Chaffa's tombstone has incorrect dates for her birth and death. She was born about 1845 and is enumerated in the 1860 Calhoun County, Florida census. Subsequent census records also indicate a birth year of about 1845. Her obituary appeared in several newspapers all indicating she died in 1916.
As the story goes, young Chaffa met and fell in love with a handsome young man by the name of John W. Grace about 1860 when she was only fifteen. They planned to marry, but her family disapproved. Perhaps they thought she should wait until she was a little older, or perhaps they thought young John was a little too wild at the time.
To prove himself worthy, John went to Texas to seek his fortune and Chaffa was to await his return. When Texas joined the Confederacy in 1861, John enlisted in Co. H of the 5th Texas Infantry.
John was wounded, but not killed, during the war. Chaffa heard that he had died. In the meantime, word had gotten to John that she had married another when he left Florida.
John married Eliza Hogue in Texas in 1871 and raised a family of six children. When she died in 1904, John decided to visit old friends in Florida, where he discovered Chaffa living at the old Gregory family plantation and running the old warehouse on the Apalachicola River at Ocheesee landing. She had never married.
A romance that had begun some forty five years earlier was rekindled, and Chaffa and John were married in Calhoun County, Florida on July 10, 1906.
Sadly, their life together was short lived. On the night of November 28, 1908, John heard the signal of a steamboat down on the river. He went down to the landing, and after unloading the freight, the steamboat proceeded up river. John never returned to the house that night. The next morning, when the first drivers arrived at the warehouse, Chaffa asked for their help in locating her husband. Bloodstains were discovered on the warehouse door. The woods were searched, and the river was dragged. On the morning of December 1st, John's body was found in the water near the landing at a depth of 24 feet. He had been killed by a hatchet blow to the head. A man by the name of Tom Holmes was convicted of John's murder and received a life sentence. There is speculation that others my have been involved, but no one else was ever charged in the crime.
Chaffa continued to live at Ocheesee in the old family home until her death.
The house became dilapidated and in the 1930's it was donated to the State of Florida. In 1935 it was dismantled, floated across the river, and rebuilt at the newly created Torreya State Park. Today the restored Gregory House sits on a bluff overlooking the Apalachicola River and is open for tours.
This article is copyright protected by Linda # 47701162.
As the story goes, young Chaffa met and fell in love with a handsome young man by the name of John W. Grace about 1860 when she was only fifteen. They planned to marry, but her family disapproved. Perhaps they thought she should wait until she was a little older, or perhaps they thought young John was a little too wild at the time.
To prove himself worthy, John went to Texas to seek his fortune and Chaffa was to await his return. When Texas joined the Confederacy in 1861, John enlisted in Co. H of the 5th Texas Infantry.
John was wounded, but not killed, during the war. Chaffa heard that he had died. In the meantime, word had gotten to John that she had married another when he left Florida.
John married Eliza Hogue in Texas in 1871 and raised a family of six children. When she died in 1904, John decided to visit old friends in Florida, where he discovered Chaffa living at the old Gregory family plantation and running the old warehouse on the Apalachicola River at Ocheesee landing. She had never married.
A romance that had begun some forty five years earlier was rekindled, and Chaffa and John were married in Calhoun County, Florida on July 10, 1906.
Sadly, their life together was short lived. On the night of November 28, 1908, John heard the signal of a steamboat down on the river. He went down to the landing, and after unloading the freight, the steamboat proceeded up river. John never returned to the house that night. The next morning, when the first drivers arrived at the warehouse, Chaffa asked for their help in locating her husband. Bloodstains were discovered on the warehouse door. The woods were searched, and the river was dragged. On the morning of December 1st, John's body was found in the water near the landing at a depth of 24 feet. He had been killed by a hatchet blow to the head. A man by the name of Tom Holmes was convicted of John's murder and received a life sentence. There is speculation that others my have been involved, but no one else was ever charged in the crime.
Chaffa continued to live at Ocheesee in the old family home until her death.
The house became dilapidated and in the 1930's it was donated to the State of Florida. In 1935 it was dismantled, floated across the river, and rebuilt at the newly created Torreya State Park. Today the restored Gregory House sits on a bluff overlooking the Apalachicola River and is open for tours.
This article is copyright protected by Linda # 47701162.
