Are There Ghosts?
Some people believe there is evidence of a life after death. Many who work or volunteer their time at the Magoffin Home are not so sure. Most will admit, however, that a shadow of a doubt creeps into their thinking because of the happenings at the Magoffin Home. People have felt that friendly spirits are watching them and enjoying the activities in the Home. Everyone seems to agree that the spirits are all family members and that they are very much at peace.  

People began sharing the unexplainable things that had happened to them while in the Home. Psychics came to visit and shared their impressions as they walked through the different rooms. At times the stories are at odds with the historical records, but who are we to sit in judgment?

Included here are several of the better-known "Ghost Stories" presented for entertainment purposes. These stories are included in Magoffin Home: A House Where Spirits Dwell. In the foreword to the book, Leon Metz notes that the Magoffin Home remains one of El Paso's unique historical assets. Without doubt, ghosts will not ever be proved or disproved, but if such wraiths, apparitions, or whatever you wish to call them, do exist, and actually reside in the Home, they too are a form of history. In my opinion, the Magoffin Home should never be considered a haunted house, as that implies a frightening or evil overtone. There is no evidence or suspicion of that.  Instead, the Home is more likely "A House Where Spirits Dwell." This story deserved to be investigated and told.

Additional stories are shared during the monthly Spirit Tour offered the second Saturday of each month.  While at the historic site, visit the gift shop to pick up your copy of A House Where Spirits Dwell. Call the Magoffin Home, (915)-533-5147, for more information.

Uncle Charlie's Rocking Chair
Uncle Charlie's wooden rocking chair was in the family parlor, near the fireplace where he would sit to take his afternoon naps. As is customary with older people, he had made a habit of doing this, and it was indeed considered quite ordinary. On one afternoon, the occupants of the Home realized that Uncle Charlie had slept beyond the normal time. When the children went to rouse him, he could not be wakened. Uncle Charlie had silently slipped away to his eternal reward. Many people think he still returns to enjoy it. On at least four different occasions it has been reported that the chair began to rock without a human to touch it or a breeze to stir it. 

Tony Lightbourn, a staff member, recounts a curious tale. On one hot day," he says, "when I was conducting a tour of students through the Home, the temperature was very high and everyone seemed tired. No one was asking any questions. I was going on about one of the family members, when all of a sudden, a scream broke the quiet. 'It's moving! The chair is moving!' one of the girls stood transfixed. By the time everyone looked, the chair was still. The group started laughing, but that girl's face was so pale and she was clutching her arms so nervously that I'm sure she did see the chair rock.

The Lady in Blue
"There is no doubt that the Magoffin family members keep in touch with the Homestead," declared June Secrist. "I've seen a lady in a long blue dress walking here. . . . She's very tall and straight and she wears a clean white apron over her dress. Several of us saw her and, to tell you the truth, we kind of became accustomed to her. . . . Sometimes I'll just glimpse her, out of the corner of my eye, when I look up from the desk in my office in what used to [be] one of the outlying buildings. She looked exactly like the pictures we have of Octavia MacGreal Magoffin, the original mistress of this house."

A person who used to visit the Magoffin Home recalls that occasionally she had seen figure from the corner of her eye. It was never anything she could fix her gaze on, rather it was a sort of shadow that passed across the windows near the lilies. The adults tried to explain it as being someone coming to spray the curtains in the hall and draw them shut. But the visitor never really believed that explanation for she had the impression that it was a woman in a long, old-fashioned dress. It seems more believable that she had seen Octavia who loved to stroll among her lilies. How appropriate it would be for her to return!

Others may also have seen something elusive. A docent standing in the family parlor once saw the "Lady in Blue" in Josephine's bedroom.  

Great Service!
On May 3, 1981 the El Paso Times printed an article, which would seem to indicate that the spirits may get hungry. At that time restoration of the Home was underway, and state employees used the front corner bedroom as an office / lunchroom. Two of the employees brought in barbecue sandwiches from a restaurant. They placed the sandwiches on a table and sat down to eat. Before they could touch the sandwiches, one of them slid out of its box and unwrapped itself.

The newspaper story reported that the sandwich also rose and flew across the room. Jim Bigger, one of the witnesses to the "performance" said that, contrary to the printed story, the sandwich did not whirl like a flying saucer - it simply came out of the box and unwrapped itself.

Unexplainable Noises
For a while staff as an on-site residence used the rooms on the northwest end of the Home, where the offices are located now. Tony Lightbourn called these rooms home for about six months. "There is no evil in the Home," he said, "but I did feel that someone was watching me. Many times when I was alone I heard noises, such as shutters closing, when I knew they were already closed. I would hear doors closing, although they too had been closed and locked. I would secure the Home for the night, carefully turning off all the lights before I went to bed."

  Some mornings, all the lights in the hall and the parlor would be burning. This occurred without a whisper from the very sensitive alarm system. At times Tony heard what sounded like a party. At other times he heard footsteps. One evening, Tony was abruptly wakened by the sound of shattering glass. He reported that his heart was pounding as he got up and looked all around the Home, carefully checking everything, but found no broken glass. He went back to bed. An hour later, he was again waked by a jarring noise. That same noise was to break the silence many more times that night. "I couldn't take it any more", explained Tony. "I had to move out of the Home to get a good night's sleep!"