The Kelly House – Lizzie’s Next Door Neighbors
June 30, 2009
Lizzie Borden’s neighbor, Caroline Cantwell Kelly, age 31, was the last person outside the family to see Andrew Borden alive. She lived with her husband, Dr. Michael F. Kelly, age 36, in the house just one door south of 92 Second Street – the house previously occupied by Alice Russell. It is from Mrs. Kelly’s third child, her daughter, pictured below, that we have learned some of the things said (and surely speculated upon) about Andrew and the Borden family by those who did not refrain from discussing “that awful business.”
Caroline, pregnant with their first child (Christopher Cantwell Kelly, 1892-1919), was heading for a doctor’s appointment when she saw Andrew coming from the east side of the house to the front door. 
It would only be about 20 minutes later that the first call for help would go out – Lizzie telling Bridget she must have a doctor and sending her across the street to Dr. Bowen’s. She knew there was a doctor living next door but she didn’t send Bridget there to fetch him. Like Bowen, Dr. Kelly may not have been at home either.
The Kelly house has had so many changes to the exterior over the past century that it’s hardly recognizable. However, if you look through the front door as shown above you can see the original steps and front door to the Kelly house as it was in 1892.
Part of this structure was a Bed & Breakfast even before 92 Second Street became a Bed & Breakfast! It most recently was a dwelling and hair salon with a paint shop adjacent. The paint shop was an add-on in an “L” configuration, must like the Leary Press.
This is a view of the rear of the Kelly house as it is today with St. Mary’s in the background.
The so-called Kelly house has been on the market by an unmotivated seller for over a year. The owners of the LBB&B next door have been inside and concur the old Paint shop business is laid out much like the old Leary Press. As for what will happen to it, perhaps Bristol County will buy it, tear it down and use it for in-close parking for the new Court House – accommodation for the judges and attorneys. Wouldn’t suprise me.
Back to Eva Kelly Betz. We first learn of her from Agnes DeMille’s highly collectible book above, published by Little, Brown & Co., 1968. (Review of Dance of Death). It was from Eva that Ms. DeMille obtained so much of the information she used in her book about the Borden family. Eva remembered growing up there, and while the founding families didn’t talk about the infamous Borden case, the Irish Catholics certainly did.
Agnes DeMille and Senator Joseph Welch ventured to Fall River in their research of the case, primarily for input for Agnes’ ballet, Fall River Legend, which still plays in New York every year. While there, their chief hostess was Eva Kelly Betz. They also met with the granddaughters of the Defense attorney Jennings and District Attorney Knowlton. The first half of the book deals with the Borden case and the second half with planning and execution of the ballet. Quite a wonderful book and another collectible.
Both Eva Kelly Betz and author Edward Radin (The Untold Story, Simon & Schuster, 1961 – he believed Bridget did the murders), were invited guests of DeMille’a at the premiere performance of the ballet.
(Click on images below for larger view).
If, as Eva states above, Andrew had some of his first wife’s jewelry “but no one in the family knew about it”, it must have been a startling surprise to Lizzie and Emma.
Although Eva Caroline Kelly Betz was born 5 years after her brother, Christopher Cantwell Kelly, she lived until 1968, nearly 50 years more after his death at the age of 27 in 1919. Her best known book, William Gaston: Fighter for Justice was published in 1964, and is considered a collectible. She mentions she taught school in Fall River and while there is an Eva Kelly in the 1921 FR Directory (she would have been 24), her mother, Caroline, is not listed. I can’t help but feel sorry for Caroline, having lost first her husband and then two years later her son.
By her own accounts, the Kelly’s were readers and writers. (You’ll note she does not mention in this piece that growing up she lived next door to the infamous Lizzie Borden). She characterizes her parents as “intellectual” (unlike Ellen Egan – sorry, had to slip that in).
Michael F. Kelly, M.D., 1856-1916
His wife, Caroline Cantwell, 1861-1951
Their son, Christopher Cantwell Kelly, 1892-1919
Eva Kelly Betz, 1897-1968
Joseph P. Betz, 1895-1965
Peter Betz, 1924-1959
All of the above are buried at St. Patrick’s cemetery in Fall River.
