Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-03-12
The .Inmel VIII Case.

On the Goth of last month the jury brough'
in a verdict for the defendant. This case
which has attracted the attention of the
country fer some years, and the late trial OF
which iu New York City took over two
months, ranks in interest with the Gaines
case, at the head of the civil trials had in the
United States 1t is said that the plaintiff
tas taken over one hundred and fifty excep-
tions on the late trial. These form a pom
derous document and will doubtless keep the
case much longer alive before final decison
is reached. The best account Of the late
contest we find in the Springfield Republican.
Alike in the amount at etake-si1 million
dollsrs-the romantic history of the parties
who have most prominently figured in it, the
character OF the counsel who have bad 1t IN
charge, General Hoar and
Charles O'Conor marshaling the forces for
! plaintiff and defense, and the length OF the
trial, the Jumel will case takes a very high
rank in judicial annals, The suit was an
attempt On the part of George Washington
| Bowen a man nearly 80 years old, to prove
himself the illegitimate child OF Madame
Jumel, the testatrx, that, under law OF
| New York by which illegitimate children
may inherit from their mother, he might
establish his right and title to some property
| IN New York city, which was formerly own
ed by Madame Jumel, and is now valued at
sc. 900 600. Madame Eliza Bowen Jumel
.he daughter of John Bowen, d sailor, and
Phoebe Kelley, woman who led an unchaste
lie, both before and after her marriage with
Bowen, was born at Providence in l775.
Commencing existence amid the squalor and
filth of the vicious classes, and reared among
unwhoesume influences, she came to mingle
in the highest society, both in this country
and Europe-having been on intimate terms
with Louis XVIII. of France and ex-klng
Joseph Bonaparte and from a penniless
child became one Of the richest W men the
country has known. She lived during her
girlhood at the home OF Major Reuben Ballou,
an officer in the revolutionary army, IN
Providence, and here, it is alleged, she gave
birth in 1874 to the plaintiff, George Wash
ngt0n Bowen, his supposed father being
Major Ballou. Miss Bowen went to New
YORK in 1910, and three years a'terward
married Stephen Jumel, with whom she lived
until hie death, in 1898. After this event
she met and married Aaron Burr, both being
already in their old age and having led lives
in some degree similar. She married him tC
crafty her ambition for mingling in higt
circles, but she soon repented her folly il
oining herself with such a broken-dowr
roue, and IN a few years procured a divorce
, from him She lived more than 80 years
after this, dying in 1865 at the age of 30
alter one of the most singular and romantic
careers on record.
The defendant in the suit, and the presen
5 owner of the property in contest, is Nelson
Chase, who at first based his claim TO tn
estate on the ground that he married th'
daughter of Madame Jumel, but fnall,
abandoned this, and asserted that his wit
S was madame's niece, she having had nc chill
q dren, as he claimed. Bowen's story is tina
he lived at Ballou's house until he was Il
> wears old, and never heard his mother 8 nam
I mentioned until he was 90 years old he say
: her once at Saratoga, in 1928, and permitte
q her to be grossly insulted, but retraine
from avenging the woman who gave him brit
because be did not wish his wife, who wa
d with him, to know he was base born. A
v important link in his chain OF evidence wa
v furnished by an entry OF his birth IN an oil
s book kept by his putative father, but abou
the authenticity of this there was much Oh
: pute, the indications of forgery being prett
!, strong The attempt OF the plaintiff to prov
.s his descent from Madame Jumel by tt
h resemblance of his ears, dimples, and way
smiling to hers, was almost the only thin
about this almost interminable case thi
6 would bear smiling at. This claim of tran
n nitted personal peculiarities was made
. look decidedly ridiculous by the sallies of Il
> counsel for the defense. These latter gentl
L men succeeded in badly damaging the majo
ne ity OF the propositions advanced by Bowe
10 and the weight of probability was decided
r in their favor. 1t is quite easy to believe th
Madame Jumel may have had illegtima
a' children but there is little plausibility in
C theory that Bowen is one of them, since
ct could hardly live 20 years among the gami
us of the street and others who must have be
70 70 aware of his parentage without having
. dlsgraceful fact often flung IN hls iaee'
st lew mothers ever live and die without IN
a way acknowledging their offspring, or seel
in or speaking to them. There is pretty stro
= evidence that this Bowen is the tool OF
ie- Tucker, who put him forward in this v