CHRISTMAS GREETINGS!

I’m off to California and then a post Christmas Christmas with relatives in Hawaii.  When I return, we’ll go “Gardening”.   Some really cool and new stuff on the Gardners of Swansea – and Emma, too!

But first, I send you more jibjab funnies.  Click and enjoy!  (have sound on).

This one is APPROPRIATE to the economic times.

From J.C. and the Gang – an idea is born.

And the Borden Office Party!

Have a safe and wonderful Holiday!

The Bordens: More Irreverent Humor

Another blogger recently wrote:

“Below the frostline now lay today what remains of the sad, frozen bones of Abby and Andrew Borden- still headless, -  and now their likenesses and characters the fodder for irreverent cartoons, gift products and unspeakable accusations made without a shred of evidence.  Those who once were loved and walked among us.  Does the interval of Time allow for such insensitive liberties?  Is murder ever a source for humor?”

I don’t pretend to mourn the deaths of Andrew and Abby Borden.  I didn’t know them.  They didn’t walk amongst me.  Their deaths, tragic and horrible, were no less tragic and horrible than those of hundreds of thousands throughout history whose deaths were in service to our country, or the individual citizen who rushed towards fatal danger in  a sacrifice to save another.

The death of Abby and Andrew were no less tragic and horrible as are those of thousands of kidnapped, abused and murdered children of the last century, the last decade, the last year.  Those are the ones to which I can relate.  As can any mother.   I can mourn for my neighbor’s wife who just passed from cancer.  I knew her.  She walked amongst me.

But I will not pretend a sappy, maudlin and false sensitivity about mourning the death of Abby and Andrew Borden.  If humorous characterizations (and there are tons of them) are considered irreverent and those that consider them funny are insensitive, then so be it.  Let those who find it distasteful deal with it.   The interval of Time did not give birth to such liberties.  Irreverent humor has been a part of American culture since man first put pen to paper.

Let those who hide behind their works in the church and profess a reverent Christian POV (yes, I refer to the blogger quoted above of whom I know personally) while living a life of phony pretenses for purposes of popularity throw stones.  Myself, and many like me, are quite adept at dodging them.  Besides, if you believe in neither heaven nor hell the dictates of the Christian consequence are rendered moot.

Having said all that, I now present more such humor.  View them or not.  Like them or not.  (Click links below images – have sound on).

Andrew Borden, William Moody, John Morse and other familiar faces:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/4DXlDFcOvb3PYUp3WVOm

A modern Lizzie and Young John Morse:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/6ET6nnbyIeMprPDVmX8e

Lizzie Borden does Carmen Miranda:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/b41mPAPf5SthoIomwLAN

Lizzie says to Moody: “Let Me Entertain You”:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/HPHSxgCejJNQIaRqTunT

“Alone” Painting – Part 3″

And yet another “Alone” painting surfaces – the same girl-in-the-boat-at sunset scene that Lizzie Borden gave to a handy man.   Thanks to a comment submitted to this blog we have the name of another artist, Heinrich Vosberg, who painted an original of this scene.      The commenter had this to say:

Bo Says:
July 26, 2009 at 2:38 pm e

“I have a copy as well. It was found in the attic of my girlfriend’s great grandmother. She had it framed. It looks to be oil paint and the canvas has large blank edges with writing on it. It is signed H. Vosberg 1887 on the bottom left. Send me your email and I will send you a pic.”

I “Googled” Vosberg and discovered a load of sites about him, including this “Best Answers” forum that poses the question of value of this painting by Vosberg – I have to assume it’s the same person who wrote me.   Otherwise, logic presumes two people have two original originals.  The entire exchange is quite interesting, but here are some extracts:

“Hi! Heinrich Vosberg was born in Germany in 1833, and lived until 1891. One of his paintings, Lake with sunset, Herrenhausen (1876), is even in the Royal Collection of artwork of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth  II. http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/eGalle… His work is also highly regarded in the International community, so I would urge you not to be in a hurry to sell this painting, but to throughly research all of the information I have given you above, without making any commitments to anyone regarding a possible sale, until you have the big picture of information regarding the painting you own.”

So we learn this painting was actually entitled  “ALONE AND FORSAKEN” – at least by artist Vosberg.  Get this:  A small print can be had for $1.50.  That’s right.  Click HERE and scroll down until you come to image “SIG425″.

