Giving my grandson a magic carpet ride.
My grandson: Prometheus Dimitri Musselman (yes, you read that right).
He was born December 16, 2010
I’m working on putting together “bundled” packages of Lizzie and Fall River collectibles – all at rock bottom prices. So stay tuned. Meanwhile check out some stuff on my Facebook page.
I spotted the above framed photo in a second hand store in Seattle two weeks ago. I thought the little boy was so damn cute. When I went to pay for it I was told it was Billy Oltman who won a Howdy Doody look-alike contest in the l950′s. A subsequent internet search resulted in little more information about darling little Billy. I guess it was his 15 minutes.
The connection to Lizzie: None, other than the fact I took the photo of the photo of him on the same shelf as my Parallel Lives books. But I bet this blog post title got you real curious, huh? LOL.
The following Recycled post will be of added new interest to those who purchased Parallel Lives. Indeed, as we’ve learned from that book, Emma was no recluse. Beginning on page 748, I believe, the writers go into depth of the Gardners from the Henry Augusta Gardner line. Enjoy.
————————————————————————————
One of the urban legends in the Borden case is that Emma Borden became a recluse, rarely went out, and had no family after departing from her infamous sister, Lizzie. Not true – at least not until the final few years of her life, when she was infirm and senile.
I’ve written before of the Gardners of Swansea who became a sort of surrogate family to Emma Borden when she departed forever from her sister, Lizzie in 1905.
On December 11, 1914, Henry Augustus Gardner (the patriarch of the family) and his wife, Caroline Cole Mason Gardner, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at their home “Riverby” in Touisset. They had put together this little commemorative booklet (from my collection) for each of their guests which included Emma Borden as she attended and received such a booklet.
(Click on all images below for larger views)
x
Emma attended this event and her signature can be seen 4th down on the left side. Little Hamilton Gardner, son of William, left his “mark” on the bottom of the right side. At the top you see Doris Gardner’s name and her mark. Having parallel lives, she and Hamilton ended up husband and wife. More on her later.
William Wilson Gardner and son, Hamilton
(and was he a little cutie or what?)
When Hamilton’s father died, he was raised by his uncle, Orrin Gardner. Emma was particularly fond of and close to Orrin. And from evidence of her including him in an income trust and mentions elsewhere, she was also fond of Hamilton, who was a teenager when Emma died.
Emma, in fact, attended birthday parties, clam boils, weddings, funerals, and holidays with many of the people and their children shown in the oval picture below. If you study the names and compare it to the guest signatures above, you’ll note most of them attended this event, as well as many of their offspring.
Father William Gardner (standing), Grandfather Henry Augustus Gardner, and Grandson Hamilton Gardner
“Riverby” about 1914
Here is a full account of the event as reported in the newspaper.
The quote of Henry Augustus speaking of how the area was when he first moved there to the “present” (i.e. 1914) is particularly interesting.
As stated above, this was not the only Gardner family event Emma attended. My collection includes other documentation of Emma’s surrogate family and travels. She spent a lot of time with Preston Gardner’s wife, Mary and their daughter, Maude, all of whom she favored in income trusts and her will.
The following blog entry has nothing to do with Lizzie (hmmm?). ***********************************************************************
The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term exam. The answer by one student was so “profound” that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.
Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the
rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let’s look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell.
Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, “it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you”, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct…leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting “Oh my God.”
(THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY “A” IN THE CLASS.)
(Edited & Recycled post)
THIS BOOK HAS BEEN ADDED FOR FREE!!
ABSOLUTELY FREE WITH PURCHASE OF ONE OF THE TWO TITLES INDICATED BELOW.
Have you been wanting affordable copies of Len Rebello’s Lizzie Borden Past & Present? And have you been on the hunt for the Fall River Historical Society’s The Knowlton Papers? Well, you’ve landed in the right place.
Now – Are you looking for these?
Well, I’ve got several of each and the prices will be the best you can get. You can purchase one (or both). Simply email me at phaye@npgcable.com.
These are $250 each. The Knowlton Papers are generally around $400 these days. All have dust jackets.
Lizzie Borden Past & Present by Leonard Rebello are in vg condition with dust jackets. Some of the Rebello’s are autographed by the author and come with mylar covers. Again, only $250 each.
All 3 of these books are OOP and hard to find, especially at this price.
Be smart and buy one of each at $500. Helleva deal – while it lasts.
