The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-12-02

who had been Emma L Bean, died
when she was four years old. Al
though the property still stood on the
OHIO records in the name Of David
E. Bean, the income from it was re-
celved regularly by the Conwells and
nothing arose to disturb the family's
peaceful possession until about two
years ago.
At that time Mr.. Conwen received
an inquiry and an offer Of trade for
the land. and when that proposal fell
through he received another letter adj
vlsfng him that he ought to personally
investigate the condition of the prop
erty. He made a trip Of investigation,
settled some evidences Of bad man
agement by the tenant, and finally
concluded to bring suit to quiet title to
the property and put 1t clearly in his
daughters name
Forged Deeds Appear.
1t was in June Of last year, 1913.
the Mercer county court. 1t was an
action to quiet title brought in the
name of Margaret r. Conwell against
the unknown heirs of David E. Bean
and his unknown brothers and sisters.
II being believed that no such heirs
existed. Before the legal notice re-
CURED in such actions had run the
custom--ry time there was placed on
record in the office of recorder in
MERCER county two deeds for the land
De deed from David E. Bean of To-
peka to William Bean, his brother,
IN consideration of 800 and love and
aIfectlon. 1t was executed October
10, 1893 and contained the provisO
that it be not recorded until the death
OF Emma L. Bean, his wife.
me other deed purported to be a
deed from William Bean to w. E. and
Eidora Q. Deal for the consideration
OF $4,000 and it was executed August
Z. 1913. 1t was properly witnessed
and was. to all appearances, valid.
Attorneys in the case, who included
Judge SchOch Of Topeka and ex-Con-
gresham w. E. Tonvelle and Ed. L.
Rryson of Celina, Immediately charged
these deeds with being forgeries and
obtained from the court. not only a re-
straining order to prevent the Deals
from selling or incumbering the land.
but additional time to investigate the
source OF the alleged forgeries.
Another Heir Discovered.
WITHIN 30 days the attorneys for Mar
garet Conwell announced their readi-
ness to make good their charge of
forgery. At this juncture a new and
surprising element appeared in the
case. A man of 30, claiming the name
OF Fred Bean. appeared. He showed
proofs that he was the son Of the long
missing William Bean and he made
further complications by alleging that
AsAoA 6<tIet r. OOuWeIl was not the own
daughter of Emma L. Bean-Conweil
He claimed to be the rightful heir to
the property.
His appearance started two new
channels of investigation, one to es-
tabl1sh beyond peradventure the
true parentage Of Margaret Conwell.
and the other to trace the history of
Fred Bean, whose existence appears to
have been entirely unknown to his
Kansas kin. The first inquiry was
simple and satisfactory. The second
showed that Fred Bean was, as he
claimed, at least the son of William
Bean. and disclosed the interesting fact
that he was a posthumous child.
William Bean, of the violent temper,
covered from the wound inflicted by
his brother on the Rice county farm. 1t
was discovered by diligent inquiry that
he had returned to the neighborhood
from which his family had. moved, near
Leroy. ILL.,, and had worked there for a
few months before he wandered off to
SangamOn county, where he landed in
1881. He there very promptly became
the husband of a widow named Au-
gusta Dodd. and the stepfather of five
of her children. At least one of these
| children must have been a well-grown
boy, for year later the youth shot
and killed his stepfather for abusing
his mother.
This episode probably made it more
simple to establish his identity than
would have been the case had he not
died a violent death. The wife and
| stepsOn endeavored to conceal the MUIR
der by burying the body in a drain
! leading from. the house, but the uneasy
-, conscience of a hired girl exposed the
crime to the authorities. Public senti-
ment must have been with the boy
however, for a grand jury refused even
| to indict him.
| At the time Of the killing, Fred Bean
had not been born. His birth occurred
several months afterward.
H. n. Morehouse and A. c. Walker
| old acQuaintances of the Bean family
! in Little River, read an account of the
| killing in the Chicago Times and the
Toledo Blade and called the attention
! of Mrs. Bean, the elder. to it. She ac-
knowledged to them that the dead mar
had been her son. Their statements
| taken in dispositions, are on file in the
| Celina court house.
That Fred Bean. who now lives in
| Springfield, ILL.,, furnished the informa-
ton which made possible the under
taking to forge the deeds to the farm
kept informed of the affairs Of his ia
TIERS family in Kansas. His effort t.
get into the case proved futile when tlrt
descent of Margaret Conwell was es
PtabltShed as was also the fact that hi:
father had been clearly disinherited by
| his grandmother.
Threatened Their Lives.
At the trial in Celina, Eldora o. Deal
| who with er husband were made own.
ers of the land by one of the forged
| deeds, as well as the witnesses wht
| attested the signatures to the deed
were produced in court. They added
new interest to the case by their &C
count of the mysterious individual whit
represented himself to be William Bear
in the making Of the transfer. Tha
transaction took place in August, 1913
ltwenty-one years after the real vii