The Infamous Legend Of Lizzie Borden Part One: Prelude To Murder

🪓Lizzie Andrew Borden🪓

Her story has captivated the public for decades. Lizzie was the main suspect in the murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. Even though she was tried and acquitted, some people wonder if she got away with murder. 

Lizzie was born on July 19th, 1860 to Andrew Jackson Borden and Sarah Anthony Morse. 

Andrew was of English and Welsh descent. His family was one of the founding families of Fall river and they were quite wealthy due to their textile mills. 

Despite his family's riches, Andrew was on the low part of the spectrum and lived in a poor neighborhood while the rest of the Borden clan lived in a nice neighborhood called the "hill."

Andrew's father Abraham, was a farmer and fish peddler. Andrew worked as a carpenter and ran a furniture and undertaking business. Later, he accumulated vasts amount of real estate and became a successful real estate developer. 

He also directed several textile mills and was both president of the Union Savings Bank and a director of the Durfee Safe Deposit and Trust Co. 

Compared to the rest of the Borden brood, Andrew lived a very modest life style. This self made man, who worked 14 hour days, was seen as very frugal and as a shrewd business man. However,  he did provide a relatively leisurely life to his girls.

Andrew was also known for his suits. Didn't matter the weather or occasion, this tall, thin man could be seen in his black, double-breasted Prince Albert.

Sarah was a sweet and pretty seamstress. After 11 months of courtship, Sarah married Andrew on Christmas day in 1845. She was 22 years old and he was 23. Sarah and Andrew lived with Andrew's father at his house at 12 Ferry Street. It would be five years before they would have their first child, Emma.

Emma Lenora was gentle and always wore a smile. She was born on March 1st, 1851, a decade before the Civil War. Sarah was a loving mother and taught Emma how to be caring, nurturing and protective. Emma was five years old when Sarah gave birth to her sister, Alice Esther. 

Alice was born on May 3rd, 1856. Emma enjoyed helping take care of Alice and was good at it. The family was overjoyed to have this delicate little bundle. Soon, this sweet time would be replaced by heartache. 

Just two years later, on March 10th, 1858, Alice passed away of hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus is when excess fluid builds up on the brain, which causes immense pressure and results in severe brain damage and even death. The family was devastated and it would be two more years until Lizzie would be born and brighten up the darkness in their lives.

When Lizzie was born, her father wasn't expecting a girl, he wanted a boy and was disappointed. As Lizzie grew older, Andrew's disappointment in her gender faded. Lizzie became the son that he never had. They'd do various activities together, such as fishing. Lizzie cared deeply for her father and he for her.

Sarah and Emma, on the other hand, were happy from the start. And they doted on Lizzie. They showered her with love, affection and tender care. Emma was 9 years old and was able to help out a great deal with Lizzie. She was like a second mother to her.

The happy family was torn a part again, two years later. 

On March 26th, 1863, 3 weeks after Emma's 12th birthday, Sarah died of uterine congestion or possibly a miscarriage and coupled with a spinal disease. 

When Sarah was on her deathbed, she made Emma promise to take care of Lizzie. Emma took this vow very seriously. With her father being extremely busy with business, Emma was the sole caretaker of Lizzie, until "Abigail" Abby Durfee Gray came into the picture.

Andrew married 37 year old Abby on June 6th., 1865, when Lizzie was five years old, and Emma fourteen. Abby was described by her neighbors as a kindly and lovable woman. She was childless and had never been married. To marry someone of Andrew's station was unexpected. Many speculated Andrew had proposed because he was looking for a housekeeper and a someone to raise his daughters.

Abby's maternal instincts were kicking in and she wanted to mother Emma and Lizzie. Lizzie was too young to remember Sarah, but Emma did. And Emma became cold and distant when Abby would try to endear herself to her. 