And remember – A Study in Conjecture ABSOLUTELY FREE! If you’ve searched for this book or seen it on eBay you know it sells for several hundred dollars. But I’m getting rid of much of my collection and throwing this in for FREE with a purchase of The Knowlton Papers or Rebello’s boo k indicated above. So email me at phaye@npgcable.com.
First person to email and send in payment, and payment clears, gets the books! 
Lizzie, Emma, Andrew and William
And let us not forget this JibJab goodie from a couple years ago:
It’s A Wonderful Life With the Bordens
(click text above to begin video)
I love a good adventure. Or stumbling across a really funny joke like this one – a recycled post from 2008:
A man is driving down the road and his car breaks down near a monastery.
He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, “My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?”
The Monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, even fixes his car.
As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. A sound not like anything he’s ever heard before. The Sirens that nearly seduced Odysseus into crashing his ship comes to his mind. He doesn’t sleep that night. He tosses and turns trying to figure out what could possibly be making such a seductive sound.
The next morning, he asks the Monks what the sound was, but they say, “We can’t tell you. You’re not a Monk.”
Distraught, the man is forced to leave. Years later, after never being able to forget that sound, the man goes back to the monastery and pleads for the answer again.
The Monks reply, “We can’t tell you. You’re not a Monk.”
The man says, “If the only way I can find out what is making that beautiful sound is to become a Monk, then please, make me a Monk.”
The Monks reply, “You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of grains of sand. When you find these answers, you will have become a Monk.”
The man sets about his task.. After years of searching he returns as a gray-haired old man and knocks on the door of the monastery.
A Monk answers. He is taken before a gathering of all the Monks.
“In my quest to find what makes that beautiful sound, I traveled the earth and have found what you asked for: By design, the world is in a state of perpetual change. Only God knows what you ask. All a man can know is himself, and only then if he is honest and reflective and willing to strip away self deception.”
The Monks reply, “Congratulations. You have become a Monk. We shall now show you the way to the mystery of the sacred sound.” The Monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, “The sound is beyond that door.”
The Monks give him the key, and he opens the door. Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man is given the key to the stone door and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. And so it went that he needed keys to doors of emerald, pearl and diamond.
Finally, they come to a door made of solid gold. The sound has become very clear and definite. The Monks say, “This is the last key to the last door.”
The man is apprehensive to no end. His life’s wish is behind that door! With trembling hands, he unlocks the door, turns the knob, and slowly pushes the door open. Falling to his knees, he is utterly amazed to discover the source of that haunting and seductive sound……
.
.
.
.
But I can’t tell you what it is because you’re not a Monk………………………………..
It’s a beautiful thing. Check it out:
The holding sleeve has a leather/felt-like interior.
The sleeve has the staged photo of Lizzie in her senior years on the back porch of Maplecroft.
The woman that is pictured in the edition already opened (the one I read in Hawaii) is Anne Lindsey, sister of Mary Brigham. What a Dame!
The marbleized end pages are taken from a book in Lizzie’s library
Note the edged gold “gilt” on the pages.
The “Presentation” page. Click for larger image.
Yep. She’s a beaut all right.
UPDATE: i just bought my second copy of the “Limited Edition” (#100 of 100). These are now sold out on the day before the Trade Edition goes on sale. I can’t wait to see the Benefactors’ “Presentation Edition”. I also have 3 Trade Editions, one of which I’m using to write notes inside, and another will be giving as a gift to a special friend.
You can order Parallel Lives (and my own Historic Timeline book) at this sight Click HERE
Items in the book and on display at the FRHS:
Click HERE
(Unfortunately, the scrapbook, so carefully put together by Lizzie after her 1890 Grand Tour is not on display and remains in a private collection. *That’s* what I would like to see more of!)
Exquisitely produced, brilliantly structured, thrilling and groundbreaking in its content, Parallel Lives – A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River is a seven pound, 1,179 page, ten-years- in-the-making epic that had it been written as a historical novel it would be right up there with Roots, The Secret Magdelene, and Gone With The Wind. It is a book of transformation and revelation; transforming in the way it compels readers to alter their mental landscape when thinking of Lizzie Borden. It is filled with stunning revelations that meticulously dissect rumors and legend long thought to be truth. Lizzie Borden has been encapsulated in pop culture based on an inaccurate quatrain characterizing her as a one dimensional psychopath wielding a bloody axe, Parallel Lives has irrevocably transformed and revealed Lizzie Borden to be a three dimensional flesh and blood human being with heart, spirit and soul. Indisputably, this the new “go to” book which researches and scholars studying the history of Fall River during its rise and decline, as well as the woman Lizzie Borden who lived through that age: 1860-1927, will discover it impossible to find anything more definitive or comprehensive, more exciting or enlightening.
