"Lizzie Folks"
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Andrew Borden’s Barber, Pierre LeDuc
photos courtesy of JoAnne Giovino
Andrew Borden’s final morning, leading up to the time of his murder was witnessed by many people as he made his usual rounds around the city. A creature of habit, his daily pattern of barber, post office, banks, and check-in at properties he owned on South Main Street were predictable. He was noted by Abram G.Hart at the bank, encountered by store renter Jonathan Clegg on the street across from old City Hall, engaged in conversation by Mathers and Shortsleeves while checking on a window near the corner of Spring St. and South Main, and observed around 10:45 a.m. by neighbor Caroline Kelly coming around the corner of his house and going up his front steps, attempting to gain entry. Mrs. Kelly would be the last non-family member to see him alive.
Pierre LeDuc is listed as a “hairdresser” along with his partner Joseph LeDoux in the 1891-2 city directory, with their establishment on the second level over Wood and Hall’s shop, which was a furniture store that also had a side line in undertaking, a common practice at the time, supplying things for a funeral and offering wooden coffins for sale in their showroom.
Born of an English father (according to one source) and a French Canadian mother in May of 1864, the family came to America in 1870. The stone marker in Notre Dame Cemetery does not list Pierre’s date of birth, only his death date. The 1900 census has his birthday as May 1864, but the marker has him aged 68 in 1928 which would have made his birth year 1860, the same as Lizzie Borden’s. On April 14, 1890 he married Marie at Saint Anne’s.
Below: City directory entries:
Pierre Leduc 1889-1891 City Directory Location 1: 8 Pleasant Location 2: boards 2 Sixth-and-a-half Occupation: hairdresser Year: 1889
City: Fall River State: MA Pierre Leduc Location 1: 5 Main Location 2: boards 2 Sixth-and-a-half Business Name: Leduc & Ledoux Occupation: hairdresser Year: 1890
City: Fall River State: MA Pierre Leduc Location 1: 5 Main Location 2: boards 2 Sixth-and-a-half Business Name: Leduc & Ledoux Occupation: hairdresser Year: 1891
City: Fall River State: MA 
(click on image above to enlarge to full size) The 1910 census shows Pierre and Marie now living at 160 Robeson Street and they have adopted a daughter, Catherine. With no children appearing since their wedding at St. Anne’s in 1890, twenty years later adoption completed the family. Catherine was born in Massachusetts. Pierre is listed as a barber. Interesting to note that while Pierre’s speaking language is English, Marie’s is listed as French. In other census listings, Pierre and Marie Americanize their names to Peter and Mary LeDuc. And what happened to Pierre’s partner, Joseph LeDoux? In 1930 he is still barbering as an old man and living on Spring Street. If you are fortunate enough to have a copy of Judith A. Boss’ book, Fall River. A Pictoral History (1982 and available on Amazon), you will see a young Pierre LeDuc posing in a jaunty boater hat and crisp white barbering smock in front of Whitehead’s grocery store. He is young and slender. There is only the Fall River Globe’s account that Pierre gave Andrew Borden his last shave and trim the day of the murders. LeDuc probably never thought this is what he would be remembered for in the future. -
Fall River Herald News follow-up
Here’s an interview and follow-up to the Chloe Sevigny story posted here earlier this month. Hopes are running high for an historically accurate script which will include John Morse this time around. The HBO mini-series, slated to run two nights, may be released at the end of 2011.
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Feature on Fall River Police Department
Denise Noe has compiled a fascinating array of facts in this recently released online article for Men’s News Daily about the Fall River Police force, focusing on the men in charge during the 1892 Borden case. City Marshal Rufus Hilliard and Fleet are prominently featured. The article first appear in a 2009 issue of The Hatchet.
http://mensnewsdaily.com/2011/02/20/the-story-of-the-fall-river-police-department/#
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Lizzie Borden’s Servants
Cropped images courtesy of Ancestry.com, click on image to enlarge.
