Lizzie Borden

For other people named Lizzie Borden, see Lizzie Borden (disambiguation).

Lizzie Borden
c. 1890
Born	Lizzie Andrew Borden (1860-07-19)July 19, 1860 Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Died	Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Resting place	Oak Grove Cemetery
Known for	Being tried and acquitted for the murders of her father and step-mother.
Signature

Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman who was tried and acquitted for the 1892 axe murders of her father and her stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.

The case was a cause célèbre throughout the United States. Following her release from the prison in which she had been held during the trial, Borden chose to remain a resident of Fall River, Massachusetts, for the rest of her life, despite facing significant ostracism. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts elected to charge no one else with the murder of Andrew and Abby Borden; speculation about the crimes still continues more than 100 years later.

Background

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The Borden household at 92 Second Street in Fall River, Massachusetts

Lizzie Borden's father, Andrew Jackson Borden, grew up in very modest surroundings and struggled financially as a young man, despite being the descendant of wealthy, influential area residents. He eventually prospered through the manufacture and sales of furniture and caskets, and went on to become a successful property developer. He directed several textile mills including the Globe Yarn Mill Company, Troy Cotton, and Woolen Manufacturing Company. He also owned considerable commercial property and was both president of the Union Savings Bank and a director of the Durfee Safe Deposit and Trust Co. At the time of his death, his estate was valued at $300,000 ($7,901,111 as of 2024).

Despite his wealth, Andrew was known for his frugality. For instance, the Borden home lacked indoor plumbing on its ground and first floor and was located near Andrew's businesses. The residence at 92 (230 after 1896) Second Street was located in an affluent area, but the wealthiest residents of Fall River, Massachusetts (which included Andrew Borden's cousins) generally lived in a more fashionable neighborhood ("The Hill") that was farther away from the industrial areas of the city and much more homogenous racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically.

Lizzie and her older sister, Emma Lenora Borden (1851–1927), had a relatively religious upbringing and attended Central Congregational Church. As a young woman, Lizzie was very involved in activities related to her church, including teaching Sunday school to children of recent immigrants to America. She also was involved in Christian organizations such as the Christian Endeavor Society, for which she served as secretary-treasurer, and contemporary social movements such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). She was also a member of the Ladies' Fruit and Flower Mission.

Three years after the death of Sarah Anthony (Morse) Borden (1823–1863), Andrew's first wife and mother to Lizzie and Emma, Andrew married Abby Durfee Gray. Lizzie stated, during police questioning and during the inquest, that she called her stepmother "Mrs. Borden" and demurred on whether they had a cordial relationship. Lizzie believed that Abby was after her father's money. During the inquest, the Bordens' live-in maid Bridget Sullivan testified that Lizzie and Emma rarely ate meals with their parents. In May 1892 Andrew, believing that pigeons in the barn were attracting local children to hunt them, killed the pigeons with a hatchet. Lizzie had recently built a roost for the pigeons and was upset at their deaths. A family argument in July 1892 prompted both sisters to take extended "vacations" in New Bedford. Returning to Fall River the week before the murders, Lizzie chose to stay in a Fall River rooming house for four days before returning to the family residence.

Tension had been growing in the family in the months before the murders, especially over Andrew's gifts of real estate to various branches of Abby's family. After their stepmother's sister received a house, the sisters had demanded and received a rental property (the home they had lived in until their mother died) which they purchased from their father for $1; a few weeks before the murders, they sold the property back to their father for $5,000 ($131,685 as at 2024). The night before the murders, John Vinnicum Morse, the brother of Lizzie and Emma's deceased mother, visited and was invited to stay for a few days to discuss business matters with Andrew. Some writers have speculated that their conversation, particularly about property transfer, 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 poisoning, as Andrew Borden had not been a popular man. It should be noted that the Bordens did have an icebox, and some historians feel that the hot weather at the time makes it unlikely it was not used.

Murders

Body of Abby Borden

Body of Andrew Borden

Abby and Andrew Borden were murdered at their home on the morning of Thursday, August 4, 1892; Abby between 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., and Andrew between 10:30 a.m. and 11:10 a.m.

