DragonsFaeriesElves&theUnseen : Lizzie Andrew Borden

Lizzie Borden~

Lizzie Andre Borden
This is a true image

For today, I thought I would bring you back to the late 1800's of the Case that was never solved, that of Lizzie Borden, unlike that of Jack the Ripper that I was able to find through my research the true killer and justice was served. Lizzie Borden, although was tried on July 19, 1827, for the most horror ax murders of her own parents[father and her stepmother] was acquitted for all charges and was released from the prison in which she had been held during the trial. It was said that Lizzie remained as a resident of Fall River, Massachusetts, for the rest of her life, despite facing significant ostracism, from the commonwealth of the neighbors of Massachusetts. Even though most felt that Lizzie got away with murder,

Andrew Borden
Father of Lizzie

the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts decided not to charge anyone else with the murder of Andrew and Abby Borden and speculation about the crimes of these two still continues more than 100-year later. They have even made miniseries about the case with their own twist to what may have happened and how Lizzie Borden may have lived after the murders with her sister many years after.

Sarah Borden
Lizzie Mother

She was born July 19, 1860, died June 1, 1927,~ First her Early Life might but,
some light on what Lizzie went through as a child. Lizzie Andrew Borden was born on July 19, 1860, in the fall in River Massachusetts to Sarah and Andrew Borden. Soon after that, her mother Sarah Borden died when Lizzie was only a child of either 2-3 years old. At the time, her old sister Emma promised to take care of Lizzie no matter what happens in their lives.

Emma Borden
Lizzie older
Sister

From that point on Lizzie saw her older sister Emma more like a mother than an older sister. Soon thereafter, Lizzie and Emma Borden mother Sarah Borden died, Andrew Borden remarried three years later to an Abby Durfee Gray which didn't lay rest well with the sisters. especially Lizzie. The family- Borden was actually quite wealthy at that time in the 1800's and the new step-mother was not from money, so that didn't set well with Lizzie either. Their Father Andrew Borden was so successful in the fields of manufacturing and real estate development, he was able to support his new wife and two daughters, Lizzie & Emma. Also to employ servants to keep the house in order. It seems that both girls Emma and Lizzie lived with their Father Andrew and Stepmother into their adulthood. This could be another of the growing tension within the home. Despite their father's wealth, Andrew Borden was very much known for his frugality.
For example; The Borden household lacked indoor plumbing and light on its grounds and first floor and was located near Andrews business.

Lizzie Borden

Sunday school to children of recent immigrants to America. Lizzie also was involved in Christian organizations such as the Christian Endeavor Society for which she served as a secretary-treasurer and contemporary social movements for the Women's Christians Temperance Union. Among many other society groups too. A family argument in July of 1892 prompted both sisters to take extended vacations in New Bedford. After returning to Fall River the week before the murders, Lizzie chose to stay in a Fall river rooming house for four more days before returning to the family home. Tension had been growing in the family in the months before the murders especially over their father's gifts of real estate to various branches of Abby's family members. The kicker you could say was when their father gave their stepmother sister received a house as a gift - this is when the tension in the Borden home was at its highest and the sisters demanded their own property. and received a rental property [the home they had lived in until their mother died] which they purchased from their father for $1; they then sold the property back to their

John Vinnicum Morse
Brother of
Lizzie & Emma

father for $5,000[$131,241 as it would be in 2015]. The night before the murders, John Vinnicum Morse, the brother of Lizzie and Emma's deceased mother, Sarah Anthony [Morse] Borden (1823-1863). Had visited and was invited to stay for a few days to
discuss business matters with Andrew Borden. Some have speculated that their conversation, particularly about transfers of property, may have aggravated an already tense situation. For several days before the murders, the entire household had been violently ill. A family friend later speculated that mutton left on the stove for use in meals over several days was the cause, but Abby had feared poison. As Andrew Borden had not been a popular man. It should be noted that the Bordens didn't have an icebox and some historians feel that the hot weather at the time makes it unlikely it was not used. It was the following morning August 4, 1892, that Abby and Andrew Borden were murdered. After the trial, the sisters moved into a larger modern house into the

Andrew & Abby Borden
a few days before they died

the neighborhood called 'The Hill' in Fall River their dream. This is when Lizzie started to use the name, Lizbeth A Borden. To try a new start in life. At their new house, which Lizbeth Named 'Maplecroft' the sisters had a staff that included live-in maids, a housekeeper, and a coachman. How the estate worked was because Abby had died before Andrew so her estate went first to Andrew and then at his death it passed to his daughters as part of his estate. A considerable settlement, however, was paid to settle claims by Abby's family especially Abby's two sisters. It seems despite the acquittal of now Lizbeth was still ostracized by her new home in Fall River Society. Lizzie Borden's name would never go away in the public eye and she was also accused of shoplifting in 1897. in Providence Rhode Island. Then in 1905 shortly after an argument over a party that Lizbeth had given for actress Nance O' Neil Emma moved out of the house.

