Lizzie Borden Videos…..
November 27, 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?
Point Reflections
November 17, 2009
A print of this collage, which I created back in 1999, still hangs on the refrigerator at the Lizzie Borden B&B.
(click on image for larger view)
Back from visit Northeast with scads of voice mail, emails and snail mail to catch up on. Some pointed reflections that I may elaborate on later:
1. Twisted Restaurant in Hyde Park.
2. Two FR senior guys at Rosario’s – turns out one has a home at Rim Country Club Estates here in Payson.
3. Letters from Mary Hartley to Grace Hartley at Vassar in 1897…re “cousin in the news again”.
4. Letters from Mary Hartley to Grace Hartley Howe full of gossip about the “Rock Street people”.
5. Victoria’s Secret girls at the Lizzie Borden B&B.
6. Long chat with Michael Martins and Dennis Binette re Lizzie, their book, etc. (photos selected, galleys done, index done; awaiting blueline, altho new stuff still coming in).
7. Scallops and Lobster at the Liberal Club with Manny A. and his wife.
8. GalleryX Exhibit piece “Two Sides to Every Story”….couldn’t find artists contact info or I would have purchased it right then and there.
9. Interior of Abby Grille (Central Congregational Church) since the recent vandalism. Sickening. I’ll post pictures later.
10. “Blood Relations” in New Bedford Saturday night, then our mad dash back to the Eagle. What a ride!
11. FDR’s house, Vanderbilt Mansion, Val-Kil – thank you Margaret, D.A.R. member, and resident of Hyde Park.
12. Max the cat in window of the “bahn” late at night; red glow background (from Exit sign), foggy. Stunning effect.
13. Blueboy in parlor – couldn’t stop laughing.
14. Ken Champlin telephone calls.
15. Fall River Library – new piece by Macomber donated in memory of Jerome C. Borden – my personal fav.
16. Visit to FRPD and chat with Asst Chief Moniz.
17. Nice visit and Chinese lunch with Bob Dube. (Wonderful new look to the parlor).
18. Mayor’s office re disposition of WPA artist project of murals at Kuss Middle School.
19. Viewing the grounds at Vassar in Poughkeepsie where Grace and Mary Howe attended. (Grace lived in an apt there while Louis lived with the Roosevelts a their huge house).
Lots to do, little time. More later.
Is the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Haunted?
October 24, 2009
The explosion of interest in the paranormal in today’s society has resulted in several “ghost hunting” investigative t.v. shows, cottage industry “entertainment mediums” who proliferate the ‘net with their blogs and websites, bona fide mediums and psychics whose best-sellers help launch their own talk shows, increase manufacture and sales of evp recording devices, increase demand for Ghost Hunter University applicants, and hundreds of bookings at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast. Why is this? Why now at this time, post 9-11 in this new millenium? What is it in our culture, our society, that draws people from all professions, and all religious and educational backgrounds? I don’t know, but I do know that it’s a phenomena which continues to grow as well as those who would capitalize from it. It’s the American way.
The Lizzie Borden house from the north looking south from the space the Churchill house used to occupy. The “side door” is on the lower left.
People like to visit and occupy the same space in a different time where notable historical or notorious solved or unsolved crimes took place. Thus, the Borden house is a magnet to those seeking that experience. They come in droves for the day time tours to hear the tale and see the spots and take pictures and relish in the “I was there” experience.
Lizzie Borden, as I’ve often said, is a one dimensional persona, encapsulated in a inaccurate quatrain forever doomed to be perpetually marketed as wielding a bloody axe upon the noggins of her stepmother and father one sticky-sweaty day in early August 1892. But she is so much more than that and the story of Lizzie Andrew Borden and Fall River are so much more than that. 92 Second Street draws scholars to the case – flocking as if to Mecca to soak up the richness of the environment, impervious to the tales of the premises being haunted. They register disdain about ghostly apparitions and things that go bump in the night. “Bah! Humbug!” they say and they say it with every confidence that they shall enjoy another quiet, undisturbed slumber through the night. And they do. Repeatedly. Every visit. No paranormal activity whatsoever. For years.
So then, if we look for it will it be there? Or is it there to be felt, seen and heard by some but not by others? Well, I can tell you my experiences as one who was first inside 92 Second Street in 1977 and spoke with then owner, John McGinn, nothing was said about any paranormal activity. And I’ve stayed overnight at the B&B since 1998, often having the entire house all to myself – no one – no one but me inside. In all those years, in all those stays, I’ve only had 3 experiences, and one doesn’t really count. I’ll tell you briefly about them:
#1. November 3, 1999 – Martha McGinn gave me a key to come and go as I was the only guest and would be the only one inside the house that night. I went down to the cellar with a few clothes to wash and suddenly I saw it! Holy Pshaw!! ANDREW BORDEN LAID OUT IN HIS COFFIN AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS!!! My heart leaped. For a nano second. It was only Martha’s prop from her Halloween party a few nights previous. But damn, did that look real.
#2. August 4, 2006. The B&B was filled with paranormal investigators, psychics, mediums, ghost-writing authors, etc., all talking about this new entity in the house. I listened with the ear and mind of a skeptic. “If you want it, it will come.” Exhausted from the day and night’s activities, I went to lay on a cot down in the cellar, away from it all. Everyone was upstairs. I was alone. I lay on my side and in a few moments felt 3 fingers slide down my back. Distinctively 3 fingers. 
Medium Liz Nowicki – Boston Herald photo
Not a spider, not cobwebs, but fingers. I leaped up and yelled: “Who’s there?”. For the first time EVER, I was scared and I bolted upstairs and outside to smoke a cigarette with a shaking hand. Relating what I had just experienced, I was told that it was a new, hostile entity that came thru a portal from all the seances conducted in the house. Oh fine, thought I….after all these years now I gotta think twice about this house being active. Me. Senior Skeptic #1. (For more about this experience click this link to the podcast. It was like I was paranormically divirginized. I could never view or feel the same about 92 Second Street again. I was deflowered. And I didn’t like it.
#3. September 29, 2007. Ghost Hunter’s University booked the whole house. In addition, a number of psychics and mediums were in attendance. Donald Woods and I sat in on a seance conducted by local medium “Liz”. Liz is a very sweet and attractive lady who can “read” people and sense “things”. She regularly conducts seances for guests who want them at the B&B. Never having sat in on any seance and quite frankly believed them to be faked, I thought I would check this out. Read about her HERE.
About 16-20 people in the room – 6 seated at a round table. Liz’s back was to the sealed up fireplace. My back was towards the parlor door. I had a clear unobstructed view of all at the table. Without detailing all the questions asked by Liz and the other guests, I’ll just state what happened. The table moved. The table not only moved, it lifted from the carpet, it turned several times 360 degrees, it tilted about 80 degrees, it rocked and rolled. Trickery? Knee-cap momentum? Finger grips? Wires? Well, I’ll tell you this. I bent down several times and looked underneath the table. I walked right up *to* the table and crouched down and observed everyone’s legs, feet, knees, arms and hands. I did this several times. I moved in closer and eye-balled all hands and fingers watching for pressure, grips, slides, whatever. That table moved even when everybody’s hands were completely off the table and their feet were flat on the floor and no body parts came in contact with the table! Conclusion: THE LIZZIE BORDEN HOUSE IS ACTIVE. Does that mean it’s haunted? Well, for some, things do go Boo! and Bump in the night, but no one’s ever been hurt or morphed into some axe-wielding creature creating bloody bedlam.
Lee-ann Wilber, co-owner, swears there are children in the Knowlton Room on the third floor. She kindly leaves them toys in the trunk. But I highly doubt they are the legendary drowned children of Andrew’s uncle, Ladowick Borden and his deranged wife because those kids were one and two years old and would not have the dexterity to play with the marbles so often heard. But there’s something. There’s definitely something. And prior to two months ago I would have still been saying “Bah! Humbug!”
