 1860 - 1927 (66 years) Submit Photo / Document
Has more than 100 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Lizzie Andrew Borden |
| Birth |
19 Jul 1860 |
Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Death |
1 Jun 1927 |
Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States |
| Burial |
2 Jun 1927 |
Oak Grove Cemetery, Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
12 Sep 2003 |
OGDEN |
| FamilySearch ID |
LQRS-PG5 |
| Person ID |
I87701 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Andrew Jackson Borden, b. 13 Sep 1822, Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States d. 4 Aug 1892, Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States (Age 69 years) |
| Mother |
Sarah Anthony Morse, b. 19 Sep 1823, Somerset, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States d. 26 Mar 1863, Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States (Age 39 years) |
| Marriage |
26 Dec 1845 |
Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States |
| Family ID |
F29546 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Event Map |
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 | Birth - 19 Jul 1860 - Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States |
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| Death - 1 Jun 1927 - Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States |
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 | Burial - 2 Jun 1927 - Oak Grove Cemetery, Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States |
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 | Initiatory (LDS) - 12 Sep 2003 - OGDEN |
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| Notes |
- Lizzie Andrew Borden was born July 19, 1860, in Fall River, Massachusett s , to Sarah Anthony Borden (née Morse; 1823-1863) and Andrew Jackson Bor de n (1822-1892). Her father, who was of English and Welsh descent, gre w u p in very modest surroundings and struggled financially as a young ma n, d espite being the descendant of wealthy and influential local residen ts. H e eventually prospered in the manufacture and sale of furniture an d caske ts, then became a successful property developer. He was a directo r of sev eral textile mills and owned considerable commercial property; h e was als o president of the Union Savings Bank and a director of the Dur fee Safe D eposit and Trust Co. At his death his estate was valued at $30 0,000 (equi valent to $9,000,000 in 2020).
Despite his wealth, Andrew was known for his frugality. For instance, t h e Borden home lacked indoor plumbing although that was a common accommo da tion for wealthy people at the time. It was in an affluent area, but t h e wealthiest residents of Fall River, including Andrew's cousins, gener al ly lived in the more fashionable neighborhood, "The Hill", which was f art her from the industrial areas of the city.
Borden and her older sister, Emma Lenora Borden (1851-1927) had a relati v ely religious upbringing and attended Central Congregational Church . A s a young woman she was very involved in church activities, includin g tea ching Sunday school to children of recent immigrants to the Unite d States . She was involved in Christian organizations such as the Christ ian Endea vor Society, for which she served as secretary-treasurer, and c ontemporar y social movements such as the Women's Christian Temperance Un ion (WCTU) . She was also a member of the Ladies' Fruit and Flower Missio n.
Three years after the death of Lizzie Borden's mother Sarah, Andrew marr i ed Abby Durfee Gray (1828-1892). Lizzie stated that she called her step mo ther "Mrs. Borden" and demurred on whether they had a cordial relation shi p; she believed that Abby had married her father for his wealth. Brid ge t Sullivan (whom they called Maggie), the Bordens' 25-year-old live-i n ma id who had immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland, testified that Lizzi e an d Emma rarely ate meals with their parents. In May 1892, Andrew kill ed mu ltiple pigeons in his barn with a hatchet, believing they were attr actin g local children to hunt them. Lizzie had recently built a roost fo r th e pigeons, and it has been commonly recounted that she was upset ove r hi s killing of them, though the veracity of this has been disputed . A famil y argument in July 1892 prompted both sisters to take extende d "vacations " in New Bedford. After returning to Fall River, a week befo re the murder s, Lizzie chose to stay in a local rooming house for four d ays before ret urning to the family residence.