1900– Annie Smith, aged 29 born in Massachusetts, parents from Ireland
John H. Tatro (Tetrault) 37 coachman, born in Rhode Island
1910: Housekeeper Mary S. Boucher aged 35 born in New Jersey , Mary A.J. Reynolds aged 32, English
1920 Helen Smith aged 36 born in Scotland, came to America in 1909, Ellen “Nellie Miller” aged 30, English, came to America in 1891
Nellie Miller and Hannah Nelson remembered in the names of Lizzie’s Boston Bull Terriers -
Lizzie Borden’s Housekeeper
From 1893 until 1927 when Lizzie Borden died and was waked at her impressive home at 306 French Street, she was never truly alone at Maplecroft, even after sister Emma left suddenly and without full explanation being known. Along with Lizzie’s beloved canaries and Boston bull terriers was the constant presence of a housekeeper, which at times, must have been the only other human presence walking through the spacious halls. Maplecroft saw a parade of handymen, carriage drivers, chauffeurs, delivery and service people, and men to do odd jobs and repairs. But surely it was her housekeeper, who slept on the third floor, within easy call of Lizzie’s second floor bedroom which provided a secure and reassuring presence when winter nights closed in early.
Hannah Nelson was born in Sweden on August 24, 1870, the daughter of Philomena and Phi Nelson. She was ten years younger than Lizzie, and when she came to work at Maplecroft in 1903, she was the same age as Lizzie when Lizzie was acquitted of double homicide in a New Bedford court. It would be Hannah who lived through some difficult times when Emma disagreed with Lizzie’s way of life at Maplecroft, and it would be Hannah who stayed on with Lizzie in the big house long after Emma had quitted it forever and the two sisters parted company.
Hannah stayed on until her death on July 3, 1908. She died at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence at the young age of 37. Lizzie had written worried letters to friends about Hannah’s declining health and welfare, and in the end, Lizzie would be the one to step forward to tend to Hannah’s care and burial.
The spot chosen to lay her to rest is located on a peninsula of land with a view of a little cove and river and to the east, a winding estuary. Ancient Little Neck Cemetery, in Riverside is secluded, private, and filled with fascinating historical figures of the Past. Some stones there pre-date the 1700’s, the official date of the cemetery being given as 1755. The headstone is invisible to anyone who travels down the narrow lane as it is located on the other side of a fieldstone wall, on the slope of an embankment. Only the zinc headstone of the Tillinghasts can be seen from the road above it. The view of the little estuary is Hannah’s outlook for eternity. A small child’s headstone is in the same little square plot and has names of several children, who are not related. Hers is a single grave, hidden in a secret place. What is most memorable is the one word on the top of the stone- SISTER.
The stone is plain and unremarkable but for the one word on the top. Was Hannah like a sister to Lizzie after her own sister Emma had left or did her brother wish “Sister” to be placed on the stone? Was Hannah a companion and comfort as well as a housekeeper? Yet one more mystery about Lizzie Borden and what really transpired behind the shuttered doors of Maplecroft.Hannah was also remembered by Lizzie in the naming of one of her beloved pet terriers, Royal Nelson, buried in Pine Ridge pet cemetery at Dedham.
Thanks to Michael Znosko, a font of knowledge on the history of this part of the world, and a recent story http://www.eastbayri.com/detail/141281.html about paupers graves in the Ancient Little Neck Cemetery, Will Clawson (photographer), and Len Rebello (Lizzie Borden Past and Present) for assistance and biographical material.
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Robert Flynn Obituary
Sad news just learned today of the passing of Bob Flynn, a well-known name in Borden circles. His reprinting of several Borden case titles back in the 1990’s provided many interested in the case with great resource material. The following is the obituary which appeared Feb. 12th in area newspapers.
Robert A. Flynn, 88
CUMBERLAND — Robert Anthony Flynn, of Cumberland, died peacefully at Roberts Health Center in Wickford, R.I., on Feb. 8, 2011.
He was born in Fall River, Mass., on June 23, 1922, the son of James H. and Jane E. Flynn. Bob enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the beginning of World War II and served for the duration of the war on the USS Markab in the Pacific. He was recalled for the Korean conflict and again served for the duration as a Chief Petty Officer.
In 1946, he married the love of his life, Anita C. (Boissoneau) Flynn who predeceased him in 2006, after 60 years of marriage.
