter (deceased), William (deceased), Josephine C., T. Dew, Frank S., Beulah and Philip. Prior to 1857, he attended the Stevensville Academy in his native county, then entered Edgehill Academy, remaining until early in 1861, when he enlisted in the Confederate Army. He quit the army and entered the University of Virginia, but re-enlisted the following spring. After a year he returned to the University and stayed there until he received his degree of B.L., June, 1863. A third time he joined the Confederate forces and remained until the surrender at Appomattox in 1865, serving in the 9th and 24th Virginia Cavalry." "The year following the war's close he went to Galveston and began law practice, taking an active part in politics. He served in the 20th, 21st and 22nd Legislatures of Texas and the 53rd Congress, securing the Congressional appropriation which made Galveston a deep water port. He was on the committee which formulated the commission form of government for Galveston and obtained from the Legislature the tax donation, which provided that city's protective works against floods. He was President Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress and Vice President National Rivers and Harbors Congress. Mr. Gresham was in various partnerships, the last being with his son Walter, who died in 1905. In addition to his legal practice, he is president of the Galveston and Western Railway, and formerly second vice president and director of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway and director of the Galveston, La Porte and Houston Railway." Date of birth: 07/22/1841 Date of death: 11/06/1920 Area of notoriety: Politics Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Cemetery - Daylight Hours Fee required?: No Web site: Not listed

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