Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts

As posted earlier:  The public is cordially invited to attend a presentation of “Lizzie Borden: The Mystery Continues,” sponsored by the Sippican Historical Society Thursday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. at Marion’s Music Hall.

The speaker will be Mr. Christopher Daley in a one hour retelling of the famous double homicide. Mr. Daley is a history teacher in the Silver Lake Regional School System in Kingston.  If you get to Marion earlier, there are many things to enjoy, not the least of which is the scenery.

The Sippican Historical Society has a treasure trove of things to see including the Mary Celeste room,

and many beautiful paintings and sketches by Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the Gibson Girl.

It’s no wonder Lizzie wanted to go fishing in Marion with Dr. Handy’s cottage so close to the fishing pier.  The photo below is the site of Dr. Handy’s cottage, but not the original building.  The water is a moment’s walk away.

Borden case prosecutor, Hosea Knowlton enjoyed a summer rental in Marion, died there and had his ashes scattered over water there. The photo below is of his summer rental house, shown with the Second St. Irregulars on Front St.

Knowlton had built a beautiful summer home  in 1900, but sadly died before he could enjoy many summers in it, He died in 1902. It is now a dormitory for Tabor Academy.

Dr. Handy’s cottage, Lizzie’s Marion fishing destination (courtesy of Sippican Historical Society).

If you were busy elsewhere on August 4th and missed  the Lizzie tizzy of activities in Fall River, you can still catch a program on the famous case in Marion, MA. on August 19th at 7 p.m. Marion, the charming little fishing town where Lizzie had planned to try her famous line and sinkers, has a program in the old music hall which should keep the case followers delighted in August. http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100805/PUB01/8050377

This week will mark the end of criminal cases tried at the historic New Bedford Superior Court House at 441 County Street, the venue for the famous 1893 trial of Lizzie Borden.  Only civil cases will be heard now at the New Bedford site. Amazingly the old court room where the Borden trial took place has remained, for the most part, the same as it looked in 1893. 

The new Fall River Justice Center on Second Street, will assume the task of trying criminal cases.  One wonders if the 1892 crime happened today- might Lizzie try for “house arrest” and remain in her house across the street from the new court house wearing an ankle device!

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100622/NEWS/6220308

Recently a letter surfaced in England written by Lizzie to a friend living there.  The woman now owning the letter in the television programme that aired last week in Britain had the letter written to her grandmother by “L. A. Borden,” signed thus, over three pages, that was very conversational and ordinary in tone, being pre-murders. It was valued, very conservatively, at £600-800  or $1,200 to $1,600.

With the upcoming publication of the Fall River Historical Society’s Parallel Lives, (now delayed until late March -early Spring), Lizzie letters are much on the minds of Borden enthusiasts everywhere.

If a Lizzie Borden signature is out of your wallet range, many Lizzie-affiliated signatures can still be had for a bargain.  The signatures of the Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1892-96 and the former Governor, George Dexter Robinson, also better known as Lizzie’s head defense attorney, were bought recently for $30 on Ebay. Another former Governor’s autograph (John Davis Long 1880-1883) was thrown in as a bonus.

 

Roger Wolcott (1847-1900)  was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts from 1892-1896 and Governor from 1896-1900.

Roger Wolcott

John Davis Long (1838-1915)

Governor of Massachusetts 1880-1883, Secretary of the Navy 1897-1902

The Navy destroyer USS Long (DD-209) was named after him. 

Lizzie was acquitted in her own home town tonight at Superior Court in a repeat of the mock trial redux which was so well attended last month in New Bedford.  Will she make it three in a row next month in Taunton when the excellent cast takes the stand again?  Read all about tonight’s trial in the Herald News article by Debbie Allard with some superb photos by Jack Foley.http://www.heraldnews.com/news/x637610488/NOT-GUILTY-Lizzie-retrial-falls-in-line-with-history

Today’s South Coast Today puts Lizzie in the Press again with coverage of last night’s “Mock Trial”. Read the story at http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090925/NEWS/909250337

The 1893 Lizzie Borden trial re-enactment at Bristol County courthouse is the must-see event for September.  The courtroom where it all happened in June of 1893 is much today as it was on the day when Lizzie sat on the hard wooden bench and hid her enigmatic face behind her fan.  Even the Victorian wooden Defense and Prosecution tables where Robinson and Knowlton held forth are still in place.  A large oil portrait of Attorney Knowlton hangs on the wall today.  A large turnout is expected and tickets will soon be a hot commodity in the area. An open house will be held the night of the re-enactment from 6 – 7 p.m. when the “trial” begins.

