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The Murder of Andrew Rowland

Part 4: Mounting A Defense

On Tuesday, May 4, 1869, the State of Maryland rested its case against Mary E. Rowland and Charles Carroll for the murder of Andrew Rowland.

It was now time for the Defense to present its case.  Nearly every witness called by the Defense was for the purpose of discrediting the State’s witnesses.  Here are the key excerpts.

Thomas E. Mattag (member of Coroner’s inquest)

After Andrew Rowland‘s death, I was on the coroner’s inquest.  Mrs. Rowland testified she was awakened in the night by a small tapping and asked her husband what was the matter.  At the same time, she thought she saw a little light pass the window, and she called for her father.  She also said she thought she heard someone leave the house.

Charles F. Gelwicks (Mary Rowland’s father)

I reside in Hagerstown.  My occupation is a teacher, and I teach in the neighborhood of Andrew West’s place, which is ten miles from Hagerstown.  Andrew Rowland lived four miles from Hagerstown on Sharpsburg Pike.  I was at Rowland’s on the Sunday of the murder, and I got there at 5 o’clock.  Mrs. Mary E. Rowland is my daughter, and I am in the habit of stopping there on my way to the school.  I stayed there all night, retired at 8:20, noticing the time as I took my watch out.  George Rowland, Lizzie Rowland, and Mrs. Rowland were at the house the night of the murder, and I slept in the parlor. 

After I retired to bed, I fell into a doze.  I heard Andrew Rowland and Snyder come into the house.  They made a good deal of noise, and then I went to sleep again.  I did not hear anything more until Mrs. Rowland called out for me, “father, for God’s sake, come over!  Something is the matter with Mr. Rowland!”  I went into the bedroom as soon as I could but found no light in the bedroom when I entered.  I went out to get a light, and I heard someone stumble against a chair.  I made the remark, ‘‘what damned scoundrel is this in the house?”  I returned to the bedroom with the light and found Rowland lying in bed.  Blood was running from his nose, and he was still warm.

George Rowland, Lewis Snyder, and myself were together when we discovered that the kitchen window was open and found the tin bucket outside of the kitchen window.  When I first came out of my room, I found the dining room door open.  This door leads out onto the porch.  When I entered Mrs. Rowland’s bedroom, I found her sitting up in bed, behind Andrew Rowland, next to the wall.  She had her nightgown on.  Snyder was washing Rowland’s face with a cloth.  I told him to stop and to not disturb him until the Coroner could come from Hagerstown.  Mrs. Rowland had a spasm and fell on the floor. I moved her into the dining room and placed her on a sofa.  I then told her to change out of her nightgown and into her clothing.  I do not remember seeing her nightgown after she took it off.  Mrs. Rowland said something to me about seeing a light go past the window, but I think it was the reflection from the light I carried.

All that I did about the house that day was done at the request of the family.  I think Isaac Rowland told me to take charge.  I sent Pryor to Hagerstown for the Coroner.

Daniel Wantz (brother in law of Andrew)

I live in Hagerstown.  I knew Andrew Rowland, and I am married to his sister.  I was at Rowland’s house on the Sunday of the murder, arriving there about 10 o’clock in the morning.  I ate dinner there at about noon.  Coursey and Carroll came to the house.  Carroll sat on the porch, although he did not eat his dinner there.  Isaac Rowland came to the house also and asked for his father.  Mrs. Rowland said he had gone to Boonsboro, and would not be back that night.  Isaac got his dinner, and then came out on the porch and talked with Carroll about an old horse Carroll had.  Isaac left about 4:30 and Carroll went home a short time after that.  Lizzie Rowland came home while we were eating supper, and then I started for Hagerstown about dusk.  I was around the house all day and did not go to the orchard for apples.  Carroll had no conversations with Mrs. Rowland while I was at the house, and I saw nothing peculiar in the appearance of Carroll.

Mrs. Gelwicks

I am the mother of Mrs. Mary E. Rowland.  After she was arrested, I stayed with her in the jail all the time, except for about two hours each day, when I had to be at home to attend to my work.  I know Mr. Gumbert because I saw him in my daughter’s room at the jail.  Mr. Gumbert said he was the detective that brought Harry Weaver to Hagerstown.  This was the first and only time I ever saw Gumbert at the jail.  I have been with my daughter night and day ever since she was arrested.

Before the murder, on Friday evening, Mr. and Mrs. Rowland came to Hagerstown to attend the theatre. George and Lizzie were with them, and they were all at my house before they went to the theatre.  Mrs. Rowland told me on that occasion she was going to boil apple butter the following Monday and asked me to come out to her house.  I told her l would.

Mrs. Rowland was arrested on Wednesday after the murder, and they sent for me to come up and remain with my daughter.  I have not been away from my daughter one day since she was arrested.  I always went home each day for my three meals, and I would stay at home long enough to do my work.  I would always cook my dinner, and it would take an hour or so to get dinner.  Then I would be at home for one or two hours getting supper.  I did all the washing for my husband, my daughter, and myself.  I washed only once a week, generally on Monday.  Whenever I got back to the jail after being at home, I always found someone from the family of the jailer in the room with my daughter.  I never saw Mr. Gumbert with Mrs. Rowland except on that one occasion.  Mr. Gumbert told her that he had just come from the jail portion of the building and said that Charles Carroll was there.  Then, directing her eyes toward Carrol, she blurted out “He is the man who killed Mr. Rowland, have him hung.”