So as we approach another Halloween – an almost sacred night for those entrenched in the occult, and for those psychics, mediums, and ghost-chasers whose antennae are at peak performance every October 31st, let all who read here that I, Faye Musselman, being of sound and skeptic mind, do hereby testify that 92 Second Street is “active” with unknown spirits and paranormal activity.
But is it haunted per se? That doorway to my mind is yet to be opened.
Bobbi Barth’s “Lizzie Borden House”
September 30, 2009
Bobbi Barth of Colorado Springs, Colorado is an avid Lizzie collector and Borden case enthusiast who visited the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast only one time in April of 2007. That same spring she constructed an extraordinary model of 92 Second St. She kept expanding on it, adding trees, carriages, little people and so forth. It is remarkable in it’s accuracy. One outstanding job, Bobbie!
Keep in mind this is what the house looks like today.
I know of another person who is having a model made and will be taking it to Fall River for viewing.
Early Visits to Fall River
September 8, 2009
Before it was the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum, the house at 92 Second Street was the home of John and Josephine McGinn. The history of the owners and occupants of the property can be found HERE.
Following are some photos of my early visits beginning in 1977. Click on images for larger views.
Above views are looking south up Second Street with the old bus station on the west side of the street. I used to conduct taped interviews of the old timers waiting for the bus and still listen occasionally to their remembrances of the old neighborhood.
The “House” always had gawkers but few ever allowed inside. Note the wrap-around Leary Press where the barn was once located.
“Today” means the early 1980’s.
Note I received from John McGinn with their “new” postcard.
The Kelly’s wouldn’t recognize the place.
Thank you note from Josephine McGinn referencing the loss of her son, and mentioning her grandaughter, Martha, who subsequently was a co-inheritor of the property.
Top view is looking South. The bells have since moved to the east side of City Hall. The bottom view is looking north and City Hall is seen in the center background.
“Maplecroft” early 1980’s. Similar images – one taken in the Fall and the other in the Winter.
Lizzie Borden B&B Secures Trademark!
August 23, 2009
Here’s an excellent post with very accurate content regarding the Lizzie Borden Trademark. Click HERE.
UPDATE: Click HERE re Stefani Koorey’s B.S.
Rats! I’ve been busted again on the LB Forum (aka “smitty”) as I just tried to log in. Oh well. That makes about 20 different user names I’ve joined with. Fun and games in Lizziedom. But I am not the “smitty” who posts on the FRHN online edition. Really. I’m not. 
YESTERDAY’S BOSTON GLOBE CARRIED THIS STORY AS WELL. - CLICK HERE
There was quite a response from Fall River locals to FRHN (online edition) yesterday. Here is a cut & paste sampling of what they think. Note that there’s a general animosity to the whole Lizzie Borden thing by these posters. I also contributed as “phaye”. But I am NOT “smitty”. LOL:
This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard come out of the patent office in a long time. How do you copyright someone’s name, that you had nothing to do with owning, ever. Just because you own the house where the murders took place, to me, doesn’t seem like a legitimate reason to block everyone else from using it. The name should be, and is as far as I am concerned, in the public domain.
The patent office lately continues to confound me.
Herald News how could tonight’s mayoral debate not be front page news? Don’t you think you have a responsibility to your readers to keep them aware of public interest issues and events? Someone dropped the ball! I hope there will be a recap in tomorrows edition.
It’s the merchandising rights associated with the name – not the name itself.
They shouldnt be able to do this. This is some one protecting a monopoly. They just got broadwalk and park place and have a hotel on each one. So if my last name is borden and I want to name my kid Elizabeth , would that be a problem? Better yet how about if I mispell the name lizzy or use a relative name of lizzy bordens? Would I be breaking any laws.
BTW, what gives someone the right to proclaim ‘copyright infringement’ to a another person’s WORD transcription of their own hard copy of the Borden Preliminary Hearing just because they did it too (in expanded form, I might add)? An yet, that person did just that. Thinking they have a copyright against any all past and future transcriptions. B.S. They ‘own’ what they did and another person owns the work ‘they’ did. In short, it’s not the exact same coffee mug. 
Phaye, The USPTO can give out a trademark for whatever it wishes. They just care if someone else has trademarked it. But, if they go after the wrong person, i.e. someone who has been making Lizzie Borden Mugs for years, they will lose the case for sure. I would wager one further, that you cannot copyright something that has been in the public domain for so long. Certainly not unilaterally.
As to your BTW question. If two people were to transcribe the same public document, you cannot copyright that. You cannot copyright facts period. However, if that said person were to have stolen the copy from another person, and started selling it as their own copywritten work. Then you have a different issue. You would be violating the copyright of the person who owns the copyright to the transcription.
Yes, you CAN copyright your own transcription of a first, second, third, whatever copy of an original historic legal document (public domain), package it and sell it. I’ve done it. And I have the official copyright document from the US Copyright office (I can email you an image if you like). What you can NOT do it take the transcription work of another from the same or subsequent generation of the original, package it and claim it as your own work. i could transcribe the Declaration of Independence from a copy on the internet, embellish it with graphic design, put it on a CD and sell it on eBay. I could copyright that CD. But if I did a literal cut and paste of that Declaration of Independence from the internet, that would be another story. The difference would be I created my OWN WORK…and that work is not exclusively confined to the text of the original document itself. It’s the package and the content therein. That’s what constitutes the intellectual property.
So what have you copied and embellished on and copywritten? What particular additions did you make that made it ‘yours?’
It’s all right here Lefty. And Look!! I don’t even charge for it anymore. It’s free. Read this blog post and get the full story.
FRONT PAGE FALL RIVER HERALD NEWS: CLICK HERE.
Donald Woods & Lee-ann Wilber chat with “in character” visitor in the B&B gift shop on August 4, 2008.
Yipee!! It’s been done. Donald Woods, co-owner of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast told me a couple months ago this was coming and I’m thrilled to have just learned it’s official in the Fall River Herald News which can be read HERE.
Just as Lizzie herself knew the importance and social cache of the Borden name in Fall River, Donald Woods and Lee-ann Wilber know the importance and “cash” of the “Lizzie Borden” name when it comes to merchandising. If you own and run a business you protect your interests and maximize on opportunities to increase revenue. It’s the American Business Way.
New strategies often require attention and action in this internet age of eBay and other auction sites, Cafe Press, Itsy, etc. etc. where clever - if not always high quality - Lizzie related items are created, it’s a wise move to trademark the name as it relates to merchandising. As Mr. Woods indicated, merchandisers could still have the option to sell through the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum.
Donald Woods is a man of his word. Every thing he has said in the public media that he intended to do with the property he has done. The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum continues to be a first rate operation under the daily care of GM Lee-ann Wilber, gift shop manager Dee Moniz, and all the rest of her staff. And with the “Lizzie Borden” merchandising name trademark held by the owners we will most likely be seeing even more interesting souveniers and collectibles in the gift shop.
Way to go, Donald!
Lizzie Borden August 4th Re-enactments…
August 5, 2009
…just get better and better each year thanks to Shelley Dziedzic and the Pear Essential Players, a group of Lizzie Borden enthusiasts who volunteer to costume themselves and portray characters from this most compelling mystery. The above cast and their characters included:
Lizzie: Lorraine Gregoire; Bridget Sullivan: Kristin Pepe; Emma Borden: Barbara Morrissy; Mrs. Churchill: JoAnn Giovino; Andrew Borden, Jeff Masson; Abby Borden: Shelley Dziedzic; Uncle John : Joe Razda; Officer Medley: Ben Rose; Alice Russell: Susan Hauck; Dr. Dolan: Ted Gregoire; Little Mary Doolan: Miss Kathryn Woods; Mrs Bowen: Ellen Borden
Here’s the newest YouTube video showing what transpired yesterday at 92 Second Street, the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast.