More Lizzie Borden Collectibles for Sale
June 29, 2009
From the “Comments” section on my blog comes this nice remark from Keith about my Lizzie Borden collectibles. I’ve been giving lots away over the past year and have just dug up more from storage. I have original Porters, Rebello’s, Knowlton Papers, etc. etc. Email me what you’re interested in and I’ll send you images.
I’ll also be posting more stuff for sale here in the very near future.
Keith Judson Says:
June 27, 2009 at 1:42 pm
“Hi Faye,
I just received the Lizzie Borden CD and all I can say is WOW! You have amassed an incredible amount of information – it is a “Lizzie Fan’s” dream.
Thank you so much for sending it as well as the other Lizzie artifacts.
Keith Judson
Reno, NV”
Be watching for new items and new images.
Mary Livermore and “Poor Girl” Lizzie
June 22, 2009
Mary Livermore had been a friend to Sarah Morse Borden, mother of Lizzie Borden and Emma Borden. She was a staunch supporter of Lizzie during her incarceration and Trial, but she paid a price for that support. Read of her harrassment by the press – not totally unwarranted by the way – at this link:
I wonder what Ms. Livermore thought of Lizzie’s prompt move to “The Hill” when she purchased Maplecroft as reported in the papers the second week of July, 1893? Indeed, after Lizzie’s stay in Newport beginning three days after the Trial (June 23), and her visit with Emma to Taunton to thank Sheriff Wright and his wife (June 27), most of their time was spent looking for a new home where “cultured girls” lived, i.e., The Highlands.
In fact, they purchased #7 French Street even before they settled with Abby Borden’s relatives on her money and possessions, as can be read at this link:
Thus, Lizzie and Emma secured their new and much improved digs less than two months after her “Not Guilty” verdict.
Home, Sweet Home, Lizzie darlin’.
Ownership of the House Next Door to “Maplecroft”
June 20, 2009
UPDATE: Not only do I get emails like this one from “JC” (also scroll down to see “Recent Comments” on the right side of this page) but there were several negative comments on the FRHN online site about Ms. Koorey. People posted that she was not liked, had caused some grief to friends of people in Fall River, and was all about “look at me! Look at me!” in her unabashed self promotion. I’ve found out Ms. Koorey demanded the FRHN remove those comments. Clearly she’s frantic to protect a reputation that is already tarnished. Here’s “JC’s” comment with the IP address partially deleted by me:
—–Original Message—–
From: JC [mailto:donotreply@wordpress.com]
Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2009 1:12 PM
To: phaye@npgcable.com
Subject: [Tattered Fabric: Fall River's Lizzie Borden] Comment: “Ownership of the House Next Door to “Maplecroft”"
New comment on your post #2512 “Ownership of the House Next Door to “Maplecroft”"
Author : JC (IP: 71.2211.clsp.qwest.net)
E-mail :
URL :
Whois : http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=71.22
Comment:
“What a great listing for researching Fall River online. Thanks for the links.
btw, sk is not received well here in FR.”
****************
Stefani Koorey posted on her blog, “Mondo Lizzie”, about a grass roots project which attempts to put people in touch with the history of the houses they live or lived in to foster pride in their community. Below is the video posted in the Fall River Herald News of 6/18/09.
A separate article explains the project further and provides the link to the project home page and it can be read HERE.
It confused me when Stefani referred to “my house”, implying ownership of 328 French Street – the house next door to “Maplecroft” (where Lizzie Borden resided for the entire second half of her life). Stefani has incorporated this property with its ownership history into the project as if it were her own house.
At the project home page given in the second article, a nifty comprehensive listing is provided of public access sites for researching data on properties, such as deeds, mortgages, grantor/grantee, etc. I used many of these over the years and thanks to the digital age, over the past several years access can be done “remotely”. Using these public records sites for property research is easy.
For example, if you don’t know who the owner of a property is you can find out through the public access records of PATRIOT PROPERTIES which is very easy to use. This fairly new public records online site gives information on sale price, assessed value, deeds, mortgages, any liens, etc., etc. Pretty cool, huh? Just type in the Fall River Street name and scroll down to the property address and click to get the information. By typing in the street name of “French” and scrolling down to the address of 328, you get the name of the owner - and it isn’t Ms. Koorey.
