Spouse: Ruby Gladys GRAMMER. Children were: Evelyn Marie GROCE, Billie Grammer GROCE.

Spouse: Martha MELTON.

Spouse: Etta KEATON. Children were: Willie Hardin Groce JR., Shirley GROCE, Libby GROCE, Dorothy GROCE, Cindy GROCE, Betty GROCE, Nellie GROCE, Daniel Ell GROCE.

Willis Acree Groce was born in Clinton County, Kentucky June 3, 1845. His parents were Jesse Groce (April 10, 1816 1850+) and Sarah Anne Speck ( May 19, 1819 - January 19, 1891). Jesse was the grandson of Simon Gross, who was born in ?Zurnach, Switzerland? He and his brother, Theobald Gross, came to America in 1741 aboard the ship, Europa. They settled in Lancaster County, PA. Theobald died a few years later but Simon's descendants eventually came to Southern Kentucky where they became the ancestors of the Clinton County, KY and Pickett County, TN Groce's.

It has been reported that when Willis was four, his father, Jesse, met an untimely death at the age of 32 in 1849. I do not believe this is true, however, because I have found Jesse, Sarah, Granville and Willis in the 1850 census living in Overton County, Tennessee under the name “Gross” At any rate, in 1859, when Willis was fourteen years of age, his mother, Sarah, bought a 246-acre farm in the Lovelady Community of Overton (now Pickett) County, Tennessee known as the "Old Mayberry Place". The farm has been owned for many years by Dave and Robbie Hassler and is the present-day home of Robbie who is the great great grand-daughter of Jesse and Sarah Groce through their son, Willis (Willis-Sarah- Mary-Robbie). Robbie has arranged to place the farm in the Land Trust for Tennessee through the granting of a permanent conservation easement for the remaining 155 acres of the “Old Mayberry Place”. In 1859, the farm represented a new beginning for Sarah and her two sons as they came from nearby Clinton County, KY to their new home in Tennessee.

The farm apparently had a crude log cabin on it at the time, for their first major undertaking was to build a new log home. The log house, with substantial modification and modernization is presently occupied by Robbie Hassler.

In 1861, with the beginning of the Civil War, Granville was eighteen and enlisted to serve with the Confederate Army. Willis was only sixteen at the time and stayed at home to look after their mother and to complete the log house they had started earlier. During the War, Willis assisted the Confederates by serving as a scout in the area. He often had to hide in the caves along the bluffs of the Wolf River to avoid detection by the Union Soldiers.

The log house was completed sometime during the Civil War. On November 14, 1867, Willis and Mary Elizabeth Huddleston, the daughter of Wiley Howard Huddleston, who owned a neighboring farm, made the twenty-mile trip to Livingston, TN, the county seat, obtained a marriage license and were married by Simon H. Flowers, a local minister. At that time, the trip must have taken at least two days. The marriage license required taking out a bond to the State of Tennessee for $1250.00, payable if there arose any legal reason why the two parties should not be married. Willis and Mary had nothing to worry about - - their first child , Sarah, was three years old at the time and their second, Viola, was born seven months later.

When Willis' brother, Granville, returned from the War, he met Mary's sister, Janette Caroline Huddleston, and the two of them were married, probably in 1868. As children began to arrive to the two couples, the little log home was beginning to show signs of over-crowding. The census of 1870 shows nine people living there: Sarah; Granville and Nettie and Permelia, a 9-month old daughter; Willis and Mary, Sarah (6), Viola(3), and Lumilda (6mos). By early 1879, there were fifteen people in the two families including Sarah. It has been suggested that Willis and Mary and their children had moved to a small cabin somewhere between the location of the cabin he had built during the Civil War and Mary's homeplace, Wiley Huddleston's home, now called the Sims place in Lovelady.

