A Word Edgewise |
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A Word Edgewise |
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Last Updated 01/20/06
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to Clendenin Books
Email: mjclen@our-town.com
OLD GHOSTS NEVER DIE. THEY’VE BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT.
How long do ghosts haunt? Do they ever move the site of their restless habitation? Is
Jenny, the ghost of the McDow Hole, still in business?
I don’t know the answers to those questions. I have seen programs about ghosts on
television, showing ghosts of people who died 400 years or more ago. Perhaps that is their
curse, they never die. That would be enough to frighten anyone.
Making a guess, I think Jenny Papworth and her baby were murdered about 115 years ago—and I would say she is much more popular now than when she lived in that little cabin above the banks of Greens Creek. Her reputation since her death has spread far and wide because her spirit determined to make life miserable for at least a few individuals.
Since we moved back to Erath County, I have heard various reports of Jenny’s activities. Just last month I got a call from a man who told me about sighting Jenny. The event took place about two years ago when he and a lady friend decided to investigate the haunt of the Greens Creek area. (Some sightings have been several miles from the McDow Hole.)
In this instance, it was a bright moon-light night, about 1:30 o’clock when the two arrived at the bridge. The man decided to walk down to the creek and investigate a little. His friend was too scared to get out of the pickup.
I don’t intend to tell you the entire story here, after the lady grew braver and got out of the pickup, the two saw Jenny materialize from a vapor-like column. Though her facial features were not visible, there was no mistake of identity when she showed them her baby. The terrified couple didn’t wait around to see what came next.
A letter from a lady in a neighboring town told me of the time recently when she and her daughter went to the site and heard the horrible scream of Jenny’s soul in agony. This brave woman returned later with her sister and they saw the ghost for a brief few minutes.
These are but two of several acounts I have heard, enough to make me more curious. I found among many old newspaper clippings, a letter signed, "THE GHOST". The clipping has no date on it, but a few classified ads, as well as an ad for the Mecca Café, lead me to guess at the early 1920s. I am copying the letter:
"A few weeks ago there appeared a letter in a paper published in Erath county, a statement that the McDow Ghost was dead. That I would never walk the earth again. False, every word of it. The man who wrote that wants me to be dead. It makes him think too much of the old days. There is also a woman in the town of Stephenville who could tell some wonderful things about me And do you know that a few years ago a man died in the county, a man that I have haunted for many years. And when he was on his death bed, I stood over him, to remind him of the awful past.
When my husband and I built our little cabin on the banks of Greens Creek we were very happy, but one evening when my husband was away, the Indians came and killed me. At least they were dressed like Indians, but they were not.. They were white men dressed up like Indians. I have haunted all these men these many years. And on his death bed the man I have mentioned told two men that I constantly appeared to him. That he knew I had come after him for the last time. One of these men still lives in Erath county, another near Paint Rock.
When the supposed Indians had murdered me they did not know what to do with my baby and cruel demons that they were, they threw it far out into the water. And its voice has cried from that hole of water all these years.
Yes, I am the ghost of the McDow and there are people still living that know I am real and why I exist.
Signed ----THE GHOST
Now, I know Jenny, the ghost get lots of help. Some people think she is not capable of scaring all by herself, so they try various ways in which to aid the ghost. I’ve heard of sheets on pulleys floating across the creek, of violins that make weird noises. Some inventive helpers have even put helium balloons, tied to strings, in dresses and made them jump around. A scare is a scare.
Who am I to say which ones are really Jenny and which are fake efforts. I think Jenny appears occasionally to particular people for reasons of her own. Ghost stories are very interesting to me, maybe because dad passed the bug on. We had sleep-overs (not called slumber parties then) and telling ghost stories was a must for the inght’s entertainment.
If you, too, enjoy ghost stories, perhaps you would like to purchase all or one of the 3 books I have written about ghosts: THE GHOST OF JENNY, THE GHOST OF McDOW HOLE, and GALLOPING GHOSTS. Stephenville stores that carry them, as well as my new book, A FEW WORDS EDGEWISE, and my others are. Poston Farm Store on North Graham Street, and The Book Worm, at 1955 S. Loop. What better way to spend hot summer evenings than in air-conditioned homes laid back with good books?