Hiking Back in Time

Scout Troop 168, Southlake, Texas, made a very old part of Southlake beautiful again. Scouts tromped into a plot off of Highland Avenue to a small cemetery of the Chivers family, pioneers of this area in the 1850’s. Descendent of the original Absolem Chivers, Mr. Bill Chivers of Grapevine looked on as the Scouts cleared vines, old fencing and debris from the cemetery plot, restoring the Historical site. Mr. Chivers, and his wife, Jane, shared stories of the known persons buried at the plot, Absalem, his wife Eleanor, and their son Layfayette. The Chivers had come from Mississippi in the 1850’s, farming this plot where Dove Creek starts. After the Civil War, Eleanor supported the family selling parcels of the land. Mr. Chivers grew up in Wise County, but has returned to Grapevine. He is related to a number of Texas pioneers, including Cynthia Parker, who had been taken by the Indians in the Ft. Parker massacre.

The Scouts cleared the areas around five gravestones, and a number of other stones that appear to have been intentionally placed at the site. It is not known how many people are buried at the site. Other family members have been buried at Lonesome Dove Cemetery.

It is Mr. Chivers intention to build a fence around the gravesite to more clearly identify it for the Southlake Historical Society and future land developers.

To attain the Texas Award, the Scouts in Troop 168 also reported on famous Texans and resident Indian tribes, read Texas authors, and made food characteristic of different cultures from people who settled in Texas. Also included was a two-mile hike around a historical site and this community service for Southlake Historical Society.

Troop 168 is chartered by St. Laurence Episcopal Church, Southlake. Please visit our website via www.Stlaurencechurch.org or www.bsa168.org.

Scouts from Troop 168 join Bill and Jane Chivers of Grapevine to clean out their ancestor’s cemetery in Southlake. This family cemetery is a family plot on the original homestead of Absolem Chivers from the 1850’s. Scouts pictured are left to right: Chad Smith, Travis Allen, Patick Mundlin, Jeremy Jordan, Colby Edson, Casey Flynn, Ryan Bennett, Stephen Davies, Jonathan Mundlin, Connor Perry, Evyn Perry, Cooper Flynn, Scott Flynn, as well as Josh Weaver. Others Scouts who helped were Charlie Hope, Nick Hope, Matthew Morrow, and CJ Loy.

May 2006