Bristol County Registry of Deeds on Rock Street
The BRISTOL REGISTRY OF DEEDS online public access is fairly new, i.e., the past year. By typing in the name of the person or business who owns the property and clicking Search, you get information on Deeds and Mortgages, date of sale, etc. (I used to have to wait until my visits to Fall River and spend hours inside the Registry of Deeds on Rock Street to get this type of data).
If you’ve already tried these two resource sites you’ll see how easy it was to verify true ownership of 328 French Street. One has to wonder why a person would convey a false impression as to their status as a property owner, especially when that person makes it known they quit their tenured teaching job as a junior college theater history professor to move to Fall River primarily to live next door to “Maplecroft” and chase the Lizzie Borden legend. Sadly, when Ms. Koorey was on WSAR Radio this week helping to promote the Lizzie Borden Live! play, she asked the radio host, Mike Herren, to mention on air that she was still looking for a job. He did and I was quite embarrassed for her. I wondered if she chose to give an impression of being a Fall River property owner to lend more credibility to her project which is targeted for Fall River property owners? Perhaps that impression was better than merely stating she was a transplanted Floridian to Fall River of just one year.
Meanwhile, and more importantly, for those wanting to do further research, here are the public records resources:
- Deeds and Abstracts list land owners. These are found at the Bristol County Registry of Deeds, 441 North Main Street.
- Maps and Atlases show the city from the past. These can be found at three locations: The Fall River Public Library in the Fall River Room, the Bristol County Registry of Deeds, and the Fall River Historical Society.
- City Directories tell us who lived at what address and what their occupation was. City Directories can be found in Microfilm at the Fall River Public Library, in an incomplete set at the Bristol County Registry of Deeds, and at the Fall River Historical Society.
- Published histories about the City of Fall River are available at the Fall River Public Library, and online at the Keeley Library.
- Old copies of the Fall River Daily Globe [1889-1929], the Evening Herald [1905-1928], the Daily Evening News [1868-1926], and the Fall River Herald News [1929-present] can be found on Microfilm at the Fall River Public Library. There are also reels of microfilm with other early Fall River newspapers, a few dating from before the Civil War. Recent issues of the Herald News are available in print. Old newspapers can be a valuable source of information as well as providing a portrait of daily life in different time periods; unfortunately, they are not indexed and often lack a table of contents, so researchers should be prepared to spend some time, especially with 19th century materials. Also note that newspaper obituaries were not standard until around the 1920s; ancestors who died in the 19th or early 20th century may not have had a printed obituary.
- US Census Records are on Microfiche at the Fall River Public Library, and online through AncestryPlus.com (use this source for free with a Fall River Public Library card) at the Fall River Public Library. Census Records are available for the years 1850, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930.
- Water Permits indicate when water mains and/or meters were installed, which can then be used to verify the date of construction of a building. You can find this information by calling the Fall River Water Department at 508-324-2720.
- Survey of Historic Properties are forms that were completed when the city was applying for historic status from the Massachusetts Historical Commission. These pages contain valuable data and information regarding properties all over the city of Fall River. You can find this information at the Fall River Historical Society.
- The Obituary Index can be used to research people and relatives who lived in your house. The index is online at the Fall River Public Library.
- The Fall River Collection at the Fall River Public Library has materials relating to the people and history of Fall River. The collection includes vintage postcards, maps, vital records, city documents, church records, family histories and books. Here you will find information on immigrant groups, businesses, mills, the Fall River Line, schools, churches, historic buildings and the history of Fall River.
- Other sources at the Fall River Public Library include: Vital Records – Various city demographic records, such as births, marriage intentions and deaths, are available in microfiche for the years 1803-1889. These are not indexed and are arranged by date, not name, so searching can be a challenge. Draft Registration Cards – World War I draft registration cards are available on microfiche. Local Histories and Genealogies – Many books of Fall River, Massachusetts and New England history are available in the Fall River Room. There are also genealogical and biographical works, including some individual family histories. Church Records – A limited number of church records have been transcribed and are available in the Fall River Room.
- Fall River Property Assessment Data is now online at Patriot Properties.
- Local Fall River History Slides are online.
- Durfee High School Yearbooks are online for selected years.
