On this date in 1896, the Jamestown paper reported Mrs. Swain had been taken home to New Rockford for burial. She and her lover were found dead in a Valley City hotel room. A note left at the scene said, "You will find sufficient funds in my pocketbook to bury us. Our last request is to bury us together without any fuss, and do not try to find out who we are. Parted in life but joined in death."
Cause of death was prussic acid ingestion. Mrs. Swain was thought to have become mentally deranged. She had four children and one of the finest homes in Eddy County. Mr. Swain had large land holdings and was one of the most prosperous farmers in the area. He was described as a kind and loving husband who knew of his wife's irrational infatuation with Frank Addison. He reportedly tried to reason with her, to no avail.
Addison was hired by Mr. Swain a year earlier to care for his stock while he went east. Upon return, he discovered Addison had stolen the affections of his wife. Mr. Swain said that Addison had his wife entirely under his control and followed her around with a pistol and a bottle of prussic acid in his pockets. Mrs. Swain told her husband that she could not live with him and would rather die with Addison.
The couple arrived by train on Wednesday. They registered at the hotel as Mr. and Mrs. Owens. They were not seen again by hotel staff until Friday when the door to their room was forced open. According to the Valley City paper, the dead lovers were locked in each other’s arms. Each had a picture of the other tucked under their clothes. Frank Addison was buried at Valley City.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- She Loved Not Wisely. Jamestown Weekly Alert, November 26, 1896, Page 1. Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T.
- The Valley City Patriot, cited by Jamestown Weekly Alert, no date.