Abby Durfee Gray Borden

Although cleaning the guest room was one of Lizzie and Emma's regular chores, John Morse had slept in the room the previous night, and Abby had gone up to the room to make the bed. According to the forensic investigation, Abby was facing her killer at the time of the attack. She was struck on the side of the head with a hatchet which cut her just above the ear, causing her to turn and fall facedown on the floor, which created contusions on her nose and forehead. Her killer is then assumed to have sat on her back and delivered 19 direct hits to the back of her head.

Andrew Jackson Borden

After breakfast, Andrew and Morse went to the sitting room where they chatted for an hour. Morse left to visit a relative at 8:45 a.m. and Andrew left for his morning walk sometime after 9 a.m. When he returned at around 10:30 a.m., his key failed to open the door, so he knocked for attention. Bridget went to unlock the door; finding it jammed, she uttered an expletive. She would later testify that she heard Lizzie laughing immediately after this; she did not see Lizzie, but she stated that the laughter was coming from the top of the stairs. This was later considered significant because Abby's body was visible through the gap between bed and floor when climbing the stairs, only becoming hidden by the bed upon reaching the top. Lizzie later denied being upstairs and testified that her father had asked her where Abby was, and she had replied that a messenger had delivered a summons to visit a sick friend. Lizzie then removed Andrew's boots and helped him into his slippers before he lay down on the sofa for a nap. Next she informed Bridget of a department-store sale and permitted her to go, but Bridget felt unwell and went to take a nap in her bedroom instead.

Lizzie gave two different accounts of what happened next: originally she stated that she went to the barn to look for iron or tin to fix a door and remained in the loft for 20 to 30 minutes eating pears. Police were skeptical, finding it unlikely that anyone could stand the stifling heat of the loft for that long; they also reported finding no footprints in the dust.

Bridget Sullivan testified that she was in her third-floor room, resting from cleaning windows, when just before 11:10 a.m. she heard Lizzie call from downstairs, "Maggie, come quick! Father's dead. Somebody came in and killed him." (Lizzie always called Bridget Sullivan "Maggie", the name of an earlier maid.) Andrew was slumped on a couch in the downstairs sitting room, struck 10 or 11 times with a hatchet-like weapon. One of his eyeballs had been split cleanly in two, suggesting that he had been asleep when attacked. His still-bleeding wounds suggested a quite recent attack.

Investigation

Lizzie's answers to the police officers' questions were at times strange and contradictory. Initially she reported hearing a groan, or a scraping noise, or a distress call, before entering the house, but two hours later she said she had heard nothing and entered the house not realizing that anything was wrong. When asked where her stepmother was, she recounted Abby receiving a note asking her to visit a sick friend. She also stated that she thought Abby had returned and asked if someone could go upstairs and look for her. Bridget and a neighbor, Mrs. Churchill, were halfway up the stairs, their eyes level with the floor, when they looked into the guest room and saw Abby lying facedown on the floor. Most of the officers who interviewed Lizzie reported that they disliked her attitude; some said she was too calm and poised. Despite Lizzie's "attitude" and changing alibis, nobody bothered to check her for bloodstains. Police did search her room, but it was merely a cursory inspection; at the trial they admitted to not doing a proper search because Lizzie was not feeling well. They were subsequently criticized for their lack of diligence.

In the basement, police found two hatchets, two axes, and a hatchet-head with a broken handle. The hatchet-head was suspected of being the murder weapon as the handle looked like a fresh break and the ash and dust on the head, unlike that on the other bladed tools, appeared to have been deliberately applied to make it look as if it had been in the basement for some time. However, none of these tools were removed from the house.