The book is a treasure trove of new information about Lizzie taken from the journals, letters, cards, photographs, artifacts and remembrances of those that knew her personally, much of which was coveted by their owners who were resolved in their belief that Lizzie could not have committed those crimes. Their beliefs were passed down to third and fourth generation descendents who continued to keep their possessions or memories conveyed private and sequestered until trusted relationships were established between them and the authors.
Masterfully woven within the new information are expanded stories of known individuals and events (some prominent, some little or previously unknown) that had an impact on Fall River’s history and society. The authors have beautifully crafted the world in which Lizzie Borden lived. And while the crimes of August 4, 1892 are presented, allusions to or fresh insights on whether or not Lizzie was guilty are not presented. In fact, the murders and who did them become almost irrelevant in the broader tapestry presented throughout the chapters with its more than 500 photographs and other images. Who committed the crimes or the case itself, becomes an irrelevancy overshadowed by the depth and breadth of all that which deals with the people and stories within.
We learn so much of Mary Ella Sheen (Mrs. George S. Brigham) and her sister, Anne Eliza Sheen (Mrs. William Lindsey, Jr.), two sisters whose lives took very different trajectories. Mary was Lizzie’s friend since girlhood and the future mother-in-law of Florence Cook Brigham, but Anne had been her friend as well for most of their lives. Anne was a “Grand Dame” and lived the kind of life that Lizzie most probably would have wanted for herself. We learn that not only was Helen Hartley Howe such a close and devoted second cousin to Lizzie, we discover that Helen’s mother had a friendship that also was life lasting with Lizzie. The reveal of the true identity of ‘Todd Lunday” would have been anticlimactic had it not been for the intriguing story associated with it, or the story of Officer Phillip Harrington and police reporter Edwin Porter who penned the Fall River Tragedy and why Porter may have left Fall River so soon after its publication. Nor have we read anywhere the connection of reporter McHenry and City Marshall Hilliard. I suspect there are many “reveals” that were derived from the so called “Hilliard Papers” which have been in the Society’s hands for 22 years.
Michael Martins and Dennis Binette, co-authors, outside the Fall River Historical Society holding Parallel Lives-photo by Jack Foley, Fall River Herald News
For decades, the curators of the FRHS have been meticulous in documenting the “drop in” visits or phone calls from people – many descendents of the principals – as to what they had to say and when. These “notes to file”, so to speak, have been preserved in their respective file folders and filed with the relative topics. These contain more of the “reveals”, some as surprising as finding out JR getting shot was only a dream, or Scarlett realizing she loved Rhett all along, or Edward glistening out of the cloud bank. As stated, the revelations are thrilling and transforming.
The chapters are so beautifully written and the photographs so beautifully reproduced within the book that we can almost feel the silk and lace as they as we read their wonderfully detailed descriptions. We can rub our finger across the image of a pocket watch and feel the grooved indentations, or one of Lizzie’s traveling suitcases and feel the contrast of the brass to the leather. We can smell and see the wedding flowers and the sparkle of jewelry at the Assemblies and grand parties. The meticulous effort in the use of adjectives is remarkable. It is fairly obvious the authors wanted to be as accurate and precise as possible when applying descriptors to people, places and things.
I strongly suspect much of what was revealed may have been with soft spoken caveats or perhaps some asserted caveats along the lines of: “Well, you may use these journals (or photos, or letters, or cards, or remembrances) but I trust you will present Auntie Borden (or Lizzie) in a good light because she never could have done those murders.” And “I would consider it a great injustice to finally make this information known if it were used to give a poor impression of this wonderful woman or lend any credibility to the horrible reputation she endured during and after her life.” Mr. Martins and Mr. Binette have stated it was only when they explained the kind of book they were writing, and after trust was established, that the possessions and remembrances were revealed.
