Mamah Bouton Borthwick was born in June of 1869. She recieved a BA Degree from the University Of Michigan, in 1892. In 1899 she married Edwin Cheney, and had two children, John (1902), and Martha (1905).
In 1909, she started her love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. The two met when Wright had been hired to design the Cheney home a few years earlier (Wright at the time of the affair, was also married). In 1910, the two traveled to Europe, and upon their return to the states, were quickly shunned by their social circles.
Mamah divorced Edwin in 1911, and later that same year, moved into Taliesin (the home Wright had built for her in Spring Green, WI.), with Wright.
On August 15th, 1914, with Wright away in Chicago, Mamah was having lunch with her two children, when she was brutally, and fatally attacked with a shingling hatchet, by Julian Carlton (a domestic worker at Taliesin). Mamah's two children, and four associates of Wright (who were also having lunch in another part of the building), were also killed in the attack. Two other associates survived, but were seriously injured.
The reason for Calton's murderous rampage, still remains a mystery, to this day.
Mamah was laid to rest on the grounds of the Unity Chapel, not more than a mile away from Taliesin.
Mamah's life and death have been chronicled in several Frank Lloyd Wright biographies, as well as the books: Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, and Death In A Praire House by William Drennan.
***Special thanks to Angie Robinson, for sponsoring this page.∼Mary "Mamah" Borthwick was born in Boone, Iowa, in 1869 to Marcus Smith Borthwick (1828-1900) and Almira A. Borthwick (née Bowcock) (1839-1898). She was the mistress of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
On August 15, 1914, Julian Carlton, 30, a Negro male servant from Barbados, who had been hired several months earlier and was apparently mentally unstable, set fire to the living quarters of Taliesin and murdered seven people with a hatchet as they fled the burning structure. The dead included Borthwick; her two visiting children, John and Martha Cheney; David Lindblom, the landscape gardener; a draftsman named Emil Brodelle; Thomas Brunker, a workman; and Ernest Weston, the son of Wright's foreman carpenter William Weston, who himself was injured but survived. Draftsman Herbert Fritz also survived the mayhem, and helped Weston put out the fire that almost completely consumed the residential wing of the house. In hiding, Carlton swallowed muriatic acid immediately following the attack in an attempt to kill himself. When found, he was nearly lynched on the spot, but was instead taken to the Dodgeville jail. Carlton, findagrave #109388847, died from starvation seven weeks after the attack, despite medical attention. At the time of the attack, Wright was overseeing work on Midway Gardens in Chicago.
In 1909, she started her love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. The two met when Wright had been hired to design the Cheney home a few years earlier (Wright at the time of the affair, was also married). In 1910, the two traveled to Europe, and upon their return to the states, were quickly shunned by their social circles.
Mamah divorced Edwin in 1911, and later that same year, moved into Taliesin (the home Wright had built for her in Spring Green, WI.), with Wright.
On August 15th, 1914, with Wright away in Chicago, Mamah was having lunch with her two children, when she was brutally, and fatally attacked with a shingling hatchet, by Julian Carlton (a domestic worker at Taliesin). Mamah's two children, and four associates of Wright (who were also having lunch in another part of the building), were also killed in the attack. Two other associates survived, but were seriously injured.
The reason for Calton's murderous rampage, still remains a mystery, to this day.
Mamah was laid to rest on the grounds of the Unity Chapel, not more than a mile away from Taliesin.
Mamah's life and death have been chronicled in several Frank Lloyd Wright biographies, as well as the books: Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, and Death In A Praire House by William Drennan.
***Special thanks to Angie Robinson, for sponsoring this page.∼Mary "Mamah" Borthwick was born in Boone, Iowa, in 1869 to Marcus Smith Borthwick (1828-1900) and Almira A. Borthwick (née Bowcock) (1839-1898). She was the mistress of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
On August 15, 1914, Julian Carlton, 30, a Negro male servant from Barbados, who had been hired several months earlier and was apparently mentally unstable, set fire to the living quarters of Taliesin and murdered seven people with a hatchet as they fled the burning structure. The dead included Borthwick; her two visiting children, John and Martha Cheney; David Lindblom, the landscape gardener; a draftsman named Emil Brodelle; Thomas Brunker, a workman; and Ernest Weston, the son of Wright's foreman carpenter William Weston, who himself was injured but survived. Draftsman Herbert Fritz also survived the mayhem, and helped Weston put out the fire that almost completely consumed the residential wing of the house. In hiding, Carlton swallowed muriatic acid immediately following the attack in an attempt to kill himself. When found, he was nearly lynched on the spot, but was instead taken to the Dodgeville jail. Carlton, findagrave #109388847, died from starvation seven weeks after the attack, despite medical attention. At the time of the attack, Wright was overseeing work on Midway Gardens in Chicago.
