HLRGazette Archives

At an early date, Eli Chancy bought 320 acres of land about one mile south of the Hopewell Church in Wood County. He enlisted in the Confederate Army and served until the end of the Civil War. He then returned to the land he had purchased and began to make improvements.
He built a residence and some other buildings needed for the farm. About 1889, he married Elizabeth Gorman, the daughter of Rev. and Mrs. W. H Gorman, who lived near Winnsboro.
To this marriage was born a daughter, Pearl Chancy; a son, Thomas Hood Chancy and two sons and a daughter who died in early infancy. The Chancy family came from Florida to Texas at an early date and consisted of John, Calvin, Eli, Tom and one sister. Eli and Calvin are the only members of this family that have left any record of living in Wood County for very long.
Eli and Calvin Chancy were partners in some of their enterprises. Calvin lived in Eli's home until about 1879 when they dissolved the partnership. Calvin moved and began to build a home of his own.
Eli Chancy was sympathetic and civic-minded. He was always ready to help with money for a worthy cause. From Thomas Hood Chancy, it was learned that during the school term of 1884 and 1885, the Pleasant Grove school was in need of an extra teacher but did not have the money to paid another teacher. Eli Chancy donated the money to pay the teacher whose name was Professor Boone.
Eli Chancy built a horse-power gin near his home and later changed it over to steam power. Eli was born in 1842 and died on September 14th, 1885. He was buried in the Hopewell Cemetery. The Chancy gin was operated by different men over a period of years, but the final disposition of the gin is not known.
Another gin was built by Elmore Wright at an early date about one mile south of the Pleasant Grove school house. In 1874, A.J. Harris bought a farm about one mile south of Pleasant Grove and about 800 yards west of the Elmore Wright gin. Harris moved with his family to this farm. Later, Harris bought an interest in the gin business with Mr. Wright. A few years later, Harris purchased Wright's interest in the gin. He rebuilt it and added some improvement, including a grist mill for grinding corn to make corn bread.
In the early 1890s, Harris bought an acreage of land in Pleasant Grove on the north side of the road and moved his gin to this new location. He again rebuilt and added some changes and continued to operate the gin. He also built a new residence and moved his family to the new location.
In 1894, A.J. Harris, A.E. Harris and J.J. Rouse added machinery to manufacture ribbon cane syrup by steam power. They were able to make a very fine grade of syrup on this labor-saving machinery. Later, A.J. Harris bought out the interest of A.E. Harris and Mr. Rouse in the syrup machinery and continued to operate the gin.
About 1900, A.J. Harris sold his gin business to S.J. Benton and A.F. Dean, who moved the plant about 500 yards west of the Pleasant Grove stores. They rebuilt the gin and operated the business for a few years. They sold to J.L. Rountree who later sold it to Albert McElroy, who later sold it to a Mr. Hastings. Hastings later moved the gin to another location.
About 1879, Calvin Chancy bought a farm one mile east of the Pleasant Grove school house where he built a residence and married Emily Paschal. Chancy built a horse-power gin on this farm, which became known later as the C.P. Newman farm.
In 1887, Chancy's widow married Pete Dowell. They soon separated, and in August of 1888, Mrs. Calvin Chancy Dowell married Tom Nunnaly, who later moved the gin to north side of the farm. He rebuilt it, added steam power plus a grist meal to grind cornmeal.
In 1895, Mr. and Mrs. Nunnaly sold their farm and the gin to J.J. Rouse. In the spring of 1897, Rouse sold the gin to Henry Winterbourghers. He moved the gin to the Forest Hill Community near Quitman where it remained in operation for many years.
The importance of cotton as a crop in Wood County dropped off in the 1940s.