Emma Borden

She never saw her sister again. Lizbeth was ill in her last year following the removal of her gallbladder; she died of pneumonia on June 1, 1927, in Fall River. Lizzie's Funeral details were not published and very few attended. Nine days later Lizzie's sister Emma died from chronic nephritis at the age of 76 in a nursing home in Newmarket, New Hampshire, having moved to this location in 1923 both for her health reasons and to get away from the public eye. It seems that in her later years another book was publicated which had renewed interest in the sisters and the murders, which made life difficult again for Emma so this is why she moved to the location in New Hampshire. The sisters, neither married were buried side by side in the family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery.
The Family attended the Congregationalist Church in which Lizzie was particularly very involved in.

Young Age
Emma Borden

During the time, both Lizzie and Emma were growing up with their father
and stepmother Abby it seems that even though they had quite the estate and their relatives down the street were living the good live of indoor plumbing and light. Fine clothes and parties. Also finding the proper young men for marriage, the there father kept the girls stuck inside the house for years until they were almost past the prime time of marriage for a proper man in those days. This could have been many of the reason Lizzie could have snapped!
It is said that the sister Lizzie and Emma blamed it all on their stepmother and the relationship between the Borden sister and their stepmother Abby Borden was getting farther apart. The girls started to greet her not as a mom but as Mrs. Borden and were very worried that Abby Borden was sought off to gain access to their father's estate. Emma was always protective of her younger sister and together, the sisters helped to manage the rental properties owned by Andrew Borden their father. It was said that the girls would have inherited a significant portion of their father's estate, which would allow them to purchase a new home together. New clothes etc. The Borden sisters, in fact, did live together for the following decade together. Although free, Lizzie was considered guilty by many of her neighbors and people that just had to visit the town, thusly she never really got to enjoy or be accepted in the community after the trial. Also, during her younger days before all this she was always shoplifting because it was her only way in her mind to have find dresses since here father would not let her

Lizzie & Emma Borden
with friends

buy the fancy higher line ones like that of her cousins. So after the trial her reputation was tarnished by both the murders and shoplifting. Getting back to Lizzie father Andrew Borden - I discovered that He was notoriously a miserly father that truly didn't treat his daughter very kindly after the death of their mother. I am not going to go into detail of the murders because you all know what happened[or put any of the horrid/brutally murder pictures of the deaths] what I am writing about is why they happened and if there is any new evidence for the case.

The murders, which many believed were committed by Lizzie Borden, were used as the basis for a song long ago:

Lizzie Borden took an ax

And gave her Mother Forty whacks

And when she saw what she had done
She gave her father forty-one In reality, Mr. Borden suffered 11 whacks' and his wife suffered 18 or 19. It is believed the song was created by a newspaper vendor and the children would sing it while skipping rope back in 1800'. Nearly now 120 years after Lizzie was found innocent of such a horrid crime/murder of her own father and stepmother, the case of Lizzie Borden continues to intrigue.

Emma & Lizzie Borden

historians and so many others alike. It wasn't til now that we may have some answers and new insight - after the journals that were written by Lizzie Borden family lawyer at the time of her murder trial have been discovered. The question is now - Could the journals of Lizzie Bordens lawyer really reveal the truth behind American's most enduring murder Case? Well, it would seem that there are two handwritten diaries that were found. These will if they can be read of course will no doubt refuel speculation about whether it was the quiet librarian Lizzie who murder

her parents one morning 120 years ago with an ax in 1892. However, there is new light of this case; discovered by the Fall River Historical Society in the Journals of Attorney Andrew Jackson Jennings, hand-writtings after the murders of Abby and Andrew Borden that tell a very different story!!!

The House that the sisters
lived in with their father and stepmother

So I ask, you my, dear friends & followers the question still remains; Did Lizzie Borden actually kill her parents or not? Here are some interesting points that I found from the trial and events preceding the murder that just might change you mind on a few things;

The Borden family was under a great deal of tension mostly due to Lizzie's' father giving large gives[worth lots of money] such as real estate to extended members of the family and nothing to his own Girls!

1-In May of 1892 there was an incident in which their father Andrew, believed

the pigeons hatchlings that Lizzie kept in the barn were attracting intruders and killed every pigeon and hatchling without warning.

