Anna & Laura Tirocchi – Dressmakers to the Elite

The Prentice Mansion at 514 Broadway, Providence, site of the shop operated by sisters Anna and Laura Tirocchi from 1915 to 1947.

Anna Tirocchi

Anna & Laura Tirocchi were a famed and successful dressmaking sister team I  happened to come across because of my interest in a British t.v. series called The House of Elliot (apparently, partly based on the Tirocchis).

What a complete surprise it was to find her business was patronized by some  Braytons,  Mrs. Dwight Waring (daughter of  Lizzie’s defense attorney, Andrew Jennings) et.al. of Fall River.  And from Providence, we have Preston Gardner’s wife Mary, and daughter, Maude, all of whom received considerable money and jewelry from Emma’s Will.

Another notable from Providence is Mrs. William G. Thurber, whose husband was Vice President of  Tilden-Thurber, the store where Lizzie shoplifted two paintings on porcelain only 4 years after her acquittal.  An incident in which Preston Gardner came to the rescue and an action for which Emma Borden was eternally grateful.

Anyway, back to the Tirocchi sisters. They operated a shop in Providence from 1911 to the mid 1930’s.  The stock market crash was the beginning of   it’s demise.  Anna said that 1927 was their “best year ever.”

If you’ve already read the basic background linked above, consider their elite client list that reads like a Who’s Who of  Fall River’s and Providence’s upper crust.

When you click on Client list you can then click on a woman’s name.  You then find out who her husband was.  Then you can click on “Transactions” for what she purchased (keep in mind that a dress costing $200 had the equivalent purchasing power of nearly $2,400 in today’s money), and “Correspondence” for letters she wrote and/or received.

Tirocchi’s  clientele is addressed   HERE. (then click “The Clients”)

One notable is Jessie Brayton – John Summerfield Brayton, Sr.

It was Jessie’s husband who was the recipient of  the well known letter written on August 31, 1900 by Lizzie Borden about his  noisy bird that crowed so loudly and made her nervous.  My, my.  Talk about dress threads that bind!

Her grandson was extremely accomplished, and it was his father, Jonathan Summerfield Brayton III, who was the discoverer  of  that above mentioned letter.

Not only did Anna keep precise records of sales and who these women were married to but she had all their measurements – not surprising for a dressmaker but enlightening to Borden researchers. Here’s the one for Mrs. Elizabeth Brayton.

This entire website is a marvel to explore and a person can spend a good two hours finding out who these women were.  I was getting visions of that film “The Women” directed by George Cukor – the early scenes of the ladies in the dressing rooms ….  but I digress.

Anna Tirocchi in the Butler Exchange workroom, making the final adjustments to a dress; ca. 1914.

The contents of the Tirocchi dress shop at 514 Broadway was offered to the Rhode Island School of Design Museum by sister Laura’s son, Dr. Louis Cella, Jr.   No wonder the staff, inventorying for over year,  was thrilled with what they found!!  Indeed, so was I.

And a big THANK YOU,  DR. CELLA!!!

P.S.  If Lizzie had an account there, she certainly didn’t  use her real name.

Christmas With the Bordens – Part I

The season of Christmas is upon us and warrants a peek at how Lizzie Borden’s family celebrated.

And what is Christmas without a showing of that famous “It’s a Wonderful Life” film?  This version has Deadwood’s Al Swearingen, Marshal Hilliard, and Little Lee-ann Wilber along with Andrew, Emma, and of course, our dear Lizzie.

Just click on the titles to get started.  And be sure to have your sound on!

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE WITH THE BORDENS!

Those lovable Bordens – when they were young -  have a happy time decorating their Christmas tree!

LIGHTING THE CHRISTMAS TREE!

And here take notice of how those Bordens stick together.

SNOW FIGHT! CO-STARRING INSPECTOR FLEET

Lizzie Borden Through the Looking Glass

Bit of news:   I don’t know why but my blog has been listed with George Mason University History News Network in the U.S. History category.  Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise.

**********************

From mbgrigby on Flicker

Here’s a very imaginative take on Lizzie Borden.  It took me a while to realize where the writer was going with this – but soon I was hooked and wanting more.

Below is the beginning of this piece, but you can read all of it at Rivka Jacobs contribution to the Elephant Words blog HERE.

“Lizbeth was irritated and restless. She flipped up the gold watch that hung from a pin attached to the blue satin of her bodice. It was after ten in the evening, and her husband was not yet home.

She gathered her skirt in one hand and turned away from the white front door flanked by glass sidelights. As she walked by the staircase, she put her free hand briefly on the handrail turnout that began or ended the banister that curved up to the second floor.

Lizbeth entered the sitting room and paused. Her full mouth drew together, then abruptly stretched into a grimace as she felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and pain. It was the same sitting room it had always been, with its cheap-looking dark carpet covered with pastel flowers. The wallpaper’s busy floral design gave her a headache. The sparse furnishings were old-fashioned and uncomfortable. She glanced at the worn plush fabric of the only sofa in the room, and the picture hanging on the wall above it. “I hate you,” she said to everyone and every thing.

Lizbeth continued into the kitchen — it was humid and gloomy. The out-of-date stove was cold.  The place smelled of fresh scrubbing and stored onions and old meat. Their housekeeper, Bridget Sullivan, had tidied up for the night and gone up the back stairs to her attic room. There was an eerie silence now, a muffling pall that sank down and spread over Lizbeth’s senses. She closed her eyes a moment, trying to steady herself, hoping her strenuous emotions wouldn’t lead to another spell. She found an oil lamp sitting on top of the pie safe, retrieved a match, adjusted her wick and lit it. A wavering glow leaped up around her, casting bent and peculiar shadows. Her husband thought it self-indulgent and wasteful to use lamps after nightfall in the summer, but he wasn’t home, and Lizbeth didn’t want to be alone in the dark.”

- continued at blogsite (click on link above)

TMZ-ing LIZZIE BORDEN

We are streaming live at the Central Police Station Courthouse where crowds have converged and reporters with notepads and pencils scribble furiously to meet newspaper deadlines to tell the world what is happening with the prime suspect – Lizzie Andrew Borden – in this most heinous double murder of the notable Andrew Borden and his second wife, Abby Durfee Gray Borden. Public emotions haven’t been so taut since the Granite Mill Fire.

Miss Borden was accompanied yesterday by her sister, Emma Borden and friend Mary Brigham. Lizzie wore a sleek Ralph Lauren two piece suit with side-slitted skirt accentuated with pearl buttons. Her right hand clutched her pansy engraved I-Phone while her left hand held tightly to her sister, adorned as usual in her plain synthetic fabric smock of no discernable fashion. Mary Brigham was nicely groomed in a Donatello knee length summer day dress with the neckline cut appropriately for the occasion. We are told that Lizzie was upset by some press remarks yesterday as to her hair style. Her shakey but loyal assistant, Alice Russell, has reported we can be expected to see Lizzie in nut-brown hair extensions today.

All manners of conveyance have crowded the tiny square of Central Police Station and horse carts, wagons, ice trucks and inebriated Irishmen riding piggyback on the shoulders of men from the Azores jostle for position. By the hundreds they have swarmed to this area. Men vastly outnumber the women who have surged upon this scene, crushed as it were – and who can say but that the murderer may be among them?

Miss Borden will continue her testimony in this Inquest before District Attorney Hosea Knowlton but it is not known if she will be remanded to the custody of the Marshall or returned to the scene of the crime when the proceedings conclude. A reliable source (no, not John Morse) has said that Miss Borden does not intend to spend a single night in jail let alone be charged with these crimes. Her spiritual advisor, the Reverend Buck, told confidential sources that Miss Lizzie will be signing a record contract with Clive Davis’ label and is in contact with Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Phil. It is not known if such contacts are for bookings on their show or some other reason. But it has been confirmed that Ann Rule, noted Seattle, Washington author, who was spotted in the courtroom yesterday, will be making an appearance again today. As to whether or not Ms. Rule is featuring these murders as the topic of her new book, one can only speculate.

