I was in the process of deleting some old “Lizzie Borden Files” folders on a thumbnail drive to make room for photos of my grandson when I discovered these Animoto videos I had made several years ago.
There’s No One Like You, Lizzie Borden – and Your House is Still Standing
May 22, 2013
92 Second Street-Then & Now, Lizzie Art, Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast, Time Portals 92 Second Street, Lizzie Borden, Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, unsolved classic crimes, unsolved murders Leave a comment
A Man and His Dog – Which one is “loyal”? From the Lizzie Borden Forum
May 20, 2013
Just for Laughs Lizzie Borden Leave a comment
The post here from Ellen Smith (i.e. Angel), in reply to Michael Brimbaugh (mbhenty) is so insightful and very clever. LOL!
Re: There was in the barn a secret that must be covered
Re: There was in the barn a secret that must be covered
Teapot given to Historical Society offers piece of Lizzie Borden story
May 17, 2013
Collectibles, Fall River Historical Society, Maplecroft Fall River, gertrude russell, Lizzie Borden, Maplecroft Leave a comment
Gertrude May Russell (above) received the teapot shown below as a gift from her friend Lizzie Borden.
The rare piece is now on display at the

Above: Gertrude May Russell and the teapot her grand-daughter donated to the Fall River Historical Society.
From the Fall River Herald News comes this article by Deborah Allard:
“Borden had given ceramic teapot to hired companion about 100 years ago”
Ariel Castro and Lizzie Borden – Notorious Domiciles and Why People Can’t Stay Away
May 15, 2013
Fall River, MA, Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast, Newspaper Coverage, Time Portals Amanda Berry, Ariel Castro, captive women, cleveland, Fall River, gruesome crimes, Lizzie Borden, Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Leave a comment
This NBC News article on the house of Ariel Castro in Cleveland, Ohio, has five paragraphs on the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum in Fall River, MA.
It’s a long shot, but imagine if some dark-minded entrepreneur managed to acquire the property and turn it into a Bed & Breakfast. Guests could chose between Attic, Second Floor or Basement accommodations in the “Ariel Castro House of Horrors”. Canopy beds with chains would be extra. Souvenier duct tape sold in the Garage Gift Shop. Too morbid you say? Think again.
Never underestimate the draw of pop culture “celebrity” when mixed with murder and mayhem. It can become a stone, cold hit.
Fall River Cemeteries
May 7, 2013
Fall River Historical Society, Fall River History, Fall River, MA, Oak Grove Cemetery Lizzie Borden, Oak Grove Cemetery, ron chaplain Leave a comment
Lizzie Borden is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery, and while it is the most known – and the most beautiful – there are other cemeteries with interesting histories in Fall River.
Here’s info on a wonderful picture book of several Fall River cemeteries.
Jack Foley – Fall River Herald News
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Notre Dame Cemetery
1540 Stafford Rd
Fall River(508) 673-1561 -
2233 Robeson St
Fall River
(508) 679-2535St Patrick’s Cemetery

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Amity St
Fall River
(508) 679-2535St Mary’s Cemetery

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462 N Main St
Fall River
(617) 244-6509Temple Beth El Cemetery

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440 Newhall St
Fall River
(617) 244-6509Agudas Achim Cemetery

MEANWHILE…..
The Fall River Historical Society is having a big sale on all their items. Check it out!
The Kind of Party Lizzie Borden Missed Out on in Her Youth
April 24, 2013
Above and Below The Hill, Collectibles, Fall River History 1 Comment
NOTE: THIS LETTER WILL APPEAR IN THE FALL RIVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S BOOK, PARALLEL LIVES):
When Lizzie Borden was in her teens and early 20′s she did attend parties with her contemporaries. She may have attended a party not unlike the one described in the handwritten letter below by Florence Borden, daughter of Spencer Borden. Flushed with the excitement of the evening’s events, the 15 year old Florence wrote “November 30, 1896″ at the top of the letter, but the postmark shows when it was mailed the next day, “December 1, 1895″.
Shortly after acquiring this letter for my collection, I took it with me on my next visit to Fall River and left a photocopy for Fall River Historical Society Curator Michael Martins to help me identify those named within the letter. He wrote a 9-page response and I include the first two pages here to save me time (and space) in providing background and identification particulars of a few mentioned: (Click on all images for larger view)
Note: Parker Hooper (born 1877) was the son of William S. and Isabella Hooper who resided on French Street, three houses east from Lizzie.
Bertha Borden (born 1882) was the 15 year old daughter of Jerome Cook Borden & Emma Borden. Jerome was Lizzie’s cousin who supported her during her Trial.
Young Florence is clearly thrilled with the costumes and those attending. Her letter reflects an almost giddiness in her descriptions. She lived in one of the two grandest homes in Fall River: Interlachen
……and she spent that night with Marion Osborne at the other grand house: the Carr-Osborne House
One generation behind Lizzie, these young ladies and gentlemen were the sons and daughters of Fall River’s elite society on “The Hill”. And while they were only around 8-12 years old when the Borden murder case exploded upon the Fall River scene, they would know of Lizzie all their lives. (Most would live long enough to have read Edmund Pearson, Edward Radin and even a fellow B.M.C. Durfee High School graduate, Victoria Lincoln.)
It would be less than two years after this party that Lizzie would be trumpeted again on the front pages: the Tilden-Thurber shoplifting incident. An oh, how these fine, cultured young people must have gossiped about that at other parties.
Note: Florence doesn’t tell us if any of the ladies came dressed as Lizzie Borden with a hatchet sewed onto their skirt. That would have been shockingly inappropriate. Never would have happened. But today? Hell yes.
“Auntie Borden” in Movie “Sleuth”
April 10, 2013
Literature & Literati, TV, Theatre & Film Lawrence Olivier, Lizzie Borden, Michael Caine, playrite Anthony Shaffer, Sleuth Leave a comment
Lizzie Borden is occasionally mentioned in a film or TV show but seldom is she referred to by the name many of the children of her friends called her long after the infamous trial of 1893. Those children called her “Auntie Borden”, so we have learned from the magnificient book, Parallel Lives – A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River. Indeed, only those who have read this book learn of that fact as it was revealed for the very first time when the book was published in November of 2011. Imagen my complete surprise when I heard it mentioned while watching the 1972 movie “Sleuth”.

“Auntie Borden” in her later years.
About 35 minutes into the film, Lawrence Olivier (as playwrite Andrew Wyke) is attempting to find a costume for Michael Caine (Milo Tindle) to pretend to be a burglar in their plot to have Michael Caine’s character steal a cache of jewels. Olivier steps on a floor button and up pops a female skeleton to which Olivier says: “Oh, there you are Auntie Borden”. I cracked up and immediately Googled the playwrite.
Anthony Shaffer was born just one year before Lizzie Borden died (1926), but it is likely as a young adult he heard of the Borden case and when he came to write Sleuth included the subtle reference to one of America’s most notorious unsolved crimes. He was fond of true crime as we learn from his tribute web page, and he may have read the books on the case published up until his death.
Anyway, it made my ears perk up to a film I had seen 3 times previous but never caught the reference. I shall look for it in subsequent “Sleuth” films. Michael Caine, dear man, and a wonderful actor, enhanced his own career by playing both parts in different screen adaptations of the play “Sleuth”.
And that’s all, Auntie Borden.
http://animoto.com/play/BCHckOsCK5kRH7ZDIFAFTQ
http://animoto.com/play/0KUvqV71nYJHhnCwbj1Srg



















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