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.
The Fall River Tragedy – Rare Book FREE Online
May 26, 2009
The first book to be published on the Lizzie Borden case was right after her Trial in 1893 by Edwin Porter, a reporter for the Fall River Globe and a chum of some of the police officers who provided some inside information.
The first edition, the original, is not easily found and when it does appear, such as on eBay, usually sells for $300 or more. Some antique book dealers list it as high as $2,000. The book itself is really not all that rare. I addressed this issue in detail in a previous blog which can be found by clicking HERE.
Lizzie’s lawyer, Andrew Jennings, on behalf of the Borden sisters and John Morse, threatened Porter and the publisher with legal action if any pictures of “the family” appeared. Well, pictures of the “dead family” appeared and no suit followed.
When the book was first published, it was sold on subscription, and one of the “Lizzie Legends” is that Lizzie bought out the printer and had the copies burned. Not true. A goodly number were purchased – and to some Fall River notables at that. The one found AT THIS SITE was owned by Charlotte Brayton and she donated it to the Harvard Library. The Braytons were one of the prominent founding families of Fall River.
By clicking to advance the pages , you will immediately see the handwritten inscription on the inside cover: “Israel Brayton”. This particular Israel Brayton* was born in 1874 and died in 1961. He married Ethel Moison Chace (1880-1960), and they had three children, including Charlotte Brayton (1913 to 1994). Charlotte never married. For whatever reasons, Charlotte preferred to donate her father’s copy of The Fall River Tragedy to Harvard rather than the Fall River Historical Society. Lucky thing for us she did.
The book is rich in photos of key players not found in other books and includes the old “Ferry Street” homestead, the house Andrew deeded to the girls over the Whitehead fiasco. Well, that house was practically a prototype of the home he purchased in 1872 at 92 Second Street. Greek revival, two-family home. Andrew was worth a small fortune by 1872 but he didn’t exactly move “up”. Anyway, here’s a picture of both houses:
Virtually, the same house. Two stories and an attic built for 2 families with identical floor plans on the first and second floors. Lizzie was 12 when they moved and she could not have been too impressed. The only difference was after a short while they had “the whole house”. So that was different.
Thanks to the Harvard Library, and thanks to Charlotte Brayton, you can now READ, AND PRINT OUT THE ENTIRE BOOK FOR FREE – AND AS IT WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED. NO WORD DOCUMENT HERE. HERE YOU CAN ENJOY IT JUST AS IT WAS LAID OUT – NOT RETYPED IN WORD FORMAT AND UPLOADED TO A FORUM SITE WITHOUT ANY IMAGES. HERE YOU GET THE REAL DEAL. ENJOY! IT’S FREE!
CLICK HERE —> FALL RIVER TRAGEDY
*Source: The Braytons of Somerset and Fall River by Roswell Brayton, page 34. (Note: Charlotte is pictured with several generations of Braytons in this book; also pictured are her father and mother.)
What Pushed Lizzie Over the Edge?
March 12, 2009
Most scholars on the Lizzie Borden case believe she was guilty and that money was the motive. But why were the murders done in broad daylight on the very next morning after a visit from John Morse?
District Attorney Hosea Knowlton was quoted after the Trial as saying if he knew what Andrew Borden and John Morse (uncle to Lizzie and Emma) discussed the afternoon before the murders (August 3, 1892) he “would have convicted somebody.” We have Lizzie herself (in her Inquest Testimony) saying she stayed in her room all day that Wednesday because she wasn’t feeling well, and that the voices of her father and uncle “disturbed” her.
The curving staircase in the front hall affords one the ability to linger part way down and not be observed while listening to a conversation in the Sitting Room.
If we assume Lizzie guilty and that money was the motive, the following exchange extracted from an old screenplay I wrote could have occurred which Lizzie, indeed, would have found extremely “disturbing”.
(Morse has shown up unexpectedly that afternoon, and after eating in the dining room, he and Andrew and Abby go into the Sitting Room and engage in conversation. Lizzie is upstairs in her bedroom.)
MORSE reaches over to a small table and picks up a newspaper.
MORSE
I see in here where Carnegie is selling his yacht. Might be a good
purchase for you, Andrew.
ANDREW
(grinning)
Ha! What would I do with such a thing?
MORSE
I got your letter of the 25th, Andrew, about wanting to talk to me on getting a man for the farm.
ABBY
I’ll be going upstairs and lay down a while. This heat has wore me down. And that stomach sickness we told you about. I’m just a little poorly.
Abby gets up and leaves the sitting room through the door to the dining room. Andrew watches Abby leave and waits until Abby is out of hearing distance.
ANDREW
I didn’t want you making arrangements on a man for the farm at Swansea until I talked to you.
MORSE
That’s what you wrote.
ANDREW
You know, John, I’ve been thinking about making a Will. When I’m gone Abby is never going to be able to live under the same roof with Lizzie and Emma. Things have gotten worse than when you were here two weeks ago. Emma took off to Fairhaven, staying over at old Moses Delano’s place. Lizzie went with her, far as New Bedford, but
came back early.
MORSE
Haven’t seen Lizzie last few times here. How is she?
ANDREW
Sulks in her room all day. They can’t live together those three. And I won’t be around forever to keep things together.
MORSE
Never have taken to Abby, have they? Maybe they should have separate houses. How ‘bout Swansea?
ANDREW
No, I won’t be going over there until things get settled here. Time’s not right. Too much trouble right now.
MORSE
I meant how about giving the girls the Swansea place in your Will.
ANDREW
I’ll not leave them any property. Abby will get this house and my property. She wants to live near her sister anyways. The Swansea place - well I’ve been thinking of maybe donating it the Old Folks Home. As for the girls, I’ve settled on $25,000 each. They can both buy their own house with that and manage to live comfortably.
CUT TO:
Lizzie on the staircase, leaning over and listening. She has heard every word. She blanches. She is deeply shaken by what she has just heard.
CLOSE ON LIZZIE
MORSE’S VOICE
(registers surprise)
But no property Andrew?
ANDREW’S VOICE
They can’t manage property. Made a mess on the rentals of the Ferry Street homestead. And I took a big loss on it when I bought it back of them just two weeks ago. You know that, you were here then. Remember the fuss? No, they can’t be trusted with property. They haven’t got the heads for it.
MORSE’S VOICE
And Abby does?
ANDREW’S VOICE
Not much more. But of the three, she’s the more deserving. Besides, she’s my wife. I need the Will to make sure she gets her due. Fact is, I’ll most likely have one drawn up in a day or two.
ANGLE ON Lizzie, almost tottering on the staircase, grips her hand around the railing.
CUT TO:
SITTING ROOM
MORSE
Andrew, don’t you figure this a bit unfair? These are Sarah’s daughters. And your own flesh and blood as well. Seems with the money you have the girls should get a better share. I’m only suggesting, mind you.
ANDREW
(adamant)
It’s my money.
MORSE
True. Your money. Your daughters.
CUT TO:
LIZZIE ON STAIRCASE:
ANDREW’S VOICE
(raising his voice)
MY money! Mine! To do with as I see fit!
CUT TO:
MORSE
(raises voice)
You expect them to be happy with that?
ANDREW
I expect them to be grateful for whatever I choose to give them. They’ve gotten plenty from me. Plenty. There’s trouble in the house over my money and I aim to set it out, plain and solid, in a Will.
MORSE
I’ve known you a long time, Andrew. I know when to end an argument with you.
(Morse rises from the chair.)
