The Haunting of Lizzie Borden’s grave

Perhaps you’ve heard of the mysterious skulker of Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River, Ma. On the other hand, perhaps you have not, in which case I’ll tell you.

For over a century people have seen the scurrying to and fro of a woman dressed in a black Victorian dress. She is described as neither attractive nor unattractive, neither young nor old, more short than tall and has pale blue eyes. It’s unknown how she gets into the cemetery as she has never been seen walking through the main gate off Prospect Avenue. When spotted from a distance and called out to, she will turn and look up and then quickly scurry away, disappearing between the headstones and over the little sloping hills.

Some people have claimed they saw her carrying away a bone, thought to be a femur, but at the time there was no evidence of any graves having been dug up or in any way disturbed. An Oak Grove caretaker once said he chased her for 200 yards on a vehicle similar to a golf cart but she could not be overtaken. She disappeared somewhere between Louis and Grace Howe and Philip T. Borden.

While in Boston at the Boston Public Library sifting through shelves of old film reels, I came across a short film done as an experiment with time lapse photography at Oak Grove Cemetery at night. After close scrutiny and playing it over and over, I could see this mysterious skulker captured on film! Look for yourself!

Recently spotted and captured on digital camera, I can now reveal the mysterious skulker of Oak Grove:

Scroll down slowly

Keep scrolling

Wait for it

Wait for it

You’re almost there

Trust me, you’re very close

Almost there

Almost

ta daaaa

Photos taken by Don S., a guest at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast on Saturday, August 4, 2007. How he got her to stand still I’ll never know.

That Lizzie. “She’s everywhere”.

15 days to Holloween

The Skulls of Andrew & Abby Borden

Dr. William Andrew Dolan

The autopsies of Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother were conducted one week after the murders – August 11, 1892, in the “ladies waiting room” at Oak Grove Cemetery.  It is the structure to the left in this picture postcard below.

Here is a more contemporary view:The little building is now used to house gardening tools and supplies and also serves as a break room for the grounds-keepers.

Upon the instruction of District Attorney Hosea Knowlton, the heads of Andrew and Abby were severed and taken home by Dr. Dolan.    They were unceremoniously boiled of their flesh on his kitchen stove (much to the fright of his two young sons), and maintained in his home until presented in court at the Preliminary Hearing.   The sisters were not informed, nor the media – one of the better kept secrets of the prosecution’s case. 

Below is the link to the letter from Dr. Dolan’s grandson, Donald Dolan, to Robert Flynn dated March 6, 1992.   (Don Dolan was a teacher, and a Presenter at the 1992 Lizzie Borden Centennial.  He passed away May 15, 2002 and is buried at Rutland Town Cemetery in Mass.  His widow, Joyce, still resides in the same home they shared for 50 years).

boilheads4

A thorough reading of the actual typed autopsy reports, including hand written notes, is available from the images below.

(Right click on the text below for larger view).

The Preliminary Hearing commenced on August 25, 1892 and once the revelation of the heads being severed hit the papers, it brought forth the indignation and revulsion of some readers.   As an example, also in my collection is this letter from one John E. Gray written to Dr. Dolan, referring to him as a “vile wretch”.  First is an image of the actual letter and then a translation done by his grandson, Don, to Bob Flynn:  brutal

It wasn’t until after the Trial in July of 1893, when Hosea Knowlton wrote to Dr. Dolan stating that Lizzie and Emma’s legal counsel, Andrew Jennings, wanted the skulls returned.   Click to see returnskulls.

Another letter in this collection remembers this occurrence as conveyed by Dolan’s grandson to Bob Flynn.   He also mentions visiting his Aunt Ellen who lives near Oak Grove Cemetery.      Porter-Skulls

The skulls were subsequently buried in boxes about 3 feet below ground.  Placement was a “guestimate”.

Note1:  Robert Flynn is a publisher, author and former bookseller.

Note 2:  Joyce Dolan told me Don Dolan remembered his father (Dr. Dolan’s son)  telling him of seeing Abby’s hair switch in the attic of their home where other “evidence” was kept.

