The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-09
SIX DEATHS LAID TO HER.
MRS. COWAN NOW BURIED NEAR HER
ALLEGED VICTIMS.

A"s " "ODAAs NANNh NANh
ALLEGED VICTIMS.
A Maine Woman Suspected of SmOtherinG
One Child and Poisoning Two Children,
Two Husbands and a Stepson-sRid
She Was Innocent, and Died in Prison.
BANGOR, Me-, Oct. IA remarkable story Of
crime was closed by the death in the Maine
State prison at Thomaston a few days ago of
Mrs. Mary CowRn, a life convict. Mrs. Cowan
was either a monster or a martyr, q cold
blooded murderer or the victim OF strange co.
incidences. Her maiden name was Mary Knight.
and she was three times married. Her first
husband was Willis Bean OF Dixmont, Me, in
which town she also lived with her parents.
Bean was the son of q farmer. Soon after
his marriage he conceived the desire to
become a physician. Mrs. Bean encour-
aged her husband In this design. and also
expressed the intention to study medicine her
self. They had little money, and. furthermore,
their three children were regarded as an OBJ
stacle to the accomplishment OF their plans.
One day the youngest OF the children was
found smothered in bed. A neighbor made
the discovery. and it is said that Mrs. Bean.
when informed Of the fact, carelessly remarked:
"Oh. l know 1t: the child died half an hour
ago" No Investigation was made, but the
people OF m suspected that the mother
caused the child's death In order to be rid Of II.
Soon after the other two children, aged 2 and 3
years, died OF q stomach complaint. There
were suspicious whispered among the neigh
bors, but the deaths OF the Bean children were
forgotten for the time after they were laid away
In the village churchyard at Plymouth.
Bean pursued his medical studies In what
was known as q druidical institute where. It
was said. diplomas could be purchased for $50
or less. The Legislature regarded this con-
| Germ as a fraud, and passed o law that killed It
before Bean had secured his diploma, and both
husband and wife then decided to attend q
similar institution in Ohio. where without
much study they might get diplomas. Before
leaving, Bean prevailed upon his parents to in
vest all their ready money in a farm. upon
which he was to live when he returned from
the West. The farm was purchased and Bean
received the deed. giving to his parents a mort
gage. For various reasons this mortgage was
never recorded, but was kept in the house of
Willis Bean and his wife then borrowed 5000
and went to the Ohio medical SCHOOL. Soon
p Ate verbs ep SnG a d letter sh iTG% Mrs. a gePP liza s3y Ing
doctors could not tell the cause Of his death.
1t afterward developed that It was a stomach
Of two Of the Bean, children. Mrs. Bean came
home to stay with her husbands parents, and
discovered one day that the unrecorded mort
gage had disappeared. Young Mrs. Bean had
the deed Of the farm, and so the land. bought
with the elder Beans pension money, was hers
in lRwi She sold &, The The place and all upon it;
s seI m1ehs the qh9o poo Teiof for n c "a ytaer ReSii in NOT q
having the mortgage recorded. Noone in Dix
mont had any doubt that she stole the mort
Kshort time afterwsrd the Widow Bean mar
ried George Taylor; who belonged in Dixm9nt
Taylor was an odd Fellow. and It was supposed
that he had some Insurance. in that order. He
carried Off the Beans, children and father.
At After I, his de death dto the {, fact act d6eTS9dlq Psifo that ;o he had
beers contributed . fund of several hundred
dollars for the widow.
Mrs. Taylor did not long remain a widow,
but married a man named Elias Cowan. a
Eidower. with one child, Willis, aged 8 years;
whose death the property descended, by the
laws of Maine. to the boy, the father having the
t sntirs i b}s %SiS Of the en gG's AFTER n .bbt. the dsri hoy e. e.
September, 1894, the boy died. and the cause
OF his death was the same stomach trouble that
vas investigated. With the result that Mrs:
killed the boy with arsenic.
The body was e9hnmed and the stomach and
The chemists reported that the stomach CON
tanned enough arsenic to xii! an OF; Mrs.
GSEea S sas s sGas,sssa II FsBrnsr1 in 1s sss q I
that; previous to the death e the boy: Elias
SMrs, 6oTsn supposed that the farm was
familiar. with the circumstances attending
the deaths of other members Of Mrs. Cowan's
families. is said to have told her that II her
third husband died OF this mysterious stomach
recovered. but there are people in Dixmont
who declare that this was merely a respite for
him that his turn would have come very soon
after the death Of the boy had not Mrs. Cowan
been arrested and her career as a p%oisoner
stopDed.
There was plenty Of evidence at the trial to
convict Mrs. Cowan. and a good deal has leaked
out since. A little girl OF the neighborhood saw
her put a white powder into the boys medi-
cine. left by the doctor, for an ailme4t supposed
TO have been caused, by previous doses Of tho
same white powder. but her father would not
allow her 70 testify, saying: IN should let
her tell what she knows and Mary Cowan
should not be convicted, the child's lite wouldn't
I've worth a cent" from which 1t was understood
that he feared that Mrs. Cowan would poison
his child also.
In the village churchyard in Plymouth are
eight graves that have a peculiar interest for
mounds marking the resting places OF Willis
Bean and his three children. A little removed
from these lies George Taylor. the second hus-
band. and nearby L. the grave OF a child born
Bangor Jail awaiting sentence. Young Willis
COwan lies beside his mother. and tho other
day, in a corner by itself, the old sexton laid
the body OF Mary Cowan.
innocent, bnt there was nothing to support her
assertion. There never was any reasonable
doubt that she poisoned her stepson. and many
believe that she fastened the departure from
the sake of a little money. She was a remark
ably clever woman in many ways.
BOASTS OF THE SUMMER BO4RDERS.