MORSE
(friendly)
I better see about getting a rig and drive over to the farm. Expect I’ll be back before nine. I’ll get your eggs. Probably take supper at Luther’s.
CUT TO:
INT. LIZZIE’S BEDROOM
Lizzie is pacing in her room, then sits at her desk and takes a piece of stationery and begins writing “Dear Emma”. We don’t see what else she writes, but in a few moments she crumbles up the paper and throws it in her wastebasket. She is extremely distraught. Emotionally on edge. Almost out of control, but not quite. Something inside her steels her nerves.
LIZZIE
(quietly to herself)
Alice. I’ll go talk to Alice.
FADE OUT.
*****************
So if Lizzie *did* hear such a conversation and feared her father would write a Will favoring Abby – and that he was going to do it in the next day or two – she would have to act immediately. But the good and evil forces were at bay within her. Her forebodings of “something terrible will happen” to Alice Russell was clearly a cry for help while also setting the stage.
The next morning on August 4, 1892, at the very first opportunity Lizzie had to be alone with Abby, she killed her. An hour and a half later, at the very first opportunity Lizzie had to be alone with her father, she killed him.
Never so much a “who dunnit” as a “how dunnit” to me, the real mystery is what happened to the murder weapon and how could Lizzie be seen within 10 minutes of her father’s murder and no blood found upon her person?
“It was a terrible crime. It was an impossible crime. And yet it happened.” -Hosea Knowlton, 1893.
On the Trail of Lizzie Borden – by Charles Reis, Jr.
February 17, 2009
Countless guests video tape their stay at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast and often times put them up on YouTube.com. Some are more entertaining and informative than others. Charles Reis, Jr. has done a very good job with this 4-part presentation of his January 30, 2009 visit.
Random Shots of Fall River
February 16, 2009
Here’s some shots I just picked at random from my different digital albums of Lizzie Borden’s home town – Fall River. Also some of nearby locales. Enjoy.
Mary Borden Hartley rests near her father, Cook Borden – the mother and grandfather of Grace Hartley Howe.
The beautiful church seats at The Narrows, 45 Anawan Street.
Staircase at The Narrows – imagine the millions of steps up and down by the factory workers, holding the railing, descending after a 14 hour day.
Central Congregational Church
Academy Building Courtyard fronting on Second Street
Sitting Room closet shows bounded Trial transcript. and my “Journey to Maplecroft” game on second shelf.
Rear view of the “Kelley house”, directly south of 92 Second.
The “Henry House”
Kennedy Park
Main Library, post renovation.
Sitting at the bench, New Bedford Superior Court
Oldest house in Fall River
One of the few remaining “grand” carriage houses
Lafayette-Durfee House
From the corner of the grand old carriage house looking at the former Sarah Brayton house.
Seashells at the sea shore.
Center courtyard off the kitchen at Central Congregational
You can’t stand here and get this shot anymore.
Refrigerator at Lizzie Borden B&B.
Home for the Aged – rear view.
Views from Swansea, across the street from Marconi’s
Bet you’ve never seen this shot before.
David Rehak book, Did Lizzie Axe for It? has first time published portrait of Andrew Borden seen above.
Center Street as seen through window of New Bedford Whaling Museum
Old Gardner cemetery in Swansea
Newport
The Amish Lizzie film – “Bordenia”
January 28, 2009
Look! There goes Dr. Bowen rushing down Second Street in front of the Borden house!
A more contemporary (2004) photo of 92 Second Street shows the now demolished Leary Press attached.
This photograph, used as evidence in the 1893 Borden trial, shows the House as it appeared at the time of the murders. (Note no “Leary Press”)
So what’s the point of this you may ask? Well, Cameron Munson is filming his Bordenia and this is the house he selected in Amish Country to depict the Borden homestead. Carson Grant, who wrote the “Bordenia” article, studied under Lee Strasberg (but then, hasn’t everybody?) and stars as Andrew Borden. He writes:
“The house we are shooting the murder scenes has a similar design to the original Borden’s home.”
Wrong. See above. Gadzookskies. There’s a million Greek-Rivival homes still standing all across the country and this is as close as they could get? I have more to say on this score but first in the “here we go again” department, Grant writes:
“The clopping of the horse hooves on the cold winter pavement outside my Rt. 340 Bed and Breakfast room this 5 am morning, offers a gentle awaking to a full day of shooting on “Bordenia” directed and written by Cameron Munson. A retelling of an American legend, the Fall River story of the Borden family, and Lizzie Borden’s part she played in the ax murders of her father and stepmother.”
There it is. The perennially inaccurate reference to the murder weapon being an axe. Arrrggghhhh. May I say it again? Thank you. Arrrrgggghhhh.
So back to the filming location – and this one deserves a smirky chuckle:
“Our film location, Intercourse, Pennsylvania offers a quiet Lancaster township, off-season to the warm weather tourists who flock here to enjoy the pastoral surrounding of Amish farming, dining, crafts and culture. Quilting, needlepoint, wood furniture making, tin, metal and pottery wares are some of the handwork one will find on a stroll along the main street markets and restaurants.”
Intercourse, Pennsylvania. A wonderful B&B in Intercourse. Hello. Fall River has a wonderful little B&B. It’s called THE LIZZIE BORDEN BED & BREAKFAST. Again. See above.
I’m sure they contacted the owners, Donald Woods & Lee-ann Wilber who actually welcome documentary and theatrical filming in and on the premises. But for whatever reasons – and whether they contacted the owners or not - they chose to film the ” Borden House” in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.
Intercourse. That’s phucked up, dude. Then again, maybe Amish is to Quakers as Pennsylvania is to Massachusetts. Hmmm. Don’t think so.
Well, let’s keep our eyes and ears open to the film festival circuit and maybe we’ll see Dr. Bowen racing down “second street” after all. (nyuck, nyuck).
CASE SETTLED! Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast/Museum vs. Salem’s “True Story” of Lizzie Borden Exhibit
October 7, 2008
For those who have been following the litigation between Donald Woods, co-owner of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast/Museum in Fall River, MA, and Leonard Pickel, operator of the recently opened “True Story of Lizzie Borden” exhibit in Salem, MA, – the case is expected to be settled out of court today. This result was what a few of us knew would be the probable outcome.
However, this AP first reporting was actually premature as the ink has not yet been applied to the Agreement papers as of noon Eastern time. Mr. Pickel, no doubt in his excited relief, rushed to speak to the AP Reporter. You can read the AP’s first and premature reporting of the settlement HERE.
At issue was Mr. Pickel’s use of the word “museum” in both his website URL and contact email address wherein Mr. Woods claimed copyright to the word when attached to “Lizzie Borden” as that was cause for confusion and adversarial to his (Woods) business.
For the next several days there will be the usual flurry of newspaper and t.v. reporting following up on the AP wire story. All of which is good for both businesses. We wish them well.
And – unrelated to the case but for anyone interested, this next article associates Sarah Palin with Lizzie Borden. Read it HERE.
Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast/Museum & “The Jennings Hatch”
September 22, 2008
The “Lizzie Borden House” or “Charles Trafton House” was built in 1845. Fire prevention methods in almost all homes at that time was practically non-existant. There were virtually no escape routes save for the one, common-use stairway to many of the 2, 3, and 4 story homes built in that era.
When 92 Second Street (formerly 230) was made into a Bed & Breakfast in 1996 and opened up to the public for the first time, it was brought up to fire code for B&B buildings.
Kenneth Champlin in front of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast/Museum
Besides the usual sprinklers in the ceiling, the B&B has a number of fire extinquishers on hand, pull down alarms directly to the Fire Department and an escape hatch on the third, or attic, floor. Guests on the second floor have access to both front and rear staircases. Guests on the third floor, if unable to use the only staircase – the rear staircase – have this escape hatch.