Wait, wait – we see her, the limo approaches – the throngs of people in the square are waving off to the left…..she is upon us.

“Miss Lizzie! Miss Lizzie! What have you to say?” “You look beautiful, Lizzie.”

——-to be continued

Lizzie Borden – A Contemporary Woman

Recycled But Edited Post.  Why?  Because I can.  (I’m a closet anarchist at heart).

What would Lizzie Borden look like if she had been born in 1980 instead of 1860? She would be 29 years old, rich, unmarried, extremely well read, possessed of great taste in clothing, art, literature and might have looked like these offerings:

The sophisticated Lizzie dines at only the best restaurants where she never has to wait for a table.

Avant Garde Lizzie likes both classic and rock music.  Impressed by Susan Boyle as well as Pink, both of whom she emulates.

The author Lizzie whose book on “Terriers and Tiaras” was a best seller in the New England area poses for her book jacket cover.

The reclusive Lizzie who finally said: “Screw it.  I’m wearing my hair the way I like it.”

Often criticized in print for signing a one million dollar contract with Breck Shampoo, Lizzie strikes a fetching pose.

The society matron “Lisbeth Borden”  rarely misses a major charity event, often escorted by Johnathan Summerfield Brayton III.

Insisting she’s only 25, Miss Borden pushes the envelope when she also states she’s a natural blonde.

Miss Borden was snapped  at the Liberty Theatre in New York attending the premiere of “Lizzie Borden the Rock Musical”.    “Loved it!  Positively loved it!” she said.

We’ve been wondering about Miss Lisbeth Borden all summer when she finally surfaced looking pale and sickly.  Rumors abound she’s very close friends of late with Lindsay Lohan.

Back to her brunette-with-the reddish hew-hair, Miss Borden was spotted dining at  Spago’s with an identified escort who was asked if he had smeared her lipstick.

Well, not likely. Instead, she remains that compelling, enigmatic persona with the “axe” as depicted below. Poor Lizzie. She might as well have lived in an era of society’s insatiable celebrity obsession. She would have been the TMZ queen, hounded by paparazzi’s and in and out of rehab just for some “alone” time.

Early Visits to Fall River

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.

Images of Old Fall River

September 1, 1892

Preliminary Hearing ends; Lizzie held over for Grand Jury and returns to Taunton.

September 2, 1892	Legal document filed allowing Emma Borden as Administrator of Andrew’s estate.
September 3, 1892	Fall River horse cars replaced by trolley cars.

September 2, 1893

Lizzie and Emma move into #7 French Street, Lizzie later names the house “Maplecroft”.

September 3, 1943

92 Second Street house purchased by Wilfred and Alice Gingras from the Fall River Trust Company.

I love old photos of Fall River – some found on the internet, some sold on eBay, some from archival institutions and private collections.  Here are some random photos of Fall River and some of its people in the past:

Slade Ferry Bridge 1905

“Borden” family in 1911 Cotton Centennial Parade

Dr. Dubois office – 1908.

Maplewood Mills – girls packing – 1916.

O’Neil’s spa

LeFleuers pool room – 1910

Durfee Theatre lobby (1929-1973)

Durfee Theatre Stage

Library women at a gathering.

Diving at Globe Wharf

Temperance Bar

Main Street looking North

Piano teacher

Azab Grotto Band

Mayor Buffinton

House fire scene.

Rock Street

Truesdale Hospital – 1905

130 Rock Street

Eagle pool room 318 N. Main – 1915

Alderman’s sleigh

Attorney Blinn

Horse and buggy – 1908

Lincoln Avenue 1900’s

City Hall – after fire of 1886

Drug Store

Mill boys – 1910

Steep Brook school – 1910

Clerk – unknown date

Hotel Wilbur

1st Cotton mill – 1811

The “Welcome” (also called “Victory”) Arch erected on South Main Street between the City Hall and the Granite Block for the July 4th, 1919 celebration welcoming home veterans returning from service during World War 1.

From a real photo post card found in an old Highland Avenue home which, according to the back, shows “The Holmes sisters in their father’s new Reo machine Aug. 1907.” Also written on the back is “Ella- 21 Hanover St. F. R.”

Another real photo post card from an old Highland Avenue estate. Labeled on back- “N.Y. & Boston Express Co. last money wagon in Fall River. 1910 driven by Thomas Fitzpatrick.”  Although likely not armored, the wagon appears to have been made of metal with a rear opening door. It was used to transport currency from the railroad station and steamship wharves to local banks and to provide security for weekly payrolls going to the many city mills.

Durfee Theatre exterior – 1960’s

Aerial view – 1960’s – during construction of Braga Bridge

AA

Lizzie Borden & the Dutiful Escort

Lizzie Borden circa 1890

(Note: this image has not been photo-shopped by a  50 year old, financially strapped, unemployed spinster in Fall River).

Central Congregational Church

In various interviews at the time of the murders, Lizzie Borden had been described as “odd” by some who knew her.    During her younger years it has been said by Michael Martins, Curator of the Fall River Historical Society, she did not have the proper dresses to attend the elegant grand parties up on “the Hill”.  But it is now known Lizzie did attend some parties – according to the private journal of an old school chum of Lizzie’s – owned by an elderly descendant who is still living in Fall River.   However, there is nothing on record, as yet, of Lizzie ever having a boyfriend or romance during her teens and early twenties.  I suspect her alleged moodiness and being “odd” was a put-off by the opposite gender.

A few years ago, a letter was among papers again donated to the Fall River Historical Society by a descendant of a prominent FR family.  The letter is written by a gentleman who attended a reception at the Central Congregational Church welcoming back Lizzie and her travel companions from their 19 week Grand Tour of Europe.  In the letter he writes that Lizzie was the last of ladies awaiting an escort home and that he did his duty.  The reception was held November 11, 1890 – Lizzie was 30 years old.

Pure conjecture, but (taken from one of my scripts) it might have gone something like this:  (Please excuse the formatting as the Final Draft script software is not wholly compatible with the cut and paste as Word feature here.)

CUT TO:

INT. 1ST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH – ONE WEEK LATER – NIGHT

The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor is having a reception for the ladies return of The Grand Tour.  The church vestry is decorated with fresh flowers and there is an orchestra and refreshments.  Young men and women in fine clothes mix and talk with the ladies and others in attendance.   Older men and women of the church are also gathered.  It is all gay and laughter with lots of background conversations.  Lizzie, along with her travel companions, have been getting much attention from those asking about their trip.  Jerome Borden, a second cousin to her, stands talking with CHARLES HOLMES, banker.

CHARLES HOLMES

What surprises me is that old Andrew paid for any of it.

JEROME BORDEN

Not too far-fetched, from what I’ve heard.  I’ve noticed he seems to be much more at ease these past weeks, judging from his appearance at board meetings.

Mrs. Holmes walks over with Lizzie and Reverend Buck.

MRS. HOLMES

Charles, Reverend Buck has told me  Reverend Jubb has been talking of returning to England in another year.

LIZZIE

I hadn’t heard that.

MRS. HOLMES

Well, my dear, there is a great deal you have not heard.  We must find the time to catch up.

Jerome and Charles give a knowing look of gossiping women.

JEROME BORDEN

Where is your father and Abby, Lizzie?  Did they not come for the reception?

Lizzie looks at Jerome, then to Reverend Buck who recognizes the awkward moment.

REVEREND BUCK

I see Alice Russell waiving to us.  Shall we join her?

Reverend Buck takes Lizzie’s arm and walks with her.

JEROME BORDEN

Yes, I’m surprised they are not here.

MRS. HOLMES

Well, if the truth be told, all is not right in that house.

CHARLES HOLMES

Marianna.

MRS. HOLMES

I’ll say no more.  I’ll say no more.