Tension had been growing within the family in the months before the murd e rs, especially over Andrew's gifts of real estate to various branche s o f Abby's family. After their stepmother's sister received a house, th e si sters had demanded and received a rental property (the home they ha d live d in until their mother died) which they purchased from their fath er fo r $1; a few weeks before the murders, they sold the property back t o thei r father for $5,000 (equivalent to $144,000 in 2020). The night be fore th e murders, John Vinnicum Morse, the brother of Lizzie's and Emma' s deceas ed mother, visited and was invited to stay for a few days to dis cuss busi ness matters with Andrew. Some writers have speculated that the ir convers ation, particularly about property transfer, may have aggravat ed an alrea dy tense situation.
For several days before the murders, the entire household had been viole n tly ill. A family friend later speculated that mutton left on the stov e t o use in meals over several days was the cause, but Abby had feared p oiso ning, as Andrew had not been a popular man.
Murders
August 4, 1892
Woman lying on floor next to bed
Body of Abby Borden, August 4, 1892
Man lying on a sofa
Body of Andrew Borden, August 4, 1892
John Morse arrived in the evening of August 3 and slept in the guest ro o m that night. After breakfast the next morning, at which Andrew, Abby , Li zzie, Morse and the Bordens' maid Bridget "Maggie" Sullivan were pre sent , Andrew and Morse went to the sitting room, where they chatted fo r nearl y an hour. Morse left around 8:48 A.M. to buy a pair of oxen an d visit hi s niece in Fall River, planning to return to the Borden home f or lunch a t noon. Andrew left for his morning walk sometime after 9 A.M.
Although the cleaning of the guest room was one of Lizzie's and Emma's r e gular chores, Abby went upstairs sometime between 9:00 A.M. and 10:30 A .M . to make the bed. According to the forensic investigation, Abby was f aci ng her killer at the time of the attack. She was first struck on th e sid e of the head with a hatchet which cut her just above the ear, caus ing he r to turn and fall face down on the floor, creating contusions o n her nos e and forehead. Her killer then struck her multiple times, deli vering sev enteen more direct hits to the back of her head, killing her.
When Andrew returned at around 10:30 A.M., his key failed to open the do o r, so he knocked for attention. Sullivan went to unlock the door; findi n g it jammed, she uttered a curse. She would later testify that she hea r d Lizzie laughing immediately after this; she did not see Lizzie, but s ta ted that the laughter was coming from the top of the stairs. This wa s con sidered significant as Abby was already dead by this time, and he r body w ould have been visible to anyone on the home's second floor. Liz zie late r denied being upstairs and testified that her father had aske d her wher e Abby was, and she had replied that a messenger had delivere d Abby a sum mons to visit a sick friend.
Lizzie stated that she had then removed Andrew's boots and helped him in t o his slippers before he lay down on the sofa for a nap (an anomaly con tr adicted by the crime-scene photos, which show Andrew wearing boots). S h e then informed Sullivan of a department store sale and permitted he r t o go, but Sullivan felt unwell and went to take a nap in her bedroo m inst ead.
Sullivan testified that she was in her third-floor room, resting from cl e aning windows, when just before 11:10 A.M. she heard Lizzie call from d ow nstairs, "Maggie, come quick! Father's dead. Somebody came in and kill e d him." Andrew was slumped on a couch in the downstairs sitting room, s tr uck ten or eleven times with a hatchet-like weapon. One of his eyes ha d b een split cleanly in two, suggesting that he had been asleep when att acke d. His still-bleeding wounds suggested a very recent attack. Dr. Bow en, t he family's physician, arrived from his home across the street to d etermi ne that both victims had died. Detectives estimated his death ha d occurre d at approximately 11:00 A.M.