Note 3:  Dr. William A. Dolan had 4 children; 2 sons (Tom and William A. Dolan, Jr. – Don’s father) and 2 daughters (Ellen, called “Nellie” and Mary – both were spinster school teachers in Fall River).

On the Trail of Lizzie Borden – by Charles Reis, Jr.

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

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

Fall River’s Friends Cemetery

Lizzie Borden’s burial site at Oak Grove Cemetery is the most visited gravesite on the entire grounds.

Lizzie’s headstone center, right

But Fall River has many other cemeteries.  Seldom visited is the Friends Cemetery at the foot of Hood Street.  Lizzie Borden descended from a line of Quakers.

The Quakers buried here are vitually unknown for not many of the headstones (of those that *did* have headstones), remain today.

Quakers, known for their modesty, believed having headstones was a sign of vanity.

Residential structures were built right over the graves so this cemetery was actually larger than it appears.

This is one of the very few markers that has legible writing on it.

This view shows part of the original stone wall.  Hardly a space getting respect and reverence, the Friends Cemetery is often used as a “relieving” area for those walking their dogs.

From the Fall River Library website, here is a listing of all the cemeteries in Fall River.

Cemeteries in Fall River

Agudath Achim Jewish Cemetery Newhall Street Contact: Adas Israel Synagogue 508-674-9761	Beth El Cemetery N. Main St. Fall River, Mass. 02722 Contact: Temple Beth El (508) 674-3529
Hebrew Cemetery McMahon St. Contact: Adas Israel Synagogue 508-674-9761	North Burial Ground 1360 N. Main St. Fall River, Mass. 02722 (508) 672-3041 Established 1810
Notre Dame Cemetery 1540 Stafford Rd. Fall River, Mass. 02721 (508) 673-1561 Established 1883	Oak Grove Cemetery 765 Prospect St. Fall River MA 02720 508-324-2750 Established c. 1873 Historical Note: burial place of Lizzie Borden (1860-1927), acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother in 1892.
Our Lady of Light Cemetery Fall River, Mass. 02722 (508) 672-1207 Contact: Notre Dame Cemetery	St. John’s Cemetery 258 Brightman St. Fall River, Mass. 02722 (508) 679-2535 Burials: 1858-1891
St. Mary’s Cemetery Amity St. Fall River, Mass. 02722 (508) 679-2535 Burials: 1875-1891	St. Patrick’s Cemetery 2233 Robeson St. Fall River, Mass. 02720 (508) 679-2535 Established 1876

Lizzie Borden Link to JFK and Harry Truman

And there she is, the link – well, sort of a link:   Grace Hartley Howe, cousin to Lizzie Borden, sitting behind John F. Kennedy and Harry S. Truman.   1st Row: Governor Paul Dever, JFK, Truman, Eddie Doolan; 2nd Row: Tom Kitchen, Mary Kane, Grace, City Councilor John Arruda, and David Talbot.  This photograph was taken in Fall River in 1952 during JFK’s campaign for the Senate and is on display in the dining room cabinet at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast/Museum.  Grace died in 1955, three years after this photograph was taken.

Grace lived her last years at this cottage on Martha Street in Fall River.

It has a lovely view of the Taunton River, which would have been even more exposed in her time there.

When a boy, Fall River author Leonard Rebello (Lizzie Borden Past & Present) used to deliver papers to Grace here.  He never knew her connection to Lizzie Borden until he was doing research for his book.

Oak Grove Cemetery grave site of Cook and Mary Borden – Grace Borden Hartley Howe’s maternal grandparents.  (Right click for larger image)

Grace’s grandfather, Cook Borden, was a brother of Abraham Borden – Andrew Borden’s father.  Grace’s mother, Mary Borden Hartley, was named after Grace’s grandmother (Cook Borden’s wife).  Grace’s own daughter, Mary Hartley Baker, who died many years before Grace, was also named after *her* grandmother.  Mary’s son, (Grace’s grandson) Robert Baker, inherited family property in Westport and also much of Lizzie’s personal property – as did Grace’s own son, Hartley, which Grace had inherited from Lizzie.  When Hartley died in 1996, some of what *he* had was left to his wife, Rosella, who is now in a nursing home in Westport.

