April Slaughter (20 page)

WHEN I FIRST MOVED TO TEXAS, I had no idea that I would discover some of the most amazing and interesting places that I had ever been. The state is home to nearly every type of landscape you can imagine. Whether you are looking for desert ghost towns, rolling hills covered in trees and wildflowers, or bustling downtown cities, you will find them in Texas. Some places have more ghostly lore associated with them than others, and Jefferson happens to be one of the most well-known.

Jefferson was originally established as a river port in east Texas where sternwheelers would travel with their cargo up the Mississippi River to the Red River, through Caddo Lake, and into Big Cypress Bayou. A massive log jam made it possible for steamboats to travel with their goods into Jefferson from New Orleans as the logs had dammed up the Red River, forming Caddo Lake and making Big Cypress a useful “turning basin.”

Port cities were an invaluable asset to the economy as the railroad had not yet arrived in Texas and people greatly depended on the shipments brought in by the boats to survive and to cultivate their businesses. Captain William Perry arrived as one of the first settlers in Jefferson on a sternwheeler in 1844, and just four years later the town was incorporated.

Several families lived on the property that is now known as The Grove, but the home as it sits today was originally built by W. Frank Stilley and his wife Minerva in November 1861. Frank was a cotton broker, and Minerva’s family owned and operated a cotton plantation in Marshall, making their marriage a highly beneficial business arrangement.

In 1866, a flood hit Jefferson and Frank’s cotton brokering business was destroyed. In 1873, the log jam (nicknamed the “Great Raft”) that enabled the sternwheelers to conduct their business in shipping to and from Jefferson was cleared out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The city was never the same. The steep fall in revenue took with it the growth and success that had once been so prevalent for the area. It is estimated that had Jefferson continued to grow as it had when it was first established, presently it would be the size of Houston.

In 1879, Minerva Stilley passed away. Charlie J. and Daphne Finch Young bought The Grove six years later. Charlie opened a barbershop in town and had many loyal, high-paying customers. He became a beloved member of the local community.

His wife Daphne planted and cultivated a beautiful garden, filled with orange day lilies and tiger lilies. She died in 1955 at the age of ninety-one, after having spent seventy years of her life at The Grove. Her funeral was held on the porch of the house so that she could be near the garden she loved before her burial.

Louise R. Young, Charlie and Daphne’s daughter, was born in the home and spent nearly her entire ninety-six years there before her death in 1983. Patrick Hopkins bought the house in 1990 and opened it as The Grove Restaurant, naming the establishment
after the nearly 140-year-old native Texas pecan trees that border it.

Current owners Mitchel and Tami Whitington acquired The Grove in 2002 and have delved into the history of everyone who lived on the property in hopes of preserving the information to share with future owners. They have also opened The Grove to public tours, providing guests with a colorful overview of Jefferson’s history along with history of the home and past residents.

Mitchel Whitington is an author who has written about the paranormal phenomena that he, his wife, and their guests have continually experienced during their ownership of The Grove. My first introduction to the property came shortly after a friend of mine had gifted me a copy of Mitchel’s books,
Ghosts of East Texas & the Pineywoods
and
A Ghost in My Suitcase: A Guide to Haunted Travel in America.

The town of Jefferson is quite famous for its ghost stories, and I have spent a lot of time there over the past couple of years discovering as many of them as I could. The Grove captured my attention, and it was only a short time before I found myself contacting the Whitingtons to arrange a visit to their home.

Allen, Jerry Bowers, and I traveled to Jefferson one sunny Sunday afternoon, and arrived at The Grove as Mitchel took a small group of visitors through on a tour. He provided so much information on Jefferson and The Grove that I couldn’t keep up on my note taking. Luckily, I had brought a digital recorder along, so all of the information would be available to me later upon playback of the audio.

“I am always asked at least two questions by our guests,” Mitchel began. “First, I am asked if the house is truly haunted, to which I reply that yes, it is, but not in a Hollywood kind of way. Some people walk in and expect to see a scene straight out of the movie
Poltergeist
, but it just isn’t like that.

“The second question I am asked is, being that it is indeed a haunted house, how in the world could my wife and I stand to
live here? Well, just stick with me through the tour, and you’ll see why by the time it comes to an end.”

As we entered the house, we were directed to the main living room and parlor. It is in this room that many psychics and sensitives have felt the presence of a female spirit, standing close to a mirror that hangs on the wall near the corner. The name Rachel has been suggested to Mitchel as this spirit’s name, but he hasn’t found any hard evidence in the history of the house to validate that impression. Nevertheless, there is a woman who has been seen and spoken to, in this particular corner, especially when children visit.

Some curious enough to approach the house have reported that an older gentleman with a gun has literally run them off the property.

“He is our protective spirit,” said Mitchel. “My wife and I don’t believe that we’ll ever see him, as he seems to trust us to take care of the place. However, he shows up often to others, and is described as looking just as solid as you or I.” Who he is, and why he is so protective of The Grove is unclear.

As the tour moved to the dining room, Mitchel spoke about the three children born into the Young family—daughters Louise and Mable, and a son named James. Louise and Mable have a well-documented history, whereas James is much more of a mystery. The Whitingtons learned through the stories of an elderly local woman that James died at the age of twenty in the home, having committed suicide. He had hanged himself on the back porch in 1907. As was typical of the era, his situation was not openly discussed. Suicide meant that there was something terribly wrong in the family, so the details of James’ life and death were mostly kept hidden. The entire Young family is buried together in one of the local cemeteries in Jefferson, with the exception of this young man. Mitchel and Tami have not been able to locate where his final resting place is.

I thought about James and wondered about his circumstances,
hoping that he was finally in a place of peace and no longer troubled by whatever it was that had compelled him to take his own life. I found it endearing that Mitchel was sure to mention him on the tour, even though he did not personally believe that James was haunting the house.

Through The Grove’s many transformations over the years, apparitions have become commonplace on the property. During a dinner theatre production held in the house one evening, a light technician was outside looking through a window when she was startled by a woman dressed in white standing on the east side of the house. As the technician approached the woman, she watched her walk toward the rear of the house. The lady in white stepped through the outside wall and instantly disappeared. At one point in time, there had been a door in the exact spot where the ghostly specter had been seen just before she vanished.

Less-detailed entities have also been sighted gliding through the garden. These figures appear to be more shadow-like and not identifiable as either male or female.

One interesting phenomenon consists of the inexplicable appearance of water in locations throughout the house. Sometimes it is seen as droplets on a particular mirror in the home, while on other occasions wet footprints have appeared on the floor as if someone had stepped out of a bath or puddle and walked through the home barefoot. No source for the water has been found, as the plumbing is in complete working order and the weather conditions on such days have been uneventful and dry.

The Whitingtons continue to experience a variety of unexplained events in their home, but insist that nothing has ever felt negative or threatening. Having been to the property myself, I can attest to the calm and peaceful atmosphere that it exudes. Mitchel and Tami are dedicated to preserving the story of The Grove and all who have previously called it home. It is obvious that they not only respect the history of property, but also the souls of those who are often seen, heard, and felt there.

NEARLY EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY in the city of Jefferson, Texas, is said to be haunted. Locals not only expect ghosthunters to visit, they cater to them. Haunted hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, and several “ghost walk” tours lure hundreds of paranormal enthusiasts into town every year. My first visit to Jefferson was no different; looking for ghosts is something I consider my full-time job. I was told that the once-thriving river port town had plenty of phenomena for me to discover, and I had only lived in Texas a matter of days before I was pestering my husband to take me to Jefferson.