Read Part I of The Brownells of Fairhaven at http://lizziebordenwarpsandwefts.com/brownells-of-fairhaven-pt-i/
It’s good to have an alibi and good friends who will swear to it!
Emma’s Alibi-The Brownells of Fairhaven
13 Sunday Nov 2011
Category Archives: Fairhaven
Spinner Publications & Keeley Library
14 Thursday Apr 2011
Posted in Fairhaven, Fall River, Marion, Mills, New Bedford, Potpourri, Read All ABout It, Resources, Things to Do
Although many of these publications are out of print, Amazon and Ebay frequently have Volume 3 and 4 of Spinner at a good price. Volume 4 has many wonderful old photos of Fall River and New Bedford, and features articles and interviews which give invaluable details of the “good old days”. Mrs. Florence Brigham, former curator of the Fall River Historical Society, gives a memorable interview about her memories growing up in the city. The history of ice cream parlors in New Bedford is another article full of information and charm.
Spinner Publications http://www.spinnerpub.com/Home.html site posts on new publications, calendars, maps, etc. and maintains an unparalleled archives of vintage photos.
Also not to be missed, for the serious student of Fall River history, is the Keeley Library Online collection of photographs and postcards, Fall River yearbooks and articles- many hours of free online material to enjoy if you cannot come to Fall River. http://www.sailsinc.org/durfee/fulltext.htm (articles) http://sailsinc.org/Durfee/ (index page) http://sailsinc.org/Durfee/fallriver.htm (vintage slides of the city)
A Letter from Lizzie Borden
13 Monday Dec 2010
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One of the most-viewed features of Warps and Wefts this year has been the newspaper clippings from all over the country detailing the most minute bits of information about the Borden case and personalities involved. Of course newspapers do make mistakes, and when information is lacking, some unscrupulous reporters were not above inventing details to fill in the gaps. With a little careful sifting, there are some golden nuggets to be found. Thanks to Ancestry.com and Newspaper Archives.com, all of this is available to the public. Here is a very interesting paragraph which was buried in the Davenport (Iowa) Tribune, August 25, 1892.
It’s unfortunate the Borden family threw notes and letters away so readily. The famous note sent to Abby Borden asking her to come visit a sick friend went missing, even though a reward of $500 dollars was offered for information about the sick friend’s name, who wrote the note, and who delivered it. It was suggested by Lizzie that it may have been burned up (in the kitchen woodstove as that was the only fire in August).
Emma Borden was visiting the Brownells on Green Street in Fairhaven during the week of the murder, which must be where the letter mentioned in the article above was sent. On the morning of the murders, Lizzie gave her father a letter to mail to Emma in Fairhaven. The letter mentioned above must have been written before the letter written and given to Andrew Borden to mail on August 4th. How unfortunate Emma did not keep the letter which mentions Lizzie’s “suspicious man”, which would have added credence to her tale to the police about such a character later. Or, did Lizzie make up the “suspicious” man loitering around the property as a convenient suspect to draw attention away from herself later? To whom did Emma show that letter- most likely Mrs. Brownell and her daughter Helen. Lizzie mentioned the suspicious man idea to her friend Alice Russell the night before the murders. Was Lizzie telling the truth- or cleverly covering all of her bases? Did Emma’s friends who saw the letter ever get to relay that information to the police?
The Brownell House Today
12 Monday Jul 2010
Posted in Borden Spaces and Places, Fairhaven
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.
Brownell House Happenings
04 Monday May 2009
Posted in Borden Spaces and Places, Fairhaven, If Walls Could Talk, Potpourri
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.
Death Certificate-Eli Bence
03 Thursday Jul 2008
Posted in Case Personalities, Fairhaven, Potpourri
Good news for Green St.
30 Friday May 2008
Posted in Borden Family, Borden Spaces and Places, Fairhaven, In the News, Potpourri
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!
A new series debuts
03 Monday Dec 2007
Posted in Case Personalities, Fairhaven, In the News, Potpourri
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
First Meeting of The Second Street Irregulars
14 Wednesday Nov 2007
Posted in Fairhaven, Potpourri, Second Street Happenings
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.
On the waterfront
23 Tuesday Oct 2007
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
Life is Sweet
22 Monday Oct 2007
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!
Autumn arrrives at last
15 Monday Oct 2007
Posted in Borden Spaces and Places, Fairhaven, Potpourri
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.
Fairhaven Town Hall
07 Sunday Oct 2007
Posted in Borden Spaces and Places, Fairhaven, Victoriana
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.
Fairhaven’s Famous Talcum
25 Tuesday Sep 2007
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.
Mr. Bence’s Secret Sorrow
31 Tuesday Jul 2007
Posted in Case Personalities, Fairhaven
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.
Farewell to 19 Green Street
30 Monday Jul 2007
Posted in Borden Spaces and Places, Fairhaven
It is always sad to see a grand old house fall into decay. The Brownell House in Fairhaven has been condemned and abandoned. The vegetation has covered the old clapboards, tattered curtains sway crazily from the windows, mountains of dust and trash litter the rooms, now ghostly as the sun filters through the shutters and falls upon rooms of broken antique furnishings. The parlor where Emma said goodbye before departing for Fall River now stands empty and forlorn, the Victorian settee in the window faded and dusty, awaiting the end with a stoic resignation. Another piece of the Borden saga will soon be lost to history.
Emma’s Ironclad Alibi
26 Thursday Jul 2007
Posted in Fairhaven
More than a few writers over the years have endeavored to concoct a way for Lizzie’s older sister Emma to have managed to commit the grisly double homicides. Some theories have imagined Emma, dressed in men’s clothing, riding through the night from Fairhaven, managing to kill her father on the sofa around 11 a.m. and returning to Fairhaven in time to receive the telegram from Dr. Bowen. Then there would have been the hiring of a carriage, the mad dash over to the train station and the making all of the train connections to arrive in Fall River at the Bowenville Station by 5 p.m. Given the state of the roads at the time, this would have been an impossible feat.
. Emma testified she had been visiting for nearly two weeks at the home of Helen Brownell, a spinster dressmaker, and her widowed mother at #19 Green Street in Fairhaven. So convinced of the truth of this statement, authorities never required either of the Brownells to testify to that fact at any of the legal proceedings. The Brownell house on Green St. is standing still, although the once lovely tree-lined street is much-changed today.