Grace is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery with her husband, Louis McHenry Howe (d.1936)

Lizzie Borden: Democrat or Republican? Listen to WSAR Radio Friday, August 29, 2008 at 8:00 am

I was invited back to WSAR Radio – this time to talk about one of Fall River’s most accomplished – if not notorious – women – Grace Hartley Howe – also a cousin to Lizzie Borden. Tune in if you’re in the area.

What was, if any, Lizzie Borden’s political affiliations? August 26th is “Women’s Equality Day” and as every indication tells us Lizzie was one to assert her rights, (by virtue of her sense of entitlement or legally) she most likely exercised her right to vote as ratified by the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Did she vote for the first time for Democrat James Cox or Republican Warren G. Harding? In 1924, did she vote for Calvin Coolidge who had been Harding’s Vice President, or did she vote for progressive Democrat John Davis?

She didn’t have much of an opportunity to exercise her hard-fought right to vote before she died in 1927. But because of her cousin, Grace Hartley Howe (1874-1955), Lizzie Borden may very well have been a staunch Democrat.

Grace Hartley Howe as Fall River Postmistress

Grace was one of the two major legatees in Lizzie’s Will. Her mother, Mary Borden, was the daughter of Cook Borden, Andrew J. Borden’s uncle. Grace married Louis McHenry Howe (1871-1936) – first secretly and then a second ceremony in Fall River on May 6, 1899.

When Louis Howe met Franklin Roosevelt in 1911 he began a life-long career of service and devotion to FDR, becoming not only his best friend but private secretary when FDR was Secretary of the Navy and later chief political strategist and “keeper of the secrets”. Louis McHenry Howe is attributed as having encouraged FDR to fight his battle of infantile paralysis and persuaded him to continue on with his political career. He was FDR’s speech writer, confidant, manager, mentor and trouble shooter.

After Roosevelt was elected his first term as President of the United States, Louis lived in the White House and Grace lived in Horseneck Beach, with Louis coming home on weekends. Grace busied herself raising her two children, Mary and Hartley, and often went weeks at a time without seeing Louis. But in the 1920’s and 1930’s and beyond she would be a tireless fundraiser, campaigner and active member of the Democratic Party. I would not doubt that Grace received political contributions from Lizzie for Democratic and social causes to which she was involved.

During the 1920’s it’s very likely Lizzie and Grace visited each other in their respective homes in Fall River, Horseneck Beach in Westport, New York and Washington, D.C. During this time the Howe’s and Roosevelts also visited at each other’s homes. Lizzie very well may have visited Grace in Westport when Mary and Hartley were growing up. And would Lizzie and Grace have discussed politics?

Grace Hartley Howe is seated to Louis’ right, who is directly across from Eleanor Roosevelt

When Louis died in 1936, it was Eleanor Roosevelt who called Grace in Fall River and gave her the news. Prior to his funeral services at Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River, which both Eleanor and FDR attended, Mr. Howe was honored in Washington.

Prior to Louis’ death, Grace’s work within the Democratic Party coupled with the cache of her husband’s service, she was on an upward trajectory. Below is the article of how she became appointed to the Secretaryship of the Democratic State Committee in 1933. She was a Delegate at the 1934 Democratic Convention.

And after Louis’s death, FDR appointed her Postmistress of Fall River. Grace continued with her many political, civic and social activities. Grace resided on Locust Street (shown below) in Fall River, a few short blocks from Lizzie’s home, “Maplecroft” on French Street. Grace lived there when Lizzie died June 1, 1927.

In 1938, two years after Louis died, Eleanor Roosevelt came to visit Grace as told in this FRHN article that recaps Grace’s life and service to the Democratic party.

Grace died in 1955 after being in a coma for many weeks. At that time she lived in a lovely little cottage on Martha Street (still there) in Fall River with a nice view of the Taunton River.