It remains a mystery who actually painted the original-original of this girl-in-a-boat-at-sunset scene but what we do know is that it was so popular that countless prints were made and apparently easy to come by.  Actual oil on canvas original paintings that have surfaced here so far were painted by:

1.  Herman Alfred Leonard Wahlberg (1834-1906) – and was given by Lizzie to a handyman.   (Provenance describes it as a “picture” so it may not have been an original painting but a print of Wahlberg’s original).

2.  Father Arnold Janssen, or Janseen (1837-1909) who was canonized and previously featured in this blog  HERE.

3.  Heinrich Vosberg (1833-1891) – his paintings are still sold through various art auction houses.  He named this one “Alone and Forsaken”.

Slide cursor over image when it comes into full view.  (There’s music).

One of those untold number of prints sold for less than $30 on eBay just recently.  The cherrywood frame, circa early 1900’s,  and the newsprint behind the frame were worth more than the print.

I’ve become less interested about the fact Lizzie gave this painting to a handyman than I am about the genesis of its original creation.  Perhaps more readers out there will come forward with *their* original “Alone” painting.

Extended Temporary Hold

I’m done with blogging for a while……perhaps a long while, perhaps a short while.  But I’ve just too many projects, both at work and personal.  Though I enjoy it and all the new people I have met and will still meet on my upcoming travels, Blogging does distract me from my other projects.

I’ll still be chasing Lizzie and accumulating information from my research and contacts from time to time, however, I just won’t have the same amount of time to devote to it.

I hope all of you have enjoyed my posts here and hopefully learned more about Lizzie and Fall River than you did before.  

St. Anne’s Church & It’s Notable Shrine

Located on South Main Street, across from Kennedy Park in Lizzie’s Borden’s Fall River, is this magnificent Catholic Church built by French Canadian immigrants in the early 1900’s.  It is one of the iconic skyline structures immediately recognizable upon the Braga Bridge approach to Fall River.

This structure was put on the National Historic Register of buildings in 1983.

St. Anne’s Parish was founded in 1869 when there were about 500-600 French families in the city.  The Church was founded in 1894.  In 1900, Fall River had a population of slightly more than 100,000 people, of which nearly 40,000 were French.  The surge of French Canadian immigrants at the turn of the Century came from the agricultural crisis in Quebec.  They had a profound influence in the labor, language and culture.  Even by the 1930’s, Fall River still kept sort of a French flavor, and even today one comes across more French and Portuguese names in its local politics, legal profession, and many of the middle class businesses.

French Canadians rose to prominence in Fall River, including Edmund P. Talbot, Fall River’s Mayor from 1923-1926 and again from 1929-1930.   Past Mayor Edward M. Lambert, Jr. is Franco-American.  Ties to church and community is what kept the former mill workers (including the Portuguese and Irish) to remain in Fall River while most of the founding families split when the hard times hit.   Now the French Canadians and those from the Azores are the weavers of a restored tapestry to Fall River’s rich history.  Their hands are no longer on levers and pulleys and spindles,  but their fingerprints are all over what is left and plans for what will be.

Little known to tourists and passing visitors (mostly because it’s not advertised in city brochures) is the below ground level Shrine to St. Anne within the Church.  One has to know where to enter:  an unmarked outside door on the north side.  According to Fall River “Officer Dave” whom I met at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, the Church at one time opened up this space for the homeless.  In short order there were thefts, vandalism and even a death.  The space had also become a safe haven for illicit drug use.  So the parishioners had to re-think that whole be-kind-to-those-less-fortunate thing when it came to free and easy 24/7 access to the Shrine of St. Anne.

The subterranean Shrine is open most all hours to the general public.   It is spacious with a number of “exhibits, as I prefer to call them.  The Shrine of Mother Theresa is astonishingly realistic from all angles.

I forgot what or who this was supposed to be.  I just remember it striking me as rather creepy.

St. Anne was Jesus’ maternal grandmother – although you won’t find that in the bible.

Candles for prayer.

After you delight in the “Shrine Exhibit”, just down the road at Globe Four (really Five) corners, at Globe and South Main is one of the best secrets in town.  You can get the best soft serve ice cream anywhere, right here, in this little French Canadian nieghborhood.

Lizzie Borden Salem Exhibit & the Bleeder-Readers

I’ve posted before about the Lizzie Borden “True Story” exhibit in Salem and now, I give you some overall glimpses of most of the exhibit.