The sisters' friend, Alice Russell, decided to stay with them while John Morse spent the night in the attic guest room, contrary to later accounts that he slept in the murder-site guest room. Police were stationed around the house, and later that night an officer saw Lizzie enter the basement and bend over the pails containing her parents' bloody clothing, an action never explained. The following night, Morse left the house and was swarmed by hundreds of people; police had to escort him back to the house. On August 6, police conducted a more thorough search of the house, inspecting the sisters' clothing and confiscating the broken-handled hatchet-head. That evening a police officer and the mayor visited the Bordens, and Lizzie was informed that she was a suspect in the murders. The next morning, Alice Russell entered the kitchen to find Lizzie Borden burning a dress on the fire. Lizzie explained that she was burning it because it was covered in paint. It was never determined whether it was the dress she had been wearing on the day of the murders.

Inquest

Lizzie appeared at the inquest hearing on August 8. Her request to have her family attorney present was refused under a state statute providing that an inquest may have been held in private. She had been prescribed regular doses of morphine to calm her nerves, and it is possible that her testimony was affected by this. Lizzie's behavior was erratic, and she often refused to answer a question even if the answer would be beneficial to her. She often contradicted herself, such as claiming to have been in the kitchen reading a magazine when her father arrived home, then claiming to have been in the dining room doing some ironing, and then claiming to have been coming down the stairs. She had also claimed to have removed her father's boots and put slippers on him despite police photographs clearly showing Andrew wearing his boots. The district attorney was very aggressive and confrontational. On August 11, Lizzie was served with a warrant of arrest and jailed. The inquest testimony, the basis for the modern debate regarding her guilt or innocence, was later ruled inadmissible at her trial in June 1893.

A grand jury began hearing evidence on November 7, and Lizzie was indicted on December 2.

Trial

Lizzie Borden during the trial, by Benjamin West Clinedinst

File:Lizzie borden indictment.jpg

"...with a certain weapon, to wit, a sharp cutting instrument, the name and a more particular description of which is to the Jurors unknown..."

Trial jury

Lizzie's trial took place in New Bedford starting on June 5, 1893. Prosecuting attorneys were Hosea M. Knowlton and future Supreme Court Justice William H. Moody; defending were Andrew V. Jennings, Melvin O. Adams, and former Massachusetts governor George D. Robinson.

Prominent points in the trial (or press coverage of it) included:

• The hatchet-head found in the basement was not convincingly shown to be the murder weapon. Prosecutors argued that the killer had removed the handle because it was bloody. One officer testified that a hatchet handle was found near the hatchet-head, but another officer contradicted this.
• Though no bloody clothing was found, a few days after the murder Lizzie burned a dress in the stove, saying that it had been ruined when she brushed against fresh paint.
• According to testimony, the maid, Bridget, went upstairs at around 10:58 a.m. and left Lizzie and her father downstairs. Lizzie told many people that at this time, she went into the barn and was not in the house for "20 minutes or possibly a half an hour". Simon Robinski testified for the defense that he saw Lizzie leaving the barn at 11:03 a.m. and Charles Gardner confirmed the time. At 11:10 a.m., Lizzie called the maid downstairs, told her Mr. Borden had been murdered, and told her not to go into the room where he died. Instead, Lizzie sent the maid to fetch a doctor.
• There was a similar axe-murder nearby shortly before the trial, though its perpetrator was shown to have been out of the country when the Bordens were killed.
• Evidence was excluded that Lizzie had sought to purchase prussic acid (for cleaning a sealskin cloak, she said) from a local druggist on the day before the murders when the judge ruled that the incident was too remote in time to have any connection.
• Because of the mysterious illness that had struck the household before the murders, the family's milk and Andrew's and Abby's stomachs (removed during autopsies performed in the Borden dining room) were tested for poison; none was found.
• The victims' heads were removed during autopsy. The skulls were used as evidence during the trial – and Lizzie fainted upon seeing them – the heads were later buried at the foot of each grave.
• The presiding Associate Justice, Justin Dewey (who had been appointed by Robinson when he was governor), delivered a lengthy summary that supported the defense as his charge to the jury before it was sent to deliberate.

On June 20, after deliberating an hour and a half, the jury acquitted Lizzie.

The trial has been compared to the later trials of Bruno Hauptmann, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, and O.J. Simpson as a landmark in publicity and public interest in the history of American legal proceedings.

