Historic Timeline of the Grove Property

10,000 B.C.	Native Americans settled in the northeastern Texas region during the Paleo-Indian Period. They probably moved from place to place and existed as hunter-gatherers and foragers.
7000 B.C.	During the Archaic Period, little is known about the people who inhabited the area.
800 A.D.	The Early Ceramic Period begins, characterized by increased diversity of tools, foods, and natural resources used. During this period, the Caddo Indians occupied many sites in the area with many groups living along lakes and rivers. The tribes had well developed social ranked societies with planned ceremonial centers. They lived in grass huts in a dispersed village arrangement. They also built temples and buried mounds. The Caddos had long-distance trade for hides, salt, bois d'arc (osage orange) for bows.
1541	Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto's "conquest trail" led him from Shreveport, through East Texas in the area of Jefferson, and then southward.
1800	Settlers from the United States began to explore and settle in the area.
1811	New Madrid, Missouri had an earthquake measuring 8.9, which is generally thought to have knocked down enough trees to form the great raft that dammed the Red River, and formed Caddo Lake. This log jam also raised the level of Big Cypress Bayou to make it navigable for steamboats from New Orleans. Jefferson early became a major East Texas river port of entry, where supplies such as cotton and timber were shipped to be offloaded for shipment to frontier cities.
02/07/1835	Future owner of the Grove property, Washington Frank Stilley, born in Louisiana to John Woolridge Stilley and Ann Reams Stilley.
12/29/1845	Texas became a state of the United States.
1842	Area that is now Jefferson, Texas, west of Line Street granted to Stephen Smith and his wife Lucinda. The Grove property is part of this land grant.
1842	A 586-acre parcel of land from the Stephen Smith land grant was sold to Daniel and Lucy Alley for $2000. The land (containing the Grove property) was adjacent to Allen Urquhart's survey, and was laid out in streets that became known as Alley's Addition. In contrast to most other town planners of the time, who arranged their plans around a central square, Urquhart laid out his part of the town along Big Cypress Creek, with its streets running at right angles to the bayou. Alley's streets, on the other hand, followed the points of the compass. The intersection of the two plans gave the town its distinctive V-shaped layout.
08/09/1842	Mr. Charles Ames married to Mrs. Harriet Potter, by Rev. Samuel Corley. Amos Morrill, a future owner of the Grove property, would become Ms. Potter's attorney in her famous legal battles against her former husband's estate.
1844	Captain William Perry, one of the early settlers of Jefferson and owner/builder of the Excelsior Hotel, arrived with the first stern-wheeler.
06/09/1847	Property that is now The Grove purchased by Amos Morrill, the first federal judge of Texas and lawyer. A log cabin is built on the property. Morrill & family can be found on the 1850 Census of Red River County, where he lived after moving from Jefferson: 1850 Census Red River County, TX Family 393 Amos Morrill (M - 43), White, Attorney, Born Massachusetts Miranda (F - 25), White, Born Tennessee John (M - 43), White, Born Massachusetts Joseph Dickson (M - 20), White, Born Tennessee Sarah Bryant (F - 10), White, Born Tennessee As to the other people living with them, we found out the following on Joseph Dickson: Joseph J. Dickson is listed in the 1850 Red River Co., TX Census, living in the household of his sister Miranda who was married to Amos Morrill, an attorney and later a Federal Judge. In the 1860 census, Joseph J. and Sarah S. "Sallie" Epperson Dickson were living with one surviving child in Collin Co., TX. He is listed as an attorney, and they own seven slaves. Joseph J. Dickson was a partner with J. W. Throckmorton in the Dickson and Throckmorton Law Firm.
03/20/1848	The town of Jefferson, named after Thomas Jefferson, was incorporated.
1848	The Jefferson Jimplecute newspaper was established.
03/17/1855	Calab Ragand and his wife, Sarah Wilson Ragand, bought the Grove property. Sarah was the daughter of former Arkansas representative Colonel John "Mule Eared" Wilson. They are listed on the 1850 census of Cass County (which included what is now Marion County at the time) as: Ragand Calab (M - 58) White, Grocery Merchant, Born South Carolina Ragand Sarah (F - 21) White, Born Arkansas
02/08/1860	Marion County is demarked from part of Cass County.
06/21/1860	W. Frank Stilley married Manerva (sic) Fox [page 6 of Marriage Book 'A' - Marion County]. They would purchase the Grove property in a little over a year, and build the current house there.
11/13/1861	The Grove property was purchased by W. Frank Stilley and his wife, Minerva Fox Stilley, from Marshall, and the current house was built. The property was in Minerva Fox Stilley's name, something that was highly unusual during that time period. We were told that Frank was a cotton broker in Jefferson, and that Minerva's family had a cotton plantation in Marshall, making the marriage beneficial for all parties.
1866	The Great Flood in Jefferson
1867	Jefferson became the first town in Texas to use artificial gas for lighting purposes.
10/04/1868	George W. Smith & associates killed on Moseley Street, in the event known as the Stockade Case.
1868	The first commercial ice-making machine in the state of Texas went into operation in Jefferson.
08/10/1868	Daniel Alley dies and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery.
02/12/1869	The Mittie Stephens sank at Swanson's Landing on Caddo Lake, taking the lives of 61 of the boat's 107 passengers.
1870	The 1870 Census lists Frank Stilley (Grove owner) as a clerk. The story that we heard is that his cotton brokering business was destroyed by the 1866 flood. 1870 Census Marion County, TX Family 329 Frank W. Stilley (M - 35), White, Clerk, Born Louisana Minerva Stilley (F - 33), White, Keeping House, Born North Carolina John R. Stilley (M - 1), White, Born Texas Frank Stilley (M - 6 mo), White, Born Texas
1872	A "Bird's Eye View" map of the City of Jefferson was drawn and published by H. Brosius. The Grove property is shown in the this "zoomed in" view of the map, with the house in its current configuration surrounded by the pecan trees.