Investigation
Lizzie Borden's initial answers to the police officers' questions wer e a t times strange and contradictory. Initially she reported hearing a g roan , or a scraping noise, or a distress call, before entering the house . Tw o hours later she told police she had heard nothing and entered th e hous e not realizing that anything was wrong. When asked where her step mothe r was, she recounted Abby receiving a note asking her to visit a si ck fri end. She also stated that she thought Abby had returned and aske d if some one could go upstairs and look for her. Sullivan and a neighbor , Mrs. Chu rchill, were half-way up the stairs, their eyes level with th e floor, whe n they looked into the guest room and saw Abby lying face do wn on the flo or. Most of the officers who interviewed Borden reported th at they dislik ed her attitude; some said she was too calm and poised. De spite her "atti tude" and changing alibis, nobody bothered to check her f or bloodstains . Police did search her room, but it was a cursory inspect ion; at the tri al they admitted to not doing a proper search because Bor den was not feel ing well. They were subsequently criticized for their la ck of diligence.
In the basement, police found two hatchets, two axes, and a hatchet-he a d with a broken handle. The hatchet-head was suspected of being the mur de r weapon as the break in the handle appeared fresh and the ash and dus t o n the head, unlike that on the other bladed tools, appeared to have b ee n deliberately applied to make it look as if it had been in the baseme n t for some time. However, none of these tools were removed from the hou se . Because of the mysterious illness that had stricken the household be for e the murders, the family's milk and Andrew's and Abby's stomachs (re move d during autopsies performed in the Borden dining room) were teste d for p oison; none was found. Residents suspected Lizzie of purchasing ' hydrocya nic acid in a diluted form' from the local drugstore. She defend ed that s he inquired about the acid, so she could clean her furs (despit e the loca l medical examiner's testimony that it did not have antisepti c properties ).
Lizzie and Emma's friend, Alice Russell, decided to stay with them the n i ght following the murders while Morse spent the night in the attic gue s t room (contrary to later accounts that he slept in the murder-site gue s t room). Police were stationed around the house on the night of Augus t 4 , during which an officer said he had seen Borden enter the cellar wi th R ussell, carrying a kerosene lamp and a slop pail. He stated he saw b oth w omen exit the cellar, after which Borden returned alone; though h e was un able to see what she was doing, he stated it appeared she was be nt over t he sink.
On August 5, Morse left the house and was mobbed by hundreds of people ; p olice had to escort him back to the house. On August 6, police conduc te d a more thorough search of the house, inspecting the sisters' clothin g a nd confiscating the broken-handled hatchet-head. That evening a polic e of ficer and the mayor visited the Bordens, and Lizzie was informed tha t sh e was a suspect in the murders. The next morning, Russell entered th e kit chen to find Borden tearing up a dress. She explained that she wa s planni ng to put it on the fire because it was covered in paint. It wa s never de termined whether it was the dress she had been wearing on th e day of th e murders.
Inquest
Borden appeared at the inquest hearing on August 8. Her request to hav e h er family attorney present was refused under a state statute providin g th at an inquest must be held in private. She had been prescribed regul ar do ses of morphine to calm her nerves, and it is possible that her tes timon y was affected by this. Her behavior was erratic, and she often ref used t o answer a question even if the answer would be beneficial to her . She of ten contradicted herself and provided alternating accounts of th e mornin g in question, such as saying she was in the kitchen reading a m agazine w hen her father arrived home, then saying she was in the dinin g room doin g some ironing, and then saying she was coming down the stair s. She als o said she removed her father's boots and put slippers on him , while poli ce photographs clearly showed him wearing his boots.
The district attorney was very aggressive and confrontational. On Augu s t 11, Borden was served with a warrant of arrest and jailed. The inque s t testimony, the basis for the modern debate regarding her guilt or inn oc ence, was later ruled inadmissible at her trial in June 1893. Contempo ran eous newspaper articles noted that Borden possessed a "stolid demeano r" a nd "bit her lips, flushed, and bent toward Attorney Adams;" it was a lso r eported that the testimony provided in the inquest had "caused a ch ange o f opinion among her friends who have heretofore strongly maintaine d her i nnocence." The inquest received significant press attention natio nwide, i ncluding an extensive three-page write-up in The Boston Globe . A grand ju ry began hearing evidence on November 7, and Borden was indi cted on Decem ber 2.
