Lizzie Borden : Warps & Wefts » Oak Grove Cemetery

Oak Grove Facebook Quiz Tonight at 10!

administrator — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 14:33:33 +0000

Need more excitement in your life? Nothing good on T.V.?

Tune in tonight,( September 15th) at 10 p.m. for the first ever (but not the last) So you think you know Oak Grove Cemetery? Jeopardy- style online quiz.

Questions and photo identifications will be posted in rapid fire, each going up after the previous one has been correctly answered. There will be one winner, with difficult brainbusters in case of a tie. Join us at Friends of Oak Grove Fall River tonight. A prize will be awarded to the winner- and the competition will be fierce! How well do YOU know Oak Grove?

* Contestants will need a free Facebook account to post answers.

Filed under: Borden-related gravesites, Case Personalities, Fall River, Fall River families, Oak Grove Cemetery, Things to Do, Victoriana

The air tight alibi

administrator — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 02:37:24 +0000

Joseph Wilmarth Carpenter, Jr. left the Borden & Almy business “under a cloud”, and with some hard feelings toward crusty Andrew Borden. That news was known about town. After Andrew Borden was murdered, Mr. Carpenter’s history with the victim made him a “person of interest.” He may have done better to stick around town and face the music. Still, he was off the hook with an air tight alibi.

Carpenter’s family monument and head stone is seen below in Oak Grove Cemetery.

(Top photo by Will Clawson)

Filed under: "Lizzie Folks", August 4th, Borden-related gravesites, Fall River, Oak Grove Cemetery, Potpourri, Theories Tagged: Joseph Wilmarth Carpenter

Wade’s Market

administrator — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 15:02:17 +0000

For students of the Borden case, the name of Wade’s Market crops up several times. The little local grocery was located just to the south of Dr. Kelly’s house and had the number of 98 Second St. Newspaper story stringer and newspaper vendor, John Cunningham had just exited Wade’s and was heading north on Second Street when he overheard Adelaide Churchill telling Tom Bowles of the carnage on the Borden sofa. Cunningham subsequently headed to Gorman’s paper and paint store to telephone the police station, after first informing the newspapers of the sensational story unfolding at the Borden house.

It wasn’t long after the discovery of Andrew Borden’s body that news of the murder was heard in Wade’s store, where the lunch hour crowd got the details of the gruesome killing while awaiting their nickel’s worth of bologna lunch meat. Above Vernon Wade’s store lived Mary and Nathan Chace. Mary Chace was the lady who had seen a man stealing pears out of the Borden back yard earlier in the day. That man was soon run down and turned out to be an innocent party working in Crowe’s yard. It is probable that Abby and Lizzie Borden frequented Wade’s often.

Vernon Wade’s substantial and handsome stone is at the southernmost end of Birch Avenue very close to the Terry plot where Lizzie’s chauffeur, Ernest Terry is buried. If you stand in front of the Terry plot and look west, you will see the Wade monument.

Filed under: "Lizzie Folks", Case Personalities, Fall River, Fall River families, Oak Grove Cemetery, Potpourri, Things to Do Tagged: Vernon Wade

Coming July 19th- A Guide to Oak Grove

administrator — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 02:01:04 +0000

Just in time for Lizzie’s birthday: the guide to Borden-related graves in Oak Grove Cemetery. The booklet contains maps, biographies of people connected with the case who are buried at Oak Grove, three walking tours with maps of how to locate both minor and major personalities in the Borden story, a history of the cemetery, fun facts and trivia, who is NOT buried at Oak Grove connected to the Borden case, and articles on the Victorian celebration of death, symbolism on funerary statuary and much more! Designed in a black and white “Edward Goreyesque” style, the publication will go on sale July 19th. Pricing and outlets which will stock the guide will be finalized and announced here on July 15th.

Filed under: "Lizbits", "Lizzie Folks", Borden Family, Borden-related gravesites, Case Personalities, Fall River, Fall River families, Fall River Historical Society, Fall River Now and Then, Just Plain Lizzie, Lizzie in Print, Oak Grove Cemetery Tagged: Guide to Oak Grove Cemetery Fall River

Lawdwick Borden and the Children in the Well

administrator — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:23:05 +0000

This Monday, March 14th, will mark the birthday of Lawdwick Borden, the great -uncle of Lizzie Borden. Lawdwick is not so much remembered as his second wife, Eliza Darling, the mother of the unfortunate children who were thrown into a cistern. The story has grown over the years and been embellished. Guests to the Borden house today all want to hear about “the children in the well”. Finally the facts and the correct spelling of Lawdwick Borden can be set forth for all time. The photographs and censuses detailing the four wives of Lawdwick Borden may be viewed here. http://lizziebordenwarpsandwefts.com/the-four-wives-of-lawdwick-borden/

Happy Birthday “Uncle Lawdy”.