In the Andrew Jennings bedroom, the escape hatch is directly over the front bathroom of the second floor. The ladder placed inside can be easily thrust downwards against the lightweight covering providing a quick and easy escape to the second floor and only a few feet from the front staircase or easy access to the rear staircase.
Guests explore all the nooks and crannies of their rooms and often The House itself and take note of this emergency evacuation.
Speaking of houses, below is the so called “Brownell” house on Green Street in Fairhaven, MA. This is the house where Lizzie’s sister, Emma Borden, was staying on August 4, 1892. t has been literally “skinned” of its previous excessive debris.
For a comparison of what it used to look like, CLICK HERE. Gone is the abandoned vehicle, dense over-growth, and the knee-high debris inside, though it still remains unsecured and empty. This house was recently sold and a “Building Permit” is posted in one of the front windows. Like an elderly woman with a festering cancer undergoing kemotherapy, she has lost all her hair. Her skin is potmarked, bruised, discolored but she lives on….battered, weakened, awaiting the inevitable. Question is: Will it be demolished and cleared for new construction or will the new owners bite the bullet for expensive infrastructure upgrades?
By contrast, the Fall River Historical Society’s curator is giving his house a cosmetic overhaul as shown below.
On Rock Street, only a few blocks from both “Maplecroft” and the FRHS.
All of the above photos were taken less than a month ago.
ADD ON: Fall River Trip Hi-Lites – Coming Soon-
September 1, 2008
Looking over my Salem pics, including the Leonard Pickel Lizzie exhibit, I think perhaps this one is the closest to a “Wow” factor. It’s a replica of the Andrew J. Borden burial plot at Oak Grove Cemetery and it’s pretty well done.
The dark mirrored background reflects on one of the last text “story boards”as seen on the right side. This gives the URL and phone number of the B&B in Fall River. Pickel had stated to the press he would have a computer where visitors could go to the B&B site and make reservations. But he must have changed his mind, because there isn’t one….that would be “interactive”. Note the one other visitor who was there the entire time I was.
Preliminary comments on Salem Lizzie exhibit: In two words – it’s Ho Hum. Far too text-heavy in the storyboarding style display – tho neatly done. Makes you feel like you’re reading a book – or could have skipped the exhibit and done just that. Nothing new except a 3-dimentional paper mock up of the Borden house and immediate neighbors – most out of proportion. Exhibit has no “Wow” factor, and contrary to what Leonard Pickel has been saying, there IS NO INTERACTIVE FORENSICS. THERE IS NO AUDIO, NO VIDEO, NO INTERACTIVE COMPONENTS WHATSOEVER. ONE JUST READS AND READS AND READS. TIRESOME. THERE IS NOT ONE SINGLE IMAGE THAT YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IN BOOKS OR ON THE MULTITUDES OF INTERNET WEBSITES ON LIZZIE BORDEN. NOTHING NEW – JUST A STRAIGHTFORWARD TELLING OF THE STORY. IT CERTAINLY IS NO MUSEUM BY ANY DEFINITION.
PEOPLE WITH DISCRETIONARY DOLLARS WILL OPT FOR THE WITCHCRAFT EXHIBIT NEXT DOOR – WHICH IS WHY THEY VISIT THAT AREA OF SALEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. It is well organized and he does plug the Lizzie Borden B&B at the very end.
I WILL GIVE MORE COMMENTS WHEN I PRESENT A STEP BY STEP TOUR THRU THE ENTIRE EXHIBIT WHERE YOU WILL SEE EVERY SINGLE THING THAT IS IN THERE AS I PHOTOGRAPHED EVERYTHING. THEN YOU CAN DECIDE IF THE ALMOST LAUGHABLE RE-CREATIONS OF THE COURT ROOM, “COMBINED” MURDER SCENES, ET. AL., ARE CHEESY OR “TRUE”.
*************************
I’ve been in Fall River at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast but this is just A QUICK CHECK IN. This 4th trip so far this year has been action and travel packed. I’ll have plenty to report about:
THE FIVE HOUSES OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
WSAR RADIO INTERVIEW FEEDBACK
FORGOTTEN QUAKER’S CEMETERY
LIZZIE EXHIBIT IN SALEM
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY IN THE HOUSE
SERENDIPITY OF MEETING ARTIST JOYCE TENNEY AT THE B&B
VISIT WITH BOB DUBE’, OWNER OF MAPLECROFT
CARR-OSBORNE HOUSE AND THE BROTHERS KARAM
THE *OTHER* AUGUST 4TH STORY (TSK, TSK SK)
THE BEACH NEXT TO FORT TABOR
ST. ANNE’S CHURCH BASEMENT SHRINES – A HIDDEN TOURIST ATTRACTION
SWANSEA AND MEETING GARDNER DESCENDENTS
THE DUNKIN DONUTS MURDER MYSTERY
UPDATE ON THE LAST GASPS OF THE BROWNELL HOUSE –
(YES! I TRESPASSED AGAIN!)
JFK LIBRARY LITERAL BUMP-IN WITH CAROLINE KENNEDY SCHLOSBERG
FALL RIVER’S CORNY BLAH BLAH COLONY RAILROAD EXHIBIT
“ALONE” PAINTING FOUND AT ANTIQUE MALL
WHY FALL RIVER’S MOTTO: “WE TRY” SHOULD BE:
“WE TRY BUT JUST NEVER GET IT RIGHT”
AND SOME GREAT NEW STAFF & TOUR GUIDES/HOUSE MANAGERS AT THE B&B.
But it’ll have to wait until I get home next weekend.
Lizzie Borden Mini Movie
August 19, 2008
From YouTube comes this really clever and original video on the Lizzie Borden story uploaded about 2 weeks ago.
From the Fall River Herald News here is a video extract of the re-enactment tours given at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast on the 116th Anniversary of the crimes, August 4, 2008.
NEWS FLASH: LEONARD PICKEL, WHO IS TRYING TO OPEN A LIZZIE BORDEN MUSEUM IN SALEM, WROTE A LENGTHY AND RATHER WHINEY “COMMENT” TODAY, AUGUST 3RD, TO MY BLOG ENTRY OF JULY 31ST – WHICH I AM POSTING HERE IN FULL. THERE ARE MANY INACCURACIES IN THE SECOND HALF OF HIS DIATRIBE AND I WILL ADDRESS THEM SHORTLY. MR. PICKEL’S “OPEN LETTER” MOST LIKELY WAS IN RESPONSE TO THIS ARTICLE IN TODAY’S FALL RIVER HERALD NEWS.
“Leonard Pickel
http://www.lizziebordenmuseum.com | lizziebordenmuseum@gmail.com | 70.22.220.232
I find it interesting that a museum, which has not opened to the public as of yet, (we are working hard on that people, trust me!), has been dragged through the mud as much as The True Story of Lizzie Borden has.
“Home Haunter?” Do you even know what that means? I have built Attractions for Universal Studios, Madison Square Garden and 6 Flags Parks across the country. I have over 30 years in attraction design, own and edit the industry magazine, and own a convention. I am no hack!
Why don’t you at least wait for reviews of people who have been through the museum, or perhaps even tour the museum yourself, before casting disparaging criticism on the level of experience quality, amount of preparedness or fact checking.
I contacted the FRHS many years ago about getting photos, and they assured me there would be no problem. Then when I was ready to purchase them, everything was different. They have been trying to put together a quorum to even have a meeting for 2 months now. We will be open before they decide if they are willing to assist us in developing the museum content.
I had all the most of the photos I needed already, what I was looking for was photos with the best resolution available. I just spent $15,000 enlarging photos for the museum, most of which have never been enlarged, or enhanced. Very exciting!
While a Lizzie Borden attraction has been in my thought since 1992, I did not have the funding and the right location at the same time until January of this year. I am a busy guy and was not willing to devote the time to fully develop this back burner project until it was real! By then time was short.
