Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts

Visitors and guests who visit the Borden house are intrigued by all of the pears they find inside.  For those in the know about the case, they smile and understand the reference to Lizzie’s alibi about being in the hayloft munching the fruit when her father was murdered, and sometimes humorous testimony about all of the pear-eating by the occupants of #92 on August 4th.  August 4th is also the one day of the year when the house re-enactment troupe, The Pear Essential Players, are in residence recreating the fateful day for visitors.  Did the police check Lizzie’s alibi and look for pear cores in the hayloft? Or would Lizzie smoothly have admitted to eating those pears cores and all?

Today’s ProJo (Providence Journal) carried a story about the recent Lizzie Borden merchandise patent granted to the owners of the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast Museum in Fall River.  There’s bound to be more about  it in the future!

http://www.projo.com/news/bobkerr/kerr_column_26_08-26-09_BVFGNSH_v14.38acb8c.html

John V. Morse, Lizzie’s mother’s brother, had spent the night before the murders at the Borden’s house in the guestroom where Abby Borden would be hacked to bits the following day.  Although John had a good alibi for the times of both killings, he was an early and favorite suspect.  John had some training as a butcher, and was a jack of all trades around a farm.  Some think he knew about, or was an accomplice to the deeds, although no motive seems clearly apparent.  He also received no money or property after Lizzie was acquitted in June 1893.

Joe Radza, an eighth grade teacher from Warren, Ohio will be playing the role of Uncle John Morse this year on August 4th at the Borden house for the annual re-enactments. Uncle John’s behavior when he returned for lunch has always seemed peculiar to students of the case. John bypassed the growing crowds by the Borden’s gate and went into the back yard by the barn and picked up and consumed several pears before ambling slowly up the side steps and going inside to see what was going on.  He had a reputation as a peculiar old guy in his boater and old gray suit and string tie.  Did he know more than he confided to the police?

Preparations go into full swing this week as the house performing troupe, The Pear Essential Players, dons their fake beards and leg ‘ o mutton sleeves to bring history alive once more.  Performing only once a year, on the anniversary of the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden, the players come from many states and cities to re-enact the details of the day in 1892.  Performances will take place on the hour and tickets may be purchased for each timed performance in the gift barn behind the house at 92 Second Street.  This year’s cast featured 13 key characters from the well-known story. To learn more about the cast, visit their web blog at http://pearessentialproductions.wordpress.com/

The approach to the Braga Bridge, Fall River signs on 195E (and also 195 westbound) feature a mention of the Lizzie Borden Museum and have done so for some time.

Still garnering front page news is the continuing battle between Salem and Fall River over who owns the rights to the Lizzie Borden story, and the all-important word, “Museum”.  Channel 25 Fox television out of Boston ran this segment yesterday http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7177254&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.2.1  Sounds like several of those interviewed for the news clip might benefit from a visit to a museum telling the facts!  No date has yet been given out for the Salem opening.

Capturing the characteristics of a person in a portrait is never easy, especially when the subject is as well known as Lizzie Borden.  From late 1995-1996, Rochelle Pettenati, sister of the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast Museum office manager offered her abilities and talent to create individual portraits for the house which was undergoing renovations to become a bed and breakfast under the management of Martha McGinn and Ron Evans.  Antique oval frames were found and Rochelle got to work producing portraits for all of the rooms which were named for various key figures in the Borden Case.  Particularly pleasing are the two portraits of Lizzie, who has never quite been adequately captured by other artists over the years. Rochelle painted the Swansea Farm, Uncle John Morse, Hosea Knowlton, and other incidental art around the house. Rochelle also appeared in the media dressed in Elizabeth Montgomery’s size 4 Lizzie Borden acquittal gown on loan to the house from Paramount Pictures and worn in the 1975 film.

Plans are being made to install a 24 hour webcam at the scenes of the crimes in the sitting room and guest bedroom at the Borden house on Second Street.  Interested viewers at home could then check in at leisure to see what was transpiring at any time of day or night in the sitting room, and the guest bedroom when not occupied by overnight guests.  Followers of the paranormal are particularly excited by this prospect.  The date when this experiment goes into effect has not yet been announced.

At one time the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast had the word Museum tacked onto the end of its name and there were plenty of framed photographs with captions and signs on all three floors. A few of these original signs survive today from 1996, and a couple of them always raise a few questions from visitors. The brass plaque on the attic crawlspace refers to the story about Mr. Borden killing Lizzie’s fancy pigeons.  Andrew Borden did twist the necks of the hapless birds and brought them into the kitchen to be cooked.  When the air conditioning components were being installed in the attic, co-owner Ron Evans and his friend Ken Souza (a familiar name among Borden case enthusiasts) found the carcasses of two dead pigeons in the attic and decided to memorialize the moment. George Quigley, brother of longtime house chef, Dave, was an innkeeper and tour guide in the early years of the B&B.

The next sign is pretty self-explanatory and can be found over the steep staircase at the front of the house.

This sandwich board sign from 1996 usually sits out on the curb in front of the house, and the discerning eye can just note a drop of blood dripping off the little hatchet. In the years before the Borden barn was rebuilt as a gift shop and visitor’s center, the old Leary Press served as ticket window for day tours.

Two questions often asked by visitors at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast are: 1. Is there anything original left in the house? 2. Why is there a broken plate hanging on the diningroom wall?

The Borden sisters retained ownership of #92 Second Street until it was sold in 1918.  How much of the original furniture was taken with them to Maplecroft in 1893, how much was put into storage, and what was left in the house is unknown.  Anything which was stored is rumored to have been lost in a flood during a storm.  There is nothing original left today.  The Glenwood woodstove is a favorite item in the house and must be very like the one in which Lizzie burned that famous Bedford Cord dress on the day after the funeral of her father and stepmother and on which Bridget cooked the equally famous mutton for breakfast.  This old woodstove was found rusting away in a field in Vermont and was refurbished and piped for gas in 1995.

The white ironstone plate in a shadowbox in the diningroom was retrieved from the ground when the barn was rebuilt a couple of years ago.  The location was in the backyard northeast corner of the lot where the barn privy had been located. What could not be burned was buried or tossed into the outhouse or privy vault. Many items of metal and glass and transferware plate fragments were found, including a broken doll commonly called a “Frozen Charlotte.” Lizzie was 12 when the Bordens moved into Second Street, but it is still fun to think it may have been hers. 

The Bordens used a practical white ironstone for daily use and this was on the diningroom table at the time of the murders in readiness for the noonday meal which never took place.  Many fragments of white ironstone crockery were found in the privy excavation including this plate, which may have been from the Borden’s cupboard.