In April 1867, 16 year old Emma was sent of to Wheaton Female Seminary. Wheaton was an extremely strict school and Lizzie was not able to receive packages from home or have any visitors that weren't family. While there she studied many things to make her a good wife. One of the things that she excelled in was the piano.

Emma and Lizzie were separated for two and a half years, except for on holidays. During this time, Abby and Lizzie had a chance to bond. Abby gave Lizzie a engraved silver cup.

Emma would not finish school and in July 1868, she would be reprising her role of surrogate mother to Lizzie.

Everything seemed to get worse when, in April 1872, Andrew purchased the house at 92 Second Street for $10,000. By that time, Emma was 21 and Lizzie was 11. Andrew converted the two-family to a 2288 square foot single-family home. 

Two bedrooms downstairs were turned in a single dining room. 

A kitchen on the upper story was turned into Abby and Andrew's bedroom. 

It was towards the rear and was accessible by a staircase behind the kitchen.

Emma's and Lizzie's bedrooms towards the front of the house and were accessible through a front staircase.

The family used oil lamps instead of gas and Andrew employed servants to keep their home in order.

Lizzie wasn't happy in her new home. It was an upgrade from their previous one, but it wasn't on the "hill," which is where she aspired to live. She was of a very sensitive nature, inclined to be non-communicative with new acquaintances. Maybe that is why she only had one friend. Lizzie was described as attractive and having red hair with a temper to match. She had a sharp, sarcastic tongue for those who she chose was worthy of her wrath. 

Lizzie attended the Morgan Street School for grammar school until the age of 14. Mr. Horace Benson, the principal at the Morgan Street School and a neighbor of Lizzy said that she was, “ as a pupil she was an average scholar, neither being exceptionally smart nor noticeably dull. She was subject to varying moods, and was never fond of her stepmother. She had no hesitation in talking about her, and in many ways showed her dislike of her father’s second wife.” 

After Morgan Street School, Lizzie attended Fall River High School, but dropped out her Junior year.

Emma was much different than Lizzie. Emma rarely left the house and was described as prim, confident and reliable. Lizzie had man suitors while Emma just had one love of her life. Emma's love never made it to fruition for the man was below her station and her father wouldn't allow the relationship to blossom.

The Borden family regularly attended the Central Congregational Church, which was located in the “Hill.” Lizzie was very involved in church activities, organizations, and taught Sunday school. When they were old enough, Emma and Lizzie helped their father manage his rental properties.

The Borden's lives became even more tumultuous in 1884 when Andrew Abby's half-sister a house. Emma and Lizzie thought that Abby's family were gold diggers. From then on Emma and Lizzie refused to call Abby "mother" and instead would call her "Mrs. Borden". They even stopped eating with Andrew and Abby, the servants had to make separate meals.

In 1887, Andrew tried to make peace with his daughters. He gave them some funds and the house on Ferry Street. 

In 1889, Andrew hired Irish immigrant Bridgett Sullivan. Her job was washing, ironing and cooking and sweeping. Emma and Lizzie called her "Maggie". Maggie claims that the Borden family never raised their voices, but she could feel the tension and tried to quit a few times. Abby gave Maggie a raise out of her own pocket and begged her to stay.

Maggie's room was on the third floor and above the kitchen.

In the summer of 1890, 30 year old Lizzie, with a party of single ladies, went on a chaperoned, 11-week tour of Europe.

Allegedly, Lizzie was a kleptomaniac and local shopkeepers would  send a bill to her father, who paid them. Maybe that is why when, on June 24th, 1891, a daytime robbery occurred in the Borden house, Lizzie was the main suspect. Abby's jewelry box was rifled and some money was taken from Abby and Andrew's room. Emma, Lizzie and Bridget were all home at the time and claimed to have heard or saw nothing.

After that, everybody quietly bought bolts, hooks, chains, and padlocks. Abby locked and bolted the door that ran between her bedroom and Lizzie's. Lizzie did the same, and also pushed a writing desk up against the door. Andrew in turn bought a massive lock, but left the key on the living room mantelpiece. All the doors throughout the house were to be kept locked at all times.