Abraham Hess (former hired hand of Andrew Rowland)

I live in Washington County and have lived there all my life.  I know Andrew Rowland, and I did a good deal of work for him during the year 1867.  I commenced in the harvest of 1867 and worked for him until that fall.  During October 1867, I went up to the house to warm my feet, and no one was in the house except Mary Lizer.  She looked sad and downhearted. I asked her what was the matter, and she said that they were talking about sending her away.  She said that if they did “she would raise hell among them.”  The next time I met her was on the road to Hagerstown.  This was just last month on the 15th of March.  Mary told me she was going to Hagerstown as a witness against Mrs. Rowland.  I asked her about the attempt to poison Mr. Rowland.  She told me that Mrs. Rowland put poison on a piece of meat, although Mr. Rowland didn’t eat it.  Mrs. Rowland then put the bone up the chimney because she was afraid that the dogs would get it.  I told Mary Lizer she ought to have told this before.  She said she was afraid, that if she told it, Harry Weaver would kill her.

Harry Weaver

I know Jerry Gumbert.  He arrested me in Ohio and brought me to Hagerstown.  On the road to Hagerstown, we did not have any conversation concerning the attempt of anyone to poison Rowland.  I had some conversations with my sister about her testifying in this case.  I wanted to know why she was running down to Mr. Keedy’s office so much.  She said that Mr. Keedy persuaded her to tell these things and that Keedy told her that her testimony would not affect me.  I told her that if she swore any lies against me, I would not own her as a sister.  In our second conversation, she told me that Keedy said that if I testified against Mrs. Rowland, he would acquit me.  I reminded her that whatever she testified against Mrs. Rowland, she would essentially be testifying against me. These first two conversations were before the March Court.

On the way to Hagerstown, Gumbert said, “now that damned woman has got you into a scrape, and the best thing for you to do is to tell.”  He went on to say, “there was $150 reward, and that if I told, he would employ a counsel and give me half of the reward.”

Dr. W. A. Wroe (Rowland family physician)

I am a physician and have attended the family of Mr. Rowland.  Mrs. Rowland is subject to the falling of the womb.  I directed that a syringe should be used by Mrs. Rowland for her complaint.  She frequently had neuralgia. I prescribed her chloroform in combination with other prescriptions – never chloroform alone.  Her disease produces spasms, although I have never attended her during one of her spasms.  One drachm of chloroform is the minimum dose.  If applied to one sleeping, it would produce a stupor for six minutes.  I attended Andrew Rowland for four years and never discovered any symptoms of poison.  I did not see him in February 1867.

Dr. C. H. Ohr (expert witness)

I am a physician and graduated in 1834.  When quicksilver is introduced into a body, it passes through very quickly.  There are no poisoning qualities in pure quicksilver.  [Note: quicksilver was the common term for mercury at the time, and today we know that mercury poisoning is real].  Croton oil applied to a piece of meat would not change its appearance.  When chloroform is administered to a person sleeping, the first effect would be to rouse him out of his sleep.  One grain of arsenic would produce death.  Arsenic can be bought for about six cents a pound.

Dr. Samuel P. Smith (expert witness)

I am a physician of some age and experience.  I never attempted to administer chloroform to a sleeping person.  I do not think I could produce stupor by applying two drachms to a grown person.  I think if chloroform was given to one sleeping, the effect would be to arouse him.  I have never heard of quicksilver being a poison, and it is often administered as a medicine.  I would be afraid of using one-fourth of a gram of arsenic as medicine.

Dr. T. M. Healy (expert witness)

I have administered chloroform in some 330 odd cases.  Sleep could not ordinarily be produced by two drachms of chloroform.  It produces a spasm when first applied unless it is heavily diluted with air.  A sleeping man would be aroused, if not thoroughly awakened, by putting chloroform under his nose.  I can’t see how croton oil could produce any effect upon a dead substance.  Chemical analysis cannot detect any differences between crystallized and powdered arsenic.  Unadulterated chloroform, administered from a vial of that size, would probably have no effect.

The Defense Rests

Neither one of the accused took the stand.

Rebuttals

The State called three witnesses for rebutting testimony. 

Miss Louisa Weaver (for Sate)— My brother, Harry Weaver, told me that Mr. Douglas, his counsel, said that if I would not tell about Mrs. Rowland and him sleeping together in New Salem, he would not care for the rest of my testimony.

H. H. Keedy (for State)—I think I had the hammer in my hand and called Dr. McKee over and asked him if there was blood on it.  It was taken from the corner of a room.  I only saw the one hammer at the house.  It was found near some apples, and not under Aunt Jennie’s bed.

Dr. J.B. McKee (for State)—l saw the hammer on the second day after the murder.  This hammer could not have made the wound on Andrew Rowland.  The face of the hammer was covered with rust, and the rust appeared to have been on the hammer for some time.

Motion to Adjourn

At this point, the counsel for the State proclaimed they were through with all their witnesses except one.  They expected another witness from Baltimore to be present tomorrow morning and requested the Court to adjourn until morning.  The Court decided that the case must proceed, and when the witness arrives, the Court would then decide if his testimony would be admitted and heard by the jury.

This is Part 4 of a 5-Part Series

Source

This article is a liberally edited version of the trial testimony notes, and it incorporates the responses from cross-examination.  It is sourced from the trial notes reported in “The Trial of Mary E. Rowland and Charles Carrol,” The Herald and Torch Light, Hagerstown, Maryland, May 12, 1868, page 2.  The editing strives to improve readability without altering the original intended meaning.

References and Additional Information

Featured image: Maryland – Scene in the Court-House at Annapolis – Trial of Mrs. Wharton on the charge of murdering General Ketchum by poison, 1871 from a sketch by Taylor, James E., 1839-1901, artist, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. ”’Note:”’ This is not from the trial of the Andrew Rowland murder, although it is from a trial in the same state, just two years later, and also involves a woman accused of poisoning her husband.

DNA: Andrew Rowland, and the entire Washington county Rowland genetic line, are part of Rowland Y-DNA Group I.  If you are related to this line, please consider joining the Rowland Xref Project.

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