Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts

The Funeral Service of Abby and Andrew Borden

 Private funeral services for the deceased victims began at the house on Second Street at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning.  The streets surrounding the house were packed with over 2500 people anxious to get a glimpse of the proceedings.  Services were conducted by the Rev. A. Buck, William Adams, D.D. gave the invocation and read passages from the Bible.  The bodies were each placed in a cedar coffin covered with black broadcloth and bore three silver handles on each side. The names of the deceased were engraved on a plate on the lid.  On the casket of Andrew Borden was an ivy wreath, on Abby Borden’s a wreath of white roses, fern and sweet peas tied up with white satin ribbon.  The bodies were exposed for viewing.

Family and neighbors attending the home service included Abby’s half-sister Sarah Whitehead, Mrs. Gray (Abby’s stepmother), Hiram Harrington (brother-in-law of Andrew Borden), Mrs. J. L. Fish (sister of Abby Borden), Dr. and Mrs. Bowen, Southard Miller and son, Mrs. Addie Churchill, Mrs. Thomas Cheetham, several cousins,  neighbor Mrs. James Burt,  Mrs. Rescomb Case, and Mrs. John Durfee. Over seventy-five in all were received at the home. 

 Miss Lizzie Borden was attired in a black lace dress with jet bead trimmings and wore a bonnet of dark material with small, high flowers. The funeral procession traveled north on Second Street, to Borden Street, on to South Main, and passed by the Andrew J. Borden Building.  It continued north to Cherry Street, to Rock Street, and turned East on Prospect Street to the entry of Oak Grove Cemetery.   The cortege arrived at the burial site at 12: 20 where several hundred people were assembled for the graveside services.  The crowd was contained by a dozen policemen.  None of the funeral party descended from their carriages except John Morse, Lizzie’s uncle, the bearers and the clergy.  The tops of the graves were covered with branches of fir and the sides lined with cloth.

 Pallbearers included John H. Boone, businessman, Andrew J. Borden, Merchant Manufacturing Co. (same name as the deceased), Jerome Cook Borden, cousin, Richard A. Borden, prominent businessman, George W. Dean, businessman, Abraham Hart, treasurer of Union Savings Bank, and James Osborn, a member of the Central Congregational Church. For Abby Borden:  Frank Almy, John Boone, Henry Buffinton, Simeon Chace, James Eddy and Henry Wells.  The bodies were not buried until after a cemetery autopsy on August 11^th when both skulls were removed and a complete autopsy took place.

• information above courtesy of Leonard Rebello, Lizzie Borden Past and Present and the Fall River Daily Herald

Abraham & Lydia P. Hart, Oak Grove Cemetery

Abraham Hart was one of the last to see Andrew Borden alive on the morning of August 4th when Andrew stopped by the bank.  Mr. Hart would later tell police that Mr. Borden looked weak and feeble.  Abraham Hart would be one of the pallbearers on the morning of Saturday, August 6th at the short service at #92 Second Street and procession to Oak Grove Cemetery.

Dr. Kelly’s wife, Mary Caroline Cantwell Kelly was the last (but one) to see Andrew Borden alive as he entered his front door moments before his murder.  Mrs. Kelly was expecting a baby at the time and was on her way to the dentist.  Mrs. Kelly’s second child, Mary Philomena married the grandson of Abraham Hart, Bertrand K. Hart.  Both are buried in the Gifford/Hart plot at Oak Grove, directly across from the Rev. Augustus Buck, Lizzie’s minister and champion throughout her ordeal.  All are together for eternity in a fascinating entertwining of personalities who had Lizzie Borden in common.

Below:  The mossy stone of Rev. Buck.

Dr. Seabury Warren Bowen was the focus for last month’s Mutton Eaters Annual Meeting at the Borden home in Fall River.  Facts were pooled by members over the year and shared at the gathering.  The fruits of the research are featured in this month’s Mutton Eaters Online for May http://lizziebordenwarpsandwefts.com/2996-2/ or accessed at the tab at the top of this page.  Also of interest is Dr. Bowen’s tesitimony, also found at the top of the web site home page. Thanks to all the Mutton Eaters, the Worcester Historical Museum, Lauren Hewes, Robyn Christensen, Lorraine Gregoire, Lee Ann Wilber and all who made this article possible.