Things just kept getting worse. Lizzie had a strong love of animals and had been keeping pet pigeons in the barn. In June of 1892, Andrew though the pigeons were a nuisance because neighborhood boys would throw rocks and things at the pigeons and vandalize the barn, so he killed the pigeons with a hatchet. This was terribly upsetting to Lizzie.

On July 15th, Andrew repurchased the Ferry Street house from his daughters for $5,000 (which would probably be around $140,000 today.)

Also in July, Emma and Lizzie got into a verbal altercation with Andrew and Abby. This prompted both sisters to take extended "vacations"  at the Borden property in New Bedford. There Emma parted company from Lizzie and continued on to nearby Fairhaven to stay with Helen Brownell and her widowed mother on Green Street. Lizzie went to #20 Madison Street, which was a boarding house. Lizzie returned home a few days before the fateful day, while Emma stayed away.

On August 2nd, Andrew and Abby suffered from terrible stomach pains and extreme vomiting. 

The next day, Just after 7:00 A.M. Abby appeared in Dr. Seabury W. Bowen’s office, which was almost directly across the street from her own house. She told him she feared for her life and was sure the entire family had been poisoned. Dr. Bowen told her it was probably food poisoning and sent her home.

Sometime later it was found out that on August 3rd, Lizzie tried to buy some poison (prussic acid) from D.R. Smith’s drug store. She explained she wanted to treat a sealskin cape to protect it from moths. She was told that she would need a doctor’s prescription to purchase the chemical. She supposedly stated that she had purchased it before and left.

Also on August 3rd, That evening, John Vinnicum Morse, the younger brother of Sarah Morse Borden, made an unannounced visit to the Borden residence. John grew up as a trained butcher and eventually became a successful land owner.

John showed up around supper time, without luggage or a change of clothes. Andrew talked to John about putting a farm In Abby's name, and John was to be installed as caretaker.

As John and Andrew talked business in the sitting room, Lizzie returned from her conversation with her friend Alice Russell, but they did not see her come in, they just heard the door close and footsteps race up the stairs in a retreat to Lizzie's bedroom. 

Lizzie had told Alice that her father's ruthless business ways had left him with many enemies, and that she had a feeling something terrible was about to happen to him. 

There has been speculation that Lizzie, whose room was just over the sitting-room, could have heard Andrew and John talk through the open windows. 

By 10 p.m., Andrew and John had retired to their bedrooms, with John settling down in the guest room in the northwest corner of the house. As he walked by Lizzie's room, her door was shut.

August 4th, the fateful day...
John was the first one up that day at 6 a.m. and headed down to the dinning room.

Maggie was still sick when she got up that morning. 

She went down to the cellar for wood at 6:15 a.m. Then she went down to the cellar for wood, started the fire and went down again for coal. She then unlocked the back door, took in the milk and put out a pan for the ice man, and a pitcher with some water in it. When she went in again, she hooked the screen door. She then worked in the kitchen and dining room.

At about 6:30 a.m., Maggie saw Abby whom gave her the breakfast orders.

It was about 5 minutes later and the next person to be seen was Andrew. He went into the sitting room and put the key of his bedroom on the shelf. He then came out into the kitchen, put on a dressing coat and went outdoors with a slop pail he had brought downstairs. The screen door was locked until he went out. 

Andrew then emptied the slop pail; then he unlocked the barn door and went into the barn. Then he went to the pear tree, picked up a basket of pears and brought them into the house. He washed up in the kitchen and went in to breakfast. 

It was about 7 a.m. when Maggie served Abby, Andrew and John in the dinning room. After everyone had their breakfast, Maggie ate hers. Andrew and Morse went to the sitting room to chat while Abby went to dust.

At around 8:45 a.m., Maggie was cleaning breakfast up when she saw Andrew let John out the back door. John was going to buy a pair of oxen and visit his niece in Fall River, planning to return to the Borden home for lunch at noon.