I’ve written before on this subject and those posts can be found HERE

and HERE and HERE .  BE SURE TO READ THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE AT THE VERY END OF THIS POST!

The facility is 3,500 square feet of which 3,000 feet is exhibit space.  It is brand, spanking new, extremely well organized with the spacial layouts of the storyboards which are very well done with a clear, readable font.  It seems more thought and planning went into the storyboards than the actual floor displays.

There is nothing new to be found here in terms of information or “true” story.  What it is, is a factual telling of the case thru the extremely text-heavy storyboards.  All the content is what has already appeared in numerous books or newspapers.  One feels they ARE reading a book.

The “True Story” exhibit is located on Essex Street in Salem’s “boardwalk” of numerous museums, shops, restaurants, cafes, bookstores, etc.

It is right next door to the large Witch History Museum

The first thing you see when approaching the door is the display of “Halloween’ type skulls displayed in the large glass window.

Once inside, your eyes take in the neatly displayed variety of gift and souvenier items.

There are NO interactive displays.  No audio memories.  No audio guides.  No videos of any kind.  No forensics display.  No interactive forensic exhibit that would engage the visitor to “solve the crime”.  It’s all about the READING.

After paying for your ticket and going thru the entry turnstyle, you enter a small narrow hallway and the READING begins:

CAUTION:   CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR EYES!

AND READ……….

AND READ………

READ ABOUT THE BORDEN FAMILY (Too bad there isn’t audio with voices depicting the family members *telling* you about themselves.   Oh well.  Ho-hum.)

AND READ………

AND READ…………

KEEP MOVING – KEEP READING……..

AND READ………….

Now if you didn’t know better and skipped the “reader boards”,  you would incorrectly assume both Andrew and his wife were murdered in the same room because of the body outlines shown in the same display space.  One is FORCED to read to get the facts.  (Might as well get a book.)

OKAY, MOVE ON NOW.  THERE’S MORE READING TO DO……….

AND READ………

Ahh!  Finally something different to LOOK at!  A 3-D paper mockup of the Borden house and immediate neighbors.  (Here you can relax your eyes for a moment or two.)

BUT THEN…………

YOU KEEP ON READING……….

AND READ ABOUT THE DISCOVERY OF ANDREW’S BODY AS OUTLINED  ON THE BLUE, NOT BLACK (SO00000 “UNTRUE” SOFA).

READ ABOUT THE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AND TRIAL IN A VERY UN-AUTHENTIC MOCKUP OF THE JUDGES BENCH AT THE SUPERIOR COURT IN NEW BEDFORD.

AND READ………..

The “mastoidian” type teeth in the skull of “Abby” was so inaccurate that Mr. Pickel removed them.  The skull is now without teeth.  However, the autopsy report on Abby clearly states she had false teeth in the upper jaw, but visitors do not see the “true” replica of Abby’s skull.

READ ABOUT LIZZIE MOVING TO MAPLECROFT.  NO, THAT’S NOT LIZZIE’S FURNITURE.  NOTHING IN THE EXHIBIT IS A LEGITIMATE ARTIFACT FROM THE CASE OR FALL RIVER’S HISTORY.  BUT DON’T LET THAT STOP YOU FROM READING BECAUSE THERE IS FAR MORE TO READ THAN ITEMS TO LOOK AT.

I don’t know why the picture of these dogs are on the wall.  They were not the kind of dogs Lizzie or Nance O’Neil had.  Perhaps something was just needed to fill up the wall space and its just temporary.

READ ABOUT NANCE O’NEIL

READ ABOUT FALL RIVER TODAY (HUH?) AND THE LIZZIE BORDEN BED & BREAKFAST (THEY FORGOT TO ADD THE WORD “MUSEUM”)

There is no really “Wow!” factor in the exhibit.  But I suppose the closest would be this replica of the Andrew Borden grave site in Oak Grove Cemetery.  Very well done.  It is the next to last thing you see in the exhibit.  It has a dark-mirrored background in back of which is the gift shop.

AND READ…………

THE GUEST BOOK BEFORE YOU GO THRU THE EXIT TURNSTYLE.

There has been much reporting in the media lately of Leonard Pickel’s new “True Story of Lizzie Borden”.  What follows is pure FICTION.

YOU CAN MAKE UP YOUR OWN NEWSPAPER HEADINE AT THIS SITE.

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. ;