We learn certain elitist members of the seven “first” families did a fine job in two-facing Lizzie after the Trial; they “cut” her quite severely and most obviously spoke of her “guilt”– handing down their opinions to their children who maintained those opinions and passed them down to their children. On the other hand, those that kept friendships and believed Lizzie was not and could not be guilty passed that info down to their children – or the children knew her first hand and formulated the same opinion; the difference being they did not speak openly about it. They protected her privacy. But between those that cut her and the relentless and continuous newspaper coverage, the damage had been done.
The authors were literary craftsmen in the way they told these stories, presenting the information from the journals or letters, and in detailing information about the people involved without trumpeting a new path but sufficient to give you pause. The book is peppered with phrases such as: “Is it possible that…”, or “Although we can never know for certain, could it be that…”, or “Would it seem likely that…” and we pause on the page and hearing ourselves utter “hmmmm” and suddenly realize we are thinking things differently.
The End Notes are extraordinary and I found them thrilling to read. When reading, one says: “Where did they get that from?” and we go to the End Notes which are flush with information. Our eyes don’t just stay on the sight bite but naturally scroll downward until we know where most all the information for that chapter came from. The End Notes tell us more about relationships and just who had what information and for how long. The End Notes help us identify what came from FRHS “notes to file” as opposed to who held on to what for decades and allows us to identify from where the bulk of new information came.
Parallel Lives actually constitutes many books. It is so rich and full it would constitute several Master’s Thesis, multiple biographies, and even separate books on the nefarious acts and scandals in the persons of Mr. Scully and Mr. Barnard, let alone a book on comparative lifestyles of The Hill people and The Mill people.
Parallel Lives is a monumental achievement and a body of work to make the entire Fall River Historical Society proud. It is representative of that level of excellence consistent in all endeavors of Messrs. Martins and Binette. It is truly a remarkable and unique work - the likes of which we shall not see again.
Michael and Dennis took a pen
And wrote an epic with a satisfying end
For when The Book was finally done
Rumors died and reality won.
The curators of the Fall River Historical Society posted on Facebook today an update of their now completed labors in holiday decorating, the upcoming book signing of Parallel Lives, and a special exhibit pertaining to Lizzie Borden showing ….well, you read it.
News from the FRHS Facebook page:
“Fall River Historical Society
And if you haven’t heard, there is a new book coming out this year … Parallel Lives … for sale exclusively at the FRHS museum shop. Everything is on target for delivery and as was posted earlier a booksigning will be held here at the FRHS on Sunday, November 20, from 12 – 3 o’clock pm, and we sincerely hope that some of you can make it. There has been considerable interest in the book, especially so in the Limited Edition, which is nearly sold out – as of this posting only eleven remain.
Busy week this week as we wrap up holiday preparations – the museum opens for the season on Saturday so there is much to do and rather a bit of catching-up to attend to. The holiday reception for Historical Society members is Saturday evening, and the booksigning is Sunday so there are many tasks to attend to that are as yet undone.
Here is a bit of news for anyone interested in the life and times of Lizzie A. Borden. This morning we begin mounting a special exhibit that will be on view in the library during the holiday season, featuring an important selection of items personally connected to LAB, that were acquired by the museum from various donors during the research phase of Parallel Lives. Some very interesting items including photographs, books, a selection of extremely important letters, notes, and cards, and a few items she presented as gifts to close friends … interesting and with impeccable provenance. The exhibit will open this coming Saturday, and will be on view through the end of the year. Hope you have a chance to view it.
That’s all for now.”
I would LOVE to see her metiiculously assembled scrapbook from her 1890 Grand Tour. Oh yeah.
Presenting my grandson, Prometheus Dimetri Musselman at 8-1/2 months performing his first spontaneous concert. His second, last month, sold out at Carnegie Hall. 
(He’s almost 11 months old now.)
He was 12 pound, 22 inches when born 12/16/2011!
Here he is at 10-1/2 months.
"I am loved!" shown here with daddy and mommy (Amy)
I’m still in Kona, Hawaii (been here for a month). Had a nice visit with my son, Josh, “PD’s” daddy.
Lizzie Borden on the back porch of Maplecroft, taken around 1916 when Lizzie was in her 50′s.
The Fall River Historical Society has announced on their Facebook page their magnificent book, Parallel Lives – A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and her Fall River is now ready for pre-orders and will be ready for shipments on November 21st – just in time for THANKSGIVING. So major THANKS to the FRHS, Michael Martins and Dennis Binette, for GIVING us this incredible gift.