Throughout her husband’s political career it was rarely reported in the papers of the link between Lizzie Borden and the Howes. That link would be too close for comfort. Notoriety from an 1892 scandal certainly was not needed to surface and hinder the ultimate goal of making FDR President. But it was Louis McHenry Howe himself who was the source of the “Emma did it” theory. I found verification of this in Fulton Oursler’s book, Behold This Dreamer! during his visit to the White House. But although Louis said it tongue in cheek, the Bordenia urban legend was born that Grace’s husband believed Lizzie’s sister did the awful deed of August 4, 1892. The story Louis told Oursler was typical of his sense of humor. (I’ll address that in a future blog entry).

With her relative and close friend, Grace Hartley Howe, so entrenched in democratic politics through her husband Louis McHenry Howe, could it be that Lizzie Borden was a Democrat? I say yes. In an interview after Lizzie’s death, Grace remarked of the many charitable acts and donations to which she gave. I just bet some of Lizzie’s money went to those very causes in which her cousin Grace solicited.

And here’s the part that has never failed to amuse me: Had Lizzie Borden lived a mere five more years she very well might have been invited to the White House. Think of it: Through her cousin’s friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt, Lizzie Borden, accused and acquitted of the most sensational crime of the century, might very well have chatted it up with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States.

Discreetly, of course. ;

“The True Story of Lizzie Borden” – or Maybe Not

EXPANDED UPDATE – SEE BELOW

UPDATE: According to this USA Today’s AP report, Mr. Pickel is planning to open up his alleged “True Story” of Lizzie Borden this weekend. CLICK HERE

Mr. Pickel continues to be under the erroneous assumption that most people don’t know what state, let alone what city, in which the Borden case took place. To that I say: “Mr. Pickel – just ask the Fall River Historical Society how many decades people have flocked there ONLY to see the Borden case exhibits. Inquire at Oak Grove cemetery how many people traversed their grounds solely to find Lizzie Borden’s grave until they finally painted footprints on the pavement guiding folks to the Andrew J. Borden family plot. Ask Robert Dube and the Silvia’s how many people have come on to their property or stopped to photograph “Maplecroft” for the past 40 years.

Most importantly, people have been flocking to 92 Second Street since Day One. Indeed, within days of the murders wagon and carriage drivers would transport disembarking passengers from steamers of the Fall River Line coming from New York and Boston requesting to be taken to the “Lizzie Borden house.” This was reported in the local papers shortly after the crime and continued when Lizzie moved to French Street. Visitors to Fall River for the past 116 years have continued to drive by 92 Second Street just to get a gander of the famous structure.

For 116 years local, regional and national papers have continued to write articles about the case. Dozens of books have been published, several documentaries have been made on “Fall River’s” Lizzie Borden. The #1 best selling book on the case, Victoria Lincoln’s A Private Disgrace, has had over a dozen printings and is still in print. Royalties continue to be paid out to her daughters, Priscilla Williams and Louise Lowe Kittredge. This book, written by native of Fall River who emphasized “Fall River’s” close-knit families, left no doubt in the reader’s minds WHERE this crime took place. People who have read only one book on the case, most always have read this one.

And when 92 Second Street was opened up to the public for the first time as the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast/Museum in 1996, it put Fall River on the map as a tourist destination for all those interested in unsolved murders and the Lizzie Borden case.

The Lizzie Borden case is as iconic to Fall River as the JFK assassination is to Dallas.

If you can’t even quote the truth about the general public’s awareness of where these crimes took place, what confidence can one have in your ability to present the “true story” of Lizzie Borden at your Salem “exhibit”?

Get a clue, Lenny. Get a grip on the “true” story.

UPDATE:

Looks as if Pickel is already hawking his wares OUTSIDE the facility on a display table with some schlock emphera. This may be an indicator to the “quality” of his exhibit. Also, his statement regarding the exclusion of the Bence testimony on Lizzie’s attempt to buy poison is incorrect. It was excluded because it was deemed to be “too remote in time”, not because no poison was found in the bodies. This news footage uses an old image of the B&B at 92 Second Street, Fall River but includes the newly found photo from Emma’s cabinet photo album of Lizzie as a young girl.

CLICK LINK BELOW

FOX25 TV NEWS CLIP

“The True Story of Lizzie Borden” is what Leonard Pickel proposes to reveal to $10 ticket holders ($8 if you use his online $2 discount coupon) at his EXHIBIT, EXHIBIT, EXHIBIT (get it?) in Salem, MA. The “True” story??? Just how does he know what is true?

