Mary Jayne Payne was born on April 6, 1855 in Schoharie County, New York. She married Lewis Brockway on January 12, 1874 at Stamford, New York, and the couple had three children, Mabel (born 1876), Sidney (born 1879) and Fred (born 1881). In August, 1891, Mary divorced Lewis and, the following December, married Arthur J. Cowan. In 1893 Mary, Arthur, and the three children moved to Phillips County, Montana where Arthur's brothers had settled the previous year. They first lived in Malta, where Mary taught school. In October 1893 they moved to a home on a sheep ranch established by Arthur's brothers near Woody Island Creek, Blaine County, and remained there until 1903. The couple then moved to Harlem where Arthur opened a butcher shop and served as a bank director. Arthur died sometime after 1930 and Mary died on January 23, 1933.
From the guide to the Mary Payne Cowan Diaries, 1890-1896, (Montana State University-Bozeman Library, Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections)