Chaffa's tombstone has incorrect dates for her birth and death. She was born about 1845 and is enumerated in the 1860 Calhoun County, Florida census. Subsequent census records also indicate a birth year of about 1845. Her obituary appeared in several newspapers all indicating she died in 1916.
As the story goes, young Chaffa met and fell in love with a handsome young man by the name of John W. Grace about 1860 when she was only fifteen. They planned to marry, but her family disapproved. Perhaps they thought she should wait until she was a little older, or perhaps they thought young John was a little too wild at the time.
To prove himself worthy, John went to Texas to seek his fortune and Chaffa was to await his return. When Texas joined the Confederacy in 1861, John enlisted in Co. H of the 5th Texas Infantry.
John was wounded, but not killed, during the war. Chaffa heard that he had died. In the meantime, word had gotten to John that she had married another when he left Florida.
John married Eliza Hogue in Texas in 1871 and raised a family of six children. When she died in 1904, John decided to visit old friends in Florida, where he discovered Chaffa living at the old Gregory family plantation and running the old warehouse on the Apalachicola River at Ocheesee landing. She had never married.
A romance that had begun some forty five years earlier was rekindled, and Chaffa and John were married in Calhoun County, Florida on July 10, 1906.
Sadly, their life together was short lived. On the night of November 28, 1908, John heard the signal of a steamboat down on the river. He went down to the landing, and after unloading the freight, the steamboat proceeded up river. John never returned to the house that night. The next morning, when the first drivers arrived at the warehouse, Chaffa asked for their help in locating her husband. Bloodstains were discovered on the warehouse door. The woods were searched, and the river was dragged. On the morning of December 1st, John's body was found in the water near the landing at a depth of 24 feet. He had been killed by a hatchet blow to the head. A man by the name of Tom Holmes was convicted of John's murder and received a life sentence. There is speculation that others my have been involved, but no one else was ever charged in the crime.
Chaffa continued to live at Ocheesee in the old family home until her death.
The house became dilapidated and in the 1930's it was donated to the State of Florida. In 1935 it was dismantled, floated across the river, and rebuilt at the newly created Torreya State Park. Today the restored Gregory House sits on a bluff overlooking the Apalachicola River and is open for tours.
This article is copyright protected by Linda # 47701162.
As the story goes, young Chaffa met and fell in love with a handsome young man by the name of John W. Grace about 1860 when she was only fifteen. They planned to marry, but her family disapproved. Perhaps they thought she should wait until she was a little older, or perhaps they thought young John was a little too wild at the time.
To prove himself worthy, John went to Texas to seek his fortune and Chaffa was to await his return. When Texas joined the Confederacy in 1861, John enlisted in Co. H of the 5th Texas Infantry.
John was wounded, but not killed, during the war. Chaffa heard that he had died. In the meantime, word had gotten to John that she had married another when he left Florida.
John married Eliza Hogue in Texas in 1871 and raised a family of six children. When she died in 1904, John decided to visit old friends in Florida, where he discovered Chaffa living at the old Gregory family plantation and running the old warehouse on the Apalachicola River at Ocheesee landing. She had never married.
A romance that had begun some forty five years earlier was rekindled, and Chaffa and John were married in Calhoun County, Florida on July 10, 1906.
Sadly, their life together was short lived. On the night of November 28, 1908, John heard the signal of a steamboat down on the river. He went down to the landing, and after unloading the freight, the steamboat proceeded up river. John never returned to the house that night. The next morning, when the first drivers arrived at the warehouse, Chaffa asked for their help in locating her husband. Bloodstains were discovered on the warehouse door. The woods were searched, and the river was dragged. On the morning of December 1st, John's body was found in the water near the landing at a depth of 24 feet. He had been killed by a hatchet blow to the head. A man by the name of Tom Holmes was convicted of John's murder and received a life sentence. There is speculation that others my have been involved, but no one else was ever charged in the crime.
Chaffa continued to live at Ocheesee in the old family home until her death.
The house became dilapidated and in the 1930's it was donated to the State of Florida. In 1935 it was dismantled, floated across the river, and rebuilt at the newly created Torreya State Park. Today the restored Gregory House sits on a bluff overlooking the Apalachicola River and is open for tours.
This article is copyright protected by Linda # 47701162.
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