The Fall River Herald News posted this story on October 25th.
There is no question this book will be the definitive book of Lizzie and her times. There is no question it is an absolute Must Have for all Bordenia and Fall River history collectors. And:
THERE IS NO QUESTION THIS BOOK WILL FOREVER ALTER THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS OF LIZZIE BORDEN BY ALL WHO READ BUY AND READ THIS BOOK!!!
Only fools will sit around waiting for the cheaper paperback or Kindle version. Ain’t gonna happen. ORDER THIS BOOK NOW IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT LIZZIE BORDEN – AND HER LIFE. HER REAL LIFE – NOT THE CRAP YOU’VE BEEN READING ABOUT FOR YEARS!
(Recycled)
The prosecution team in the matter of the Commonwealth vs. Lizzie Andrew Borden included the formidable William Henry Moody, whose stellar career surpassed all others associated with the case. An extraordinarily handsome man, in my opinion, he remained a life-long bachelor.
If Lizzie continued her reading of Harper’s Weekly, she may have seen the December 29, 1906 issue below and its cartoon cover story on one of the men who played a part in a “most interesting occasion.” Most all of the text which follows comes from that article.
William Henry Moody was born on December 23, 1853, in Newbury, Massachusetts, the son of farmers. He graduated from Phillips Andover Academy in 1872 and Harvard in 1876, leaving Harvard Law School after four months to read law under Richard Henry Dana. After admission to the state bar in 1878, Moody practiced law in Haverhill, Massachusetts, where he was elected city solicitor (1888-1889). In 1890, he was named the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Massachusetts.
In 1895, he was elected as a Republican to fill a vacant seat in Congress, and subsequently elected three more times. He impressed his congressional colleagues with his command of legislative details and debating skills, and served on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
Theodore Roosevelt first met Moody in 1895 and quickly came to admire a man with a similar physical build, athletic interests, and a progressive Republican perspective. In 1902, Roosevelt appointed Moody as secretary of the navy.
Moody served in that capacity for two years, working to expand and improve the U.S. naval fleet, and reform the navy’s organization.
In June 1904, the president named him as the U.S. Attorney General. In his new position, Moody became a key advisor to the president and played a leading role in the prosecution of the administration’s antitrust lawsuits, successfully arguing Swift and Company v. United States (1905) before the U.S. Supreme Court. He agreed with Roosevelt’s distinction between “good” and “bad” trusts.
The Justice Department under Moody negotiated agreements with large business corporations that it deemed were working in the public interest, such as International Harvester and U.S. Steel, but prosecuted Standard Oil because its economic power and business activities were considered contrary to the public interest. As attorney general, Moody took a case concerning peonage of blacks to the Supreme Court, and ordered contempt proceedings against a sheriff who allowed a black rape suspect to be lynched.
Harper’s Weekly was concerned about the centralization of governmental power during the administration of Republican Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), and in December 1906 criticized an address in which Secretary of State Elihu Root called for federal intervention in situations where the states failed to act. Root’s speech, which the newspaper assumed was actually written by President Roosevelt, is excerpted in the caption of the featured cartoon. The cartoon warns that William Moody, whom the president had recently named to the U.S. Supreme Court, will be a judicial tool by which Roosevelt can expand federal powers at the expense of state control through new “constructions of the Constitution.” On the right, Secretary of War William Howard Taft sits studying the “Simplified Constitution” while waiting his turn for the next appointment to the Supreme Court.
When Justice Henry Brown resigned from the U.S. Supreme Court in 1906, President Roosevelt tried unsuccessfully to convince Taft to take the position and then considered appointing a Southern Democrat. Finally, on December 12, 1906, the president announced the selection of Moody, emphasizing the attorney general’s nationalist philosophy by describing him as a follower of Alexander Hamilton and John Marshall, not states’ rights advocates Thomas Jefferson and John C. Calhoun. The Senate approved the nomination on December 17.
During Moody’s brief tenure on the Supreme Court, he wrote 67 opinions, including 5 dissents. His most famous dissent came in the Employers’ Liability Cases (1908) in which his minority opinion upheld the constitutionality of a congressional statute protecting employees involved in interstate commerce. The constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce, he argued, included the authority to legislate labor-management relations. Despite his general support of enhanced federal powers, Moody’s most important majority opinion (later overturned) ruled that the federal constitutional provision in the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination did not apply in state courts (Twining v. State of New Jersey, 1908). Moody’s judicial career was cut short when he developed debilitating rheumatism in early 1909 and was increasingly forced to neglect his judicial responsibilities. In 1910, Congress passed legislation that permitted Moody to qualify for federal retirement benefits, and he retired from the Supreme Court.