Other theories

No one else was charged in the murders, and they continue to be the subject of research and speculation. Among those suggested to be the killer or killers by various authors are:

• Although acquitted at trial, Lizzie remains the prime suspect. One writer proposed that she committed the murders while in a fugue state, while mystery author Ed McBain, in his 1984 novel Lizzie (see "Prose" below), had Lizzie committing the murders after being caught in a lesbian tryst with the maid. McBain elaborated on his theory on an episode of the 1999 Film Garden Entertainment video series Case Reopened. He speculated that Mrs. Borden had caught Lizzie and maid Bridget Sullivan together and had reacted with horror and disgust, and that Lizzie had killed Mrs. Borden with a candlestick; when her father returned she had confessed to him, but he had reacted to her revelation of the affair exactly as Mrs. Borden had, and in a rage she had gotten one of the hatchets and killed him with it, with Bridget disposing of the hatchet somewhere afterward. (In her later years, Lizzie Borden was rumored to be a lesbian, but there was no such speculation about Sullivan, who found other employment after the murders and later married a man.) One prominent theory suggests that Lizzie was physically and sexually abused by her father. There is little evidence to support this, but incest is not a topic that would have been discussed at the time, and the type of methods for collecting physical evidence would have been quite different in 1892.
• Bridget Sullivan, while still recovering from the mystery illness that had struck the household.
• A "William Borden", Andrew Borden's illegitimate son, a butcher and horse meat trader who may have tried and failed to extort money from his father. This theory is advanced by Arnold Brown in his book Lizzie Borden: The Legend, the Truth, the Final Chapter.
• Emma Borden, having established an alibi at Fairhaven, Massachusetts (about 15 miles away from Fall River, Massachusetts) comes secretly to Fall River to commit the murders and returns to Fairhaven to receive the telegram informing her of the murders.
• John Morse, Lizzie's maternal uncle, rarely met with the family after his sister died, but came to stay with them the night before the murders. He was considered a suspect by police for a period of time.

Subsequent life

After the trial, the sisters moved into a large, modern house in the neighborhood called "The Hill" in Fall River. Around this time, Lizzie began using the name Lizbeth A. Borden. At their new house, which Lizbeth named "Maplecroft", the sisters had a staff that included live-in maids, a housekeeper, and a coachman. Because Abby was ruled to have died before Andrew, her estate went first to Andrew and then, at his death, 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).

Despite the acquittal, Lizbeth was ostracized by Fall River society. Lizbeth Borden's name was again brought into the public eye when she was accused of shoplifting in 1897 in Providence, Rhode Island.

In 1905, shortly after an argument over a party that Lizbeth had given for actress Nance O'Neil, Emma moved out of the house. 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. Funeral details were not published and few attended. Nine days later, 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 health reasons and to get away from the public eye, which had renewed interest in the sisters at the publication of another book about the murders. The sisters, neither of whom had ever married, were buried side by side in the family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery.

Lizbeth left $30,000 ($ as of 2024) to the Fall River Animal Rescue League and $500 ($ as of 2024) in trust for perpetual care of her father's grave; her closest friend and a cousin each received $6,000 ($ as of 2024)—substantial sums at the time of the estate's distribution in 1927.

Folk rhyme

The case was memorialized in a popular skipping-rope rhyme sung to the tune of the then-popular song Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay.

Lizzie Borden took an axe

And gave her mother forty whacks.

When she saw what she had done,

She gave her father forty-one.

Folklore says that the rhyme was made up by an anonymous writer as a tune to sell newspapers. Others attribute it to the ubiquitous, but anonymous, "Mother Goose".

In reality, Lizzie's stepmother suffered 18 or 19 blows; her father suffered 11 blows.