Trial and acquittal
Lizzie Borden during the trial, by Benjamin West Clinedinst
Borden's trial took place in New Bedford starting on June 5, 1893. Prose c uting attorneys were Hosea M. Knowlton and future United States Suprem e C ourt Justice William H. Moody; defending were Andrew V. Jennings, Mel vi n O. Adams, and former Massachusetts governor George D. Robinson. Fiv e da ys before the trial's commencement, on June 1, another axe murder oc curre d in Fall River. This time the victim was Bertha Manchester, who wa s foun d hacked to death in her kitchen. The similarities between the Man cheste r and Bordens' murders were striking and noted by jurors. However , Jose C orrea de Mello, a Portuguese immigrant, was later convicted of M anchester 's murder in 1894, and was determined not to have been in the v icinity o f Fall River at the time of the Borden murders.
A prominent point of discussion in the trial (or press coverage of it) w a s the hatchet-head found in the basement, which was not convincingly de mo nstrated by the prosecution to be the murder weapon. Prosecutors argue d t hat the killer had removed the handle because it would have been cove re d in blood. One officer testified that a hatchet handle was found nea r th e hatchet-head, but another officer contradicted this. Though no blo ody c lothing was found at the scene, Russell testified that on August 8 , 1892 , she had witnessed Borden burn a dress in the kitchen stove, sayi ng it h ad been ruined when she brushed against wet paint. During the cou rse of t he trial, defense never attempted to challenge this statement.
Trial jury that acquitted Borden
Lizzie Borden's presence at the home was also a point of dispute durin g t he trial; according to testimony, Sullivan entered the second floor o f th e home at around 10:58 A.M. and left Lizzie and her father downstair s. Li zzie told several people that at this time, she went into the bar n and wa s not in the house for "20 minutes or possibly a half an hour" . Hyman Lub insky testified for the defense that he saw Lizzie Borden lea ving the bar n at 11:03 A.M. and Charles Gardner confirmed the time. At 1 1:10 A.M., Li zzie called Sullivan downstairs, told her Andrew had been m urdered, and o rdered her not to enter the room; instead, Borden sent he r to get a docto r.
Both victims' heads had been removed during autopsy and the skulls wer e a dmitted as evidence during the trial and presented on June 5, 1893. U po n seeing them in the courtroom, Borden fainted. Evidence was exclude d tha t Borden had sought to purchase prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) pur ported ly for cleaning a sealskin cloak, from a local druggist on the da y befor e the murders. The judge ruled that the incident was too remote i n time t o have any connection.
The presiding Associate Justice, Justin Dewey (who had been appointe d b y Robinson when he was governor), delivered a lengthy summary that su ppor ted the defense as his charge to the jury before it was sent to deli berat e on June 20, 1893. After an hour and a half of deliberation, the j ury ac quitted Borden of the murders. Upon exiting the courthouse, she to ld repo rters she was "the happiest woman in the world".
The trial has been compared to the later trials of Bruno Hauptmann, Eth e l and Julius Rosenberg, and O.J. Simpson as a landmark in publicity an d p ublic interest in the history of American legal proceedings.
Speculation
Although acquitted at trial, Borden remains the prime suspect in her fat h er's and stepmother's murders. Writer Victoria Lincoln proposed in 196 7 t hat Borden might have committed the murders while in a fugue state. A noth er prominent suggestion was that she was physically and sexually abu sed b y her father, which drove her to kill him. There is little evidenc e to su pport this, but incest is not a topic that would have been discus sed at t he time, and the methods for collecting physical evidence woul d have bee n quite different in 1892. This belief was intimated in loca l papers at t he time of the murders, and was revisited by scholar Marci a Carlisle i n a 1992 essay.