Lizzie Letters
June 17, 2009
Reading letters written in Lizzie Borden’s own hand is always a fun and interesting exercise. We’ve found them in books, newspapers, estates, libraries, and private collections. They keep popping up. There are plenty more out there. Lizzie was consistent in doing what was proper to the customs and practices of the time, and this included her letter writing. Here is a sampling of some of the letters we know of which give us a glimpse into this woman who continues to fascinate. Just click on each image for a larger, clearer view.
The noisy bird letter:
Brayton’s son discovered the letter in an old desk and subsequently gave it to the 1st Congregational Church who had it mounted and displayed in the Church office as you see above.
The Fall River Historical Society promises (again) to have the new book Parallel Lives out by the end of the year. Part of the promotion are little ticklers like this intentionally cryptic letter written by Lizzie. If each character (which disguises the true word) represents the actual number of characters in the word, translating becomes a little more easier.
Lizzie’s vanity case
A fairly new letter discovery was published in David Rehak’s book, Did Lizzie Borden Axe For It? (3rd edition, 2007, page 197).
She wrote this note just ten days after turning 52, and 20 twenty years after the murders. Also, this was written just 3-1/2 months after the sinking of the Titanic. The interesting provenance of this note can be found in Rehak’s book, which is a very entertaining read and reviewed HERE.
Translation:
“C/O A. Stomell & Co. The toilet case came to me safely
and is very satisfactory. I have a fitted suitcase with toilet articles in white, can you put a blue (bluish?) B. on each piece if they were sent? Very Truly Yours, Miss L. A. Borden, July 29, 1912″
Funeral Instructions
Translation:
My funeral to be strictly pri-
vate with a short prayer at
the grave.
At the house I wish read
“The Crossing of the Bar”
Also the 14th chapter of St. John
and the 23rd Psalm.
Also sung the first and fourth
verses of “My Ain Countrie”
& wish to be laid at my
fathers feet.
A small headstone to match
the others of my family
Lizbeth to be cut on the stone
Lizbeth Andrews (?)
with the date July 1861 (?)
The minister of the Church
the Ascension is to conduct (?)
the services.
Grave to be bricked.
Lizbeth A. Borden
March 31 – 1919
Fall River
My Interview With Sarah Palin
June 12, 2009
Sarah Palin, media slut politico, is really making a big deal out of Letterman’s joke the other night. So I envisioned myself interviewing her on a morning talk show. Might go something like this:
Me: Good morning. How are you today?
SP: First of all, let me say I would have hoped we could get off to a pleasant beginning. I do not think it appropriate to question my personal health simply because you cannot form a conclusion as to the condition of the weather. Personally, I don’t think the weather is the main issue in today’s politics. Main stream Americans have more on their mind in today’s economy.
Me: Wow.
SP: Are you referring to my outfit or my hairdo?
Me: Good lord.
SP: Yes, he is a good Lord. And I know, and all true Americans across this country know that our Lord is blessing us with our faith and will provide and take care of us in our times of discord and doubt.
Me: Right. Governor Palin, you are promoting a multi billion dollar pipeline project that will deliver oil to Canada and then fanned out to the 48. Do you see this project coming to fruition in our generation or the generation of our children?
SP: First of all, let me say that our children are innocent in the eyes of God and should be not used by the media, such as these talk shows, to promote one’s own kinky secrets.
Me: What in the world do you mean by that?
SP: I think my meaning is pretty clear. You used the pipeline project as a phallus symbol and created a very offensive joke by bringing in children of American families. I don’t think any decent American would find humor in a sick joke implying rape by a foreign object on little children.
Me: (aside) Can somebody hit me over the head because I think I’m already unconscious.
Me: Governor Palin, when was the last time you had a psychiatric examination?
SP: (smiling) Oh no you don’t. I won’t fall into that. But I will, after this interview is over, look up the definition of psychiatric and I’ll get back to you.
Me: Our time is up, Governor, and I will allow you a final comment.
SP: There is no truth to the rumor that Todd paint’s my toenails. Todd is a hunter. Not a painter.
Me: Thank you. Thank you. (aside) Somebody get me a god damn drink!
–
******************
My favorite quote:
On the dogmas of religion, as distinguished from moral principles, all mankind, from the beginning of the world to this day, have been quarreling, fighting, burning and torturing one another, for abstractions unintelligible to themselves and to all others, and absolutely beyond the comprehension of the human mind.