In popular culture

Music

• "Lizzie Borden," a song from the musical revue New Faces of 1952, popularized by the Chad Mitchell Trio
• Lizzie Borden, a 1965 opera based on the case
• Macabre (Technical/Death Metal band from Chicago) released a song about Borden, simply called "Lizzy Borden" on their 2011 album Grim Scary Tales.
• Flotsam and Jetsam, a thrash metal band from Arizona, released a song about Lizzy Borden, titled as "She Took an Axe" in their debut album, Doomsday for the Deceiver.
• Lizzy Borden, a heavy metal band whose music is themed around death and murder. The lead singer also uses the name Lizzy Borden.
• "Fall River Legend" an orchestral work written by Morton Gould for the ballet of the same name choreographed by Agnes de Mille.
• "Lizzie Borden", a song written by Ron Ecker, sung by Twila Powers.
• "Thirty Whacks," a song by The Dresden Dolls is based on the murders.

Film and television

• The Legend of Lizzie (1953), an episode of Suspense aired on 10 March 1953 starring Katharine Bard as Lizzie.
• The Older Sister, an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, aired on 22 January 1956, presents the alternative theory that Lizzie (played by Carmen Matthews) covered for her older sister, Emma, the actual murderer.
• Legend of Murder: The Untold Story of Lizzie Borden (1961), an episode of Armstrong Circle Theatre broadcast on 11 October 1961 starring Clarice Blackburn (who later starred on ABC-TV's Dark Shadows) as Lizzie.
• The Legend of Lizzie Borden, a 1975 ABC film based on the case. It speculated that the title character (played by Elizabeth Montgomery) had committed the murders naked, thereby leaving no bloody clothing in evidence. Elizabeth Montgomery and Lizzie Borden were sixth cousins once removed, both descending from 17th-century Massachusetts resident John Luther. Rhonda McClure, the genealogist who documented the Montgomery-Borden connection, said, "I wonder how Elizabeth would have felt if she knew she was playing her own cousin." One of the gowns worn by Montgomery in the film is on display at the bed-and-breakfast that now occupies the Borden house.
• Lizzie Borden (1976), an episode of Second Verdict broadcast on 24 June 1976 starring Rosemary Leach as Lizzie.
• The Warriors (1979), an action thriller film about modern street gangs in New York included an all girl band of violent young women called "The Lizzies" (as a reference to Lizzie Borden).
• Friday the 13th: The Series (1987–1990) had an episode named "Wax Magic" with Lizzie Borden played by actress Susannah Hoffman.
• A 1998 episode of Smart Guy made numerous references to Borden. In the episode, the main character (T.J.) works on a school project about her.
• Lizzie, a 2012 horror film where a distant descendant of Lizzie Borden is haunted by Lizzie's ghost.
• Lizzie Borden Took an Ax, a U.S. television movie that premiered on Lifetime on January 25, 2014 with Christina Ricci in the title role.
• The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, a limited series and sequel to the above TV movie that premiered on Lifetime on April 5, 2015 (with Ricci again playing Lizzie), which presents a fictional account of Lizzie's life after the trial.
• "Thin Lizzie", an episode of the TV series Supernatural, is centered around a possible haunting of the house where the murders took place.

Prose

• "The Fall River Axe Murders," a short story by Angela Carter, was published in her 1985 collection Black Venus.
• Maplecroft, a 2014 novel by Cherie Priest, which combines the Borden murders with Lovecraftian horror.
• Lizzie, a novel by Ed McBain writing as "Evan Hunter" (ISBN 978-0-87795-570-2)
• Lizzie Borden, The Girl with the Pansy Pin, a 2013 novel by Michael Thomas Brimbau (who was actually born in Fall River, MA) (ISBN 978-0-9819043-4-4)
• Sisterly Love: The Saga of Emma and Lizzie Borden, a 2013 novel by Jordan Bollinger (ISBN 978-1-61252-331-6), which postulates the Emma Borden theory.
• Miss Lizzie, a 1989 novel by Walter Satterthwaite (ISBN 0-595-00794-5) which catches up with Lizbeth Borden at the end of her life when she is involved in a homicide investigation (a gruesome hatchet murder of a young friend's stepmother) at a seaside retreat.

