Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-08-01

ezse NAV be of interest 10 the readers of the
JoeKxAL. Take Il altogether il Is quite
romantic and proves the old adage that
Truth is stranger than fiction
Thomas Bean wss horn IN Limerick,
Maine, 10 the latter part Of the eighteenth
century When quite young he married
Susan Wifham and settled 10 Pennington
xhere be lived several wears AMI where the
arst children Of his numerous family we're
born. HI. second child vas son. born in
the year 1913 and w ~ nanss. Thomas chss-
ley bat he was called by his family and ae-
qaaintanees ''Chesleysf although his Oil
sehssolmates now remember shat they assf
to call him young Tom 10 plague HIM. mr.
father moved to the town of Atheas wtiie
be vas quite young AMI there the carry me
Of Thomas Chesiey was spent, and men ne
stood a draf, for the Aroostook var ou' N&s
not drafted
While he Tas yet MINOR hia
moved to the town Of Harmony ana aOoas
,his tia,s Clesley left hon. and ~riiI AVA
To work. File worked on the hshheDee am
/ psnoslseot rivers and in the Wooas IL ,'iF
80 ne became dissatisfied because his
| father took the greater part Oh Ili'
and wlaen about twenty years OF age 'si'
| 80 ,,,d aver returned. fife had been
:, .ark Ia Bangor and hired team 20 90
| 10 river hi the fall of the year 10 loos iof
warx and having crossed the line into th:
nroyinee on New Brunswick, hi. team vas
.e;zed and instead Of returning 10 Bangor
he vent 10 Boston where he worked a year
or more.
The first new. his friends received from
him va. that he was very Ill AMI NOT ex
f. H..
sent To Boston 10 see him and induce him
To return home, When Mark arrived 10
Boston Chesley had recovered and Has on
the point Of starting for New York Marx
tried ~ persuade him to return but without
effect. After exchanging pocket knives for
kerpsakes they parted on Chariestown
bridge never 10 meet again on the shores Of
time chesley went To New f0rk AMI was
seen once by an Acquaintance, that being
the last time he was heard from by his
family
As the years vent by without sign from
him his friends at last came 10 the sal eon-
ciusion that he vas dead. But after pc-
Rod Of nearly fifty years the silence i
broken and news came from Bonham
Texas. that Thomas E. Bean. a resident 81
that place since sii is dead and has left no
will OF heirs TO bis large estate which con
sisted Of herds Of cattle and horses ami
twenty ve thousand acres of the finest lam
IN northern Texas. The name and circuni
sranres led III. Bean family here to think
that this man who had died in B0nhan.
must be- their relative and j. %. Bralbnrs
Esq, then of liartland was sent there 20 III
yestigate He reported that Thomas f.
Bean of that place had always been reticehi
about his early life but that it the gen
eral impression that he was Northern man
bg birth. Action was at once begun to prove
the claim of his heirs here and now after a
contest of four years il is hoped
that q settlement viii be reached.
"a "A day has been set for trial of the cas.-
of the claimant. here. Numerous claims
have been set up for the property during
the past four years but they have all
dropped out of the case but one party AMI
he has been defeated twice alreaiN
Dn hearing the announeemcntv of his
death there were people in almost every
state in the MON who hoped they might
be heirs of his and great many went to
Bonham and others wrote 10 parties there
and several employed lawyers 10 stgAie
for them Soon after his death man from
Tennessee who claimed that T. {. Bean
was Thomas + Sanders and was his brother
that he, +. G. Bean, had killed Il man IN
Missouri in l13j and fed to an island in
the Mississippi river and taking the name
Of the island went to Bonham. He had q
large amount Of evidence to sustain his
claim but it was not good aud when it was
proven that the island which he claimed was
his brothers hiding place was not formri
until 1870. he retired from the contest.
There were other claims equally Romantic
and lust a. absurd Thomas &. Bean was
never married although he was genial ami
socially inclined man aud "a great tavorte
with the ladies'. 1t is said he once paid
court to a lady for some time hut because
Of his long delay or some unknown reason
she married another man. Ii seems though
that this dill not break mp their intimacy
and he visited the family frequently
Their friendship being so warm that on hi-
Heath being announced they petitioned the
probate court to allow them to probate a
will which they claimed WAS made in their
fnvor but which was lost. This case was
thrown ont of court, His estate which
IL estimated to be worth million dollars
Was acquired largely while following th'
business of government surveyor. 1t l.
thought hc would have made some DISPOSE
ton of his property had he known his end
vas near. but he died suddenly of hear,
disease.
ID, f.. Thompson, ESD, of l!artand, has
spent several weeks this summer taking evi-
lencc in the towns around here TO be used
at the coming trial. Some of this tt~ti-
mony is very conclusive anil the desCrlp-
ton given by his old schoolmates agrees
with that of the + &. Bean of Bonham.
Texas. Two of them on being shown sev-
erai pictures and asked To tell which was
Chesley Bean chose the picture of + e.
Bean of Bonham. tinr Of the a,lmnistra
tors of the estate has been here this sum
mer cross-examinng the witnesses. He
spent some hours with one man.
OF the numerous family of twelve chill
dren of hich Thomas thesoy Bean was 8
member one brother and three sisters
survive. One lives in llartland, one in
Harmony, one in Palmyra. and one in Al
pena Michigan. The oldest and Youngest
Of tins family of six boys and six girls are
now living. Several died without leaving
issue and if the suit il Won the estate will
be divided in seven parts +. T. Crommett.
ESD. of Boston il now 1T Bonham en-
gagged with Lawyer Semple of that place in
preparing the ease, and j. %. Bradbury,
Esq, of Saco. Is also retained to assist
when the trial comes on 1t has been
long fight and hard one. and whether they
win or lose the Bean family here in Maine
sill always believe that the late T c. Bean
Of Bonhain, was their long lost relative.
nE. +. \. BEAN.
UNRtLNNp, july Is. lS.t2.