Died May 10, 1916 (photo courtesy FRPD)

On May 10, 1916, John Fleet, former city marshal died of heart failure following several months of poor health. On May 9^th he had been well enough to visit his daughter Harriet Isherwood and showed no signs at that time that death was imminent. He was stricken after midnight at his home at 85 Park St. and succumbed quickly. He was 69 years old.

Fleet was born at Ashton-Under-Lyne in Lancashire, England March 29, 1848.  He had been in America for over 50 years at the time of his death, and had begun his working career in the American Linen mills. At the age of 16 in 1864 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served until the end of the Civil War, taking part in many engagements under Admiral Farragut including the siege of Mobile and the battle against a Spanish fort. Fleet sustained a fractured arm on the same day Lincoln was assassinated when Fleet’s ship was blown up.

Returning to Fall River after the war, Fleet, who was rated as a “landsman” in the Navy, went back to work in the mills.  He worked at the Fall River Boiler Company on Water St., then began a new career direction as a house painter and decorator until he was appointed to the police force on February 27, 1877 at the age of 29.  His career would maintain a steady rise in this line of work, being promoted to sergeant on March 2, 1883, assistant city marshal on December 22, 1886 and city marshal on November 8, 1909. He retired on half pay May 31, 1915, when Medley, another officer involved in the Borden case became Fall River’s first Chief of Police, replacing the title City Marshal held by Fleet at retirement.

John Fleet was known as an efficient officer and was held in high esteem by fellow officers and citizens alike. He was the husband of Lydia Wallace Fleet, the father of four sons and a daughter and was also survived by two brothers and two sisters. His daughter was Harriet Isherwood, and sons  were John W. of Seattle, Frank W., the manager of the Westport telephone exchange, Walter R., assistant superintendent of Borden City mills, and Arthur J., a designer. Surviving brothers and sisters were Richard and Samuel Fleet, Mrs. Fannie Lewis and Mrs. Ann Thackery. A third sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Meyers predeceased her brother a month before in Providence.

Fleet was a member of Richard Borden Post 46 G.A.R. , Mt. Hope Lodge of Masons, Odd Fellows and Puritan Lodge, K.P. 

Chief Medley ordered the flag at half-mast at all stations and sent the following statement:

“ . . . His record shows clearly to the members of this department what can be accomplished by persistent effort and fidelity to duty.  In his death the department loses a friend and the community a valued citizen.  The funeral will take place Saturday afternoon, at which time I trust that as many members as can possibly make it convenient will attend.  I have this day forwarded to Mrs. Fleet and members of the family a message of condolence from the department.  As a token of respect the department will forward a floral emblem. “ W. H. Medley, Chief of Police

The funeral service was conducted from the home at 85 Park St. at 1:30 and was conducted by the Rev. Albert R. Parker of St. John’s Episcopal Church for immediate family and friends.  The body was taken to St. John’s where Fleet had been a member for many years.  The traditional Episcopal  requiem was conducted and “Lead Kindly Light”, “Nearer My God to Thee”, and  “Heart Be Still”were among the musical selections. A large number of police officers were in attendance including Chief Medley and Captain Dennis Desmond who had worked with Fleet on the Borden case in 1892. Following the service, interment took place at Oak Grove where at the grave the ritual for Grand Army members was carried out by Post 46. The Massachusetts Police Association sent a large floral tribute in the form of a policeman’s badge. R.I.P.

(sources:  Fall River Evening News May 13, 1916, Fall River Globe May 10, 1916)

The diningroom at Second Street now has a gallery of photos of physicians who were in one way or another connected to the Borden case.  The most recent addition is Dr. Draper of Harvard Medical School, Boston, who assisted with the autopsy of Andrew and Abby Borden on August 11th in Oak Grove cemetery.

Dr. Draper has an uncanny resemblance to Dr. James Starrs, a forensics expert who had attempted to gain support for the exhumation of the Borden bodies in 1992.  Professor Starrs was denied the request but did examine trial exhibits at the historical society and utilized ground penetrating radar to map the Borden plot. 

The Rev. Ephraim AveryIt has been just a month over the 178 years since the body of poor Sarah Cornell was found swinging on a post in a Tiverton farmyard on a cold winter’s morning  just before Christmas.  With the recent publication of Rory Raven’s Wicked Conduct,  reviews are appearing in area newspapers and interest is again renewed in the story of the pregnant mill worker and the suspicious circumstances surrounding her relationship with the Rev. Ephraim Avery. 