A saddened President Roosevelt remarked, “there is not a public servant, at this particular time, that the public could so ill afford to lose.” Eventually incapable of moving his arms and legs, Moody lived seven more years with the painful disease, cared for by his sister until his death on July 2, 1917.
The reputation of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum being haunted has escalated over the years due to its exposure from the many television paranormal “entertainment” shows. Unlike the made-for-t.v.documentaries that focus on Lizzie herself, the town of Fall River, her sister Emma and Uncle John, these ghostly presentations are served up in abundance.
Spin-off and copy cat shows recycle, repackage and replicate attempting to satisfy the masses who can’t seem to get enough. The popular Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures are only two of the many paranormal/investigative sub genre. But let us not forget these programs are pure theater They ARE entertainment. They ARE produced, programmed and broadcast by companies that are in business – and the purpose of ANY business is to make a profit. Some productions are better than others, but most are like Howdy Doody on steroids.
Before the crush of competitive paranormal and ghost hunting shows there were the lesser known features. This early one, featuring my long time friend Martha McGinn is one I particularly like because it has many of the original employees of the B&B. Eleanor Thibault, who tells of the “smoke” holds the distinction of having the record for the longest, continuous employee. She is the wife of Ed Thibault who has been featured in so many documentaries playing Andrew Borden.
So now we have autumn and the Halloween season upon us. Expect to see repackaged repeats of the haunted Lizzie Borden House. Yech. Is it haunted? I don’t think so. But if you sell it, they will come. And they have; both production companies and those seeking the paranormal experience.
Oh, Lizzie. You never really liked that house, but you wouldn’t believe it now.
Happy Halloween, darlin’. And try not to let those treading footfalls around your headstone disturb you too much. Pretend it’s Princess Summerfallwinterspring come to play Magda. Or maybe it’s just Clarabell the Clown – wearing a hockey mask.
In the category of: “Nothing to do with Lizzie Borden”, I give you this:
When you look at this picture you see it’s Albert Einstein..
But if you stand 15 feet away it will become Marilyn Monroe.. Now what do you think of the reliability of eyewitness testimony?
Click on image for larger view
Emma Lenora Borden, sister to our gal Lizzie, has long been cited as the subject of an interview in the Boston Sunday Post of April 13, 1913. The by-lined reporter, one Edwin Joseph McGuire, however, has never been confirmed as a reporter, let alone the validity of the interview itself. The interview came just one week after an extensive article by Gertrude Stevenson of the Boston Sunday Herald who wrote of what life was like for Lizzie twenty years after the crimes. It has been speculated *that* article encouraged Emma to come forward from her self-imposed exile and speak for the very first time, ever, publicly – and “Lucky” McGuire got the gig.
Reference to this astonishing interview with Emma was, however, flatly denied by her through the “Buck family”. The Buck family (once headed by that revered Reverend Edwin Augustus Buck who had died a decade before on March 9, 1903) was apparently now led by his spinster daughters, including Alice Buck, who was the closest to Emma.
Click on image for larger view and to read inserted article.
We don’t know for certain if it was Alice Buck who was the member of the Buck family who said the McGuire article was “not authentic”, though it very well could have been. But the point is this: McGuire’s article is mentioned in so many books of the “first generation” authors and so little is mention, even with contemporary authors on the case, as to the subsequent denial of its authenticity.