1873	the U.S. Corps of Engineers removed the Great Raft from the Red River above Shreveport, dropping the water level in Big Cypress Bayou to the point that shipping was uncertain and no longer financially profitable.
1875	Frank Stilley (Grove owner) reportedly back in the cotton business, as the final steamships reached Jefferson.
01/1877	Murder of Diamond Bessie
1879	Minerva Fox Stilley (Grove owner) dies, leaving the property to her two sons, not her husband.
02/01/1880	D.C. Rock purchased the Grove property.
1880 (approx)	The great-grandfather of Mitchel Whitington (current owner of The Grove) shipped a trunk from Mobile, Alabana to the port of Jefferson, Texas via steamship. He drove a wagon from Corley, Texas (his new home) down to Jefferson to pick up the trunk.
1880	D.C. Rock, a bridge builder, and family appear on the 1880 Marion County Census: 1880 Census Marion County, TX Family 124 D.C. Rock (M - 43), White, Bridge Builder, Born Pennsylvania A.R. Rock (Amanda ) (F - 29), White, Keeps House, Born Illinois William Quin (?) (M - 29), White, Bridge Builder, Born Illinois Maggie Quin (F - 21), White, Keeps House, Born Tennessee John Quin (M - 6), White, At Home, Born Tennessee William Quin (M - 3), White, At Home, Born Tennessee Joseph Quin (M - 8 mo), White, At Home, Born Tennessee Julian Quin (M - 8 mo), White, At Home, Born Tennessee There is no indication as to the identity of the second family living in the home, the Quin (?) family.
09/01/1882	T.C. Burks bought the Grove property for $175, and kept it for about six months before asking for his money back.
03/06/1885	Charles J. ("Mr. Charlie") and his wife Daphnie Finch Young, purchase the Grove property. Mr. Charlie operates a barber shop in town.
12/16/1891	John R. Stilley dies at Greenville, Texas, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, although the location is unknown today. He lived from 1868 to 1891, and died at the age of 23. This is recorded in the Cemetery Records of Marion County, Martha McGraw Chapter DAR, Jefferson, TX 1961, page 4-50.
1900	1900 Marion County census lists the following members of the Young family in Jefferson (note in margin of census sheet: "Moseley Street"): 1900 Census Marion County, TX Charlie YOUNG (M - 40), Black, Barber, Owns Shop, Born Texas Daphne YOUNG (F - 37), Black, Born Mississippi Mable YOUNG (F -19), Black, Born Texas Louise YOUNG (F - 14), Black, Born Texas James YOUNG (M - 13), Black, Born Texas
10/20/1902	Daniel N. and Mary H. Alley deeded the space for Cedar Grove Cemetery, an African-American cemetery in Jefferson, to the Trustees for Cedar Grove Cemetery Association. This consisted of space in Plat 70 and parts of Plats 69, 33, and 32 in the Alley Division of the City of Jefferson. One of the trustees was Charles J. Young, owner of the Grove property.
1910	1910 Marion County census lists the following members of the Young family in Jefferson: 1910 Census Marion County, TX Charlie YOUNG (M - 70), Mulatto, Barber, Ownes Shop, Born Texas Daphne YOUNG (F - 49), Mulatto, Born Mississippi Mable YOUNG (F - 19) Louise YOUNG (F - 27), Mulatto, Public School Teacher, Born Texas (Note the age descrepancies from the 1900 census)
1913	Sterne Fountain donated to the City of Jefferson, Market St at Lafayette St.
1915	Jefferson High School burns to the ground.
1920	1920 Marion County census lists the following members of the Young family in Jefferson: 1920 Census Marion County, TX C.J. YOUNG (M - 56), Mulatto, Barber, Ownes Shop, Born Texas Daphne YOUNG (F - 56), Mulatto, Born Mississippi Louise YOUNG (F - 33), Mulatto, Born Texas (Note the age descrepancies from the 1900 and 1910 census)
12/31/1938	Charles Young dies, and is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Jefferson. We have been told that Mr. Young purchased the land for the first African-American cemetery in Jefferson, which is Cedar Grove Cemetery.
1/15/1939	Frank and Joan Hopkins, parents of future Grove owner Patrick Hopkins, were married at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jefferson. They lived in town for several years after.
1955	Mrs. Daphne Finch Young, the woman responsible for the gardens at the Grove, dies at the age of 91, having spent 70 years of her life living at the Grove. She arrived on the property as a young bride in 1885. Her funeral was held on the front porch of the house so that she could be near the garden that she loved so much one last time. Daphne is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Jefferson.
1956	Mable Young Speed dies at the age of 65. Mable Young was married to Dr. Speed, and lived on Grand Ave in Marshall (Harrison county). Mable is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Jefferson.
1956	The Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club purchases The Excelsior House hotel, and begins the process of restoring it into the beautiful landmark that it is today.
1975	Mary L. Young dies. Mary is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Jefferson.
1979	The first Bed & Breakfast in the state of Texas opens in Jefferson: The Pride House.
03/27/1983	Miss Louise R. Young, who was born in the house, dies at the age of 96, having spent her entire life at the Grove. Louise is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery in Jefferson.
11/01/1983	Daniel McKinley Grove, Jr., & Lucile Elaine Grove purchased the Grove property.
01/15/1990	Patrick Hopkins purchases the Grove and opens the house as a restaurant.
04/13/1993	The Grove Restaurant hosts a 250th birthday party for Thomas Jefferson, the namesake of the town.
03/08/2002	Mitchel & Tami Whitington purchase the Grove.