When oil was discovered in this area, the people who owned land here became rich before they knew it. Oil wells were drilled, people rushed in from everywhere, and leases and royalties were sold. Today the country is covered with oil wells and beautiful modern residences. The people have all late conveniences and are independent and happy. The most outstanding feature of Union Grove is the school. It stands second to none in this part of the country. After oil was discovered here, wells were drilled on the school property, which enabled them to build a first class school. A magnificent brick building was erected and the school put on high school basis in 1933. It was affiliated with the State University in 1935-36, and became a member of the Southern Association in 1937-38. The school operates a number of buses bringing in pupils from the surrounding districts. They use 18 teachers and have 36 units of affiliation. Soules Chapel About ten miles northwest of Gilmer, a few miles west of the old Cherokee Trace, is the pioneer settlement of Soules Chapel. The church and community were named for a bishop in the Methodist Church by the name of Soules. He probably was the first minister to preach at that place. Mr. Williams, father of Sam and Louis Williams, who used to be important citizens of the community, donated the land for the location of a Methodist Church. This was sometime in the early 1880’s. Settlers The early settlers came into the Soules Chapel community in the wee days of Texas history, and settled on large tracts of land, which were later divided up and occupied by new settlers. The early settlers here, like those in other parts of the country, first built log houses in which they lived till sawmills were installed to convert these pine forests into lumber. Early settlers brought their slaves with them, who helped to clear the land and build these log houses.