Elias Fletcher Presley, Jr.

I am Greg, son of MHP McDonald, youngest daughter of EF & LA Presley. My Mom always demonstrated the greatest respect for her Dad, whom she most frequently referred to as, "My Father." Late one summer night in 1937, my Mom & Dad heard their first child's (me)heartbeat for the first time. The next morning they "walked up the lane" to tell her Mom & Dad. In the lane, coming towards them, they saw Lydia. Mom knew from her appearance -- even in the distance, that something had happened to her Dad. His heart stopped beating the same night my heart began. One of my sister's favorite stories about Grandfather Elias came from Granny: she said, "He was the sweetest man! Every morning he woke me up with a cup of hot coffee."

Family legend was that he attended George Washington U in DC and studied Veterinary Science. As his fourth and final year of school began, his father (my GG-father) died, leaving everything to my GG mother - who promptly informed him that school was over. He went home, took a job and helped educate his sisters and brothers. By 1905, when he met Lydia Anne Lampman, the job was finished and his mother had just died. In 1915, he was the County Vet in Wharton, Texas, where my Mom was born (until she was six years). At some point they upgraded the position to require a license and a degree -- which he had not acquired. It was then that he returned to newspaper publishing, a job he knew from his pre-college days running or helping with his fathers town newspaper in Many, LA.