An "adulterous affair" that in all likelihood wasn't

Rebecca Swayze-Cowman shares a tombstone in the cemetery at Yates City, Illinois, with a grandson; A matching tombstone for her husband, Earl Cowman, is adjacent to it.

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Daniel H. Swayze's tale of righteousness wronged by a scarlet woman and her youthful paramour, abetted by the young man's mother, seems not to have been questioned by Chariton's male establishment after he stepped off a train from southwest Nebraska during the early summer of 1910 to tell it. Daniel, 54, was a prosperous farmer, after all, who bore some characteristics of an Old Testament patriarch, having sired a Biblical quiverfull of children --- 11 in all --- by his wife, Rebecca, during the first 22 years of their 28-year marriage.

The Herald-Patriot reported the situation as follows in its edition of May 26, 1910, under the headline, "Caught His Wife Here."

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"Daniel Swayze, of Stratton, Nebr., arrived in Chariton a few days ago in search of his wife, who had taken one daughter and left his home some time ago. He had heard that she was in Chariton, living with Earl Cowman, who lived in Stratton for some years, and returned here with his mother, Mrs. Annie Cowman, a short time ago.

"Mr. Swayze found his wife here, and confronted her with her misdoings. He had warrants served for her and for Mrs. Cowman and Earl, or Jack, as he is better known, and their preliminary trial was set for this morning, before Mayor Carpenter. The charge against Swayze is adultery, and against Mrs. Cowman and her son it is enticing Mrs. Swayze to their house for the purpose of lewdness.

"Mr. and Mrs. Swayze have eleven children, some of them grown. She first left her home last spring, he hearing of her in Buffalo county on March 21 for the last time before he learned that she had come here."

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Henry Gittinger published a followup in the June 2 edition of the Leader that contains, as was not unusual in Henry's case, inaccuracies. In reality, Rebecca Swayze and Earl Cowman were bound over to court on charges of adultery under bond of $500 each; Anna Cowman was cleared of wrongdoing. The court awarded Daniel Swayze custody of his six-year-old daughter, Goldie May, and he returned to Nebraska with her after this appearance in court.

Here's Henry's report, published under the headline, "An Irate Husband."

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"A most unsavory case was tried in the Justices court, in Chariton, last week. Sometime since, Earl Cowman and his mother, Mrs. Anna Cowman, returned to Chariton from Stratton, Nebraska, after a residence there of seven years, they having previously resided in Chariton fourteen years.

"With them came a young woman by the name of Mrs. Swayze which the Cowmans claimed was working for Mrs. Cowman and when the family returned to Chariton she came to Chariton to continue the service.

"A short time since her husband came to Chariton from Stratton, claiming that Cowman had alienated his wife's affections and entered a charge against them of living in a state of adultery, the mother also being implicated in conspiring with her son in the immoral and illegal transactions of separating man and wife.

"The Cowmans denied this, saying that Swayze and his wife had been separated for more than a year. After the hearing, Mrs. Cowman and her son were bound over to court, the bonds being fixed at $1,000 (actually, Rebecca Swayze and Earl Cowman were bound over) and the case will be placed on the criminal calendar at the net term of court and there the real facts will be brought out."

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Mr. Gittinger also seems to have assumed that Rebecca Swayze was young, which of course is a relative matter. In reality, she was 47 and had given birth to 11 children between 1883 (Charles William Swayze) and 1904 (Goldie May Swayze, who had accompanied her mother to Chariton).

Another oddity was the relative youth of Earl Cowman. He was 32, some 15 years younger than Rebecca; had always lived with his mother; and so far as we know had not shown any amorous interest previously in anyone of the fairer sex.

Anna and Earl Cowman were to all appearances (and there's no reason to doubt appearances here) a respectable and relatively affluent pair, but quiet and not widely known in Lucas County where they had lived off and on for many years.

Anna, whose given name actually was Angeline, had married John F. Cowman, a Civil War veteran, during September of 1877 in Knox County, Illinois, and their son, Earl, was born during August of the next year. John, however, died during March of 1880 in Knox County some months before his son's second birthday.

Anna seems to have been well provided for and apparently had no interest in embarking on another marriage. Instead, she brought her young son to Lucas County a few years later in order to live near her siblings, bachelor brother Milton Boyer and sister Josephine (Boyer) Kay. She purchased a farm located near theirs in the neighborhood of Oxford Church, School and Cemetery just northeast of Chariton.

Anna also owned other property, including a farm near Stratton in southwest Nebraska, where she and Earl were living when they encountered Rebecca Swayze; and quite probably in Colorado, where they also lived for varying lengths of time when not in Lucas County or Nebraska.

She also owned a home in Chariton, a home base for the pair while they collected rent on property that they owned elsewhere --- and traveled frequently between Chariton, Nebraska and Colorado, living for lengthy intervals in the latter two states but always returning to Iowa. Earl's occupation always was given as "farmer" although it's not clear how much farming he actually did.

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The adultery cases against Earl and Rebecca came to trial during October of 1910, but we know that only because Lucas County ended up footing the bill for the witnesses. As nearly as I can determine, the outcome was not reported in any of the Chariton newspapers. The likely explanation is, the defendants were exonerated, of considerably less interest than a conviction would have been.

Whatever the case, Earl continued to live with his mother in Lucas County while Rebecca returned to Nebraska to sue Daniel for divorce and fight for custody of her minor children. The outcome of that case was reported in The Kearney (Nebraska) Daily Hub of June 10, 1911:

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"Judge B. O. Hostetler of the district court granted a divorce Saturday afternoon to Rebecca Swayze from Daniel H. Swayze, of Shelton, the grounds for the divorce being extreme cruelty and also abandonment.

"Mrs. Swayze alleged that she married Mr. Swayze in 1882 in Hall county and that later they went to Hitchcock county where they homesteaded. It was here that the husband compelled her to work in the fields, cultivating the corn and also to care for the horses.

"In 1901, Mrs. Swayze stated in the petition for divorce that she was sick and in need of medical care but her husband refused to buy medicine or secure the services of a physician.

"The court awarded Mrs. Swayze her minor children --- George, Harry, Edwin, Goldie and Daniel."

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A year later, during October of 1912, Earl and Rebecca were married at Elwood in Gosper County, Nebraska, and then moved to Peoria, Illinois, where the remainder of their lives were spent, the younger children accompanying them. Rebecca was 50 at the time; Earl, 34.

Earl's mother, Anna, divided her time after that between Chariton and Peoria, but was living in Lucas County when she died during 1914. Earl took her remains to Yates City, Illinois, where she was buried beside her husband, John.

Rebecca died in Peoria at the age of 64 on Feb. 9, 1929, and Earl buried her with John and Anna in the Yates City Cemetery. He continued to live until Peoria until 1952, when he died at the age of 74, and was buried by Rebecca's side in Yates City.

Their tombstones there apparently were erected by Rebecca's daughter, Goldie. Rebecca shares a tombstone with Goldie's infant son, Clude Henry, 1922-1926; Earl's matching stone is nearby.

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Rebecca, Earl and Anna took to their graves the actual story of their relationship. But it is interesting to speculate and my speculation would be that the connection between Earl and Rebecca never was amorous, but instead one of enduring affection and responsibility. And that would make them all modestly heroic, in an old-fashioned kind of way.