MRS. HOLMES spots someone in the crowd. She waives her arm in the air.

MRS. HOLMES

Yoohoo!  Yoohoo, Mrs. Chase.  Excuse me, gentlemen.

She gathers her skirts and scurries across the room.

CUT TO:

INT. – CHURCH ENTRANCE

The evening has ended and the last of the people are leaving, saying goodbyes, getting into carriages.  One by one they leave, the ladies being escorted by the young gentlemen for carriage rides home. Lizzie is the last of the ladies left, a few young gentlemen still stand around, talking among themselves.  Mrs. Holmes and two other women are very much aware Lizzie needs an escort and no one has offered to take her home.

MRS. HOLMES

Excuse me Lizzie, I think I left my purse inside.

As she moves towards the few young men remaining, Mrs. Holmes taps one of the gentlemen motioning him inside.  She whispers something in his ear and with a slight grimace, he looks over his shoulder towards Lizzie.

CUT TO:

CLOSE ON LIZZIE who stands awkwardly staring blankly.  The young man reappears at the entrance stepping towards Lizzie.

YOUNG MAN

(tipping his hat)

Excuse me Miss Borden.  May I escort you to your home?

LIZZIE

Well, I…

Mrs. Holmes reappears at the entrance, with her purse in hand and cloak on.

MRS. HOLMES

We are leaving now, too, Lizzie.  Such a short walk we have for such fine night air.  I see you have an escort to take you home.  Goodnight Lizzie.  Goodnight.

Lizzie walks out of the church, the young man trailing after her, resolved to do his duty.

Lizzie Borden and the Month of June

Partial extracts from my historic timeline for the month of June follows.    It helps one gain a perspective on what influenced Lizzie Borden and the world she lived in.   Well, sort of.  One can also watch old films like Pollyanna to get a peek into the mores, customs, societal hierachy of the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

Speaking of Pollyanna, I watched it the other day and was particularly struck by its accurate depiction of the power the founding families had within their communities, including the Church.  Just as Polly Harrington (Jane Wyman)  dictated what her church minister (Karl Malden) would trumpet from the pulpit, made me wonder if the Bordens and Durfees influenced what their ministers would speak on for the Sunday sermons at the Central Congregational Church.

June 20, 1635	John Borden, wife, and two children set sail for America.
June 9, 1772	First naval battle of the Revolutionary War, British customs schooner Gaspee is burned off Rhode Island.

June 17, 1775

Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston.

June 18, 1804	Name of “Fallriver” changed to “Troy”
June 2, 1832	Caleb Blodgett (later Judge at Borden Trial) is born in Dorchester, New Hampshire.
June 12, 1836	Justin Dewey, later Judge at Borden Trial, is born.
June 26, 1838	Mary Augusta Demarest is born in NYC; later writes “My Ain Countrie”.
June 9, 1861	John W. Coughlin born; later three-term Mayor of Fall River.
June 19, 1863	Earl P. Charlton born in Chester, Conn.  (Later becomes richest man in Fall River).
June 9, 1863	Ricca Allen is born in Canada, later friend of Nance O’Neil and Lizzie Borden.
June 6, 1865	Andrew Borden, 43, marries Abby Durfee Gray, 37, (43 days before Lizzie’s 5th birthday).  Emma is 16.
June 16, 1867	Helen Leighton born in Millbridge, Maine.
June 28, 1870	Jerome C. Borden marries Emma Tetlow. (Did 10 yr old Lizzie go to wedding?)
June 19, 1874	Andrew has running water installed in the Second Street house with service from city.
June 25, 1876	General Custer and entire regiment killed at “Battle of the Little Big Horn.”
June 29, 1876	Mill #2 of the American Linen Company, foot of Ferry St., suffered fire damage in the two upper stories.
June, 1879	Spinner’s strike, major summer long strike of mill workers.
June 11, 1885	William Almy dies in Fall River.
June 17, 1885	The Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, arrives in the U.S.
June 2, 1886	President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom in Blue Room of the White House.
June 15, 1887	Dedication of BMC Durfee High School.  William Lambert is first principal.
June 4, 1890	Lizzie signs her passport application for Grand Tour to Europe.
June 16, 1890	The first Madison Square Garden, designed by McKim, Mead & White, opens in New York City.
June 21, 1890	Lizzie sails on S.S. Scythia from Boston to Liverpool, England, embarking on 19 week long “Grand Tour”.
June 24, 1891	Daylight “robbery” at the Bordens.      (KP74)
May/June 1892	Andrew kills pigeons roosting in the barn.  Morse visits end of June.
June 30, 1892	Morse spends one day at Bordens; takes Butcher Davis’ daughter & Emma for a ride.            (CI 96)
June 1, 1893	Grace Hartley graduates from Fall River High School.      (FRHN 3/21/2004)
June 3, 1893	Jose Correiro arrested in Manchester case. (Jury is sequestered and does not learn of this arrest.)
June 3, 1893	Lizzie transfers to New Bedford Jail on Ash Street.
June 5-20, 1893	THE TRIAL OF LIZZIE BORDEN
June 1893	Grace Hartley graduates from Fall River High School.      (FRHN 3/21/2004)
June 5, 1893Monday	Court convened at 11:28 am.  111 questioned before the 12 jurymen are were selected.  Charles I. Richards chosen as jury Foreman.
June 6, 1893 Tuesday	Indictment is read; William Moody opens for the Prosecution.  Lizzie faints and is revived.
June 6, 1893 Tuesday	Civil Engr. Thomas Kieran called, gives measurements, testifies a man could have hid in front entry closet.