Other

• Blood Relations, a play by Canadian playwright Sharon Pollock, based on the speculation as to whether or not Lizzie really did commit the murders.
• Fall River Legend, a 1948 ballet by choreographer Agnes de Mille, based on the life of Lizzie Borden
• The Borden Tragedy, a 1997 graphic novel by comic artist and author Rick Geary, features Lizzie prominently as it recounts the events surrounding the double murder. The graphic novel is part of his Treasury of Victorian Murder series.
• The Bloody, Bloody Banks of Fall River, a September 30, 1953 episode of the CBS radio series Crime Classics with Irene Tedrow portraying Lizzie.
• Lizzie Borden House, Bed & Breakfast Museum
• Lizzie, a rock musical by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, Alan Stevens Hewitt and Tim and Maner, explores the events from the perspective of four women involved with the incident: Lizzie, her sister Emma, her friend Alice Russell and her maid Bridget Sullivan.

See also

• A. J. Borden Building
• Corky Row Historic District
• Robert Borden – distant relative and Prime Minister of Canada 1911–1919

Further reading

A number of works expounding the facts and different theories have been written about the crime. These include:

• Asher, Robert, Lawrence B. Goodheart and Alan Rogers. Murder on Trial: 1620–2002 New York: State University of New York Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-7914-6377-2.
• Brown, Arnold R. Lizzie Borden: The Legend, the Truth, the Final Chapter. Nashville, TN: Rutledge Hill Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55853-099-1.
• Davidson, Avram. "The Deed of the Deft-Footed Dragon" in several collections, most recently The Other Nineteenth Century, ed. Grania Davis and Henry Wessels. New York; TOR, 2001.
• de Mille, Agnes. Lizzie Borden: A Dance of Death. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1968.
• Kent, David Forty Whacks: New Evidence in the Life and Legend of Lizzie Borden. Yankee Books, 1992, ISBN 0-89909-351-5.
• Kent, David The Lizzie Borden Sourcebook. Boston: Branden Publishing Company, 1992, ISBN 0-8283-1950-2.
• King, Florence. WASP, Where is Thy Sting? Chapter 15, "One WASP's Family, or the Ties That Bind." Stein & Day, 1977, ISBN 0-552-99377-8 (1990 Reprint Edition).
• Lincoln, Victoria. A Private Disgrace: Lizzie Borden by Daylight. NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1967, ISBN 0-930330-35-8.
• Martins, Michael and Dennis Binette. Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A. Borden and Her Fall River. Fall River: Fall River Historical Society, 2011. 1,138 pages with much previously unavailable information including letters written by Lizzie Borden while in jail and photographs of her in later life. ISBN 978-0-9641248-1-3 Parallel Lives Official Website
• Masterton, William L. Lizzie Didn’t Do It! Boston: Branden Publishing Company, 2000, ISBN 0-8283-2052-7.
• Pearson, Edmund Lester. Studies in Murder Ohio State University Press, 1924.
• Pearson, Edmund Lester. Trial of Lizzie Borden, edited, with a history of the case, Doubleday-Doran, 1937. Main text is a transcript of the trial.
• Radin, Edward D. Lizzie Borden: The Untold Story Simon and Schuster, 1961.
• Rebello, Leonard. Lizzie Borden: Past & Present Al-Zach Press, 1999.
• David Rehak. Did Lizzie Borden Axe For It? Angel Dust Publishing, 2008.
• Spiering, Frank. Lizzie: The Story of Lizzie Borden. Dorset Press, 1991, ISBN 0-88029-685-2.
• Sullivan, Robert. Goodbye Lizzie Borden. Brattleboro, VT: Stephen Greene Press, 1974, ISBN 0-14-011416-5.

External links

• Lizzie Borden at Find a Grave
• The Lizzie Andrew Borden Virtual Museum & Library
• Lizzie Borden: Warps & Wefts ~ News, articles and photos about The Lady, The Crime, The City and The Era
• Tattered Fabric: Fall River's Lizzie Borden
• The Lights are Warm and Colored on YouTube William Norfolk play performed by the St. Louis City Players, 1969
• The Older Sister at IMDb, a 1956 TV Episode on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"
• Lizzie Borden Moot Court,with tribunal made up of U.S. Supreme Court justices and Stanford University Law School professors. September 16, 1997