Filed under: "Lizzie Folks", Borden Family, Borden Spaces and Places, Fall River, Fall River families, Murder Most Foul, Oak Grove Cemetery Tagged: Children in the Well, Eliza Darling, Eliza Darling Borden, Lawdwick Borden

Remembering Sarah

administrator — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:20:34 +0000

The December 20th anniversary date of mill worker, Sarah Cornell is usually forgotten in the bustle of the holiday preparations. The tragic story of a young girl found hanging near a haystack on Mr. Durfee’s farm has been the inspiration for several books, and much sympathy over the decades since the deed. Sarah indicated in a note that if she were to go missing, the Rev. Ephraim Avery would be the man to find. The pregnant girl’s message from beyond the grave and the circumstances surrounding her demise convinced authorities to bring in the minister for questioning and ultimately for trial. Aided by his standing in the Methodist church and the influence of important people, Avery was aquitted. He then fled to Ohio and led an uneventful life. Sarah’s thin and worn gravestone in Oak Grove Cemetery still stands as a reminder of the pitiful tale of Justice unserved. The costs for her burial and stone were undertaken by the Fall River Congregationalists when the Methodist congregations of which she had been a member declined the responsibility. Sarah was laid to rest on Christmas Eve. For more on the story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Maria_Cornell

(photo January 9, 2011)

Filed under: Fall River, Murder Most Foul, Oak Grove Cemetery, Potpourri, True Crime Tagged: Sarah Cornell

Oak Grove New Year

administrator — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:35:39 +0000

The ground fog rolled in thick from Oak Grove Avenue to the front entrance of Oak Grove last Sunday between 3 and 5 p.m. Captured in the fog are some interesting photos of the Borden plot, Cook Borden’s famous granite tree trunk, stones of Officer Wixon (he who tried out climbing over the Borden’s back fence on August 4th), and Southard Miller who built the Borden house on Second Street. Someone had visited over the holiday, and left a tribute at Lizzie’s grave. Several photos in the slideshow below, as indicated, were photographed by Will Clawson.

Filed under: Borden Family, Borden Spaces and Places, Borden-related gravesites, Fall River, Oak Grove Cemetery, Potpourri

What’s in a name?

administrator — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 05:03:45 +0000

Perhaps the most frequent blooper oft-repeated in print and in documentaries is Lizzie’s name. In her inquest testimony Lizzie clearly states she was christened Lizzie Andrew Borden, but those who would rewrite history will have it be Elizabeth. Although Lizzie is a nickname for Elizabeth, Lizzie Borden opted to start calling herself Lizbeth as a whim. Perhaps she was tired of that little ditty about herself and those 40 whacks! Liz, Lizzy, Lizzie, Lizbeth, Elizabeth- but in the end, as far as history is concerned she will ever be Lizzie Andrew Borden.

Filed under: "Lizbits", Borden Family, Borden-related gravesites, Oak Grove Cemetery, Potpourri Tagged: Lizzie Andrew Borden

Full Moon over Fall River

administrator — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 02:02:24 +0000

The temps have dropped, the frost is on the pumpkin, the leaves are off the oaks in Oak Grove Cemetery and the city has its Christmas decorations up. Here is a twilight shot tonight under the full moon in Oak Grove.

Filed under: Fall River, Oak Grove Cemetery

October Mutton Eaters is now Online

administrator — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 04:59:27 +0000

October seems the right time to publish

The Victorian Celebration of Death

The Borden Funerals

Those Victorians sure knew how to mourn and how to keep Loved Ones around for years after the funeral through Memento Mori. To find out more about the customs of the era, and the Borden funeral in particular, visit the link for October Mutton Eaters online. Why did Lizzie wish her grave “bricked over”. What is a mort-safe?

Filed under: "Lizbits", "Lizziewear", Borden Family, Borden Spaces and Places, Fall River, Fall River families, Halloween Lizzie Borden, Oak Grove Cemetery, Potpourri, Victoriana Tagged: Victorian Funeral Customs