The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-12-08
FAMILY COURSE"
 BLAMED FOR MURDER
Three Generations of In sanity And Misfortune End in Slaving.
By CHESTER E. BAHN

VI ~ D. Stan COrTeSDOndent)
 syracuse, N. Y, Dec. S.-'The curse of the StowelIs.' It is to this that countryside gossip attributes the mur- der or Miss Minnie Calllins. g, niece CT L. S. Judge George Washington Ray, by her young neephew. George T, Stowell, near Lebanon, Madison county.
 The history of the Stowau family Tor the last three generations is a grim tragedy, marked by insanity and -uiclde, in which the slayIng of Miss C2lkIns is the final chapter.
 Clinton H. StoweH. father Of the nlurderere, died of Daresis only two Eears ago. He was insane during luch of the last year of his life.
 Mother Sufferer.
 Alice P. CaIkins Stoweu. mother of the accused, died of locomotor ataxia seven years ago, a 'ter a lingering iI- father lost his mind some time before his death. Her father-in-law and hIs wife both suffered mental lapses be- fore their death. Eunice Stoweu an aunt of the alleged murderer, is saiu by friends of the family to have died after wears Of insanity at 2 county home. and another aunt suffered the same fate in a Western state.
 George Stoweu, former Sunday school secretary, admittedly one of the best read men in his community, and now raving maniac oyer whom picked troopers of the State COnsta0- = educated. He graduated from the lit tie country school at Leoanon ana from the Earlville High school, win ming honOrS in history and in science.
 The years after his graduation from High school were spent Tn working flor his father. whose trusted aid he was until his fathers death.
 Financial Trouble.
 Then tragedy and disaster came to the in-fated youth Almost all of the little farm left by his father was seiz- ed by a bank in settlement of an old loan. The boy was left with a tiny equipment and an old house. With these he must face the world and earn living for imse1f and the little aunt who had heen 3 mother to him since his mothers death.
 After his fathers death the boy supported his household by odd jobs for ne:ghbors and by trapping. It was his trapping that made him an enthusiast on guns.
 Stoweu was an expert shot, ao- C"rdlnS to one of his neighbOrs, Mrs. Fiske, who declares that only a short time before the fatality he showed wonderful craftsmanship 10 a group Of men and boys with a light rifle ne had just bought.
 For two months before the tragedy StOWeu was scarcely seen without a-o in his hand and a heavy belt of shotgun shells about his waist. His own neighbors in the village were alarmed by his actions. and he was considered dangerously eccentric. F'h- ing about his own house was so com mon that neighbors who heard the shooting on the night of the tragedy pad no attention to it.
 Minnie CaIl1ins referred to her slayer through all her life as her boy and Emy baby" was one of the most lovable souls in her com munity, according to the testimony Of her friends and neighbors.
 She tO the StOVell home when tEe boy who was to end her life was e thy baby, called to the assistance of the mother, who even then Was a sufferer from the disease which later killed her. All through the life of George Stowen it was his aunt who cared for him and who later cneereo him through the dark times that fol lowed the death of his father.
 Minnie Calkins was an accom- pliSh- ed musician, a member of the United Church of Lebanon and its organfst. She was for many years a music tea cher of note in the country around the little village