June 6, 1893 Tuesday	Jurors travel to Fall River; visit Kelly’s house, Wade’s store, Crowe’s stone yard, Chagnon’s house, Kirby’s yard, Alice Russell’s house, Gorman’s store, Clegg’s store and banks.  Tour finished at 4:00 pm.
June 6, 1893Tuesday	Jurors taken to Mellen House, Franklin & North Main Street where they spend the night.
June 7, 1893 Wednesday	James A. Walsh, photographer testifies as to the accuracy of the pictures he had made of the victims and the house on the day of the killing.
June 7, 1893 Wednesday	John Vinnicum Morse examination conducted by Moody, not different from that as in the Preliminary Hearing.  Lizzie smiled as her uncle tried to calculate her age and shook her head vigorously when he stated she was “33.”   (She was only 6 weeks shy of 33),
June 7, 1893 Wednesday	Abraham G. Hart, Treasurer of Union Savings Bank, testifies as to Borden’s movements on morning of the 8/4.
June 7, 1893	Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, dies.  Had home in Middletown, RI.
June 9,  893Friday	John Minnehan, patrolman assigned to follow John Morse on August 5, 1892, dies at age 48 in Fall River.
June 12, 1893 Monday	Lizzie’s Inquest Testimony ruled inadmissible.
June 13, 1893 Tuesday	AG Pillsbury arrives by train from Boston, consults with Knowlton & Moody & returns same evening.
June 14, 1893 Wednesday	John T. Burrill, Cashier of  Union National Bank, Everett M. Cook, Cashier of the First National Bank, Jonathan Clegg, a hat dealer, Joseph Shortsleeves, a carpenter, and John Maher, a carpenter give testimony as to Andrew’s movements August 4th.
June 14, 1893	Judges ruling excludes Eli Bence’s prussic acid testimony .
June 14, 1893	At Knowlton’s request during Dr. Draper’s testimony, Dr. Dolan brings in the skulls of Andrew & Abby. Lizzie is allowed to retire from the courtroom.                                (TT1046)
June 14, 1893 Wednesday	9th Day: C. C. Potter’s son (Freddy) finds hatchet w/gilt on roof of Crowe’s barn.  Carpenter Carl McDonnel claims it is his hatchet; prussic acid testimony (Eli Bence) ruled inadmissible.
June 15, 1893	FR Evening News reports hatchet found on roof of John Crowe’s barn.                           ( FREN18)
June 15, 1893 Wednesday	Opening statements by Defense are given by Andrew Jennings.
June 16, 1893 Wednesday	Emma Borden testifies.
June 16, 1893	Governor Robinson reads from Bridget’s Inquest Testimony (a missing document)                (TT)
June 17, 1893	Carpenter McDonald claims Crowe’s roof hatchet is his.   (FRHN)
June 18, 1893	Carrie Poole, Lizzie’s friend residing 20 Madison Street, New Bedford, dies.
June 19, 1893 Wednesday	Governor Robinson gives closing arguments; Knowlton begins his closing.
June 20, 1893 3:24 pm	13th Day: The Jury retires to deliberate.
4:32 pm	Lizzie Borden pronounced “Not Guilty” at 4:35 pm.                                         (TT1928)
8:15 pm	Lizzie & Emma arrive by coach w/Mrs. Holmes at 67 Pine St. in FR; small reception follows.  Lizzie spends night there.  Large crowd gathered at 92 Second St.                             (CaseBook228)
June 22, 1893	Reupholstered sofa is delivered back to the house on Second Street.                                                                         (LR1111-112)
June 23, 1893	Lizzie visits the Wm. Covel’s in Newport, RI, has classic picture of her “standing behind the chair” taken.
June 23, 1893	Morse attempts to get mileage reimbursement from Iowa to New Bedford from Co. Treasurer.                                                (FRHN)
June 27, 1893	Lizzie & Emma go to Taunton to visit Sheriff Wright’s wife.
June 4, 1900	Mary Howe (Baker) is born, daughter of Grace and Louis Howe.
June 5, 1905	Newspaper article states Lizzie writing play for Nance O’Neil.                      (Spiering p208)
June 5, 1905	Boston Globe reports Emma moving out of “Maplecroft”.
June 21, 1905	Bridget Sullivan marries John M. Sullivan in Anaconda, MT.
June 2, 1906	Emma Borden departs on White Star liner RMS Cymric, departing from Boston for Queenstown & Liverpool, enroute to Scotland.
June 30, 1908	Lizzie writes to Asst. Supt R. I. Hospital re her maid Hannah B. Nelson.                                             (Gateway Mag. Summer 1997)
June 15, 1909	Marshal Hilliard retires.
June 19, 1911	Opening Day of Fall River’s Cotton Centennial
June 23, 1911	President Howard Taft arrives in Fall River for Cotton Centennial celebration.
June 10, 1912	Grisly axe murders of 2 adults and 6 children, all while they sleep, in Villisca, Iowa.
June 25, 1914	Animal Rescue League of Fall River established as a corporation (Later becomes Faxon Animal Rescue League).
June 29, 1914	Austrian Prince, Archduke Ferdinand shot by Serbian assassin, in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, leading to World War I.
June 28, 1915	Patrick Doherty (Captain, FRPD) dies in Fall River, Mass.
June 15, 1918	Lizzie and Emma sell 230 Second St. (changed from #92)  to John W. Dunn.              (LR557)
June 19, 1919	Naval Fighting Ship commissioned “Moody” launched. William H. Moody’s sister, Mary E. Moody, sponsored the ship.
June 22, 1922	Emma Borden signs the Codicil to her Will.
June 1, 1923	Leontine Lincoln dies. (Grandfather of Victoria Lincoln and a founder of Fall River Historical Society).
June 1, 1927	Lizzie Andrew Borden dies of heart failure at 8:30 pm at her home “Maplecroft” in (59 days short of her 67th birthday).
June 4, 1927	Nance O’Neil’s interview about Lizzie appears in New Bedford Standard.
June 7, 1927	Lizzie’s Will is filed in Taunton Probate Court.
June 10, 1927	Emma Borden dies in Newmarket, New Hampshire at age 76.
June 12, 1927	Helen Leighton interview saying Lizzie was bitterly unhappy, suffered from depression.                                                  ( FRHN)
June 13, 1927	Emma Borden is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery.
June 30, 1927	Emma’s Will is filed in Taunton Probate Court.
June 3, 1939	Arthur Sherman Phillips writes to son of Defense Attorney Robinson asking to be forwarded Lizzie’s answers to the questions he posed her back in 1892.
June 23-27, 1936	Grace Hartley Howe attends Democratic Nat’l Convention in Philadelphia as a Delegate At-large.
June 14, 1955	Grace Hartley Howe, Lizzie’s cousin and legatee, dies at the age of 80 in Fall River.         (FRHN)
June 1, 1961	Adelaide Churchill home destroyed by fire.              (LR44)
June 13, 1981	Author Victoria Lincoln Lowe dies at age 76.  Her body given to Science at John Hopkins University.
June 22, 1994	Josephine Vohnoutka McGinn (wife of John) dies in Fall River.
June 1, 2001	Jules Ryckebusch retires from Bristol Community College and names Gabriela Schalow Adler Publisher of The Lizzie Borden Quarterly.
June 2, 2004	Robert Dube files for variance to convert garage to single family residence on Maplecroft property.
June 7, 2004	FR Herald News reports 92 Second Street purchased by Donald Woods of Portsmouth, RI.; says he will tear down “Leary Press”, increase parking & rebuild the barn.
June, 2008	Lizzie Borden Took an Axe, or Did She? – A Rhetorical Inquiry by Annette Holba is published.
June, 2008	Leonard Pickel announces he will open a Lizzie Borden Gift Shop & “Museum” in Salem, MA.

The Month of April – Lizzie Borden

So here’s a partial and selective extraction from my continuous work-in-progress Historic Timeline of Fall River and Lizzie Borden.