First and foremost: Lizzie Borden was acquitted on June 20, 1893 in that sensational Trial held at the New Bedford Superior Court. No one else was ever brought to Trial. The Who, How and Why continues to be a major mystery in this most compelling unsolved classic crime. Indeed, from books, blogs and bumper stickers we repeatedly see the phrase: “Lizzie Borden – Did she or didn’t she?” It is absolutely presumptuous of anyone to state – be it in a book, blog, bumper sticker, lecture, Youtube video, or anything else – that they can reveal or know the “true” story. Nobody does.

2005 photo of Leonard Pickel from his Haunted Times magazine website

The person with the most means, motive and opportunity certainly was Lizzie, but it was never conclusively proven and no one knows for certain if she did it. The good money says of course she did, but no one can prove or show that is true.

So I have to wonder just what TRUTH to the Lizzie Borden story Mr. Pickel will impart to his visitors? Is the “true” story going to reveal that Lizzie alone committed the murders? Even the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum and the Fall River Historical Society do not and never have been so presumptuous as to state whether or not Lizzie did it. Nor have they ever claimed to know the truth about Lizzie. Too many questions remain. Far too many.

Lee-ann Wilber, General Manager & co-owner of Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast Museum

Since the opening of the B&B in 1996, the tour scripts have been written for the tour guides to give facts of the case without asserting that Lizzie or anyone else in particular did the deed. They do not purport that Lizzie did it or didn’t do it, or that Uncle John or Bridget or William Borden committed the murders, or that Lizzie had a boyfriend named David Anthony who did it, or that her sister Emma did it, or that even Phoebe Bowen did it. Nor do they state that it is true that Lizzie was a lesbian, actually strangled or cut off the head of Abby’s cat, or that she was actually a shoplifter. None of this is known to be the truth.

But Leonard Pickel, by virtue of the name of his proposed EXHIBIT and from what he’s stated in newspapers, has the audacity to assert he will exhibit The True Story of Lizzie Borden. What yellow brick road is *he* on? The true story of Lizzie Borden will never be known. Whatever it was, Lizzie took it to her grave. Maybe Mr. Pickel has visited “the other side” and knows something we don’t.

Mr. Pickel is also repeatedly quoted in interviews that Fall River has never “embraced” Lizzie nor had the support of the city. Not true. There was a Lizzie Borden symposium in 1986 of which the city and community organizations supported. But it wasn’t until the highly successful 4-day 1992 Lizzie Borden Centennial that Fall River realized money could be made and that Lizzie was a source of new revenue for tourism dollars that they fully embraced her. She’s in both Chamber and City promotional brochures, city department websites, and the “LIZZIE BORDEN MUSEUM” is a prominently displayed huge BLUE I-95 highway sign on the approach to the Braga Bridge just entering Fall River.

Here’s the August 9th Boston Herald’s report of the current litigation wherein Pickel demonstrates his lack of knowledge regarding the relationship between the City of Fall River and Lizzie Borden.

In my opinion, Mr. Pickel not only does not have his thumb on the pulse of what Lizzie means to Fall River, he doesn’t have his hand on the hatchet to exhibit the True Story of Lizzie Borden.

30 Years of Visits to the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast

UPDATED 6/3/08 TO INCLUDE ARTICLE ON “20/20″ TV PROGRAM IN FALL RIVER.

Last month marked thirty years – that’s 30 years of visiting Fall River and the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast.

1978

2008

(Right click for larger image)

Safeguard yourself at Oak Grove Cemetery

John Stossel on 20/20 did Fall River on this controversial issue – thanks to Keri Rodrigues - great seeing “the neighborhood”.

The following is from A View of Battleship Cove blogsite:

Friday, May 30, 2008

Fall River TONIGHT on 20/20

There I was, discounting the power of WSAR, I thought for sure there was no way 20/20 would visit this little town of Fall River. 20/20 has pointed it’s lens towards little ole Fall River, MA, to show the story of Mixed Martial Arts and Gillett’s studio.