– Thomas Jefferson, letter to Archibald Carey, 1816
Lizzie Borden Videos…..
June 9, 2009
Image by Danny Evans
….seem to be everywhere. And they are mostly copied from one place to another, i.e., YouTube to MySpace to Hulu to Blog posts, and on and on. Video Regurgitation. Some are really bad and some are quite entertaining. But consider all the cell phones with video capability out there. And those B&B tourists who have them and do a minute video and call it their Lizzie Borden movie. Here are some samplings. (Just click on them).
Excellent bio with the lovely Helen Pierce, courtesy of Hulu.
The next one is a “legitimate” from the old t.v. series and taken from Lillian De La Torre’s play.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents The Older Sister
The following is my own personal favorite of the short, original creations:
They all have one thing in common: The continual perpetuation of Lizzie Borden as a one-dimensional, axe-wielding persona encapsulated in an inaccurate quatrain solidifying her as a demented psychopath. She was not. She was a woman of taste and deportment. She was a woman with a strong sense of her Borden roots, a strong belief in God and the hereafter, exquisite taste and a quick, intelligent mind. She valued those friendships that demonstrated their loyalty and, likewise, unforgiving to those who had, or whom she perceived to have demonstrated betrayals. There’s something to be said about that when it comes to her love of animals.
Lizzie Borden was not a psychopath. But she’s endured as a pop culture icon with a false image so embedded in the minds and imaginations of those who study not closely – albeit widely – on the internet. The content of almost all of the videos proves the point. It seems hardly a week goes by without someone, somewhere on the internet making reference to Lizzie Borden but most always in the context of that one dimensional persona. “I’m gonna go Lizzie Borden”, “The committee will do a Lizzie Borden on the proposed budget”, yadda, yadda, yadda.
What is particularly sad is when the Fall River Historical Society finally publishes it’s book, Parallel Lives, (at a retail price of nearly $50 and a limited market for heavy reading on the Borden case) it will have limited sales (we’re not talking the new Harry Potter book here) and will fail to alter her pop culture image amongst the masses. Anyone who thinks differently can’t see the forest for the trees. Nonetheless, this book promises to be of the same quality as the FRHS’s first book, The Knowlton Papers. Further, its new findings and photos will ensure its worthiness as a “must have” acquisition by Bordenia collectors and scholars.
As an example of the general disregard by the masses to the facts of the case, it was pretty much proven BACK IN 1893 that the murder weapon was a hatchet, not an AXE, for one thing, and anybody who’s read even one book on the case would know that. But it doesn’t matter, as 90% of the time she is identified with the axe, not a hatchet. The masses like their psychopathic, pop culture icons the way they are. That’s why they don’t bother with research by digging into available facts in books, forums, or subscribe to periodicals.
Education. Ain’t it a bitch?
Gay’s Studio at 257 N. Main
The purported image of Lizzie Borden below is NOT Lizzie. Whether or not this group of ladies were members of the Central Congregational Church Christian Endeavor Society, as the owner of the original photograph believes (he was half owner of the Carr-Osborne house), is a matter of conjecture. As a matter of fact, the legitimacy of this being Lizzie Borden was debated, investigated and brought to a rightful conclusion years ago in the now OOP Lizzie Borden Quarterly.
“Here is a photo take in the late 19th century. A group of young women who pose for a studio portrait. Perhaps a church group. A few years ago this platinum print was described as possibly the Christian Endeavor Society of the Central Congregational Church of Fall River, Mass. The thought was that this image include Lizzie Borden.
We still have never been able to confirm that notation. Various scholars of note have debated the subject of this photo. The pencil notation “Gay” was the leading photography studio of Fall River and the style and pencil signature is consistent with the era of this mounting. This image was found in storage in a Fall River home and purchased around 1984-85. 
We did receive a signed letter from a noted authority on Lizzie Borden in which they stated: “I have little doubt that the figure at the lower right, middle row is Lizzie Borden.” “It was her official duty as treasurer of that society (Christian Endeavor Society of the Central Congregational Church) that kept her from going to Marion with friends on the fatal day of August 4, 1892.” “At the time of the murders, and later at the trial, there was never any reference made to a Lizze look-alike.” A number of years ago The Fall River Historical Society had a different opinion and declined to authenticate the image. Inquiries?”