April 18, 1774	Paul Revere and William Dawes warn “The British are coming.”
April 19, 1775	Minutemen of Lexington and Concord battle British regulars and start the American Revolution.
April 01, 1778	Oliver Pollock invents the dollar sign, i.e. “$”.
April 30, 1789	George Washington becomes the first U.S. President.
April 4, 1803	First town meeting held at home of Louisa Borden.
April 30, 1803	US more than doubles its size thru the Louisiana Purchase.
April 1, 1844	Abraham Borden invests money for his son Andrew & William Almy to start furniture business. (Andrew is 22 years old).
April 24, 1844	Andrew, Abraham & William Almy purchase lot on Anawan St. for $1500.
April 20, 1854	William S. Borden, son of Deacon Charles L. Borden, is born (Arnold Brown’s “illegitimate son of AJB”)
April 22, 1854	City Charter adopted for Fall River, establishing 6 Wards.
April 22, 1854	James Buffington elected first Mayor of Fall River. Southard Miller elected Alderman of City of Fall River.
April 17, 1859	Philip Harrington, later to be Captain of Fall River Police, is born.
April 3, 1860	Pony Express service begins in St. Joseph. Mo.
April 9, 1865	General Lee surrenders to General Grant, ending Civil War
April 10, 1865	Nathaniel B. Borden dies; former Mayor, Senator, mill owner and bank president. (Married 4 times).
April 14, 1865	Abraham Lincoln assassinated at Ford Theater. (Lizzie is almost 5 yrs old.)
April 26, 1865	American Civil War: Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrenders to Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman at Durham, NC
April 26, 1872	Andrew buys 92 Second St. house from Charles C. Trafton for $10,000. (Lizzie is almost 12 years old).
April 19, 1873	Bessie Borden born. Daughter of Jerome C. Borden.
April 25, 1873	Emanuel Taylor, mill worker, has his arm cut off on machinery. Dr. Seabury Bowen summoned and performs surgery.
April 24, 1884	At 6 PM fire started amongst cotton in the basement of Sagamore Mill No.1
April 14, 1890	John Morse goes to Warren, RI to visit his Uncle Charles Morse for a year and a half. (LR75-76)
April, 1892	Borden barn is broken into while Andrew and Abby are at Swansea farmhouse.
April, 1892	Lizzie tells dressmaker Hannah Gifford that Abby is a “mean, old thing”.
April 3, 1893	Emma & Lizzie sell 74 acres of land to Leander E. Gardner. (LR556)
April 10, 1893	Judge Blaisdell resigns as Judge of the Second District Court.
April 24, 1893	District Attorney Knowlton writes Attorney General Pillsbury that he’d like to “get rid” of the Trial of the case.
April 16, 1894	New Bedford Bar Association formed. Hosea Knowlton is founding member.
April 17, 1897	UFO crashes in Auroa, Texas, dead “alien” found and buried. (Dallas Morning News p5)
April 19, 1897	First running of the Boston Marathon.
April, 1899	Rev. Buck tenders his resignation to Central Cong. Church after 32 yrs of service (HistoryCCC194)
April 17, 1901	William S. Borden is found dead hung from a tree in Fall River with empty bottle of Carbolic Acid by his side..
April 1, 1902	Lizzie purchases east side of Belmont from Mary Swift. (LR559)
April 3, 1905	Nance O’Neil begins 3-week engagement at Tremont Theatre in Boston; leaves for Australian tour one month later.
April 18, 1906	San Francisco earthquake and fire kills 452.
April 22, 1909	John Morse travels from Iowa to Boston.
April 15, 1912	White Star liner Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg; 1,500 die.
April 6, 1913	Boston Sunday Herald special edition: “Lizzie Borden 20 Years After the Tragedy” by Gertrude Stevenson.
April 13, 1913	Boston Sunday Post publishes interview with Emma Borden by reporter Edwin Joseph McGuire.
April 29, 1913	The all purpose zipper is patented.
April 6, 1917	Woodrow Wilson signs Declaration of War against Germany, allowing U.S. to engage in World War I.
April 15, 1919	Strike by Boston operators disrupts telephone service throughout New England.
April 9, 1920	Melvin O. Adams dies at the of 70 in Boston, Mass.
April 15, 1920	Bandits kill guard, shoot paymaster at shoe factory in Braintree, MA (Sacco & Vanzetti case).
April 14, 1924	Lizzie forms a partnership with Jacob Dondis in her half share of the AJ Borden Bldg on So. Main and Anawan.    (LR56)
April 29, 1924	Hannah B. Reagan, former police matron, dies at the age of 73 in Fall River.
April 8, 1927	Two way test of “Television” with AT&T President Gifford & Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover.
April 13, 1933	Emma’s estate sells Maplecroft. (LR561)
April 27, 1933	The play: Nine Pine Street opens on Broadway at Longacre Theatre starring Lillian Gish as Lizzie Borden.
April 18, 1936	Louis McHenry Howe dies at Bethesda Naval Hospital;  Eleanor Roosevelt contacts Grace Howe (Lizzie’s cousin and major legatee) in Fall River and notifies her of her husband’s death. Louis lies in state in the East Room of the White House.
April 19, 1936	Grace and son Hartley travel from Fall River to Washington, DC.
April 22, 1936	President Franklin D. Roosevelt attends Louis McHenry Howe’s burial funeral in Fall River at Oak Grove Cemetery.
April 10, 1944	Orrin Augustas Gardner, cousin and major legatee in Emma’s Will, dies in Deighton, MA.
April 13, 1945	Franklin D. Roosevelt dies. Harry Truman sworn in as President.
April 22, 1948	Premier of Agnes DeMille’s Fall River Legend ballet in NYC.
April, 1952	Edward R. Snow’s radio broadcast stating a boy found undisturbed dust in barn loft on August 4, 1892.
April 10, 1982	Edward Rowe Snow dies at the age of 80.
April 6, 1997	Memorial for Hartley Howe at Fall River Marine Museum where he had been a Trustee.
April, 2003	Robert Dube’ files application with FR Planning Board to build single home on driveway of 306 French; some neighbors protest; Dube’ later rescinds application.
April 8, 2003	The Herald News reports Robert Dube’, owner of 306 French St. (“Maplecroft”) is listing home for sale at $725,000.
April 27, 2005	Demolition begins of Leary Press adjacent to 92 Second St.
April, 2008	Third printing of David Rehak’s Did Lizzie Borden Axe for It? Is published. Contains newly found Lizzie letter.

What Pushed Lizzie Over the Edge?

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.

March Timeline

March 1, 1851	Emma Lenora Borden is born to Andrew and Sarah Borden.
March 1, 1872	The Boston Globe makes its debut.
March, 1864	Bridget Sullivan is born in County Cork, Ireland.
March 1, 1866	Notice in FR Daily Evening News of remains of military officers on view at Borden & Almy.         (LR52)
March 2, 1778	Wealthy storekeeper 60-year-old Joshua Spooner’s battered and bloody body is pulled out of a well in his backyard in Brookfield, Ma.; pregnant wife Bathsheba tried and hung. (image from O.T.I.S.)
March 2, 1888	Fall River Evening News reports Abby Borden ill at home with severe bronchitis.
March 2, 1932	Charles Lindberg’s baby is kidnapped.
March 3, 1791	U.S. begins taxing distilled spirits and carriages.
March 3, 1898	John Morse returns to Hastings, Iowa after spending the winter in California, reports The Glenwood Opinion.
March 3, 1918	Dr. Seabury Bowen dies at the age of 78 in Fall River.
March 3, 1933	Grace Hartley Howe & Helen Leighton sign 4th & Final Account of Probate.
March 4, 1933	Franklin Delano Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd U.S. president.
March 4, 1872	First meeting to organize Shove Mills; Board members included Josiah C.  Blaisdell.    (Peck/Earl-145)
March 4, 1867	Hiram & Lurana (Borden) Harrington’s son George, dies   of brain disease at the age of 9.
March 5, 1770	“Boston Massacre” – 5 colonists killed by British troops.
March 5, 1868	Court of Impeachment organized against President Andrew Johnson.
March 6, 1876	James Buffington, 1st Mayor of Fall River, dies.
March 7, 1893	Fall River Electric Light Co. founded to manufacture and distribute commercial street lighting.
March 9, 1903	Reverend Edwin A. Buck dies of pneumonia in Fall River.
March 10, 1858	Alice Esther Borden, 2 yrs old, dies of hydrocephalus.Andrew is 36 years old.  Emma is 7 years old.
March 12  1904	Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River established by Pope Pius X.
March 12, 1939	John E. Sullivan, Bridget’s husband, dies.
March 14, 1812	Ladowick Borden (Andrew’s uncle, brother of Cook) born.
March 16, 1955	Grace Hartley Howe has a seizure & slips into a coma.   (LR333)
March 16, 1900	Justice Dewey dies.
March 17, 1905	Eleanor & Franklin Roosevelt marry.
March 17, 1931	Dr. Thomas F. Gunning dies (last of the doctors who witnessed  the August 4th autopsies).       (LR107)
March 18, 1854	Charles C. Cook, long time Borden real estate manager,is born in Fall River.
March 18, 1941	Arthur Sherman Phillips dies at the age of 76.  (Wrote 3 volume History of Fall River)
March 20, 1942	Bridget Sullivan signs her Last Will & Testament in Butte, Montana.
March 20, 1901	Andrew Jennings speaks to legislative Committee onEducation on importance of having a Textile School.
March 23, 1775	Patrick Henry delivers “Give me liberty or give me death” speech at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia.
March 23, 1894	Emma writes letter to dressmaker Mrs. Cummings that is “suitable for church wear or calling”.      (FRHS)
March  24, 1893	The Fall River Bar Association considers charges against Judge Josiah Blaisdell.
March 25, 1911	Triangle Shirtwaist Co. fire on New York’s Lower EastSide. 147 die, mostly women and young girls.
March 25, 1948	Bridget Sullivan, age 73, dies and is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Anaconda, Montana.
March 25, 1965	New York City Opera Co. premieres “Lizzie Borden – A Family Portrait in Three Acts” by Jack Beeson
March 26, 1863	Sarah Morse Borden (mother of Lizzie and Emma) dies atthe age of 39 of uterine congestion.
March 27, 1940	Mandel Mark sells 2nd Street house to The Fall River Trust Company.
March 18, 1849	John Fleet (later Asst. City Marshall of Fall River) is born in Lancaster, England.          (LR149)
March 28, 1858	Nathaniel B. Borden gives his inaugural address as Mayorof Fall River.
March 28, 1966	Author Edward Radin, age 56, dies of cancer.    (LR366)
March, 1878	Fall River mill worker wages reduced another 15%.
March 30, 1926	Charles Cook buys land and house from Harriet E. Henry on behalf of Lizzie.                   (LR560)
March 31, 1919	Lizzie writes instructions for her funeral and burial service.               (MHS website)

The Month of February

Fall River looking down North Main – late 1880’s.

