Edwin James Bowled was born in England and came to America in 1884 when he was just 12 years old. The son of James and Elizabeth Bowled, he later took up the occupation of fashion knitting and began working at the British Hosiery Company in Johnston. The factory had been started by Robert Cooper, who had also come from England in 1884, bringing with him all the machinery needed to manufacture cashmere and cotton hosiery as well as over 100 Englishmen who wanted to work for him.

During the summer of 1893, Edwin met Elizabeth Westerville, the beautiful 20-year-old daughter of Foster farmer Robert Westerville and his wife Jane. The young woman fell in love with the handsome Englishman and he asked her to marry him. On Jan. 20, 1894, the two exchanged vows as Elizabeth prepared for a life of loving bliss. Things did not go according to plan, however. It was said that Elizabeth was unhappy over the marital situation and, nine months after becoming her husband, Edwin disappeared.

As Elizabeth and her parents made attempts to locate Edwin, they were shocked to discover that he had once returned to England after his initial arrival in America, married and fathered two children. Leaving his family overseas, he had simply come back to America and married again.

If that information was not enough to shock and anger Eliz-abeth’s parents, their investiga-tion would later turn up even more disturbing facts. Still searching for him one year and two months after the disappear-ance, they learned he was in Fort Wayne, Ind. and had married yet again, to a young woman named Grace.

With all of their research in hand, Robert and Jane went to the police and asked that Edwin be arrested. The police chief explained that he was unable to do that but he agreed that he would help to bring Edwin back to Rhode Island to face the legal ramifications of bigamy.

Elizabeth and Edwin were soon divorced and, in 1896, she married stationary engineer Har-ry Booth and settled in Cranston. Grace also divorced Edwin, on Oct. 21, 1899. Eight months later, he married Bertha Whitehead in Franklin New Hampshire.

Following another divorce, Edwin married Mabel Addison in Franklin on Feb. 19, 1905. Another disappearance followed and, on Nov. 23, 1911, Mabel filed for divorce on the grounds of “willing absence”.

In 1914, in Berks, Penn., Edwin married Marie Klink. They moved into a home together with his two new stepdaughters while he continued knitting for a living at a local hosiery mill. He died there in Berks at the age of 57 on April 7, 1929 of heart disease, which he had been suffering from for five years. He was buried there in Penn. before he had any opportunity to take on a seventh wife.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.