We are behind on opening because of building permit, construction, and contractor delays, and may not be able to open on Monday due to a Fire Alarm panel programming issue. But I am sure we will be open by the end of the week. Then I worry about the web site!!
Will we be where we want to end up when we open? No. A museum as a constant work in process. We will be critiqued and fact checked by every person walking through the attraction, and we will make changes and corrections to the museum content as we go. Add better photos as they become available, and nuances as we or others thing of them.
We are in this for the long run! Taking our time now to get it right is what is important.
As for the lawsuit rumor, there are some people who think they own Lizzie! And that no one is allowed to do anything with her without their permission, which they do not give anyone. Maplecroft tried to open a B&B at one time, and those plans were squashed by the self appointed owners of Lizzie. Too bad, I would have loved to spend the night at Maplecroft, wouldn’t you!
So now they think they own the idea of a Lizzie Borden Museum, and no one can open one because they own it! They own Lizzie Borden!!
Sorry… I thought we were free in America, that pursuit of happiness thing, and monopolies were against the law.
The other thing that is against the law is slander! And when you announce a lawsuit in the newspaper, you had better stop wining and moaning and file the thing! All I have gotten so far are angry temper tantrum emails from some attorney, demanding that we take “Museum” off the logo and signage, demanding that we give them our URL, demanding that we take “Lizzie Borden” off of our logo and signage! Because they own Lizzie!
So either file your lawsuit or shut the hell up!
The sad part is that The True Story of Lizzie Borden is the best thing that ever happen to the B&B and the FRHS. There are 600,000 tourists that come to Salem each year. And most of them have no idea where Fall River is, or that Lizzie Borden lived there. Only an hour and a half south, we will drive more people to Fall River than the Fall River Tourism Board (if there even is such a thing), could ever dream of doing!
Our plan was to have an internet terminal, so people could find out the hours of the FRHS or rent a room at the B&B while in the museum.
But why would we do that if they are going to be ugly about the whole thing. If they don’t want the exposure, we can always tell people that, the Murder House is still a print shop, that the FRHS’s Borden exhibit is about the size of our men’s room, and that Fall River is in Rhode Island!
From Lizzie’s A-Twitter Be it Salem or Fall River!, 2008/08/03 at 7:17 AM”
******************************************************************
And now, an updated Timeline for August 3rd and 4th, 1892.
| August 3, 1892 |
THE DAY BEFORE THE MURDERS | ||||
| 8:00 am | Abby goes across street to Dr. Bowen; tells him she fears she’s been poisoned. | ||||
| 9:00 am approx | Dr. Bowen crosses street to check on the Bordens; Lizzie dashes upstairs; Andrew rebuffs his unsolicited visit. | ||||
| 10:00-11:30 am | Lizzie attempts to buy prussic acid from Eli Bence at Smith’s pharmacy on Columbia Street. (PH310) | ||||
| 12:00 Noon | Lizzie joins Andrew and Abby for the noontime meal in the dining room. | ||||
| 12:35 am | Uncle John Vinnicum Morse leaves by train from New Bedford for Fall River. | ||||
| 1:30 pm | John Morse walks from train station & arrives at Borden house; Abby lets him in front door. | ||||
| 2:00-4:00 pm | John Morse and Andrew talk in Sitting Room; Lizzie hears their conversation. (TT141) | ||||
| 4:00 pm | John Morse hires horse and wagon at Kirby’s Stable and drives to Swansea in late afternoon. (CI 99) | ||||
| 7:00 pm | Lizzie visits Alice Russell in the early evening, states her fear “something will happen”. | ||||
| 7:00-8:00 pm | John Morse visits Frederick Eddy at Borden farm in Swansea, brings back eggs. (WS36-37) | ||||
| 8:45 pm | Morse returns from Swansea, talks in sitting room with Andrew and Abby. (CI99) | ||||
| 9:00 pm | Lizzie returns from Alice Russell’s, locks front door, and goes upstairs to her room without speaking to father or uncle. | ||||
| 9:15 pm | Abby Borden retires to bed. | ||||
| 10:00 pm | Andrew and Morse retire to bed. | ||||
| August 4, 1892 | THE DAY OF THE MURDERS
(Note: Times given are based on various testimonies taken primarily from the Preliminary Hearing held August 25th to September 1st, 1892, and are approximated as close as possible). The “window of opportunity” for the murders to take place are indicated in RED.
|
||||
| 6:15 am | Bridget goes downstairs, gets coal and wood in cellar to start fire in kitchen stove, and takes in milk. | ||||
| 6:20 am | Morse goes downstairs to Sitting Room. | ||||
| 6:30 am | Abby comes downstairs, gives orders for breakfast to Bridget | ||||
| 6:40-6:50 am | Andrew goes downstairs, empties slops, picks up pears, and goes to barn. | ||||
| 6:45 am | Bridget opens side (back) door for the ice man. | ||||
| 7:00 am | Bordens and Morse have breakfast in dining room. (Lizzie is still upstairs). | ||||
| 7:15 am | Bridget sees Morse for first time at breakfast table. | ||||
| 7:30 am | Bridget eats her breakfast, and then clears dishes. | ||||
| 7:45-8:45 | Morse and Andrew talk in sitting room; Abby sits with them a short while before beginning to dust. | ||||
| 8:30 am | Morse sees Abby go into the front hall. | ||||
| 8:45 am | Andrew lets Morse out side door, invites him back for dinner. | ||||
| 8:45 am | Morse leaves for Post Office and then to visit a niece and nephew at Daniel Emery’s, #4 Weybosett Street. | ||||
| 8:45-9:00 am | Andrew goes back upstairs and returns wearing collar and tie, goes to sitting room | ||||
| 8:45-9:00 am | Abby tells Bridget to wash windows, inside and out. | ||||
| 8:45-8:50 am | Lizzie comes down and enters kitchen. | ||||
| 8:45-9:00 am | Bridget goes outside to vomit. | ||||
| 9:00 am | Andrew leaves the house. | ||||
| 9:00 am | Bridget returns, does not see Lizzie, sees Abby dusting in dining room, does not see Andrew. | ||||
| 9:00 am | Abby goes up to guest room. | ||||
| 9:00-9:30 am | Bridget cleans away breakfast dishes in kitchen. | ||||
| 9:00-10:00 am | Abby Borden dies from blows to the head with a sharp instrument. | ||||
| 9:30 am | Abraham G. Hart, Treasurer of Union Savings Bank, talks to Andrew at Bank. | ||||
| 9:30-9:40 am | Morse arrives at #4 Weybosset Street to visit his niece and nephew. | ||||
| 9:30 am | Bridget gets brush from cellar for washing windows | ||||
| 9:30 am | Lizzie appears at back door as Bridget goes towards barn; Bridget tells Lizzie she need not lock door. | ||||
| 9:30-10:05 | Andrew visits banks. | ||||
| 9:45 am | John P. Burrill, Cashier, talks to Andrew at National Union Bank. | ||||
| 9:50-10:00 am | AJB deposits Troy Mill check with Everett Cook at First Nat’l Bank; talks with William Carr. (WS29) | ||||
| 9:30-10:20 am | Bridget washes outside windows, stops to talk to “Kelly girl” at south side fence. | ||||
| 10:00-10:30 am | Mrs. Churchill sees Bridget outside washing NE windows. | ||||
| 10:20 am | Bridget re-enters house from side door, commences to wash inside windows. | ||||
| 10:29 am | Jonathan Clegg (fixed time by City Hall clock) stated Andrew left his shop heading home. (TT173) | ||||
| 10:15-10:30 am | Andrew stops to talk to Jonathan Clegg, picks up old lock; Southard Miller (at Whitehead’s Market) sees AJB turn onto Spring St; Mary Gallagher sees AJB at corner of South Main & Spring; Lizzie Gray sees AJB turning north on Second Street.(WS10, 43) | ||||
| 10:30-10:40 am | Joseph Shortsleeves sees Andrew. (WS10) | ||||