By clicking HERE you will find the source for the above. Scroll down on the first page to “Emphemera” and click that and scroll down to more info on this photo.
William H. Moody
June 4, 2009
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.
Lizzie Borden and the Month of June
June 1, 2009
Partial extracts from my historic timeline for the month of June follows. It helps one gain a perspective on what influenced Lizzie Borden and the world she lived in. Well, sort of. One can also watch old films like Pollyanna to get a peek into the mores, customs, societal hierachy of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
Speaking of Pollyanna, I watched it the other day and was particularly struck by its accurate depiction of the power the founding families had within their communities, including the Church. Just as Polly Harrington (Jane Wyman) dictated what her church minister (Karl Malden) would trumpet from the pulpit, made me wonder if the Bordens and Durfees influenced what their ministers would speak on for the Sunday sermons at the Central Congregational Church.
| June 20, 1635 | John Borden, wife, and two children set sail for America. |
| June 9, 1772 | First naval battle of the Revolutionary War, British customs schooner Gaspee is burned off Rhode Island. |
| June 17, 1775 | Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston. |
| June 18, 1804 | Name of “Fallriver” changed to “Troy” |
| June 2, 1832 | Caleb Blodgett (later Judge at Borden Trial) is born in Dorchester, New Hampshire. |
| June 12, 1836 | Justin Dewey, later Judge at Borden Trial, is born. |
| June 26, 1838 | Mary Augusta Demarest is born in NYC; later writes “My Ain Countrie”. |
| June 9, 1861 | John W. Coughlin born; later three-term Mayor of Fall River. |
| June 19, 1863 | Earl P. Charlton born in Chester, Conn. (Later becomes richest man in Fall River). |
| June 9, 1863 | Ricca Allen is born in Canada, later friend of Nance O’Neil and Lizzie Borden. |
| June 6, 1865 | Andrew Borden, 43, marries Abby Durfee Gray, 37, (43 days before Lizzie’s 5th birthday). Emma is 16. |
| June 16, 1867 | Helen Leighton born in Millbridge, Maine. |
| June 28, 1870 | Jerome C. Borden marries Emma Tetlow. (Did 10 yr old Lizzie go to wedding?) |
| June 19, 1874 | Andrew has running water installed in the Second Street house with service from city. |
| June 25, 1876 | General Custer and entire regiment killed at “Battle of the Little Big Horn.” |
| June 29, 1876 | Mill #2 of the American Linen Company, foot of Ferry St., suffered fire damage in the two upper stories. |
| June, 1879 | Spinner’s strike, major summer long strike of mill workers. |
| June 11, 1885 | William Almy dies in Fall River. |
| June 17, 1885 | The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, arrives in the U.S. |
| June 2, 1886 | President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in Blue Room of the White House. |
| June 15, 1887 | Dedication of BMC Durfee High School. William Lambert is first principal. |
| June 4, 1890 | Lizzie signs her passport application for Grand Tour to Europe. |
| June 16, 1890 | The first Madison Square Garden, designed by McKim, Mead & White, opens in New York City. |
| June 21, 1890 | Lizzie sails on S.S. Scythia from Boston to Liverpool, England, embarking on 19 week long “Grand Tour”. |
| June 24, 1891 | Daylight “robbery” at the Bordens. (KP74) |
| May/June 1892 | Andrew kills pigeons roosting in the barn. Morse visits end of June. |
| June 30, 1892 | Morse spends one day at Bordens; takes Butcher Davis’ daughter & Emma for a ride. (CI 96) |
| June 1, 1893 | Grace Hartley graduates from Fall River High School. (FRHN 3/21/2004) |
| June 3, 1893 | Jose Correiro arrested in Manchester case. (Jury is sequestered and does not learn of this arrest.) |
| June 3, 1893 | Lizzie transfers to New Bedford Jail on Ash Street. |