Mystery author Ed McBain, in his 1984 novel Lizzie, suggested that Bord e n committed the murders after being caught in a tryst with Sullivan. Mc Ba in elaborated on his speculation in a 1999 interview, speculating tha t Ab by had caught Lizzie and Sullivan together and had reacted with horr or an d disgust, and that Lizzie had killed Abby with a candlestick. Whe n Andre w returned she had confessed to him, but killed him in a rage wit h a hatc het when he reacted exactly as Abby had. McBain further speculat es that S ullivan disposed of the hatchet somewhere afterwards. In her la ter years , Borden was rumored to be gay, but there was no such speculati on about S ullivan, who found other employment after the murders and late r marrie d a man she met while working as a maid in Butte, Montana. She d ied in Bu tte in 1948, where she allegedly gave a death-bed confession t o her siste r, stating that she had changed her testimony on the stand i n order to pr otect Borden.
Another significant suspect is John Morse, Lizzie's maternal uncle, wh o r arely met with the family after his sister died, but had slept in th e hou se the night before the murders; according to law enforcement, Mors e ha d provided an "absurdly perfect and overdetailed alibi for the deat h of A bby Borden". He was considered a suspect by police for a period.
Others noted as potential suspects in the crimes include Sullivan, possi b ly in retaliation for being ordered to clean the windows on a hot day ; th e day of the murders was unusually hot-and at the time she was stil l reco vering from the mystery illness that had struck the household. A " Willia m Borden", suspected to be Andrew's illegitimate son, was noted a s a poss ible suspect by writer Arnold Brown, who surmised in his book Li zzie Bord en: The Legend, the Truth, the Final Chapter that William had t ried and f ailed to extort money from his father. However, author Leonar d Rebello di d extensive research on the William Borden in Brown's book a nd was able t o prove he was not Andrew Borden's son. Although Emma had a n alibi at Fai rhaven, (about 15 miles (24 km) from Fall River), crime wr iter Frank Spie ring proposed in his 1984 book Lizzie that she might hav e secretly visite d the residence to kill her parents before returning t o Fairhaven to rece ive the telegram informing her of the murders.
Later life
After the trial, the Borden sisters moved into a large, modern house i n T he Hill neighborhood in Fall River. Around this time, Lizzie began us in g the name Lizbeth A. Borden. At their new house, which Lizbeth dubbe d "M aplecroft", they had a staff that included live-in maids, a housekee per , and a coachman. Because Abby was ruled to have died before Andrew , he r estate went first to Andrew and then, at his death, passed to hi s daugh ters as part of his estate. A considerable settlement, however, w as pai d to settle claims by Abby's family.
Despite the acquittal, Borden was ostracized by Fall River society. He r n ame was again brought into the public eye when she was accused of sho plif ting in 1897 in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1905, shortly after a n argum ent over a party that Lizbeth had given for actress Nance O'Neil , Emma mo ved out of the house and never saw her sister again.
Death
Borden was ill in her last year following the removal of her gallbladde r ; she died of pneumonia on June 1, 1927, in Fall River. Funeral detail s w ere not published and few attended. Nine days later, Emma died from c hron ic nephritis at the age of 76 in a nursing home in Newmarket, New Ha mpshi re, having moved to this location in 1923 both for health reasons a nd t o avoid renewed publicity following the publication of another boo k abou t the murders. The sisters, neither of whom had ever married, wer e burie d side by side in the family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery.
At the time of her death, Borden was worth over $250,000 (equivalent t o $ 4,998,000 in 2020). She owned a house on the corner of French Stree t an d Belmont Street, several office buildings, shares in several utilit ies , two cars and a large amount of jewelry. She left $30,000 (equivalen t t o $600,000 in 2020) to the Fall River Animal Rescue League and $500 ( $10, 000 in 2020) in trust for perpetual care of her father's grave. He r close st friend and a cousin each received $6,000 ($120,000 today)-subs tantia l sums at the time of the estate's distribution in 1927 and numero us frie nds and family members each received between $1,000 ($20,000 in 2 020) an d $5,000 ($100,000 in 2020).
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