In December of 1877, Willis bought the 252-acre farm that had belonged to Capt. Creed T. Huddleston (who died "of disease in Mexico City" during the war with Mexico). The sale was by the courts to settle the inheritance of Sophrana Huddleston, the minor daughter (and only child) of Simon W. Huddleston, the son of Creed T. Huddleston. Simon died in 1863 at the age of 28, probably in the War between the States, and a W.H. Harrison, probably her maternal grandfather, had been appointed as Sophrana's guardian. The sale was held on December 27, 1877 and Willis bought the farm and "the mansion house" for $325.00. The deed finalizing the sale was dated February 26, 1878.

Probably at Willis' request, in March of 1879, Sarah deeded the 246-acre farm in Lovelady to her sons, Granville and Willis, maintaining for herself a life estate. Immediately, (the deed was dated two days previously) Willis sold his interest in the property to Granville for $550.00.

Willis then moved his family, at that time Mary and six of their twelve children, to the farm about 1/2 mile south of Byrdstown where he lived the remainder of his life. Willis died September 18, 1911 at the age of sixty-six and Mary died March 14, 1913 at the age of seventy one. Both are buried in the Groce Family Cemetery near the old home place.

In 1907, Willis sold 100 acres of the farm to his son, Granville Armster, and the balance was distributed among other family members in settlement of Willis' estate. Armster's grand-daughter, Karen Smith, Betty's daughter, and her husband, Lynn, now own the remainder of the farm Armster bought from Willis in 1907.

Sarah continued to live with Granville's family at the Old Mayberry Place in Lovelady until her death in 1891. Granville and his family sold the farm in 1896 and moved a short distance down the Wolf River where they bought the farm that was home to him until his death in 1924 and then became the "Turney Groce Place". Granville had sold the Old Mayberry Place to a couple by the name of Chilton who lost it in 1909 by foreclosure from Pickett County Bank and Trust Co.

Willis and Mary raised a large family, with nine of twelve children surviving. Most of them went on to higher educations and became teachers and professionals. Willis Curtis became a doctor and carried on a lifelong family practice in Byrdstown and Pickett County. Ben Eston, the youngest son, was teaching school in Willow Grove, TN in about 1929 when he was asked to represent a local person in a lawsuit brought against that person. Although Ben had no legal training or experience, he successfully argued the case and won the lawsuit for the local person. Some local citizens were so impressed with his performance that they arranged for Ben to attend Cumberland Law School in Lebanon for a time sufficient enough for him to pass the Tennessee State Bar Examination. He then became an attorney after having taught school for a number of years. He conducted an active legal practice in Byrdstown until his death in 1950. He was also Superintendent of the County Schools for several terms. He was an avid fisherman and spent much time on the new Dale Hollow Lake after the dam was built at Celina and the lake was enclosed in 1943. His favorite fishing holes were in the Wolf River backwaters of the lake. He kept a boat tied up near the old highway 42 bridge over the lake and would go there often to test his skills. Ben's love for fishing has been passed on to many of his descendents, now about eighty, as we move on into the 21st century. Parents: Jesse GROCE and Sarah Anne SPECK.

Spouse: Mary HUDDLESTON. Children were: Lou GROCE, Viola GROCE, Sarah A. GROCE, James GROCE, Laura GROCE, Willis Curtis GROCE, G. Armster GROCE, Ben E. GROCE, Hattie GROCE.

Spouse: Dillie HUDDLESTON.

Spouse: Phyliss Ann MINIX. Children were: Sherman GROCE.

Spouse: John Howard FORE.

Spouse: Lois Irene GROCE. Children were: Richard Louis GROND, Thomas John GROND, William VAN GROND, Mary Ann GROND.

Spouse: Herman Ray HAUGHEY. Children were: Doris J HAUGHEY, Elton G HAUGHEY, Alice R HAUGHEY.

Spouse: Lena PADGETTE. Lena PADGETTE and Benjamin Harrison GROSE were married in September 1913.⁵³ Children were: Thomas Dayle GROSE, William Ralph GROSE, Ruby Estelle GROSE, Rev. Blaine Harrison GROSE, Doris Florene GROSE, Atre Mae GROSE.

Spouse: Bertha W.. Children were: Odell Hardy GROSE.

Spouse: Katy Booe CAIN. Children were: Harvey Lee GROCE.