| June 5-20, 1893 | THE TRIAL OF LIZZIE BORDEN |
| June 1893 | Grace Hartley graduates from Fall River High School. (FRHN 3/21/2004) |
| June 5, 1893Monday | Court convened at 11:28 am. 111 questioned before the 12 jurymen are were selected. Charles I. Richards chosen as jury Foreman. |
| June 6, 1893 Tuesday | Indictment is read; William Moody opens for the Prosecution. Lizzie faints and is revived. |
| June 6, 1893 Tuesday | Civil Engr. Thomas Kieran called, gives measurements, testifies a man could have hid in front entry closet. |
| June 6, 1893 Tuesday | Jurors travel to Fall River; visit Kelly’s house, Wade’s store, Crowe’s stone yard, Chagnon’s house, Kirby’s yard, Alice Russell’s house, Gorman’s store, Clegg’s store and banks. Tour finished at 4:00 pm. |
| June 6, 1893Tuesday | Jurors taken to Mellen House, Franklin & North Main Street where they spend the night. |
| June 7, 1893 Wednesday | James A. Walsh, photographer testifies as to the accuracy of the pictures he had made of the victims and the house on the day of the killing. |
| June 7, 1893 Wednesday | John Vinnicum Morse examination conducted by Moody, not different from that as in the Preliminary Hearing. Lizzie smiled as her uncle tried to calculate her age and shook her head vigorously when he stated she was “33.” (She was only 6 weeks shy of 33), |
| June 7, 1893 Wednesday | Abraham G. Hart, Treasurer of Union Savings Bank, testifies as to Borden’s movements on morning of the 8/4. |
| June 7, 1893 | Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, dies. Had home in Middletown, RI. |
| June 9, 893Friday | John Minnehan, patrolman assigned to follow John Morse on August 5, 1892, dies at age 48 in Fall River. |
| June 12, 1893 Monday | Lizzie’s Inquest Testimony ruled inadmissible. |
| June 13, 1893 Tuesday | AG Pillsbury arrives by train from Boston, consults with Knowlton & Moody & returns same evening. |
| June 14, 1893 Wednesday | John T. Burrill, Cashier of Union National Bank, Everett M. Cook, Cashier of the First National Bank, Jonathan Clegg, a hat dealer, Joseph Shortsleeves, a carpenter, and John Maher, a carpenter give testimony as to Andrew’s movements August 4th. |
| June 14, 1893 | Judges ruling excludes Eli Bence’s prussic acid testimony . |
| June 14, 1893 | At Knowlton’s request during Dr. Draper’s testimony, Dr. Dolan brings in the skulls of Andrew & Abby. Lizzie is allowed to retire from the courtroom. (TT1046) |
| June 14, 1893 Wednesday | 9th Day: C. C. Potter’s son (Freddy) finds hatchet w/gilt on roof of Crowe’s barn. Carpenter Carl McDonnel claims it is his hatchet; prussic acid testimony (Eli Bence) ruled inadmissible. |
| June 15, 1893 | FR Evening News reports hatchet found on roof of John Crowe’s barn. ( FREN18) |
| June 15, 1893 Wednesday | Opening statements by Defense are given by Andrew Jennings. |
| June 16, 1893 Wednesday | Emma Borden testifies. |
| June 16, 1893 | Governor Robinson reads from Bridget’s Inquest Testimony (a missing document) (TT) |
| June 17, 1893 | Carpenter McDonald claims Crowe’s roof hatchet is his. (FRHN) |
| June 18, 1893 | Carrie Poole, Lizzie’s friend residing 20 Madison Street, New Bedford, dies. |
| June 19, 1893 Wednesday | Governor Robinson gives closing arguments; Knowlton begins his closing. |
| June 20, 1893 3:24 pm | 13th Day: The Jury retires to deliberate. |
| 4:32 pm | Lizzie Borden pronounced “Not Guilty” at 4:35 pm. (TT1928) |
| 8:15 pm | Lizzie & Emma arrive by coach w/Mrs. Holmes at 67 Pine St. in FR; small reception follows. Lizzie spends night there. Large crowd gathered at 92 Second St. (CaseBook228) |
| June 22, 1893 | Reupholstered sofa is delivered back to the house on Second Street. (LR1111-112) |
| June 23, 1893 | Lizzie visits the Wm. Covel’s in Newport, RI, has classic picture of her “standing behind the chair” taken. |
