The Montville Tragedy.

On Saturday, January 25, 1879, George Rowell returned home to Montville, Maine, from a trip to Bath, eighteen miles away. He lived in the house owned by John and Salina McFarland, a married couple in their seventies. Rowell, 40, married their son’s widowed wife, Abby, who had a 14-year-daughter, Cora McFarland. She also had an infant son with Rowell. All six lived together in the Montville farmhouse.

George W. Rowell.

Rowell was a big, muscular man weighing over two hundred pounds. Due to his erratic behavior, he was viewed as somewhat insane, but he was generally quiet and considered harmless. Tired from his trip, Rowell went to bed about 6:00 that evening. A short time later, he got up and went into the room where the family was sitting.

“Why, George,” said Abby, “what are you up for?”

“I do not like to sleep alone,” said George, “I want a woman with me.”

He grabbed Cora then and tried to carry the struggling young girl into the bedroom. He told her to be quiet, he wouldn’t hurt her and said their child would be an angel. Rowell carried her into the bedroom, but John McFarland put his foot in the door to prevent it from closing. Rowell dropped Cora, knocked down McFarland, and went for his rifle. Abby and Cora grabbed the baby and ran outside to the house of a neighbor, Alonzo Raynes. John and Salina McFarland followed them.

The McFarlands.

A snowstorm was raging, and the temperature was below zero. Rowell quickly overtook John and fractured his skull with the butt of the rifle. He then beat Salina to death as well. When Raynes came out to help, Rowell shot at him. Abby, Cora, and the baby made it to Raynes's house safely. He bolted the door and went for his double-barreled shotgun. When Rowell reached Raynes’s house, he beat the door with his rifle until he burst through one of the panels.

Alonzo F. Raynes

Raynes fired the shotgun. He aimed low, trying not to kill Rowell, but he severed the femoral artery in his leg. He tied Rowell up with rope, got a lantern, and went to see about the McFarlands. He returned to find Rowell had bled to death.

The following Tuesday, the coroner heard testimony from all the survivors and quickly issued his verdict.

 

John McFarland and his wife, Salina McFarland, came to their deaths by wounds inflicted by the hands of George W. Rowell, an insane person; that George W. Rowell met his death by a gunshot from Alonzo F. Raynes while the latter was protecting himself and family.

Raynes was fully exonerated.

---

Sources: 

“A Horrible Tragedy,” New York Daily Herald, January 29, 1879.
“The Montville Horror,” Boston Post, January 29, 1879.
“The Montville Murders,” PORTLAND DAILY PRESS., January 29, 1879.
“The Montville Tragedy,” Sun-Journal, January 29, 1879.
“The Montville Tragedy,” The Portland Daily Press, January 31, 1879.
“Startling Discoveries,” Ellsworth American. [volume], January 30, 1879.
“A Terrible Tragedy,” Sun-Journal, January 27, 1879.
“Terrible Triple Tragedy,” Illustrated Police News, February 8, 1879.