2-Lizzie referred to her stepmother Abby Borden as Mrs. Borden soon

as she was a young teen not as a mother or even mom!

3-While searching the Borden home after the murder, the police found a

hatchet in the basement with most of the handle gone! How could a young

woman of that day cut or chop of the handle of a hatchet?

4-The prosecution in the trial of Lizzie argued that the handle had been removed by the killer as an attempt to cover up the blood evidence, however, there were conflicting reports from the two officers one the scene, about whether or not the handle had actually been located near the hatchet head or not? As a result, the prosecutors in the case weren't able to demonstrate convincingly that the hatchet that was found in the basement was the murder weapon.

5-There is more! A few days after the murder, Lizzie Borden had burned a dress she was wearing the days after the murders, Lizzie for had burned the dress saying that it was ruined after she had got paint on it. Some at the time speculated she burned her dress in the stove because of blood stains, but we will really never know!

6- The Journals that were found have been donated to the Historical Society by Jennings grandson, Saunder Waring a little more than a year ago and have been completely transcribed by curator Michael Martins and his assistant curator Dennis Binette.
Some Items from the Journals of Lizzie Bordens Trial~
They say from the Journals that the whole crime scene was disturbed before the police even arrived at the scene. Martins said, after such a struggle, Abby's skirts were likely to be bunched up not laid down because of the property at the time he said she was likely made more presentable for the photographers. Some of the information in the Journal that was used in the Lizzie Borden trial wasn't not true. Charles Sawyer, a sign painter who lived at 78th Second st. was put on guard duty by police officer George A Allen to watch the body of Abby Borden. The Officer told Jennings that a yardstick lay next to Abby and about a foot of her body was 'almost under the bed!
According to the journal notes; "Think she was running to get away from the party, away from the door, as if she had run around the bed as far as she could!" Sawyer told Jennings she was likely using the yardstick to smooth over the made bed and had it in her hand to go out the door.
A completely different story emerges from the Journal of the lawyer of Lizzie Borden~

A few images of the Journal

It has long been a question of whether Abby saw her murderer when she was hit from behind and killed instantly. Martins said this leads the reader to believe that Abby Borden did see the assailant and was trying to get away. He said that perhaps her running away means it was someone unknown and not Lizzie. While there is nothing in the journals about Andrew Borden's body being moved. Martins and Binette said it is too was likely to be disturbed prior to the photographs being snapped too! Bothe noted that the sofa, which rested on casters, appears to have been moved into the doorway of the dining room. Also, the painting that was hanging above the sofa is not centered either. After studying the photograph, Martin said it almost appeared as if the sofa had been dragged. Also evidenced by Andrew's Borden feet which appear to be resting on their sides.
Martins said the Journal which are completely Earth-shattering' will be published by the society in the future. No one was ever convicted of the murders, but circumstantial evidence appeared to connected Lizzie to the scene of the crime. It's all new material. completely unpublished. 'Michael Martins from the Fall River Historical Society, which acquired the journals, Told the Boston Globe. The Leather-bound journals were given to the Massachusettes society by Jennings grandson, Edward Waring in his will after he died last year. He had decided to keep them private until then. Fearful that his grandfather who had messy handwriting would be misquoted on the Globe reported. It is said that some excerpts were discovered by the Fall River Historical Society in the Journals of the Attorney Andrew Jackson Jennings hand-written after the murders of Abby and Andrew Borden. Tell a very different story. So it just might be a matter of time when we find the truth of the Lizzie Borden murders or we may never know!

Lizzie in her last days

Lizzie soon purchased a mansion on the fashionable Highlands 'The Hill, as they say in Fall River. The house was called Maplecroft and it was an address more in keeping with her station in life. Lizzie continued to live there with her beloved dogs until her death in 1927. In 1905, her sister Emma abruptly moved out of the house that they had bought together and shared with her sister Lizzie. The two never spoke again even to their deaths. Emma may have been uncomfortable with Lizzie's close friendship with another woman - Nance O'Neil. Although her silence on the issue has fueled speculation that she might have learned new details about he murders of her father and stepmother. This could have meant Lizzie could have said something to Emma during a

Lizzie with one of many beloved dogs

heated argument one will really never know! No members of the household staff ever offered additional information on the rift or what had happened

Lizzie with one of her favorite
beloved dogs

between the sister to make them separate with such ill and harsh ended. Especially since Emma always said she would always protect her little sister. Even following Lizzie's death know one from the family step-up to offer any information on why the two separated. Lizzie died of pneumonia in the Fall River Massachusetts on June 1, 1927. Emma Borden died just days after in Newmarket, New Hampshire.