After Andrew let John out, he went to the kitchen and cleaned his teeth at the sink. He then took a big bowlful of water, took his keys off the shelf and went up to his room.

At 8:50 a.m., Lizzie came down for breakfast alone. Maggie was washing the dishes and asked her what she want for breakfast. Lizzie said she guessed she would have some coffee and cookies. She got some coffee, and she was preparing to sit down at the kitchen table when Maggie went out in the back yard t to vomit. Maggie claimed she stayed out there for around 15 minutes.

When she came back in, she hooked the screen door again. She finished her dishes and took them in the dining room. Abby was there dusting the door between the sitting room and dining room.  She said told Maggie she wanted the windows washed, inside and outside. And that is the last time Maggie said she was to see Abby alive.

About 9 a.m., Maggie cleaned off the stove, went in the dining room and sitting room, shut the windows she was going to wash, and went down cellar to get a pail for to take some water. She didn't see anybody in the rooms. She then got a brush in the kitchen closet, filled her pail and took it outdoors.

While Maggie was getting things ready to clean, Andrew went downtown for a shave and do some business at about 9:15 a.m.

Maggie was still outside when Lizzie appeared in the back entry asking her if she was going to wash the windows. Maggie told her yes and that she didn't have to lock the doors unless she wanted to. She then told Lizzie that she could get water from the barn. Then Maggie went to the barn to get the handle for the brush. 

Maggie then went to the sitting room windows on the south side of the house. This was away from the screen door. Before she started washing, a neighbor's maid and Maggie talked at the fence.

Maggie then washed the parlor windows. Then she washed the dining room windows and one parlor window on the side. She then continued her way around the house cleaning the windows. She would go to the the barn for water after each set of windows she'd wash. Then she went past the screen door to the barn. During the cleaning of the windows and fetching water, Maggie did not see anyone enter the home.

During this time, at about 9:30 a.m. Abby had went to the guest room, where John had spent the night, and starts cleaning.

Maggie went into the house to get a dipper from the kitchen and back out to the barn again. She then went around the outside of the house, starting with the sitting room windows, throwing water over them to rinse them. As she went around the house, she did not see anyone inside.

Maggie then put the brush handle away in the barn and got the hand basin and went into the sitting room to wash those windows inside. She hooked the screen door behind her.

It was about 10:30 a.m., and Maggie was washing the window next to the front door. She heard a person at the door trying to unlock it. Maggie went to the front door to unlocked it. The door was locked and bolted with three locks and a frustrated Maggie let out a "pshaw." Maggie then heard Lizzie laughing from somewhere upstairs. 

When Maggie finally got the door unlocked, it was Andrew on the other side. He came in and Maggie went back to her window washing. Andrew went through the sitting room and then into the dining room. He had a little parcel in his hand. He sat in a chair at the head of the lounge. 

Lizzie then came downstairs and through the front entry into the dining room. Maggie then heard Lizzie talking to Andrew. Lizzie tells Andrew that Abby had received a note about a sick friend and had left. Andrew then took a key off the mantelpiece and went up the back stairs. 

When when Andrew came downstairs again, Maggie was began to wash the dining room windows. Lizzie brought an ironing board from the kitchen, put it on the dining-room table and started to iron. As she was ironing, she asked Maggie if she was going out that day. Maggie told Lizzie that she wasn't feeling that good, so probably not. Lizzie then reminded Maggie that if she was to go out, to lock the door. She said that Abby had left because her friend was sick. Lizzie said that she might go out as well. When Maggie asked Lizzie who was sick, Lizzie said that she didn't know.

While Lizzie and Maggie were chatting, at about 10:45 a.m., a man is seen on the Borden's fence taking pears.

Maggie finished her two windows as Lizzie kept ironing. 

