in Springtown James McKinney had
made a very bad decision: he’d trad-
ed his pistol for provisions, leaving
him powerless to defend his family
against the merciless raiders. The
body of the McKinneys’ six-year-old
daughter was later found on the trail
leading north out of the settlements
near present-day Bridgeport. Those
of the family killed in the incident
were buried in a single grave in
Goshen Cemetery, about three miles
west of Springtown. The surviving
three-year-old boy, Joe, was raised
in Springtown and later lived in
Jacksboro.
“Although Issac Brisco had left
Jack County because of the county’s
vulnerability to Indian attacks, he
found no refuge from the red men’s
wrath in his new location in North
Parker County.” In 1866, the year
following his daughter’s family’s
slaughter, he and his wife were also
killed and scalped.
As a population center, Agnes
never amounted to much, at its peak
home to no more than 100 people.
Historians blame it on the railroad.
“The residents of the Agnes
community like so many of the
early settlers expected the railroad
to come through and bring prosper-
ity and growth. The railroad was not
to be and the hopes of ever having
one there caused some to move into
the larger cities for work. Those that
stayed lived modestly and invested
their time into agriculture. As roads
and vehicles made travel more acces-
sible the younger folks got jobs in the
larger cities. The farmers and ranch-
ers stayed on, but ultimately the land
began to be sold.” (Parker County
Historical Commission)
Named after Agnes Mull, the
daughter of a prominent physician,
the community was granted a post
office in 1879 and lost it in 1907.
Life in old-time Agnes was typical
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of the frontier era with farmers scrap-
ing a living from the earth and horse-
and-buggy doctoring.
“Dr. Moose traveled by horse
and buggy at all hours, in all kinds
of weather to treat all kinds of illness
and accidents. When traveling by
horse, his medicines and instruments
were carried in saddle pockets. In
1909, he purchased the first car in
Agnes, a Model T Ford touring car.”
(PCHC)
In those days doctors received
patients at home or travelled to the
homes of the ailing.
Farmers hauled their cotton,
corn and oats to Agnes’ gristmill
and cotton gin for processing. They
also utilized a local blacksmith and
shopped at Barnard’s General Store.
Religion played a prominent part
in the settlers’ lives with Agnes’ two
churches providing framework for
both spiritual and social activities.
“Sunday school was held in both
churches every Sunday morning, and
all across the area the people could
hear the tolling of the church bells,
which reminded them to go to the
house of the Lord for worship. On
one Sunday of each month there was
a preacher of each church who came
by horse and buggy from other towns
to give long sermons. Somehow
they arranged their schedules so that
there wouldn’t be preaching at both
churches on the same day. From the
windows of one church, the folks
would watch for the other group
to walk the short distance down
the gravel road to join them for the
church service. During the summer,
each church held revivals—two
services daily for two weeks. Often,
during the summer, the only breeze
was made by the constant movement
of palm leaf fans. Despite the summer
work and heat, these dedicated
Christian folks gathered together
faithfully. A baptism often took place
in a pond south of the churches near
the Agnes school.” (PCHC)
Agnes remained a widely
dispersed community throughout the
20th century and continues to exist as
one of countless “wide spots” in the
road that Texas drivers pass through
regularly, mostly oblivious to the past
or even presence of the pastoral little
places.
The voice was that of a nude three-
year-old boy who ran from the men
when he found neither of them was
his father. The child’s body had been
scratched with briars, and his side
had been lanced by the Indians. The
only explanation offered by the child
was that the ‘booger-man did it.’”
The startled settlers carried the
boy to their wives who plucked briars
and thorns from the poor child and
dressed his wounds and clothed him.
The men returned to the saddle to
search for other tracks or victims.
“Returning to the place where
the young victim had been discov-
ered, the settlers, with others,
traced the footprints for about four
hundred yards, where they found the
ox-wagon, one of the oxen with an
arrow in it, and the bodies of James
McKinney, Cynthia, and their baby.
Both James and Cynthia had been
scalped.”
Settlers later learned that while
25