Mamah Bouton Borthwick was born in June of 1869. She recieved a BA Degree from the University Of Michigan, in 1892. In 1899 she married Edwin Cheney, and had two children, John (1902), and Martha (1905).
In 1909, she started her love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. The two met when Wright had been hired to design the Cheney home a few years earlier (Wright at the time of the affair, was also married). In 1910, the two traveled to Europe, and upon their return to the states, were quickly shunned by their social circles.
Mamah divorced Edwin in 1911, and later that same year, moved into Taliesin (the home Wright had built for her in Spring Green, WI.), with Wright.
On August 15th, 1914, with Wright away in Chicago, Mamah was having lunch with her two children, when she was brutally, and fatally attacked with a shingling hatchet, by Julian Carlton (a domestic worker at Taliesin). Mamah's two children, and four associates of Wright (who were also having lunch in another part of the building), were also killed in the attack. Two other associates survived, but were seriously injured.
The reason for Calton's murderous rampage, still remains a mystery, to this day.
Mamah was laid to rest on the grounds of the Unity Chapel, not more than a mile away from Taliesin.
Mamah's life and death have been chronicled in several Frank Lloyd Wright biographies, as well as the books: Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, and Death In A Praire House by William Drennan.
***Special thanks to Angie Robinson, for sponsoring this page.∼Mary "Mamah" Borthwick was born in Boone, Iowa, in 1869 to Marcus Smith Borthwick (1828-1900) and Almira A. Borthwick (née Bowcock) (1839-1898). She was the mistress of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
On August 15, 1914, Julian Carlton, 30, a Negro male servant from Barbados, who had been hired several months earlier and was apparently mentally unstable, set fire to the living quarters of Taliesin and murdered seven people with a hatchet as they fled the burning structure. The dead included Borthwick; her two visiting children, John and Martha Cheney; David Lindblom, the landscape gardener; a draftsman named Emil Brodelle; Thomas Brunker, a workman; and Ernest Weston, the son of Wright's foreman carpenter William Weston, who himself was injured but survived. Draftsman Herbert Fritz also survived the mayhem, and helped Weston put out the fire that almost completely consumed the residential wing of the house. In hiding, Carlton swallowed muriatic acid immediately following the attack in an attempt to kill himself. When found, he was nearly lynched on the spot, but was instead taken to the Dodgeville jail. Carlton, findagrave #109388847, died from starvation seven weeks after the attack, despite medical attention. At the time of the attack, Wright was overseeing work on Midway Gardens in Chicago.
In 1909, she started her love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. The two met when Wright had been hired to design the Cheney home a few years earlier (Wright at the time of the affair, was also married). In 1910, the two traveled to Europe, and upon their return to the states, were quickly shunned by their social circles.
Mamah divorced Edwin in 1911, and later that same year, moved into Taliesin (the home Wright had built for her in Spring Green, WI.), with Wright.
On August 15th, 1914, with Wright away in Chicago, Mamah was having lunch with her two children, when she was brutally, and fatally attacked with a shingling hatchet, by Julian Carlton (a domestic worker at Taliesin). Mamah's two children, and four associates of Wright (who were also having lunch in another part of the building), were also killed in the attack. Two other associates survived, but were seriously injured.
The reason for Calton's murderous rampage, still remains a mystery, to this day.
Mamah was laid to rest on the grounds of the Unity Chapel, not more than a mile away from Taliesin.
Mamah's life and death have been chronicled in several Frank Lloyd Wright biographies, as well as the books: Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, and Death In A Praire House by William Drennan.
***Special thanks to Angie Robinson, for sponsoring this page.∼Mary "Mamah" Borthwick was born in Boone, Iowa, in 1869 to Marcus Smith Borthwick (1828-1900) and Almira A. Borthwick (née Bowcock) (1839-1898). She was the mistress of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
On August 15, 1914, Julian Carlton, 30, a Negro male servant from Barbados, who had been hired several months earlier and was apparently mentally unstable, set fire to the living quarters of Taliesin and murdered seven people with a hatchet as they fled the burning structure. The dead included Borthwick; her two visiting children, John and Martha Cheney; David Lindblom, the landscape gardener; a draftsman named Emil Brodelle; Thomas Brunker, a workman; and Ernest Weston, the son of Wright's foreman carpenter William Weston, who himself was injured but survived. Draftsman Herbert Fritz also survived the mayhem, and helped Weston put out the fire that almost completely consumed the residential wing of the house. In hiding, Carlton swallowed muriatic acid immediately following the attack in an attempt to kill himself. When found, he was nearly lynched on the spot, but was instead taken to the Dodgeville jail. Carlton, findagrave #109388847, died from starvation seven weeks after the attack, despite medical attention. At the time of the attack, Wright was overseeing work on Midway Gardens in Chicago.
Inscription
Mamah Borthwick Cheney 1869 1914
Gravesite Details
The headstone is at the base of the largest tree, behind the Unity Church.