Why in the world would Emma agree to such an interview after more than 2 decades of silence? Were there events before or close in time to the interview that influenced or motivated her? Let’s check. Let’s go back to a little more than one year previous:
| March 1, 1912 | John Vinnicum Morse dies in Hastings, Iowa at the age of 79. |
| April 15, 1912 | White Star liner Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg; 1,500 die. |
| June 10, 1912 | Grisly axe murders of 2 adults and 6 children, all while they sleep, in Villisca, Iowa. |
| July 19, 1912 | A meteorite with a mass of 19,000 kg landed in the town of Holbrook, Navajo County, Arizona. |
| July 29, 1912 | Lizzie writes letter to Stomell & Co. requesting “B” be engraved on her suitcase “toilet items”. |
| December 30, 1912 | Rufus B. Hilliard (FR Chief of Police) dies. |
| 1913 | Woodrow Wilson is President of the United States. |
| 1913 | Ford develops first moving assembly line. |
| 1913 | Alice Paul and Lucy Burns form the Congressional Union to work toward the passage of a federal amendment to give women the vote. The group is later renamed the National Women’s Party. |
| March 10, 1913 | Harriet Tubman dies of pneumonia in Auburn New York. |
| 1913 | Louis McHenry Howe becomes Chief of Staff to FDR who is appointed Asst. Secretary to the Navy. |
| April 6, 1913 | Boston Sunday Herald special edition: “Lizzie Borden 20 Years After the Tragedy” by Gertrude Stevenson. |
| April 13, 1913 | Boston Sunday Post publishes interview with Emma Borden by reporter Edwin Joseph McGuire. (Was this a hoax? |
The little article above about McGuire’s article not being “authentic” was included in a packet of material on the case from Orrin Augustus Gardner. Contents of the packet can be found in the Swansea Historical Society’s research nook at the Swansea Library. Orrin Gardner was a close to Emma all her life and was a major legatee in her Will.
This image shows Orrin Gardner far left, wearing hat, on outing with school boys and was taken about the time he donated that package.
UPDATE:
Fall River Historical Society Hello, everyone. Dennis here, speaking for Michael and myself. It’s been a long day, but here goes. Thanks, Terrie! Megan – yes, we thank the gods it is nearly over. Pam – you know we love you, too. Bob – how many cats DO you have? JoAnne – yes, it will be available before Christmas and that’s a promise. Ginny – come on, never give up hope, we’ve been trying … really. Faye – absolutely correct. The trade edition and the limited edition will be different from the presentation edition, which has been specially prepared for benefactors in recognition of their financial support of the project. There are only thirty of those, each one of a kind as each is personalized in print; as a benefactor of the publication, you will receive one of those. The particulars of the trade edition and the limited edition will be detailed on the website. Al – as soon as the website goes live, anyone interested in a limited edition can preorder it online, by phone, or in our museum shop. Faye – your answer to Al’s question is correct. Incidentally, would LOVE to go to Kona. Okay, all. We’ve been here since 7 a.m. – going home now. Thanks so much! Until next time …
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Michael Martins, curator of the Fall River Historical Society, posted an update on the status of this long anticipated book on the FRHS Facebook page.. From his post below it appears we are really, truly, finally, tuning the last corner of completion. As an added treat, Michael gives us an excerpt from the book, representative of the kinds of insights into Lizzie not previously accessible and specific to the purpose of the book itself.
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(Recycled from October, 2009)
Those who choose to believe Lizzie Borden
was innocent cite the various theories to be found in dozens of books on the case. From the villainous “Intruder” to the illegitimate son, Billy Borden, there is none more preposterous than the “Emma did it” theory.
That Lizzie’s older sister, 
visiting in Fairhaven – a good 15 miles distant in horse and carriage days – committed the dastardly deed was never considered in the slightest by the Fall River police or District Attorney Hosea Knowlton. It was only many decades after the crimes and Lizzie’s acquittal that this theory took hold. But how did it come about? How did it start? Was it Alfred Hitchcock’s teleplay, “The Older Sister“? Just when and from whom did this theory first appear in print or any other media?
I made a delightful discovery a couple years ago from my expanded readings of the Lizzie Borden-Franklin Roosevelt connection. That connection has always intrigued me because had Lizzie lived six more years she might had taken tea with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, an invitation arranged by her cousin, Grace. Imagine that. Lizzie Borden in the White House.
I think it’s time to reveal the genesis of the “Emma did it” theory. The source is none other than Lizzie’s own cousin’s husband, Chief political strategist and advisor, personal secretary to President Franklin D. Roosevelt – Louis McHenry Howe.
Louis McHenry Howe and President Franklin Roosevelt
Louis was, of course, married to Grace Hartley Howe. Grace was born November 9, 1874 in Fall River making her 14 
years younger than Lizzie. Grace’s maternal grandfather, Cook Borden, and Lizzie’s paternal grandfather, Abraham Borden, were brothers. Grace married Louis on May 6, 1899 at age 24. Louis had been a newspaper man and he surely had read about the murders, the legal proceedings and Lizzie’s ultimate acquittal. After his marriage to Grace, there must have been discussions with his wife about her notorious relative.