Lobby poster for Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, 1927 -the year of Lizzie’s death.

A sampling of what happened back in Lizzie Borden’s day during the month of February.

Date	Event
February 1, 1894	Spinners line street between Spring & Columbia on both sides of Main St., declaring strike.
February 1, 1893	Robinson joins Lizzie’s defense team.
February 2, 1920	#230 (formerly #92) Second Street house purchased by Mark Mandel from John W. Dunn.
February 2, 1928	Pocassett Mill fire – City Hall, Union Bank bldg, etc. destroyed – over $35 million in property loss.
February 2,1894	Emma signs discharge of Executor duties of AJB estate, witnessed by Henrietta & Elizabeth Morse.
February 2-4, 1926	Lizzie enters Truesdale Hospital for gall bladder operation.  Registers as “Mary Smith”.
February 2, 1902	Philip H. Borden dies in Fall River.
February 3, 1854	Abraham Borden deeds house on Ferry Street to Andrew.
February 4, 1927	The film “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson premieres as the first “talkie”.
February 6, 1940	Weetamoe Mill fire, loss of $450,000.  This mill was owned by the City of Fall River.
February 6, 1844	McKee Rankin (Nance O’Neil theatrical agent) is born in Canada.
February 6, 1879	Charles Churchill, husband of Adelaide, dies at age 35.
February 7, 1965	Nance O’Neil, 90, dies in the Actors Fund Home, Englewood, New Jersey (nursing home).
February 7, 1910	Emma & Lizzie deed 9 acres land e/side Gardner’s Neck Rd, Swansea to Preserved Gardner.
February 10, 1905	John Morse leaves Iowa for Boston.
February 10, 1893	Officer Phillip Harrington,  FRPD, promoted to Captain.
February 11, 1888	Women’s Board of Fall River Hospital is formed.  Miss Anna H. Borden, Treasurer.  (She went on 1890 Grand Tour with Lizzie).
February 11, 1880	Edmund Lester Pearson born in Newburyport, Mass.
February 11, 1889	Service at Central Congregational Church calls for pledges of $82,000 to clear debt.  (Did Andrew contribute?)
February 12, 1892	Former President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is declared a national holiday in the United States.
February 12, 1834	Mass. General Court Assembly changes name from “Troy” to “Fall River”
February 14, 1890	Chicago learns it will be the site for the next World’s Fair.
February 15-16, 1916	Major fire in downtown Fall River – 30 businesses destroyed, over $1.5 million in property loss.
February 16,1897	Providence Daily Journal prints story of Lizzie’s shoplifting at Tilden Thurber.
February 16, 1898	USS Battleship Maine blows up in Havana harbor, 266 killed.
February 17, 1933	2nd Probate Court accounting filed by Charles Cook on Lizzie’s Will for period May 2, 1929 thru Jan.1, 1932.
February 17, 1933	3rd Probate Court accounting filed by Charles Cook on Lizzie’s Will: period May 2, 1929 thru Nov. 28, 1932.
February 18, 1904	Edwin H. Porter, dies in FR at age 39
February 14, 1910	Lizzie sells 18 acres in Swansea (Gardner’s Neck Road)
February 19, 1829	Phebe Ann Borden, Andrew’s sister, born in Fall River.
February 20, 1912	John Vinnicum Morse signs his Last Will & Testament in Hastings, Iowa.
February 22, 1896	Governor Robinson dies at the age of 62 in Chicopee, Mass.
February 24, 1924	1924 Woodrow Wilson dies.
February 25, 1968	Gertrude M. (Russell) Callow, Lizzie’s maid (1912-1913) dies at the age of 79 in Fall River.
February 26, 1829	Hiram Harrington born (marries Lurana Borden, Andrew’s sister).
February 26, 1883	Mary B. Young addresses Fall River City Council proposing her gift of $400,000 for new High School- becomes B.M.C. Durfee High School).

Lizzie Loved Scotland

Something about Scotland must have resonated with Lizzie Borden on her 1890 Grand Tour of Europe.  Available information indicates she was fond of Scottish authors and poets.  So a little cruising (excuse the pun) of YouTube brought forth these representative videos of Scotland in the Edwardian era, which was basically 1880’s to 1916.

Below is a video of a Cunard vessel in 1901 – with sound.  Lizzie didn’t travel on a ship this grand but apart from summoning thoughts of the Titanic (note Captain Smith’s lookalike), it is illustrative of the era.

The Scotland Lizzie would have seen in 1890 on her “Grand Tour”.  Clearly Lizzie was impressed with the green expanse of Scotland’s countryside, its wide streets in Edinburgh, the beautiful castles and stately homes on vast acres.  I imagine she brought home prints of Scotland scenes much like these postcards.  And I can further imagine her years later sitting on her enclosed back porch at “Maplecroft” building castles in the air with fond remembrances of that grand, old time.

And the people of Edwardian Scotland – sites Lizzie may have seen -Well, maybe not so much the poorer folk, which she had plenty of opportunity to see in her home town of Fall River.  As was America, Scotland and all of Europe was experiencing the industrial revolution.  The working class was not so much different in Scotland as it was in New England.

And just for fun, time to pull out again the ever popular “Lizzie & Jack”:

On an unrelated note – to those who frequent the LB forum – has anyone noticed the continued decline of posts per month?  With the exception of June 2008, every month has been significantly less than the same month prior year – significantly less for almost 2 years.  Why aren’t people posting as much as they did before?  Possible reasons:  (1) The nitch is narrowing; (2) Former regular posters are MIA; (3) Other interests have taken hold of time and inclination; (4) Nothing new comes forth, i.e., same banterings on the same minutia of speculative theory; (5) The level of expertise of the dozen or so regular posters keep newbies intimidated; or (6) Whatever.

Anyway, November was a record low with only 424 versus 1171 for November 2007.  Here is a cut and paste from the “Statistics” graph from the site:

Number of new posts by month
Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2003	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
2004	0	0	0	432	1138	832	595	710	676	611	1145	1280
2005	1110	1148	1615	1978	1457	1769	1228	1051	1328	1145	1059	1019
2006	1144	1223	1172	1402	1561	1831	1350	1961	1688	1549	1512	1595
2007	1707	1328	1264	1397	908	915	1038	1430	908	1079	1171	1052
2008	1494	1157	978	715	733	1059	829	934	643	786	424

Lizzie Borden & Others – A Different View

Just for laughs, slide into the Time Portal and have a chuckle with Lizzie Borden and her family.

Stand-in for Joan Crawford

Touring the nation’s Capitol with dad.

She beckons

She haunts

2 Poems, 1 Scene & A Timeline

Posters over at the blog A View From Battleship Cove (see Blogroll on right) have recently commiserated about the lackluster 4th of July in Fall River this year. They’ve tripped down memory lane of how it was in the past. Reading those posts compelled me to write this little ditty:

image from mattcuts.com

The summer nights of booming brights in skies alight

now fade away
as did the day

of booming looms and tolling bells and dinner pails

in this our town,
Fall River.

