Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts

Just a little over a year between the two photos above reveal big changes at the Fairhaven Green Street house where Emma Borden stayed with the Brownells the days before the murders in Fall River.  A sort of patio fenced in with white railings is now in place where the former kitchen addition came off the back of the house.  Gone are the creeping briars and trumpet vine, sagging back porch and decaying front stairs.  The siding is a bit of a disappointment for purists who love Victorian houses, but the structure has managed to come into the decade keeping some of its early charm for future generations to inherit.

A visit on April 24th revealed a great change to the house on Green Street where Lizzie Borden’s sister Emma was staying at the time of the murders.  The house is undergoing extensive renovations. The back kitchen annex is demolished, the heavy vegetation is removed, and the house has received siding recently. The interiors have been gutted and rewired with the walls stripped back to the studs.  The graceful staircase to the second floor just inside the front door will remain, as well as the handsome wide-planked floors and the original wide granite base slab for the front exterior stairs.  The lightening fixture shown in the entry foyer was of course added on some time after the original construction. The owner of the property who is ordering the renovation plans to move in soon.  Neighbors out on the street seem happy something is finally being done to clean up the old property.

A recent visit to the Brownell house on Green Street, the address of Emma Borden’s alibi on the day of the murders, revealed good things happening for the old place. 

The sagging front steps have been removed, the jungle growth of trumpet vine has been cut back, and a large dumpster in the side yard is filled with debris. Structurally, the house has been pronounced in good shape, with some minor roof leaks and a side porch which needs shoring up.  Here’s hoping for brighter days ahead soon for the historic property!

 The first Lizzie Borden offering from Garden Bay Films has been released today on YouTube.  Covering a recent tribute to pharmacist Eli Bence at Fairhaven’s Riverside Cemetery as a first release, this new film endeavor promises to herald a great series of topics and personalities related to the famous case. We will be looking forward to more!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlJumWmayLc

November 9th-10 marked the inaugural meeting of a group of Borden historians from all over the U.S. who gathered at the scene of the crime in Fall River at the Borden house on Second Street.  The group, modeled along the lines of the Sherlockian Baker Street Irregulars, visited important Lizzie-related sites around town, the courthouse where the 1893 trial took place, and Fairhaven where Lizzie’s sister Emma proved her alibi.  Composed of members of The Lizzie Borden Society Forum, http://lizzieandrewborden.com/LBForum/index.php

 the group, chapter named “Mutton Eaters”, (in tribute to the Borden breakfast on the day of the murders) will meet 2-3 times a year and will feature special guest lectures and field trips.  Photo below is taken in the jury box at the New Bedford Courthouse where Lizzie was acquitted in June of 1893.

Just at the end of Main Street, there is a gentle curve which follows the water. The view of the little boats and across the water of New Bedford is superb.  On the shore at this point is a plaque marking the spot where famed marine artist William Bradford had his studio.  Fall River had its share of fruit and flower-painting artists, but Fairhaven can boast a bevy of artists inspired by their waterfront surroundings.  Bradford’s paintings may be found in galleries all over the country with canvases in New Bedford at the Whaling Museum and in Boston at the Museum of Fine Art.  This painting has been a part of a special exhibit at the Whaling Museum.

http://www.whalingmuseum.org/exhibits/bradford.html

New Bedford Harbor, 1858

The Panther 1874 mentioned on the plaque above

Although Dorothy Cox Candy Shop was not around in Fairhaven for Emma’s visit in 1892, it has been a favorite stopping place for over 75 years for those who crave quality treats. 

http://www.dorothycox.com/ No trip to Fairhaven is complete without a stop at Dorothy’s which is easy to find, located on Huttleston Avenue (a.k.a. Route 6) and is easy to find from New Bedford as well by just going over the Rt. 6 bridge.  Seasonal goodies, beautful holiday displays, and hand-dipped candies lure locals and visitors from farther afield.  The current green apple on a stick dipped in caramel and coated with milk chocolate is not to be missed.  It’s a good thing!

 After record-breaking heat last week, the cold front finally arrived on Friday, pushing temps into the 40′s at night and 60′s during the day.  The leaves brightened up overnight from the soaking rain and glistened in the early morning Saturday sun.  All around the city people are preparing for Halloween, with some of the grand old Painted Ladies pulling out all the stops.  It was a great weekend to be driving around.

 Among many reasons to visit the town of Fairhaven, one must be the magnificent town hall, one of several municipal structures owing its existence to town benefactor, Henry H. Rogers.  Just across the street from the Millicent Library, the town hall has spectacular English oak panelling and fittings in the Gothic Revival style, a second floor theatre/auditorium which was dedicated by no lesser mortal than Mark Twain himself in 1894, and sweeping expanses of jewel -toned stained glass lancet windows.  The exteriors, are equally impressive, feature molded terracotta arches, tiled mosaic entries and breath-taking architectural details.  This grand edifice, and the library as well, were in the building stages at the time of Emma Borden’s visit to the Brownells on Green Street in the summer of 1892.

 Every little town in America has a claim to fame for something,  and so does Fairhaven, Massachusetts.  The Gold Bond Powder Company came to town in 1912 when the principals of the company were looking for a “clean and spotless” town to set up their manufacturing plant. They took the concept of a secret process very seriously and did not let anyone in the building during the mixing process which combined the secret ingredients. This company was big business in town until the early 1980s when they moved to a larger site in Rhode Island.  Gold Bond is still a popular brand and is easily found in New England supermarkets. And- it’s medicated! 

The Atlas Tack Company was another booming concern at one time in the Fairhaven area, also now gone, but samples of these products are living on in the great display at the Fairhaven Office of Tourism and Visitor’s Center at 43 Center Street near the beautiful Millicent Library and Town Hall.

The testimony that Lizzie Borden tried to procure Prussic Acid at Smith’s pharmacy on the day before the murder has long been an exciting prospect to ponder regarding Lizzie’s possible premeditated attempt on the lives of her parents. Eli Bence, under oath was prepared to testify that Lizzie did enter his store between 10:30 and 11 a.m. on the 3rd of August, and would later identify her by voice and sight.  What a bitter blow to Mr. Bence when his evidence was not allowed at the Grand Jury trial as the Bordens were not poisoned and the incident “too far removed in time”!  Bence was married two times, his last wife being a Maxfield of Fairhaven, which is where today we find the little family.  Eli died in Pittsfield, Massachusetts but made his way back near the town where his evidence was not wanted in the end.  He is buried with his wife and little girl, in Riverside Cemetery Section 6 Lot 111.  Entering the main gate, take the first right and follow the wall about half way down, look left to see a stone marked Bourgeault to find the Maxfield/Bence lot just behind.   The sad little story, not known , was the death of his little Priscilla, buried next to her mother. 

 please click on photos for large images