The free program is open to the public, with limited seating.

 Mail a self-addressed stamped envelope to “Lizzie, Redux Request”, care of Clerk Magistrate Marc J. Santos, Bristol Count Clerk of Courts, 441 County St., New Bedford, MA 02740 for tickets. There will be two tickets issued per request. Tickets will be honored until 20 minutes before the performance, after which there will be a general admission as room is available.

2009 markes the 150th anniversary for the Massachusetts Superior courts.  Many events and displays are on tap for the year . Of particular interest is this notation on their web site

“Lizzie Borden, Redux ~ Multiple dates and locations

 New Bedford Superior Courthouse ~ September 24

Fall River Superior Courthouse ~ October 22

 Taunton Superior Courthouse ~ November 19

 Ms. Borden was acquitted of the murder of her father

and mother and no other suspect was ever identified.

The trial, which took place in 1893 in the New Bedford

Superior Court, continues to interest and intrigue the

public. Not a re-enactment but in a mock trial, Ms.

Borden will be tried again with two lawyers serving as

team prosecutors and two lawyers as team defense. The

audience will vote a verdict.”

To see a listing of all the big doings for the year visit http://www.mass.gov/courts/press/summary-of-events.pdf

Bridget Sullivan’s whereabouts from after Lizzie’s aquittal in June of 1893 up until she was located in Anaconda, Montana in 1896 married to a Sullivan, has always been a source of mystery.  Did Lizzie’s attorneys give Miss Sullivan money to “get out of town”?  Did Bridget stay in the city, find work elsewhere, or go back home to Ireland to visit her family after her ordeal with the Borden family?  Naturally, Bridget Sullivan is a common name for an Irish immigrant, and we may never know her full story of those missing years.  Recently Ancestry.com made available ship passenger manifests.  A Bridget Sullivan is shown traveling to Queenstown, Ireland from Boston in June 1894, on the same Cunarder steamship, the RMS Scythia, on which Lizzie left in 1890 with her lady friends for her 19 week Grand Tour.  Bridget was obliged to be available for the witness box until after Lizzie’s acquittal-but did she have to work an extra year after to save passage money?  When did she return to America before going to Montana?  Some questions we may never be able to answer, but this entry below in the Scythia passenger list is a good possibility.  Bridget is listed as being 28 years old and bound for Liverpool with the usual stop at Queenstown first where she would have disembarked.  The ship reached Liverpool on June 19th.

RMS Scythia (steel engraving courtesy of Norway Heritage)

Above photo is the top of the page with information catagories.

Special thanks to my sleuthing partner, Mike Poirier, for helping me with this quest.

Denise Noe’s article on the persuasive leader of the Borden Dream Team, Mr. George Robinson, may be found at the following link.  It was first published in The Hatchet, the journal for Borden case studies.

 http://mensnewsdaily.com/2007/08/25/george-robinson-the-extraordinary-man-who-did-so-much-to-free-lizzie-borden/

 In a novel twist on the old tale, audience members at the production of Lizzie Borden and the 40 Whacks will be active participants in a mock trial this Thursday, August 23rd at the Lynn, Massachusetts Historical Society.  The drama will unfold at 7 p.m. and admisssion is free. For more information visit this link.

http://www.bostonnow.com/entertainment/theater/2007/08/21/free_lizzie_in_lynn/

August began and is ending up with Lizzie!  The calendar year goes April, May, June, July, Lizzie, September. . . . . . . .

The documentation regarding the final disposal of Hosea Knowlton’s ashes after they left Forest Hills in Boston, to the scattering over the fishing pond in Marion has arrived from the town hall office of records.  The first document is a file card from The Rural Cemetery of New Bedford.

The second and third photos below are copies from the original record, detailing the death on Decemeber 18, 1902. 

The death certificate copy

 (click on all photos for printable, full-sized images)