"Uncle Lee" Presson, 102, Dies;
Oldest County Resident

Matthew Lee Presson, affectionately known as "Uncle Lee" by residents in and around East Prairie, passed away at 1:15 a.m. Saturday, February 12, 1966 at the Delta Community Hospital in Sikeston where he had been a patient for 10 days. Death was attributed to kidney failure.

Uncle Lee Presson, father of 13 children was believed to be the oldest resident in Mississippi County at the time of his death. The passing of Uncle Lee brought to a close a lifetime that had bridged the years from the Civil War to the Space Flight era. This in itself is notable, but even more so was the fact that he possessed the rare God-given ability of understanding his fellow man and knew and practiced charity to all in both thought and deed. He gave due credit to his maker for the many blessings he received and shared with others throughout a vey long life.

He was a retired lumberman and farmer and had resided in East Prairie for 93 years. He was a member of the First Church of God at East Prairie and for the past year had made his home at the Bertrand Retirement Home. Uncle Lee was very highly respected and well known in his community. Through the years he was interviewed by several local newspapers because of his popularity,large family, longevity and deep faith in god.

Early Life

Matthew Lee "Uncle Lee" Presson was born January 12, 1864 in Big Sandy, Tennessee, son of Isaac and Caroline Hale Presson. Abraham Lincoln was President at the time of his birth and the American Civil War was coming to an end. Uncle Lee and his family lived on a farm they owned near Camden, Tenn. His father Isaac struggled to earn a living like many did during this time. To supplement his income, Isaac cut wood and hauled it to the nearby railroad to be burned in the wood burning locomotives that served the area.

Nine years later, after a crop failure Isaac and his wife, his three brothers, and their families and a few friends loaded into 11 mule drawn wagons and migrated to Missouri. They crossed the Mississippi River at Hickman, KY. on a small ferry that could only haul one wagon at a time. They camped the first night on the Missouri shore at Dorena and next day hit the woods trail to Sugar Tree community. From there, they followed a woods trail along the banks of the Black Bayou to a point about 1 1/2 miles south of the present location of East Prairie. There they came north to a clearing known as the John Drew place, later owned by Howard Hubbard, about 1/2 mile south of the present highway 80. They camped there for a while then went on north across the prairie along "Dogwood Ridge". "There was nothing, not even a railroad, at what is now East Prairie." Uncle Lee said, during an interview in 1958 with the East Prairie Eagle newspaper. After arriving at Bertrand, Isaac got a job as a day laborer on a farm belonging to a Mr. Langston. Uncle Lee's grandfather stopped off and bought 40 acres of land in the lower Dogwood area.

Uncle Lee attended grade school at the little one-room frame in Bertrand. When he was 12 years old his father taught him how to plow with a Texas pony and a 1-horse plow. A year later, his father rented 15 acres of land and helped Lee lay it out for planting. He remembered what good land it was. It made 63 bushels of corn per acre with no fertilizer. About that time a cousin named Riley Presson came to live with them after his mother died. He lived at their home until he left for the Spanish-American War from which he later returned to East Prairie years later.

While living in Bertrand, 13 year old Uncle Lee attended a Methodist Church revival meeting. There he was converted and became a Christian, a fact in which he took great joy in for the rest of his life

Uncle Lee said he and his family moved to the Sawdust Corner of the prairie around 1884. His father built a small frame house that stood less than 300 yards from where he would eventually make his own permanent residence. Their land extended west to what is now South Martin Ave. Uncle Lee remembered a great occasion for the family when they had a "log rolling" on that 40 acres. The Presson family had cut the trees and brush and even had over 100 of their neighbors for miles around gather for the event. They all worked all day piling the brush and logs and burning them and by nightfall the land was ready for the plow. Meantime the "women folks" fried chickens and sliced country ham for everyone.

Wife and Children

When Uncle Lee was twenty-five years old, he met and married a young lady named Lena Elliott. The couple went to Dogwood again and bought a team of mules on credit for $350 and rented 40 acres of farm. The crop that year was poor, resulting in a loss for Uncle Lee.

He and his wife then moved back in with his parents. His father became unable to work by that time so they stayed there for the next 25 years, farming the land and attending to his parents. In the meantime Lee and Lena had started a family of their own. Their first daughter died at 3 months from whooping cough and colitis. They would go on to have twelve more children together. Raising them in the same community.

Death

Uncle Lee Presson died a month after celebrating his 102nd birthday in his nursing home. Surrounded by friends and family. Said to be in fair health for the occasion, was able to walk around the room and was only confined to his wheelchair for longer trips.

He was preceded in death by his wife Lena in 1937 and by and son and daughter.

Survivors are six daughters, Mrs. Aubrey Metheney of East Prairie of East Prairie, Mrs. Verlon Braden of Flint, Mich., Mrs. C. L. Cotton of Nesbitt, Miss., Mrs. Burett Yount of Silver Springs, Md., Mrs. Ed Michael of Sikeston and Mrs. Dorothy Harris of Arcadia, Calif., five sons, Ules Presson of East Prairie, the Rev. Paul Presson of Quitman, La., William Presson of Cincinnati, Jewell Presson of Detroit and Donald Presson of St. Louis; 28 grandchildren; 32 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.

The body lay in state at the Shelby Funeral Home where services were conducted Monday, February 14, 1966 at 2:00 p.m. with Rev. Othmar Hill, assisted by Rev. J. L. Hatchel, officiating. Burial will be in the Odd Fellows cemetery in Charleston.

**Sources**
1. Jan. 8,1958 - East Prairie Eagle newspaper. Uncle Lee Presson's personal interview.
2. Feb. 17, 1966 - Charleston Enterprise-Courier newspaper. Obituary.
3. Feb. 17, 1966 - East Prairie Eagle newspaper. Obituary.
4. Feb. 12, 1966 - Sikeston Daily Standard newspaper. Obituary.