| June 23, 1893 | Morse attempts to get mileage reimbursement from Iowa to New Bedford from Co. Treasurer. (FRHN) |
| June 27, 1893 | Lizzie & Emma go to Taunton to visit Sheriff Wright’s wife. |
| June 4, 1900 | Mary Howe (Baker) is born, daughter of Grace and Louis Howe. |
| June 5, 1905 | Newspaper article states Lizzie writing play for Nance O’Neil. (Spiering p208) |
| June 5, 1905 | Boston Globe reports Emma moving out of “Maplecroft”. |
| June 21, 1905 | Bridget Sullivan marries John M. Sullivan in Anaconda, MT. |
| June 2, 1906 | Emma Borden departs on White Star liner RMS Cymric, departing from Boston for Queenstown & Liverpool, enroute to Scotland. |
| June 30, 1908 | Lizzie writes to Asst. Supt R. I. Hospital re her maid Hannah B. Nelson. (Gateway Mag. Summer 1997) |
| June 15, 1909 | Marshal Hilliard retires. |
| June 19, 1911 | Opening Day of Fall River’s Cotton Centennial |
| June 23, 1911 | President Howard Taft arrives in Fall River for Cotton Centennial celebration. |
| June 10, 1912 | Grisly axe murders of 2 adults and 6 children, all while they sleep, in Villisca, Iowa. |
| June 25, 1914 | Animal Rescue League of Fall River established as a corporation (Later becomes Faxon Animal Rescue League). |
| June 29, 1914 | Austrian Prince, Archduke Ferdinand shot by Serbian assassin, in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, leading to World War I. |
| June 28, 1915 | Patrick Doherty (Captain, FRPD) dies in Fall River, Mass. |
| June 15, 1918 | Lizzie and Emma sell 230 Second St. (changed from #92) to John W. Dunn. (LR557) |
| June 19, 1919 | Naval Fighting Ship commissioned “Moody” launched. William H. Moody’s sister, Mary E. Moody, sponsored the ship. |
| June 22, 1922 | Emma Borden signs the Codicil to her Will. |
| June 1, 1923 | Leontine Lincoln dies. (Grandfather of Victoria Lincoln and a founder of Fall River Historical Society). |
| June 1, 1927 | Lizzie Andrew Borden dies of heart failure at 8:30 pm at her home “Maplecroft” in (59 days short of her 67th birthday). |
| June 4, 1927 | Nance O’Neil’s interview about Lizzie appears in New Bedford Standard. |
| June 7, 1927 | Lizzie’s Will is filed in Taunton Probate Court. |
| June 10, 1927 | Emma Borden dies in Newmarket, New Hampshire at age 76. |
| June 12, 1927 | Helen Leighton interview saying Lizzie was bitterly unhappy, suffered from depression. ( FRHN) |
| June 13, 1927 | Emma Borden is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery. |
| June 30, 1927 | Emma’s Will is filed in Taunton Probate Court. |
| June 3, 1939 | Arthur Sherman Phillips writes to son of Defense Attorney Robinson asking to be forwarded Lizzie’s answers to the questions he posed her back in 1892. |
| June 23-27, 1936 | Grace Hartley Howe attends Democratic Nat’l Convention in Philadelphia as a Delegate At-large. |
| June 14, 1955 | Grace Hartley Howe, Lizzie’s cousin and legatee, dies at the age of 80 in Fall River. (FRHN) |
| June 1, 1961 | Adelaide Churchill home destroyed by fire. (LR44) |
| June 13, 1981 | Author Victoria Lincoln Lowe dies at age 76. Her body given to Science at John Hopkins University. |
| June 22, 1994 | Josephine Vohnoutka McGinn (wife of John) dies in Fall River. |
| June 1, 2001 | Jules Ryckebusch retires from Bristol Community College and names Gabriela Schalow Adler Publisher of The Lizzie Borden Quarterly. |
| June 2, 2004 | Robert Dube files for variance to convert garage to single family residence on Maplecroft property. |
| June 7, 2004 | FR Herald News reports 92 Second Street purchased by Donald Woods of Portsmouth, RI.; says he will tear down “Leary Press”, increase parking & rebuild the barn. |
| June, 2008 | Lizzie Borden Took an Axe, or Did She? – A Rhetorical Inquiry by Annette Holba is published. |
| June, 2008 | Leonard Pickel announces he will open a Lizzie Borden Gift Shop & “Museum” in Salem, MA. |