Maggie then went in the kitchen, washed out her cloths and hung them behind the stove. Lizzie followed her to the kitchen and told Maggie about a sale at a store called "Sergeant's". Maggie reiterated that she was not feeling well and told Lizzie that she was going to go up stairs and rest.

It was around 10:55 a.m., and as Maggie went up to her room to lie down, a man with open buggy was seen parked just beyond tree in front of the Borden's house.

As Maggie was laying in bed, she heard the City Hall clock chime 11:00 a.m. She didn't go to sleep or anything, Maggie just laid there in silence until 11:10 a.m. This is when Maggie heard Lizzie hollering, "Maggie, come down!" Maggie then yelled back, "What is the matter?" In response Lizzie said, "Come down quick; Father's dead; somebody came in and killed him." 

Maggie raced down the three flights of stairs and found Lizzie standing, with her back to the screen door. She was wearing her light blue dress with a sprig of dark blue on it. Maggie went to go into the sitting room when Lizzie said, "Oh, Maggie, don't go in. I have got to have a doctor quick. Go over. I have got to have the doctor." 

Maggie went over to Dr. Bowen's right away, but he was not home so she came right back. Once back, Maggie asked Lizzie where she was when Andrew was killed and told her that she thought she locked the screen door. Lizzie told Maggie that she was out in the back yard and heard a groan, came in and the screen door was wide open. Lizzie told Maggie to get Alice Russell. Maggie grabbed her hat and shawl from kitchen entry way and rushed to Alice’s.

One of the Borden's neighbors, Mrs. Churchill, saw Maggie as she crossed street, noticed a distressed Lizzie and called out to her to ask her what happened. Lizzie yelled back, “Oh do come over Mrs. Churchill, someone has killed father”. 

Upon hearing this Mrs. Churchill went to the side door of Borden house to find Lizzie sitting at the bottom of the stairs. Mrs. Churchill asked Lizzie where she was when her father was murdered. Lizzie told Mrs. Churchill that she had been in the barn looking for "irons" (sinkers) for an upcoming fishing trip. Mrs. Churchill then ran across the street to see if Dr. Bowen is back yet. 

It was about 11:15, and Mrs. Churchill ran into Mr. Cunningham at Gorman’s paint shop, who then used the phone to call the police.

At about 11:20 a.m., Mrs. Churchill returned to the Borden house as Dr. Bowen pulled up in his carriage, met by his wife. Mr. Cunningham was also there. He had went out in the backyard to check the outside cellar door, and found it locked. This was also when Maggie came back. 

Lizzie sat alone at the kitchen table and Mrs. Churchill and Maggie went into the dinning room. Dr. Bowen then walked into the sitting room and saw a ghastly sight. Andrew was slumped on the couch. He had been struck in the head 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. Andrew was unrecognizable. His still-bleeding wounds suggested a very recent attack. Dr, Bowen check Andrew, he was warm, but had no pulse. It was later surmised that he was killed around 11:00 a.m.

When Dr. Bowen turned around, he noticed that Lizzie had followed him into the sitting room. He asked her where she was when this happened. Lizzie reiterated that she was searching for sinkers. Then she told Dr. Bowen that one of her father's tenants wanted him dead. After that, Lizzie asked Dr. Bowen if he'd send a telegram to Emma.

When Dr. Bowen came out from the sitting room he asked for a sheet.  Mrs. Churchill and Maggie went up to Andrew and Abby's room and got two sheets. This was when Officer Allen arrived and was met at door by Dr. Bowen. Allen went and look at Andrew's body as Alice Russell arrived. 

Alice consoled Lizzie. She thought Lizzie was going to faint and attempted to undo the collar of Lizzie's dress. As Alice did this, Lizzie pushed her hand away and said she was fine.

At some point, Lizzie was seen by Alice, changing into a pink dress.

Allen then checked the front door and noted it bolted from inside. He also checked closets in dining room and kitchen. Allen then left the house to return to station, Dr. Bowen went out with him to send Emma a telegram. Before he left, Allen had another officer guard back door. 