Tonight on 20/20, 10PM Channel 5

Episode Detail: How Young Is Too Young? – 20/20 Reports on age-appropriate behavior and adult pressures placed on youngsters include profiles of two teen paparazzi and a teenage in-line skater who was given steroids by his father. Also: Salma Hayek and Sarah Jessica Parker on how they deal with paparazzi wanting pictures of their young children; John Stossel on campaigns against the teaching of mixed martial arts to minors; and (from 2007) reporter Bill Ritter on child prodigies.

Go here for more info

It will be interesting to see how they handle the story tonight. My sources tell me that it is going to have a positive spin, rather than the WSAR intended negative spin. Watch tonight to find out.

Signed,

Fear and Loathing in Fall River

Radio Station WSAR in Swansea

Keri Rodrigues, Me and Baby Matthew

“Perpetual Care” at Fall River’s Oak Grove Cemetery

Above: Entrance to Oak Grove Cemetery from Prospect Ave. On Saturday, August 6th, 1892 the bodies of Andrew & Abby Borden were placed inside the structure to the left where a second autopsy was performed and their heads decapitated. The heads were taken by Dr. Dolan to his home where he boiled the flesh off them in his kitchen. Lizzie and Emma were not informed.

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Both Lizzie Borden and her sister Emma left monies for “perpetual care” of their father’s family plot in their Wills. In fact, is was the #1 item in Lizzie’s itemized bequests:

“1. To the City of Fall River the sum of five hundred dollars, the income derived there from to be used for the perpetual care of my father’s lot in the Oak Grove Cemetery in said Fall River.”

Emma Borden’s second bequest in her Will states:

“SECOND: I give and bequeath to the Treasurer of the City of Fall River, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000), the same to be held by said City of Fall River, IN TRUST, the income thereof to be used and applied for the perpetual care and improvement of the family burial lot, and the monuments and stones thereon, in Oak Grove Cemetery, which was owned by my father, Andrew J. Borden, at the time of his death.”

Emma signed her Will on November 20, 1920 (and a Codicil to that Will on June 22, 1922). Lizzie signed her Will January 30, 1926.

Being curious of just what “perpetual care” meant in the 21st Century relative to the Borden plot, I contacted Tom Eaton, Director of Cemeteries with the Fall River Department of Recreational Facilities, Cemeteries and Trees.

Oak Grove Cemetery encompasses over 100 acres of land which was donated to the City of Fall River in the 1840’s. There are several cemeteries in Fall River, but only two are maintained by the City: Oak Grove and North Burial Ground on North Main Street. Many remains and tombstones were removed from the latter cemetery to Oak Grove in the past two centuries, including that of the tragic Sarah Cornell.

(Some other interesting and Borden case-related graves can be found at Find A Grave.)

Back to “perpetual care”:

Operations and Maintenance of Oak Grove Cemetery is primarily funded by “perpetual care” monies, although the City of Fall River does contribute some budgetary funding. “Perpetual care” is mandatory (in Lizzie’s day it was not) for anyone now buried in Oak Grove. For example, if a person purchased a two plot burial site, it would cost $1,000, of which $500 would go into the perpetual care fund. This is a pooled fund from all perpetual care revenue, so the $500 assessment is not exclusive or designated for a specific plot, but rather placed in the fund for general use of operations and maintenance of the entire Cemetery.

The O&M costs primarily covered by “perpetual care” monies include salaries and administrative overhead as well as for weeding and other maintenance activities on the burial plot itself. This includes cemetery maintenance needs such as care of the roads, pathways, fencing, locks, utility costs for the office, the cutting and caring of trees, painting, mowing, debris clean up, etc.

As would be expected, time, nature and vandalism have taken a toll on Oak Grove. The perpetual care fund is insufficient to do more than minimal maintenance, let alone planting of new and replacement trees. The “Friends of Oak Grove Cemetery” is an excellent blog site with beautiful photos of Oak Grove and provides information on how locals and others can help with maintenance and tree planting. (Mary Ann Wordell, president of the Fall River Street Tree Planting Program and a resident of the Highlands donated a tree to be planted in Oak Grove in the spring in memory of her family.)

