" Lizzie Borden took an axe and give her mother forty whack . When she saw what she had done , she gave her father forty - one . "
With a great niggling ditty like that , how could I not stop by the Lizzie Borden house when I visited Boston / Providence last weekend ? Thanks toyour mythological suggestion , it made the list of things to do on our petty extended weekend vacation .
I felt kind of bad about dragging my friends to a maybe - haunted theater where a potential psychopath might have stamp out her parents , particularly since we only had a duo of days in the orbit ( and the Boston - Providence expanse is manifestly not lacking in things to do ) . But it turns out that I was n’t the only one itching to see it " “ our lovely host Sam and Kylie had been stand for to get there ever since they moved to the field . By the mode , if I note her in the story , Kylie wanted to me to note that she is a peachy dancer . Just so you cognize .
Anyway , now I had justification , so we took off on Sunday morning ( is that profane ? ) and made it to Fall River around noon . For those of you unfamiliar with the infamy of Fall River and Lizzie Borden , here ’s the abbreviated chronicle :
On a 100 + level August afternoon , Andrew Borden and his wife Abby were savagely hacked to death with an axe in their own home . And when I say bestial , I mean bestial : they each received about a dozen blows each ; Andrew ’s wounds were so serious that his skull cave in on one side and his nose was severed .
Lizzie , Andrew ’s untested daughter ( Abby was her step - mom ) , was accused but ultimately acquitted . It ’s still turn over as to whether Lizzie committed these flagitious criminal offense or was simply the victim of inauspicious coincidences , but I ’ll recount you what I determine on the turn and let you adjudicate for yourself .
Maybe the maid did it
Criminal investigation processes have really changed
The postmortem examination of Andrew and Abby Borden were conducted on the Borden ’s dining room board . Ugh . And everyone sleep in their respective rooms the very same Nox of the murders ; even node Uncle John Morse , whose layer Abby Borden was make when she was kill . So he slept right next to the huge bloodstain on the floor where Abby ’s body laid until it was chance on . babble about interrupt grounds !
Also , when Lizzie was charged , she was charge with not one , not two , but three reckoning of murder : one for her dad , one for her step - mom , and one for the duad together .
Psychic or shrewd?
Either Lizzie had psychical abilities or she was assay to direct attention away from herself in feeler , because the twenty-four hours before the murders she narrate her friend Alice Russell that she had a feeling something bad was go to happen . She said she just could n’t shake it and she was concerned about her father ’s well being . Hmm . The day after the Bordens ' funeral , Alice was also the one who happen upon Lizzie burning one of her dress in the kitchen stove . When Alice asked what was going on , Lizzie tell her that the old clothes had paint all over it so she was just dispose of it .
" Lizzie Borden : you ’ve been behave of viciously murdering your forefather and your stepmother and have successfully been ostracized from the total Ithiel Town ! What will you do next ? " Since Disneyworld was n’t around in 1892 , Lizzie fall out up the murders a morsel differently . She and her sister take the money they get from their forefather ’s will and bought a mansion in the elect part of township . She begin calling herself " Lizbeth " after that , perhaps to outstrip herself from the murders or perhaps to make herself vocalise more advanced since she was now living in such a fashionable district . Lizzie constitute the mansion " Maplecroft " and even had the name carved into the footmark of the house .
In 1904 , Lizzie became friends with actress Nance O’Neil . Emma did n’t sanction of Lizzie ’s lifestyle because she was experience rowdy party with actors and actress " ¦ and there was speculation that Lizzie and Nance were having an affair . Around this clock time , Emma moved out of Maplecroft and she and Lizzie never talk again . Lizzie die on June 1 , 1927 , from complicatedness of a freshness vesica operating room . Emma died nine days later when she fell down the stairs of her house .
The Aftermath
Sooo , following the tour of the home , we just had to go to the gravesite . It was pretty easy to find as Fall River is rather small . Plus , they must get a lot of visitor because there are arrows painted on the road of the burying ground conduce to the Borden plots .
There was an Ouija board set up in front of Lizbeth ’s grave , which was really just prime for a photo op . In hindsight , I imagine this was plausibly disrespectful , because after my ally Lisa and I took the picture , I drop away in some mud and tumbled down a dingy incline about 10 steps away from the Borden family marker . Sorry , Lizzie , I apologize . I guess I ’m just favourable there was n’t an ax lurking in the mud .
I ’ve rattled on enough here , but you’re able to goherefor more pictures and more detail . So , what do you think ? Was Lizzie the perpetrator or just a dupe ? Has anyone ever really stayed at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast ?
Previously onmental_floss…
" ¢ Stacy ’s sojourn toThe Corn Palace , The Grassy KnollandThe Texas State Fair"¢ Jason ’s trip-up toOld Faithful(notthatOld Faithful ) andUtah"¢ Ransom ’s honeymoon inPortugal
