Linda Coker, chair of the Hays County Historical Commission, spoke to the San Marcos Kiwanis Club about one of the town's best-known ghost stories. The 1884 Historic Hays County Jail stands near Fredericksburg Street and Martin Luther King Drive, behind the Calaboose African American History Museum. Coker said she has the keys to the jail and has visited it often. She said plans for the building are being considered, but none have been settled.
Coker said the story centers on Anna Hauptreif, who married William Hauptreif, a widower with seven children. According to Coker, several of the children died, and William was poisoned with arsenic. She said Anna confessed to the poisonings. Coker also said the death of Anna's first husband was re-examined after he was exhumed and was found to have been poisoned as well.
Coker said Anna was held on the second story of the jail while awaiting trial, which was postponed because the state feared no jury would convict a pregnant woman. According to Coker, Anna died in the jail on Halloween night in 1924, and local legend says she still haunts the building.