| 10:40 am | James Mather sees Andrew leave shop (fixes time by City Hall clock) | ||||
| 10:30-10:40 am | Mrs. Kelly observes Andrew going to his front door. | ||||
| 10:30-10:40 am | Andrew Borden can’t get in side door, fumbles with key at front door, and let in by Bridget. | ||||
| 10:30-10:40 am | Bridget hears Lizzie laugh on the stairs as she says “pshaw” fumbling with inside triple locks. | ||||
| 10:35-10:45 am | Bridget sees Lizzie go into dining room and speak “low” to her father. | ||||
| 10:45 am | Mary Chase, residing over Wade’s store, sees man on Borden fence taking pears. (WS45) | ||||
| 10:45-10:55 am | Lizzie puts ironing board on dining room table as Bridget finishes last window in the dining room | ||||
| 10:45-10:55 am | Lizzie asks Bridget in kitchen if she’s going out, tells her of note to Abby & sale at Sargeant’s. | ||||
| 10:50-10:55 | Mark Chase observes man with open buggy parked just beyond tree in front of Borden house. | ||||
| 10:50-10:55 am | Bridget goes up to her room; lies down on her bed. (WS3) | ||||
| 10:50-11:00 am | Andrew Borden dies from blows to the head with a sharp instrument. | ||||
| 11:00 am | Bridget hears City Hall clock chime 11:00. | ||||
| 11:05-11:10 am | Hyman Lubinsky drives his cart past the Borden house. (TT1423) | ||||
| 11:05-11:10 | William Sullivan, clerk at Hudner’s Market notes Mrs. Churchill leaving the store. (WS10) | ||||
| 11:10 am APPROX. | Lizzie hollers to Bridget to come down, “Someone has killed father”. (TT244) | ||||
| 11:10-11:12 am | Lizzie sends Bridget to get Dr. Bowen. (TT245) | ||||
| 11:10-11:13 am | Bridget rushes back across the street from Bowen’s, tells Lizzie he’s not at home. (TT245) | ||||
| 11:10-11:13 am | Lizzie asks Bridget if she knows where Alice Russell lives and tells her to go get her. (TT245) | ||||
| 11:10-11:13 am | Bridget grabs her hat & shawl from kitchen entry way and rushes to Alice Russell’s. (TT245) | ||||
| 11:10-11:13 am | Mrs. Churchill observes Bridget crossing street, notices a distressed Lizzie and calls out to Lizzie who tells her “someone has murdered father.” (PH281-282) | ||||
| 11:13 am | Mrs. John Gormely says Mrs. Churchill runs through her yelling “Mr. Borden is murdered!” (WS9) | ||||
| 11:10-11:14 am | Mrs. Churchill goes to side door, speaks briefly to Lizzie, and then crosses street looking for a doctor. (PH283) | ||||
| 11:12-11:14 am | John Cunningham sees Mrs. Churchill talking to others then uses phone at Gorman’s paint shop to call Police. | ||||
| 11:15 am | Marshall Hilliard receives call from news dealer Cunningham about disturbance at Borden house. | ||||
| 11:15 am | Marshall Hilliard orders Officer Allen to go to Borden house. (Allen notes exact time on office wall clock). | ||||
| 11:16 – 11:20 am | Mrs. Churchill returns from giving the alarm. (PH284) | ||||
| 11:16 – 11:20 am | Dr. Bowen pulls up in his carriage, met by his wife, rushes over to Borden’s. (PH 273) | ||||
| 11:16-11:20 am | John Cunningham checks outside cellar door in Borden back yard, finds it locked. | ||||
| 11:18-11:20 am | Dr. Bowen sees Andrew, asks for sheet; alone with Lizzie for approx. one minute. | ||||
| 11:20 am | Officer Allen arrives at Bordens, met at door by Dr. Bowen. Sees Lizzie sitting alone at kitchen table. | ||||
| 11:20-11:21 am | Allen sees Andrews’s body at same time Alice Russell and Mrs. Churchill come in. (Where was Bridget?) | ||||
| 11:20-11:22 am | Allen checks front door and notes it bolted from inside, checks closets in dining room and kitchen. | ||||
| 11:20 am | Morse departs Daniel Emery’s on Weybosset Street, takes a streetcar back to the Borden’s. | ||||
| 11-22-11:23 am | Officer Allen leaves house to return to station, Bowen goes out with him. Allen has Sawyer guard back door. | ||||
| 11:23-11:33 am | Dr. Bowen returns home, checks rail timetable, goes to telegram Emma, and stops at Baker’s Drug store. Telegram is time stamped at 11:32. (PH274) | ||||
| 11:25 am | Off. Patrick Doherty, at Bedford & Second, notes City Hall clock time enroute to Station. (T589) | ||||
| 11:23-11:30 am | Lizzie asks to check for Mrs. Borden; Bridget & Mrs. Churchill go upstairs, discover body. (PH29-30) | ||||
| 11:34 am | Bridget fetches Doctor Bowen’s wife, Phoebe. (T250) | ||||
| 11:35 am | George Petty, former resident of 92 Second Street, enters the Borden house with Dr. Bowen. (WS21) | ||||
| 11:40 am | Bowen returns to Borden house. Churchill tells him they’ve discovered Abby upstairs. (TT322) | ||||
| 11:35-11:40 am | Officer Patrick Doherty & Deputy Sheriff Wixon arrive at house; see Manning sitting on steps, met at back door by Dr. Bowen, who lets them in. (T447) | ||||
| 11:35-11:40 am | Francis Wixon and Dr. Bowen check Andrew’s pockets and remove watch. | ||||
| 11:35-11:40 | Officer Doherty questions Lizzie who tells him she heard a “scraping” noise. | ||||
| 11:35-11:40 am | Officer Doherty views Abby’s body with Dr. Bowen, pulls bed out to view her better. (PH330) | ||||
| 11:35-11:45 am | Morse arrives at Borden house, first going to back yard. | ||||
| 11:37 am | Officer Mullaly arrives. | ||||
| 11:39-11:40 am | Officer Medley arrives at 92 Second Street. (T686) | ||||
| 11:44 am | Doherty runs to Undertaker Gorman’s shop around corner and phones Marshall Hilliard. (PH331) | ||||
| 11:45 am | Doherty returns; Officers Mullaly. Allen, Denny, and Medley arrive. | ||||
| 11:45 am | Dr. Dolan arrives, sees bodies. | ||||
| 11:45 am | Morse talks to Sawyer at side door, later testifies he heard of murders from Bridget. | ||||
| 11:45-11:50 am | Morse sees Andrew’s body, then goes upstairs and sees Abby’s body. | ||||
| 11:50 am | Morse speaks to Lizzie as she lays on lounge in dining room. | ||||
| 11:50 am-Noon | Asst. Marshall Fleet arrives; sees bodies; talks to Lizzie in her room w/Rev. Buck, says “…she’s not my mother, she’s my stepmother” (PH354) | ||||
| 11:50 am | Morse goes out to back yard and stays outside most of the afternoon. | ||||
| 11:50 am -Noon | Deputy Sheriff Wixon climbs back fence and talks to workmen sawing wood in Chagnon yard. (TT452) | ||||
| 11:50-Noon | Doherty, Fleet and Medley accompany Bridget to cellar where she shows them hatchet in box on shelf. (WS6) | ||||
| 12:15-12:20 am | Officer Harrington arrives at the Borden house. | ||||
| 12:25 am | Officer Harrington interviews Lizzie in her bedroom (she wears pink wrapper). (WS6) | ||||
| 12:45 am | Marshall Hillliard & Officers Doherty & Connors drive carriage to Andrew’s upper farm in Swansea. | ||||
| 3:00-4:00 pm | Crime scene photographs are taken of Andrew & Abby. (PH160) | ||||
| 3:40 pm | Emma leaves on New Bedford train for Weir Junction to return to Fall River. (CI107) | ||||
| 4:30 pm | Stomachs of Andrew and Abby removed and sealed. | ||||
| 5:00 pm | Emma arrives in Fall River. (TT1550) | ||||
| 5:00-5:30 pm | State Detective George F. Seaver arrives from Taunton. (PH453) | ||||
| 5:30 pm | Dr. Dolan “delivers” bodies of Andrew and Abby to Undertaker James Winward. | ||||
| 5:35 pm | Winward & assistant remove sofa from house and store it in a room at his building. (BG8-5-92) | ||||
| 6:00 pm | Alice leaves 92 Second St. to return home for supper. (CI149) | ||||
| 8:45 pm | Officer Joseph Hyde, observing from a northwest outside window, sees Lizzie & Alice go down cellar. | ||||
| 9:00 pm | Officer Hyde observes Lizzie return to basement alone. |
By 9:30 pm, all was quiet inside 92 Second Street. Morse slept in the room Abby was found killed. Lizzie slept in her room, Emma in her own room, and Alice Russell slept in Andrew & Abby’s room. Bridget slept across the street in the Dr. Bowen/Southern Miller double house with the Miller’s maid. Two Fall River police officers guarded the house from the outside.