Smokestacks outlined derelick and still; no steamships sailing nor ever will

across the Mount Hope Bay

No blankets on the fresh mowed grass, as it were in summer’s past
And all these things we question Why

Of a disappointing Fourth of July
in this our town,
Fall River.

**************************************************************

What follows will be transparent to the person I had in mind when I wrote it (smile, smile, wink, wink):

Pretenses for purposes of popularity

Like the newly fertilized rose

Can be detected by looking with clarity

To verify the smell in one’s nose.

Pretenses for purposes of popularity

No matter how adept and sustained

Will yield its ultimate transparency

To those with an eye not untrained.

A rose then admired with adulation

Remains rooted in its fertilized pit.

Though smelling so sweetly its formation

Still has origins made purely of shit.

-November, 2007

********************************************************

Emma Borden, the surrogate mother

The room was warm, thick, and the odor from the river drifted through the open window at 12 Ferry Street, Fall River, Massachusetts.

Nine year old Emma, her shoulders slouched, leaned against the wall in the hallway. She was worried. But that had always been her nature.

Lurana, Andrew’s sister, stepped quickly to the doctor’s orders.

Andrew rocked in a chair, in a room away from the others, contemplating the birth of a son.

It was July 19, 1860.

Sarah Anthony Morse Borden, two months shy of her 37^th birthday, was about to deliver her third child: Lizzie Andrew Borden.

So once again, come this Saturday, July 19th all those “this time in history” blogs, cable news quips, newspaper articles and other notable mentions will remind us of the woman who factored in America’s most compelling and enigmatic case.

We can ponder her birth or, as I like to do, ponder significant events prior to her birth – let’s take a 10 year lead-in where events in some way relate to the case or the Borden saga in general.

1850	Allan Pinkerton founds the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
1850	English author Charles Dickens writes David Copperfield.
1850	The first issue of Harper’s magazine is published.
November 7, 1850	Melvin O. Adams is born in Ashburnham, Ma.
1850	Fall River Population: 11,170
March 1, 1851	Emma Lenora Borden is born to Andrew and Sarah Borden.
August 15, 1851	William Arthur Davis is born (son of Butcher Davis).
January 10, 1835	George Dexter Robinson is born (later becomes 3 time Governor and head of Lizzie’s defense).
January, 1852	Alice Russell is born
May 1, 1853	Mary Jane Borden (d. of Cook Borden) marries James Hartley (parents of Grace Hartley Howe).
October 13, 1853	Phebe Davenport Borden, wife of Abraham and mother of Andrew, dies at age 64. Andrew is 31 yrs old.
January 26, 1854	Lurana Borden (Andrew’s sister) marries Hiram Harrington.
1854	Jefferson Borden organizes Metacomet Bank.
1854	Outbreak of cholera.
1854	Fall River incorporated. Motto: “We’ll Try”.
February 3, 1854	Abraham Borden deeds house on Ferry Street to Andrew. (LR28)
May 31, 1854	Edwin Augustus Buck is ordained as a Minister.
March 18, 1854	Charles C. Cook, long time Borden real estate manager, is born in Fall River.
April 20, 1854	William S. Borden, son of Deacon Charles L. Borden, is born (Arnold Brown’s “illegitimate son of AJB”)
April 22, 1854	City Charter adopted for Fall River, establishing 6 Wards.
April 22, 1854	James Buffington elected first Mayor of Fall River. Southard Miller elected Alderman of City of Fall River.
Nov. 23, 1854	Abraham Borden marries second wife BeBe Wilmarth, Andrew’s stepmother. (AJB is 32 years old).
1855	Oak Grove Cemetery is laid out.
1855	Saint Mary’s Cathedral (Second and Spring) dedicated
1856	Anti-slavery Republican party formed in United States.
May 3, 1856	Alice Esther Borden, second daughter of Andrew and Sarah, is born in Fall River.
1857	Financial Panic of 1857, Jefferson Borden saves Iron Works financial assets.
Sept. 14, 1857	George B. Harrington, only child of Hiram and Lurana, is born.
1857	Central Police Station built (remodeled from horse stables) on Purchase and Granite Streets.
March 28. 1858	Nathaniel B. Borden gives his inaugural address as Mayor of Fall River.
March 10, 1858	Alice Esther Borden, 2 yrs old, dies of hydrocephalus. Andrew is 36 years old. Emma is 7 years old.
May 1858	Josiah C. Blaisdell elected Mayor (and again in 1859).
1859	Union Mill Company formed by David Anthony and Hale Remington.
April 17, 1859	Philip Harrington, later to be Captain of Fall River Police Department, is born.
Aug. 10, 1859	Patrick Doherty is born in Wareham, Mass.
1860	Abraham Lincoln is elected as the first Republican President of the United States.
1860	Colonel Richard Borden, richest man in town, worth $375,000, wife is head of Cong. Church sewing circle.
1860	Southard H. Miller appointed Fire Chief (serves until 1869; also built Borden house) (ASPIII-114)
1860	Fall River population: 13,240
July 19, 1860	Lizzie Andrew Borden, born at #12 Ferry Street, Fall River.

Lizzie Borden’s Birthday Clock

Ever wonder the significance of the day Lizzie Borden was born? Here’s a nifty program that assembles a variety of information specific to that date. Amusing and informative.

(copyright 2000 faye musselman)

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This Birth Clock tells you how many hours and how many seconds you have been alive on this earth and when you were probably conceived, your life path number and the numbers you are most compatible with, and so much more.

You can go to the actual site by clicking HERE and enter the birth dates of Lizzie and other Borden case notables.

After you’ve finished reading the info, click again, and see what the moon looked like the night the person was born.

November 7, 1850

Melvin O. Adams is born in Ashburnham, Ma.

August 24, 1849

Andrew J. Jennings is born.

May 5, 1849

Rufus Bartlett Hilliard born in Pembroke, ME; later Chief of Police of Fall River 1886-1909.

March 29, 1848

John Fleet (later Asst. City Marshall of Fall River) is born in Lancaster, England. (LR149)

May 20, 1847

Hosea Knowlton is born. (Prosecuting District Attorney in Borden case).

January 10, 1835

George Dexter Robinson born (later becomes 3-time Governor and head of Lizzie’s defense).

July 5, 1801

BeBe Wilmarth born. (Abraham’s 2nd wife)

June 9, 1861

John W. Coughlin is born; later becomes three-term Mayor of Fall River.

January 14, 1871

Louis McHenry Howe is born in Indianapolis, Indiana (later marries Lizzie’s cousin, Grace Hartley).

July 7, 1869

Henry G. Trickey is born.

November 9, 1874

Grace Hartley born, Lizzie’s cousin and later to become wife of Louis McHenry Howe. (Lizzie is 14)

October 8, 1874

Nance O’Neil (Gertrude Lamson) is born in Oakland, California. (LR308)

March 14, 1812

Ladowick Borden (Andrew’s uncle, brother of Cook) born in Fall River.

September 19, 1823

Sarah Anthony Morse (first wife of Andrew J. Borden) is born in Somerset, Mass.

May 31, 1824

Rev. Edwin Augustus Buck is born. (Bucksport, Maine)

January 21, 1828

Abby Durfee Gray is born (second wife of Andrew Borden).

July 5, 1833

John Vinnicum Morse born in Somerset, MA.

July 20, 1840

Dr. Seabury W. Bowen is born.

May 20, 1847

Hosea Knowlton is born. (Prosecuting District Attorney in Borden case).

June 16, 1867

Helen Leighton born in Millbridge, Maine.

March 18, 1854

Charles C. Cook, long time Borden real estate manager, is born in Fall River.

March 1, 1851

Emma Lenora Borden is born to Andrew and Sarah Borden.

July 19, 1860

Lizzie Andrew Borden born at #12 Ferry Street, Fall River, MA.