Sarah’s grave in Oak Grove cemetery has seen an increase in visitors and there is talk of a new grave marker to supplement the nearly illegible worn stone now in place.  To read the full article by William Moniz of the Spirit, visit this link http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100114/PUB03/1140435

Amazon is offering the book at 13.59 plus 3.99 shipping and the volume is in stock.

All across the country families  now make their way to cemeteries carrying Christmas wreaths and baskets filled with artificial holly, greens and pinecones and red velvet bows.  Our dead should not be forgotten at this family time of year.

On August 4, 1892, two elderly, harmless people were brutally slashed and bludgeoned to death in the sanctity of their home, a place which should have been a haven of safety.  No justice will ever come for the silent slain.  The killer went on to live and prosper another day, and to celebrate Christmas. 

Christmas 1892 left Lurana Borden without her brother Andrew.  Lizzie and Emma Borden were fatherless.  Nobody knows for sure if they both mourned deeply.  It is entirely possible that they did.

 In the Whitehead household on Fourth Street,  Sarah and Little Abbie mourned.  Mrs. George Fish, Abby’s sister was bereft.  Abby and Andrew Borden were loved by some family members, surely- and liked by some neighbors and friends. The tragedy of their loss was felt.  How did they feel standing at the grave, bare of a marker in the Christmas of 1892?  The citizens of the city, demanding that someone be brought to trial for the deeds during that hot month of August had a suspect in jail- waiting.

How curious it is that in 2009, the victims become but a side note to the tragedy.  It is the accused and aquitted whose name lives on.  If one were to stop by Oak Grove Cemetery and leave a floral tribute to the victims, within hours it would find its way to the grave of Lizzie Borden- taken without a thought and re-deposited  without a thought.  Below the frostline now lay today what remains of the sad, frozen bones of Abby and Andrew Borden- still headless, -  and now their likenesses and characters the fodder for irreverent cartoons, gift products and unspeakable accusations made without a shred of evidence.  Those who once were loved and walked among us.  Does the interval of Time allow for such insensitive liberties?  Is murder ever a source for humor?

 How we memorialize our Dead says a great deal about ourselves in these modern times- a thought to contemplate any day- and especially at this time of year. 

An epitaph often seen on grave markers

Remember friend as you pass by.
As you are now so once was I.
As I am now so shall you be.
Death take thy hand, and follow me.”

Opening tomorrow:  

October 28 Artists and Fall River Natives Jim Charette and Mark Delisle present Boneyard, a series of paintings, prints, photography, music, video and more inspired by Oak Grove Cemetery. The gallery opening will be from 6-9PM on Wednesday, 10/28 at the Cherry & Webb Gallery, 139 South Main Street. Jim and Mark grew up on opposite ends of Oak Grove and attribute the formation of their life-long friendship to their old “stomping grounds”. As such, this cemetery holds a special meaning to both Jim and Mark.  Both artists have generously agreed to donate a portion of the profits from the sale of their artwork to the Friends of Oak Grove. Please mark your calendar and consider attending this event and support these two local artists.

These high quality, full-color calendars are spiral bound and printed on heavy cardstock

Our calendars feature photographic contributions by Mary Beth Rigby and William Moniz as well as historic images donated from private collections

Layout by Ann Keane

Additionally, the birth dates of notable historical figures are observed throughout

Limited quantities of our calendars are available for $15 and make a wonderful holiday gift

Shipping is an additional $1 per calendar.  Those in the Fall River area may arrange for pickup.  Please call or email to reserve your copy or to arrange for pickup

Payment may be mailed to:

The friends of oak grove cemetery

96 colfax street

Fall river, MA 02720

Ph: 508-642-9636

Don’t forget this Sunday’s tour which includes Borden-related grave stones!

History Underfoot III Tour – The Fall River Garden Club, Fall River Historical Society and The Little Theatre of Fall River, Inc. will be hosting their 3rd tour of this historic cemetery, sponsored in part by Citizens-Union Savings Bank.  The group has graciously agreed to donate a portion of their profits toward the purchase of a Memorial Tree.  F.O.G .has been invited to provide an informational table on our group and the work we are doing to restore Oak Grove. Past tours have been a tremendous success and we hope that you will plan to attend.  Tour will be conducted from 11 – 3:30 and tickets for the fundraiser are $15.  Rain date is October 11.