Ghost 'detectives' visit Northington house
From the archives
Janet Hobizal

Since October is the month that most of us all decorate our yards and buy Halloween costumes of goblins, ghosts and ghouls, I thought I would search through the archives to see what we could come up with on stories of haunted houses and treacherous murders in Wharton County. Just to get ya'll in the "spirit" (pun intended).

Egypt Plantation House was built in 1833 by W.J. E. Heard. He purchased 2,222 acres from John C. Clark, one of the "Original 300".

"Uncle Billy", as he was called, married America Morton in about 1826 and in 1843 Captain Heard started construction of the most historic "big house" in Wharton County, at Egypt Plantation.

He built it on the highest point of land and in the style of the classic Georgian homes from his childhood memories in Tennessee.

There were no plans on paper; he and his wife, America, built it as they went along, with "pillow talk" often determining the next day's work.

The walls were built 12 inches thick and extended four feet into the ground. Metal ceiling rods extended through the house to the outside, thus keeping the house in alignment. The slave-made pink bricks came from the banks of Caney Creek, the cypress doors and beams were brought from Galveston and the pine was hauled from East Texas by oxcart for the hand-adze, one and a half inch thick plank floors and ceilings.

After America's death, their daughter Elizabeth Heard had married Mentor Northington and W. J. E. Heard moved to Chappell Hill. Mentor and Elizabeth moved into the "big house" and took over its operations.

During the Civil War, the plantation had stepped down another generation to George Heard Northington Sr., the Northingtons took in wounded confederate soldiers to nurse them back to health and then send them back on their way. There was one soldier who had lost his leg, among other injuries.

While he was recovering, a wooden leg was made for him. He would pace around the upstairs room to learn to walk on the wooden leg. Shortly after he died.

It has been said by the Northington family and many guests of the plantation house that in the middle of the night you can hear a tapping on the

floor boards from the bedroom upstairs as if someone is walking around up there. Recently, a crew of "ghost det ectives" visited Northington Plantation house to record any strange disturbances.

They are still processing the data, but they did tell the present owner, George "Bud" Northington IV, that there were spirits there but they were all happy spirits and there was no "anger" or "evil" sensed in the house.

The Egypt Cemetery is just a stone's throw from the house. There are many unmarked graves and it is not known whether if this soldier is buried at the cemetery or not.

Spanish Camp got its name from when Santa Anna's Mexican Army camped in a large field right on Peach Creek during the Texas Revolution.

There were hundreds and hundreds of soldiers each in small groups with small camp fires all through the pasture.

When I was photographing cemeteries last year I was looking for the Corbett/Newell Cemetery which is right in the middle of this old "campground".

When I stopped to ask for directions from a man who had grown up right across the road from the pasture, he told me about the many times, on foggy nights he and his friends could see lights flickering all through the pasture like camp fires burning.

Next week I will tell you about the most horrific murder in Wharton County in 1895, so make sure you leave a night light on!

If you know of any other "ghost" stories or haunted houses in Wharton County, please email me at: wchm@awesomenet. net

Janet Barrett-Hobizal is an archivist for the Wharton County Historical Museum.