HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
An 1861 Jefferson home where Reconstruction-era mob violence killed five people — including four men hanged along the street out front — and where the original owner is still reported walking the property.
405 Moseley St, Jefferson, TX 75657
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
$6 per person. Reservations required for all tours.
Access
Limited Access
Historic two-story home; tours involve interior stairs
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1861 · National Register of Historic Places · Recorded Texas Historic Landmark · Reconstruction-Era History · Stockade Case Site
The land at 405 Moseley Street was originally granted to Daniel and Lucy Alley, who co-founded Jefferson. It passed through several owners before being purchased by Amos Morrill, a federal judge. Frank Stilley and his wife Minerva Fox — Stilley was from Louisiana and brought French Creole architectural preferences — built the current structure in 1861 as a wedding gift. The house blends Greek Revival massing with French Creole detailing.
The pivotal event in the home's history occurred on October 4, 1868. George W. Smith, the Marion County delegate to the Texas Constitutional Convention of 1868–69, had come to Jefferson advocating for the rights of formerly enslaved people. After a confrontation with Colonel Richard P. Crump, a leading local citizen, Smith fired back and injured two of Crump's associates. That night, 70 to 100 armed and hooded men overwhelmed the Union guards holding Smith and the four Black men who had come with him. Smith was killed. The four men were hanged along Moseley Street, in front of the house.
The case — known as the Stockade Case — became one of the documented instances of Reconstruction-era racial violence in East Texas. No convictions resulted.
In 1885, Charles Young, known as Charlie, purchased the home. Born into slavery, he had become a prominent barber in Jefferson — well-regarded enough to offer customers personalized shaving mugs with their names in gold letters. The house remained in the Young family for nearly a century. James Young, Charlie's son, died by suicide on the back porch in 1908. The family retained ownership until 1983. Mitchel and Tami Whitington bought the property in 2002 and operate it as a weekend tour destination.
The Grove is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (2005) and is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (2006). It has been named one of the twelve most haunted houses in America by This Old House and appeared on HGTV's If Walls Could Talk.
Sources
The Grove's paranormal tradition centers on Minerva Fox Stilley, the woman who built the house with her husband in 1861. Her figure — described as glowing white and in period clothing — is the most consistently reported apparition by tour guides and visitors. She has been seen both inside the house and on the surrounding grounds.
A second category of reports involves phenomena that don't correspond to a named individual: wet footprints appearing on the interior floors on days with no rain and no wet visitors, unexplained scents including tobacco and flowers in rooms that have been closed, and sounds that guides describe as consistent with the Stockade Case victims — the four men hanged along Moseley Street in October 1868.
The house has been featured on HGTV's If Walls Could Talk and in Texas Highways magazine. This Old House named it one of the twelve most haunted houses in America. Tour guides — the current owners, Mitchel and Tami Whitington, lead most tours personally — present the paranormal history alongside the documented history of the Stockade Case, treating them as intertwined rather than separate narratives.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Hour-long guided tour of the 1861 Greek Revival and French Creole home, covering its construction by Frank and Minerva Stilley, the Young family's ownership from 1885 through 1983, the Reconstruction-era Stockade Case murders, and the documented paranormal history. Tours run Saturdays 2–3 PM and Sundays 11 AM–noon; reservations required.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Macon, GA
Built between 1855 and 1859 for businessman William Butler Johnston at a cost of approximately $100,000, the Italian Renaissance Revival mansion at 934 Georgia Avenue has been called the 'Palace of the South' and is a National Historic Landmark. The Felton family held it through the Civil War period; Confederate general Henry Gray Felton occupied it during the war. The Hay family acquired the house in 1926 and donated it to The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation in 1977.
Indianapolis, IN
Hannah House is an 1858 Italianate mansion at 3801 Madison Avenue on the south side of Indianapolis, built by Alexander Hannah, an Indiana businessman who returned wealthy from the California Gold Rush. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Charles City, VA
Benjamin Harrison IV built the current mansion at Berkeley Plantation in 1726, making it the oldest three-story brick structure in Virginia. The plantation became the birthplace of President William Henry Harrison in 1773 and the ancestral seat of a family that produced a signer of the Declaration of Independence and two U.S. Presidents. During the Civil War, General McClellan used the mansion as his headquarters and the cellar held Confederate prisoners.