The $500 and $1,000 that Lizzie and Emma set forth in their Wills for perpetual care has long been depleted according to Tom Eaton. Any maintenance done to the Andrew Borden plot now is from the pooled fund.

In a way, the phrase “Perpetual care” for grave sites and family plots spread over 100 acres seems an oxymoron given the current funding constraints. But in Lizzie & Emma’s time maybe people took it literally – thinking whatever they bequeathed guaranteed maintenance into perpetuity.

The Andrew Jackson Borden family plot is the most visited and photographed of all the grave sites in the Cemetery. It is fortunate that occasionally a visitor will trim the grass around the headstones, clean off the stones, weed the walkways and so forth. While there may be a shortage of “perpetual care” funds for a higher standard of maintenance throughout the Cemetery,  continuation of “perpetual visitors” to the Borden family historic grave site seems guaranteed ….and here it comes…..you guessed it…..into perpetuity.

Here is a map of the layout of Oak Grove Cemetery.

Andrew Borden and the Missing Prince Albert

Back from 4 days in San Francisco where I hooked up with the couple I met last year in Andover, MA at a Raytheon conference. They have a villa in Florence where I’ll be staying with my son, his fiance and my friend in Quincy, MA while they stay at my house in Payson enroute to the Grand Canyon. We gave each other info about our houses between sight-seeing jaunts and eating all kinds of shellfish. San Francisco was cold, cold, cold!! Busy with plans for the Italy trip  next month and too lazy right now to do a new entry so here’s a recycled one.

James E. Windward, “funeral director to the stars” or at least to all the best Fall River families (translation: Bordens, Braytons, Durfees, Chaces, etc.) during Lizzie’s time, was at the Borden house with his assistant around 4:00 pm on August 4, 1892. As Doctor Dolan testified, it was Undertaker Winward who removed the money from Andrew’s clothing and gave it over to him.

Winward had to wait until the in-situ crime scene photographs were taken and preliminary autopsies were concluded before he could claim possession of the bodies for preparation for Saturday’s funeral services. Could it be that Lizzie told him directly or had it conveyed to him as a discreet request by another (Alice? Uncle John?) that she wished her father to be “laid out” in his Prince Albert coat because it was such a signature garment to all those that knew him? The same Prince Albert coat that was photographed crumbled up under his head on the sofa. The same Prince Albert coat that his usual custom was to hang on a hook when switching to his more comfortable coat in which he wore in death? The same Prince Albert coat that is not on the list of clothing buried nor presented at Trial. The same Prince Albert coat that magically disappears like socks in the dryer. The same Prince Albert coat that District Attorney Knowlton alluded to as a possible shield against the assailant’s own clothing during his Trial summation? The same coat that had it been laid out and studied would have had telling blood splatters and not just a large stain from the seeping wounds of the ten hatchet blows to his head.

Let us assume that the Prince Albert coat was indeed removed from the premises by Undertaker Winward at Lizzie’s request. Let us further assume it was subsequently cleaned, pressed and put back upon the corpse of Andrew Borden. It would seem such an appropriate thing to do that his open coffin next to Abby’s in the Sitting Room would warrant narry a comment pertaining to evidence. “How peaceful he looks with his head on the side, and isn’t it natural that he should be wearing that oh so familiar coat?”, one might have commented to another.

Fast Forward – Oak Grove Cemetery:

The mortal remains of Andrew Jackson Borden lay crushed from a collapsed coffin, wood fragments embedded in the decomposed and tattered fabric of a certain Prince Albert coat. A high school ring dangles from his skeletal finger and his skeletal foot stretches out to just inches above Lizzie’s head. Each day at the stroke of 11:00 am, he shoves his foot against her head and in a muffled but strident voice only the dead can hear he speaks out to her: “Bad girl, Lizzie. Bad, bad, girl.” Thus, every day throughout eternity she hears those words at the stroke of Eleven – Lizzie’s own hellish, eternal doom.

I’d be willing to bet if Andrew’s grave were dug up, the collapsed coffin opened, there we would find the mortal remains of Andrew Borden. His head would be detached and displaced but he’d be dressed in that Prince Albert coat.

Clever girl, Lizzie. Clever, clever girl.