Come morning it would be a brand new day with screeching newspaper headlines and a townsfolk aghast, appalled and mystified on how such a thing could happen.
116th Anniversary Weekend of Borden Murders
August 1, 2008
Tour Guide Kathleen describes discovery of the murders to visitors at the Borden house on July 31, 2008. (FRHN video)
How fortuitious that the fatal fourth of August falls on a Monday this year – 116 years later from the 1892 Borden murders that made Lizzie Borden an enduring fascination. This week day date allows for a long preceding weekend for the local media, particularly the Fall River Herald News, to do what it has continuously done from that very day (when it was known as the Fall River Globe), i.e., fill its paper with remembrances of the case and its iconic female enigma, Lizzie Borden. It is The Big Weekend for the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast and the Fall River Historical Society.
Also, more vehicles will pass through the beautiful entrance of Oak Grove Cemetery and follow the arrows painted on the pavement leading to the Borden family plot than any other weekend of the year. And traffic on French Street, already congested with insufficient curbside parking, will be heavily traversed with the “lookie-loos” getting a gander where Lizzie lived the rest of her life – the once stately abode she named “Maplecroft”. Lizzie died in the add-on bedroom over the veranda she had built as seen in this photo.
So it’s no surprise that the papers are full of Lizzie. It’s that time of year. Always has been, and (as long as the case remains one of the great murder mysteries) it always will be. The anniversary draws more tourists to Fall River and thats good business for the City and its tourist attractions. We can also look forward to the annual re-enactments and (don’t hold your breath) the opening of the Salem “Lizzie Borden Museum”. Come Tuesday, August 5, 2008, the local and regional papers will be still be full of Lizzie.
Yep, one long weekend. A virtual Lizzie bonanza for the media looking to increase viewership, radio listeners and on-site visitors! Free publicity all around. Especially for a town long suffering in its economic development that could use an infusion of revenue. No wonder they love her. Go, Fall River! Go!
On Monday, August 4th, I’ll post an updated Timelime of events the day before and the day of the murders.
Monster Quest Does the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast
June 11, 2008
Post Airing Follow-up:
Another paranormal investigation into the “haunted” Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast. I’m sure most viewers out there found it fascinating and there’ll be another spike in bookings from this airing. Not only will it draw more visitors to “the Borden house”, but it serves to ensure its standing for yet another, and another, and another future series episode on spirits, ghosts, and haunted happenings.
It’s not about the Borden murder case – its about the residual paranormal aspect that is “entertainment-worthy” within this genre. So case scholars, experts, purists or just plain enthusiastic case followers will always be disappointed and annoyed by the dismissive manner regarding actual facts of the case. Program producers and directors want to hear from people who have actually had experiences, not people who know the relationship of Lizzie’s second cousin to Franklin Roosevelt, or what role John Morse played in the sequence of events.
I chuckle at the notion of those that are well read scholars on the case who contact program and series producers offering up their services, free or otherwise, to consult on the project as to accuracy of case facts. It’s not about that. It’s about ENTERTAINMENT. In fact, the presentation of not one, but three locations, i.e., Gettysburg, a gas station, and the Lizzie Borden house, going back and forth, is to keep the viewership for the full hour – otherwise, one would only watch the segment they were especially interested in.
They brought up Michael, who lived in the Knowlton Room for a few months having engendered himself to Martha McGinn’s mother, Sally (who worked for Martha as house manager). But Michael died in a fire in Connecticut. Why would his spirit be hanging out at 92 Second Street in Fall River?
I believe there’s SOMETHING ACTIVE in that House. But it’s not Michael. I believe there is SOMETHING otherworldly that manifests itself and has been seen and/or felt by others, myself included – one time and one time only on August 4, 2007. Whether it be moved furniture, a severe and sudden drop in temperature, mist, fingers down the back or across the face, a wisp of wind when there is no wind, children’s laughter when there are no children, a heavy foreboding feeling as if an angry entity were present, or the voice of Andrew himself. There is SOMETHING. And I would not have believed it myself until 2 years ago, when I had my own experience. But it made a believer out of me.
This Monster Quest episode segment also hoped to pick up Lizzie’s voice. So the invesigator asked the question: “Lizzie, who killed your father?”. First of all, Lizzie hated that house and it’s the last place she – under free will – would hang out, dead or alive. Secondly, if she would never admit to stealing two paintings on porcelain in 1897, she sure ain’t gonna cop out to chopping up Andrew and Abby back in 1892. Entertainment T.V. or not!
We purists will just have to wait for the Ken Burns documentary airing on PBS. (sigh)….. Meanwhile, we’ll take these “entertainment” segments any way we get them.
*******Original Post Below*************
You understand TV programming doncha? First you do a spinoff of the hit series, then repackage the content but dress it differently. Then you sell the box DVD’s, re-program or sell to syndicated sister channels, tweak the title within the same genre, re-circulate the same episodes, utilize the same featured players and authorities, then box those DVD sets again, merchandise, syndicate and so it goes. Great formula.
Particular success with this formula can be found in the paranormal genre. The explosion of interest in the occult and paranormal, not to mention a growing appetite of the public to occupy the same space in a different time at famous and infamous locales where haunted happenings took place – locations such as 92 Second Street, Fall River, MA, home of the infamous Lizzie Borden, has force fed this type of programming until a number of channels are cluttered with them weekly.
Andrew Jackson Borden and what’s left of his face.
Abby Borden and what’s left of her hair.
It was inevitable then that The World’s Creepiest Places, The Most Haunted, and Places That Go Boo in the Night, would morph into a quest for monsters, namely Monster Quest, through packaging geniuses, The History Channel. And this, only one of their many genres. Anyway………
My pals Tim and Matt will be on Monster Quest next Wednesday night, June 11th, which features the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast.
I first met these guys last August 4th when we did a Spooky Southcoast episode. Here’s the podcast if you want to hear my interview and my own paranormal experiences at the scene of America’s most enigmatic murders.
And if you can’t figure out the connection between this 116 year old unsolved hatchet murder and the title of this new series….well, my phriend…..look at those images of Andrew and Abby again. Wouldn’t you agree only a monster could do such a thing?