Spouse: Elizabeth Jane REAVIS. Elizabeth Jane REAVIS and David Sanford GROSE were married on 26 November 1870 in Yadkin Co. NC.⁵³ Children were: Joseph Stanley GROSE, James Miles GROSE, Nancy Marietta GROSE, Susan Carmilla GROSE, William Pinkney GROSE, David Turner GROSE, Charlie Allison GROSE, Benjamin Harrison GROSE, Samuel Moody GROSE, Elizabeth Jane "LIzzie" GROSE.

Spouse: Lily MASON. Children were: Elsie GROCE, Paul GROCE.

Spouse: Floyd DOBSON. Doris Florene GROSE and Floyd DOBSON were married in 1942.⁵³ Children were: Carole DOBSON, Linda DOBSON, Kent DOBSON, William "Billy" DOBSON.

Spouse: Billy McRae FINK.

Spouse: Mary MARLER.

Spouse: Felix O. CRAWFORD.

Spouse: Silas RENEGAR. Children were: Nina RENEGAR, Alton RENEGAR, Carlie RENEGAR, Betty RENEGAR.

Spouse: Dorcas ARMSTRONG. Dorcas ARMSTRONG and George GROSE were married about 1842.⁵³ Children were: John Henry GROSE, Nathan Franklin GROSE, Lucinda GROSE, Rachel GROSE, Melmouth Elias GROSE, Mary Ann "Polly" GROSE, Elizabeth "Bettie" GROSE, Rachel GROSE.

Spouse: Percy Ida STEELMAN. Children were: Sanford Dallas GROSE, Roid Coston GROCE, Tracy Jane GROCE, Mary Mae GROCE, Otis GROCE, Susan Lee "Sis" Evans (adopted) GROCE.

Spouse: DELIA.

Spouse: DELIA.

Spouse: Charity DUNN.

Spouse: Mary PARIS.

Spouse: Sarah DOWELL. Sarah DOWELL and John Henry GROSE were married on 28 January 1862 in Yadkin Co., NC.⁵³ Children were: Elizabeth GROCE, William GROCE, Adalade GROCE, Peter GROCE, Dorcas Lucina (Louise) GROCE, Deliah GROCE, Ella (Dela\Ellen) GROCE, William GROCE, Peter GROCE.

Spouse: Lillian Ida STEELMAN.

Spouse: Ina STEELMAN. Children were: Vera GROCE, Beecher Hoyt GROCE.

Spouse: Clarissa HARRIS. Clarissa HARRIS and Joseph William GROSE were married on 16 January 1840 in Davie Co., NC.⁵³ Children were: Nathan Washington "Wash" GROSE, Martha J. GROSE, John Calvin GROSE, Mary L. GROSE, Elizabeth GROSE, Nancy Caroline GROSE, Elemel Lender GROSE, Susan Rachel GROSE, W. Sanford GROSE.

Spouse: Charles Alexander RICE.

Spouse: Houston Haywood STEELMAN.

Spouse: John Manless SMITH.

Spouse: John WILES. Children were: Betty Ann WILES, Robert WILES, Mary WILES, Bynum WILES, Blanche O. WILES, Mary WILES.

Spouse: Mary Ann REAVIS. Children were: Ida Belle GROSE, Carl Thomas GROSE.

Spouse: Columbus L. COOK.

Spouse: James U. BENNETT. Children were: David BENNETT, Susan Viola "Vallie" BENNETT, Early BENNETT, Turner BENNETT, Miles BENNETT, Ollie Bell BENNETT, Mary BENNETT, Blanche BENNETT, Fred BENNETT, Jettie BENNETT, Angie BENNETT, Fanny BENNETT.

Spouse: Mary Eleanor "Ellen" ALLEN. Mary Eleanor "Ellen" ALLEN and Nathan Franklin GROSE were married on 14 October 1872 in Johnson Co., IN.⁵³ Children were: Ollie Elmuttie GROCE, Isabell GROCE, George GROCE, Margaret Ann GROCE.

Spouse: Sarah MCBRIDE.

Children were: Louise GROCE, Louise GROCE.

Spouse: Augustus WOOTEN.