September 13, 1822

Andrew Jackson Borden is born (8th generation) at #12 Ferry Street, Fall River.

July 8, 1798

Abraham Bowen Borden (Andrew’s father, 7th generation) is born.

Script Excerpt: Post Burial Remembrance

Here’s an excerpt from one of two scripts I’ve written on the Lizzie Borden case. I scheduled some automatic launches of blog entries during my Italy trip and this will be the first. And they aren’t all from the script….watch for letters in my collection from Bordens.

JUSTICE MASON

The Court herewith orders that you be discharged of this indictment and go thereof without day.

FADE TO BLACK.

EXT. OAK GROVE CEMETERY – THE ANDREW BORDEN PLOT – DUSK
WORDS ON SCREEN: “ONE YEAR LATER”

We see Lizzie and Emma looking at the new 10-foot high monument they have recently had placed across from the graves of their father, mother, baby Alice, and Abby. The monument is carved with all their names, dates of birth, dates of death.

EMMA

Promise me Lizzie that … when the time comes…you will not have me buried next to Abby. Promise me that you will have me buried closer to father’s headstone.

LIZZIE

Of course, Emma. I promise. And when the time comes, I shall have myself buried next to you.

Lizzie looks back up at the monument and remembers:

EXT. SWANSEA – BANKS OF COLES RIVER

Lizzie is about 12 years old and is sitting on the grass with Andrew. It is a beautiful, peaceful day. They hold fishing poles and he is helping her attach sinkers.

ANDREW

I remember when you were just so high and I first taught you to fish. My lands girl, but you took to it so. Smartest little angler I ever saw. You caught three fish your first time and you were mighty excited.

Andrew laughs and puts his arm around Lizzie. She tilts her head so it braces against his arm.

ANDREW

Never could get Emma to get the hang of it. But you’ve always been a quick learner, Lizzie. Now don’t pull it too tight, just a little more here. I figure we can catch our dinner tonight. What do you say?

LIZZIE

If I put my mind to it, Father, I can. If I put my mind to it, I can do most anything. How many fish do you want me to catch?

ANDREW

(smiling)

As many as you want Lizzie, as many as you want.

DISSOLVE

 

INT. MAPLECROFT – LIZZIE’S BEDROOM

Time Portal: Agatha & Ditz – The Soorey Spinsters

 ”Any similarities in the following to real people are purely coincidental.”

Flash Forward – Summer, 2027. Orlando, Florida. Setting: An old 1-story wood frame, weather-beaten house, window screens torn and hanging askew, paint peeling, shrubbery overgrown (think Edie Beale).

Two sisters, one age 65, with dark short hair flattened on one side from a night’s sleeping on a stained uncovered pillow, an elongated face strongly resembling Stan Laurel that shows the stress and disappointment of unfulfilled dreams as represented by her tattered crinkle fabric slacks and frayed t-sheet emblazoned with “arthurlizziemarilyn.com”; the other age 70, long gray hair to her ankles distracting from the several pencils protruding from her headr; wearing pinch nez glasses, a long floral gauze-like frock, barefooted she moves at a slow and aged pace, her back hunched as she carries a large 3-ring notebook cradled in her arm. The sun is nearly set and the room is dark and musky, the only light is from the computer screen.

They drink tea from delicate, ornate bone china cups and converse wistfully about never marrying or having children. Alone, save for each other, the conversation turns -

 

Agatha: She died 100 years ago today.
Ditz: Who died?
Agatha: Why, Lizzie, you old fool.
Ditz: How do you know that? What’s your source? And don’t call me Lizzie.
Agatha: I didn’t mean YOU Lizzie. I meant “our” Lizzie. Oh, nevermind.
Ditz: Well, I only ask for the source so that I can check it, but I may already have that information. Lessee, where did I put those other binders. (She steps over several cats and piles of xerox copies of newspapers going back 150 years, and picks up a stack of papers, dropping the binder from her arms and hitting her toe, causing her to jump awkwardly up and down, her foot landing in a pile of catshit.)
Agatha: I would laugh at you if you weren’t so pathetic.
Ditz: Ha! You haven’t laughed in years.
Agatha: Neither have you.
Ditz: Yes, but I said it first.
Agatha: No, *I* said it first.
Ditz: Said what?
Agatha: Said that you haven’t laughed in years.
Ditz: I thought you meant who said it first.
Agatha: Who said what first?
Ditz: (pulls a pencil out of her hair): I’m going to document that. What time is it?
Agatha: 8:07 pm.
Ditz: (she writes down 8:07 pm): Are you certain? How do you know that. What’s your source?
Agatha: The watch I’m wearing.
Ditz: You don’t have a watch.
Agatha. Well, if I had a watch it would read 8:07 pm.
Ditz: You’re making that up.
Agatha: No I’m not.
Ditz: Are too.
Agatha: Am not.
Ditz: Are! Are! Are!
Agatha: Why do you have 9 pencils poking out of your hair?
Ditz: I’m a researcher, remember? I’m a fact-checker. I need to have pencils with me at all times.
Agatha: What are you researching now?
Ditz: How many times Knowlton used the word “The” in his summation at the Trial.
Agatha: Hey, that’s a good one. I bet nobody’s ever thought of that.
Ditz: Uh huh. And another thing nobody’s thought about: When Lizzie went back up stairs to baste a sleeve….
Agatha: Sew on a button.
Ditz: Baste a sleeve.
Agatha: Baste a hem.
Ditz: Sew on a button.
Agatha: Baste a sleeve without a button.
Ditz: Hem a button.
Agatha: Whatever. What’s the other thing nobody’s thought about?
Ditz: Nobody’s thought about what?
Agatha: What you were going to say?
Ditz: What I was going to say about what?
Agatha: Watch it. You just stepped in cat shit again.
Ditz: Oh, I remember. When Lizzie went back upstairs which foot did she put on the first step. Her right foot or her left foot?
Agatha: I see. Because if she was right handed, her left hand would go on the railing and she would lead with her right foot.
Ditz: I’m checking the Witness Statements. It might be in there.
Agatha: You know who would know?
Ditz: Who?
Agatha: Phoebe Bowen. Or maybe Luranna. One of the two.
Ditz: I think I need to measure the size of Lizzie’s feet first.
Agatha: How can you do that?
Ditz: By taking her body composition times the length of her elbow to tip of her middle finger, dividing by 7 and calculating her height without shoes against the depth of the stairs and factoring the humidity of the air and the number of birds in the pear tree.
Agatha: Sounds plausible. Don’t bother me now, I’ve got to finish working on my presentation.
Ditz: Another one???
Agatha: Yes.
Ditz: But you just gave me one this afternoon.
Agatha: But this one’s different. This one’s in Dutch.
Ditz: Okay. I’ll make us some soup.
Agatha: You’ve got a cat turd stuck to your dress.
Ditz: How do you know? What’s your source?

The End.

A Slow and Tragic Death in Fairhaven, MA

 

 

Newly flushed with the $2,500 she received from Andrew for her half interest buy-back of the Ferry Street homestead in Fall River, Emma Lenora Borden, a spinster of 42, chose to visit people in their 60’s and 70’s in Fairhaven on Green Street.

Just two weeks into the visit – on August 4, 1892 – having received Dr. Bowen’s telegram time-stamped 11:32 a.m., gently informing her she needed to quickly return home, Emma packed her trunks, exited these front steps and headed towards a life-altering hell on earth.

The Brownells, no doubt bidding her adieu as she alighted into a carriage to take her to the train station, and unaware of the unprecedented calamity taking place a mere 20 miles away, settled back into their humble abode on a charming tree lined street in the now historic part of Fairhaven.

Recent years have not been kind to what was known as “19 Green Street”…..and this structure’s slow and tragic death is near end. Too soon Bordenia sleuths will tarry along the sidewalk with their cameras exclaiming: “And this is where the Brownell’s house once stood.”