Maggie told Lizzie that she wished she knew where Abby was. Lizzie then told Maggie that she thought she heard Abby come home earlier. Lizzie then asked Maggie to go upstairs and look. Maggie and Mrs. Churchill went upstairs in search of Abby. They noticed a figure laying on the floor of the guest bedroom. It was Abby, face down, she had been hacked to death in the back of the head.

It was later surmised, that when Abby was upstairs cleaning the guest room, some time between 9:00 am and 10:30 am, she was attacked by the killer. Abby was facing her killer at the time of the attack. She was first struck on the side of the head with a hatchet which cut her just above the ear. This caused her to turn and fall face down on the floor, creating contusions on her nose and forehead. Her killer then struck her 17 more direct hits to the back of her head, killing her.

Mrs, Churchill and Maggie ran back down stairs. By this time, Dr. Bowen had returned with George Petty, a former resident of the house. Mrs. Churchill told Dr. Bowen that they had discovered Abby upstairs. Maggie then left to get Dr. Bowen’s wife, Phoebe.  

This is when Officer Patrick Doherty and Deputy Sheriff Wixon arrived at the house. Wixon and Dr. Bowen then checked Andrew’s pockets and removed his watch while Doherty questioned Lizzie.

Lizzie's initial 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 told police she had heard nothing and entered the house not realizing that anything was wrong. Throughout the questioning, Lizzie was described as "too poised" and "too calm." Despite this, Lizzie was not checked for bloodstains. A cursory search was done of Lizzie's room, but a proper search wasn't done because Lizzie wasn't feeling well and had to lie down. Also, when they referred to Abby as her mother, Lizzie sharply corrected them and said, “…she’s not my mother, she’s my stepmother.”

Police also searched the other bedrooms, but found nothing.

At about 11:45 a.m., Doherty went and looked at Abby’s body with Dr. Bowen, and they pulled the bed out to view her better. At the same time John Morse arrived back at the Borden house. He went thru side gate and into the house. He then looked at Andrew’s body, then went upstairs and saw Abby’s.

The police were baffled that there wasn't more blood around the house. They were also shocked at the severity and violence of the murders. They had never witnessed such a horrific seen before. As the police were looking around the house, Lizzie informed them that there was a bowel of blood rags in the basement. She told them to ignore them because it was from her time of the month. 

Maggie then lead the police to the basement, where they 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 break in the handle appeared fresh and the ash and dust on the head 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.

Police went out to search the barn where Lizzie said that she had spent time searching for sinkers. They found no footprints in the saw dust and found it odd that it appeared that no one had been in the bar for quite sometime.

Andrew's and Abby's stomachs and the milk were tested for poison, but none was found.

At 5 p.m. Emma returned from Fairhaven.

Alice Russell, decided to stay with that night and slept in Abby and Andrew's bed. John Morse spent the night in the attic guest room. 

At about 8:45 pm Officer Joseph Hyde, who was stationed at the house, saw Lizzie and Alice go down cellar. Lizzie had told Alice she had to go dump the toilet bucket. When Alice offered to dump the bucket for Lizzie, Lizzie said that she wanted to do it. Alice told Lizzie she would accompany her and they went down together. 

Around 9 p.m. Lizzie returned to the cellar by herself. She went and crouched by the sink for a few minutes, before returning upstairs.

The next day Alice showed Hyde a 20 inch club she had found laying on the floor at the end of the bed. She told him that it wasn't there when she went to sleep the night before...

When John Morse left the house he was mobbed by hundreds of people; police had to escort him back to the house. 

On August 6th, a funeral was held at the Borden home for Abby and Andrew. 

Later that day, 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 Borden house and informed Lizzie that she was a suspect in the murders. 

The next morning, Alice entered the kitchen to find Lizzie tearing up a dress. She explained that she was planning to put it on the fire because it was covered in paint...