Slain local haunts Erath County
J-TAC File Story
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Features
One of the scariest places Erath County has to offer is an old watering hole on Green's Creek called the "McDow Hole." Located south of Dublin, the McDow Hole has intrigued and frightened ghost hunters, teenagers and others for over a century.
The story of McDow Hole starts with a family murdered and scalped by Comanche marauders in the summer of 1855. The young couple and their two mutilated children were found dead by Texas scouts and buried by the creek and watering hole. This was not the last traumatic event that would take place at the McDow Hole.
The most common story of the McDow haunting has been documented by several writers in magazines and newspapers. The main characters in this story are another young couple: Charlie Papworth and his wife Jenny. The Papworths, along with their infant son, Temple, moved from Georgia to Texas around 1860. They bought a piece of land near the spring-fed McDow Hole and built a cabin on the bank of Green's Creek.
Charlie and Jenny worked hard to survive and were blessed with another child in 1865. Shortly after their second child was born, Charlie received unfortunate news that his parents had died. They left Charlie all their furniture and belongings, but it could only be shipped as far as the train went, which was Texarkana. Charlie set out on a 200 mile journey to get his parents' furniture and left his wife and children behind at the cabin.
Although Jenny and her children stayed at the cabin during the day, they went at night to stay with their neighbors, either the McDow family or the Keith family. One night, Jenny and the children did not show up at either place, but neither neighbor realized this until the next morning. They sent out a search party and found the Papworth cabin deserted with some signs of a struggle. After hearing a cry from under the bed, the search party found five year old Temple hiding and frightened. He was too shaken to recount a complete story of what happened to his mother, but by the next day word had spread throughout the community that Jenny Papworth had been killed.
The story of McDow Hole starts with a family murdered and scalped by Comanche marauders in the summer of 1855. The young couple and their two mutilated children were found dead by Texas scouts and buried by the creek and watering hole. This was not the last traumatic event that would take place at the McDow Hole.
The most common story of the McDow haunting has been documented by several writers in magazines and newspapers. The main characters in this story are another young couple: Charlie Papworth and his wife Jenny. The Papworths, along with their infant son, Temple, moved from Georgia to Texas around 1860. They bought a piece of land near the spring-fed McDow Hole and built a cabin on the bank of Green's Creek.
Charlie and Jenny worked hard to survive and were blessed with another child in 1865. Shortly after their second child was born, Charlie received unfortunate news that his parents had died. They left Charlie all their furniture and belongings, but it could only be shipped as far as the train went, which was Texarkana. Charlie set out on a 200 mile journey to get his parents' furniture and left his wife and children behind at the cabin.
Although Jenny and her children stayed at the cabin during the day, they went at night to stay with their neighbors, either the McDow family or the Keith family. One night, Jenny and the children did not show up at either place, but neither neighbor realized this until the next morning. They sent out a search party and found the Papworth cabin deserted with some signs of a struggle. After hearing a cry from under the bed, the search party found five year old Temple hiding and frightened. He was too shaken to recount a complete story of what happened to his mother, but by the next day word had spread throughout the community that Jenny Papworth had been killed.
Be the first to comment on this story