Salt Lake Telegram | 1921-02-13 | Page 25 | Disrupted Romance Revealed in Will Litigation

! DISRUPTED ROMANCE 7 REVEALED IN WILL ' LiTlGATjON Maria Ewcn Shown to Have Married False Title at 60 Years of Age NEW YORK. Feb. 12. The unhappy romance of the late Maria Louise Kwen and her objection to giving up a man she had married under the 1 lief that h waa a titled foreigner, even after he waa proved to be a traud, were described to a jury be-lore be-lore Surrogate Koley In a contest of her will by her nephew, John Kwen. a lawyer, who was excluded from a share in the $3U0,U' estate when his aunt died at the age of . The story of Mihh Ewni love affair af-fair was told by Arthur C Train, coun- eel for the exju:uiiira.-at!ekiiig-Lo pro. T'ate the will. Ho also spoke ef the af feet ion of Miss Kwen and her two ir aiden sisters, the daughters of the late General Kwen. who lived together, togeth-er, for cats. Mr. Tram described Mas Kwen aa "a little old lady, fond ot dressing In girlish clothes, which gave her a grotesque appearance." Hhe was susceptible to masculine flattery, and upon being introduced to a man representing rep-resenting himself as .the Enron von Kinniu she became the victim of his w 1 !. ; J-k Miss Kwen married t lie ;'baron" in aay New Jersey in linty, against the oppo sition of her relatives, nnd immediately immediate-ly afterward she gave him !4.,uU0 and they went to Florida on their honty- troon. H t p let 11 re in the sot-let y col - i.mne-rjf"ttifT TiPwapappT attrartej The" attention of the warden of Hing Sing. J who communicated with .her relatives. and they eniked the couple back from Si. Augustine, Flu. M BMU1ZKI THOI lK. Her husband remained In Florida, but he in strut ted her to get $ tuu.ooo Irom a st rongbox in New York and bring it back to him. He had ca lined a woman friend to accompany lux w iff to New York to see t hat phe arried out hsl instructions. Hut Wr two, sister and Mr. Train met her v i.d concocted a story for her to t-ll I tin a an excuse for not bring'-'K Hie securities. When the " baroness" returned to her husband. Mr. Train said, htr dtsil-lun.onment dtsil-lun.onment was made complete. She liund that her husband had "eut'Hl-dixed "eut'Hl-dixed part of a troupe of chorus girls.' Lad bought an orange grove and mo-1 mo-1 or boat and waa enjoying hiiri-u If on large, scale. 8he finally left her husband, but even after she returned here great pressure was necessary be-tore be-tore she agreed to annul the marriage, mar-riage, "because she was so proud of the idea of being married and of the title of baronesf." Mr. Train declared ti ai one Kaiiibridg, a lecturer, who t.ad Introduced Miss Kwen to von Knenits, had an agreement by which he was to net in -r fni ttf ima " in wecurit irp t t yn K mix Rot control of them, lie nald that von kotnitx got the $ 4.1.000 for the aliened al-iened purpose of "renovating; his castle cas-tle ni Thiiringla." ' After giving up the "bnron." Miss Kwen took a t rip to Kurope with UHishop Weller of Fon Du lAc, Wis., h fs wife, and t he Kev. Aubrey Vercy Nejson. now assist Hp t re tor of St. Lukes Protestant Kpisi-opal church on I 'on vent avt-mie. Later, the Kev. Mr. f Nelson gave up his ministerial duties. Mr. Train said, and went to live at the home of Miss Kwen as a "wort of eompanion and nurse." He reiiia'ned there uutil she died, leaving htm ff-0,- 000. MJSD WAS Otl. Mr. Train contended that Mi- F-wen was of sound mind when h mad" k her w til and said she Ignored r ra i.ephew because he opposed the wishes pyr-Av of her sister Klia and herself In con- h testing the will of their sister Caro line .who left the bulk of her large estate to institutions organized for "(lie amelioration of the suffering; of animals." principally cats. The contest con-test was settled by the payment to Mr. Kwen of one-sixth of the sum received re-ceived by the institutions. William Wilder, law partner of Mr. Kwen, jn presenting his iane to the jury, said: "When a woman 0 years of age wants to get married m badly as bh. iid, and is as anxious to acquire n title ns she was, the hysteria has gone to her brain." Mr. Wilder pointed that in a will made prior to her marriase Miss Kwen Kave the bulk of her estate to her tir phew and her sisters. He Irs'jted that her conduct at the time she v.-as married and afterward indicated that hhe win dominated easily by others. Mr. Wilder declared it cost Miss Kwen and her sisters $t OO.Orio to set aside her marriaKeg- to the bogus baron, ba-ron, and that Mr. Train's law firm got 1 10,000. Judge. Parker received $10,000, and a not her la w yer got $7ioo. He raid Miss Kwen left Hishop Weller t rAl his wife in Kurope and went on wjth the Kev. Mr. Nelson t the Holy laaiid. He declared that Mi-Kwen ut off hrr nephew "purely and rob !v to gratify a feel ins; of uplto on the part of her sister Kliza."