On December 11, 1931, writer Fulton Oursler went to meet Franklin Roosevelt, then
Governor of New York, at his home at 49 East 56th Street. The meeting was a result of Oursler’s writing two recent articles for the influential Liberty Magazine, (of which he was about to become editor) one of which was entitled “Another Roosevelt in the White House?” It was a time when Governor Roosevelt was about to engage in the year long campaign for the presidency under the tireless guidance of his closest friend and chief political strategist, Louis Howe.
Upon Oursler’s arrival he was greeted by Louis who was living in the Roosevelt home while his wife lived in Fall River. The two men waited for FDR’s return from the dentist. The conversation that took place – remarkable in and of itself - can be read in the book shown below – an autobiography competed by his son, Fulton Oursler, Jr. :
Behold This Dreamer! Fulton Oursler, Little, Brown & Company, 1964, 1st Ed.
Click on images for larger view.
Now, to any serious reader of the life of Louis Howe, one would know how he often played gags on people, toying with their head so to speak. I can imagine Louis saying all this with a straight face but with an undetected twinkle in his eye that the very straight-laced and conservative Oursler would not recognize.
Here was a man (Louis) whose wife was named as a primary legatee in Lizzie’s Will just 4 years previous (but due to the six years of probating had not yet received her cash windfall). Perhaps Louis had Lizzie on his mind because of the fact the first Probate accounting had just been held less than two months previous on October 31, 1931 in a Fall River court. Or perhaps he was just full of glee knowing his man, Governor Roosevelt, was on the threshold of becoming “President Roosevelt” in a year’s time, mainly due to his own efforts.
Whatever his reasons for saying what he said, Louis was a man who surely knew at least the basic facts of the case. But he told this story and it stuck. Not only did he tell it to Oursler but he repeated it to that
prolific writer and librarian, Edmund Pearson at a subsequent luncheon arranged by Oursler. Now Pearson, being an expert on the case, didn’t believe a word of it. How he must have cringed over that bit about Emma being crazy and suffered from epileptic fits, and had been out of town in “Marion” but snuck back. Either Louis had scant knowledge of the particulars or Oursler got that wrong, but oh, how Louis much have enjoyed that luncheon! And Louis most certainly knew beforehand that Pearson had written that long essay on the Borden case in Studies in Murder, published in 1924. Oh yeah, Louis knew what he was doing, all right. I would love to have been at that luncheon – invisible and silent but taking in every word of the Messrs. Oursler, Pearson and Howe.
There’s a lot more misinformation in those quoted remarks of Louis attributed by Fulton Oursler – almost comical in its ridiculous assertions – as any scholar of the case will readily recognize. Could Louis, always the visionary and strategist, have deliberately wanted to eradicate any thought that the cousin of the wife of the chief advisor to the future President of the United States was a murderer, and by so doing, misdirect guilt to the sister?
Oh, Louis, you dishevled, asthmatic, chain-smoking, strategizing scamp, you. Look what you’ve done. Your contrived tale told nearly 80 years ago continues to surface and provide an outlandish alternative theory.
So there you have it, the source and genesis of the “Emma did it” theory first appearing in print.
UPDATE: Koorey’s response to her loss. Why am I not surprised?
She came in 4th out of 6 candidates, getting only 252 votes according to this article in the Fall River Herald News.
She ran a very negative campaign with relentless bashing of the incumbant Mayor Flanagan, an obvious turn-off to the voters. In the debates, she was described as “shrill” and “clod-like”.
Still without a job after nearly 4 years in Fall River (why doesn’t anyone want to hire her?), and now that the election is over, you would think she’ll have time now to produce those 3 remaining Hatchet magazines which she promised. You’d think. I think she will go back to attending all the FROED (Fall River Office of Economic Development) meetings, and other council meetings being the acerbic, agitating activist for which she is known in that town. She will remain outside the tent, pissing in. It gets her name in the paper and she likes that.
For my readers who may be thinking: “Wow, Faye is sure harsh about Stefani Koorey.” You bet. I have reasons, the least of which is her filing a false police report naming me as the suspect when her car got scratched, simply because I was in Fall River at the time.
Well, what goes around, comes around. But the voters of Fall River have spoken and they seem to say THEY DON’T LIKE HER EITHER.
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