After World War II, he attended Bryant College and received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He started his career as a Sales Representative for Texaco, Inc., and eventually was promoted to be the Northern New England Manager for Texaco. At the time of his next promotion and transfer out of state, he decided to stay in Maine. He was named the Executive Director of MOHEDA (now the Maine Energy Marketers Assoc.) and then took a position as the Southern Maine Manager for Webber Oil Company, from which he retired.
During retirement, he and his wife Anita traveled extensively throughout the world. They both shared a passion for history and antique books, which resulted in his serving as President of the Maine Antiquarian Book Dealers Association. His passion for books and history also led him to establish the King Phillip Publishing Company. Under its name, he wrote and published several books on the history of the Fall River-Lizzie Borden murder case. Bob appeared on the History Channel, as he was considered a leading expert on the subject.
Since the passing of his beloved wife, Anita, he continued to pursue his passion for knowledge by enrolling in the Maine Senior College at the University of Southern Maine. He was a devoted, caring and loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and was particularly proud of the fact that all of his children and grandchildren graduated from college.
Bob was predeceased by his wife Anita; his sister, Dorothy Pelland, and brother, Charles Flynn. He is survived by his daughters, Ann Parkhurst and husband Steve of Cape Elizabeth, and Janet Rouslin and husband Mark of Wakefield, R.I., son, Robert V. Flynn and wife Julie of Richmond, Maine; grandchildren, Jessica Gagne, Amanda Rouslin, Jason Rouslin, Sherwin Parkhurst, Skyler Parkhurst, Seth Flynn and Ethan Flynn; sisters, Madeline Tozlowski of Massachusetts and Eileen Griggs of North Carolina, and brothers, James Flynn of Virginia, Leo Flynn of Florida, Earle Flynn of Rhode Island, Harold Flynn of South Carolina, Roy Flynn of South Carolina and Kenneth Flynn of Texas. He is also survived by four great- grandchildren, Gabriella, Sophie and Niko Gagne and Chloe Flynn.
A memorial Mass will be held at St. Pius X Church, 492 Ocean Ave., Portland, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12. There will be no visiting hours. Interment will be at the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery in the spring.
Robert A. Flynn -
Debut of cover art for Parallel Lives
Today the Fall River Historical Society has released the working cover art for its long-awaited volume, Parallel Lives, a history of Lizzie Borden’s Fall River. The cover features an expanded view of the famous “pansy brooch” portrait of Lizzie, with her dress tinted in a rich shade of burgundy and was designed by Charles S. Medeiros of Burnt Toast Graphics. It is a rare treat to see colorized photographs of the well-known black and white images so familiar to students of the Borden case. The rich hue used for the dust jacket is one which perfectly reflects Victoriana. Lizzie truly comes to life. The photograph in black and white featured in the background is of the wedding day of the William Lawton Slade Braytons, June 18, 1913.
For all the latest on publication date, follow the historical society online at http://www.lizzieborden.org/ParallelLives.html and on Facebook. The volume is currently in final revision with a publication date soon to come- and not a minute too soon for the many eager enthusiasts and historians who are eager for the new photographs of the Bordens and more than 500 photographs in all.
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Lizzie back in the Big Apple next month
“THE WORKSHOP THEATER and ALVIN OUT PRODUCTIONS present the New York premiere of Lizzie Borden at Eight O’Clock at the WorkShop Jewel Box Theater March 24th-April 3rd. The WorkShop Theater is located at 312 West 36th Street, 4th floor. Subway: A, C, or E to Penn Station. General admission tickets to Lizzie Borden At Eight O’Clock are $18, $15 for students and seniors. Also limited number of TDF @ the $9 Off-Off-Broadway rate (2 per performance). For Information / Tickets visit: www.workshoptheater.org or call 866-811-4111. The play is directed by Kenneth Tigar.THE WORKSHOP THEATER and ALVIN OUT PRODUCTIONS’ production of Lizzie Borden at Eight O’Clock, tells the chilling first person account from Lizzie Borden herself of her father and stepmother’s gruesome murders.
Decades after her acquittal, Lizzie Borden takes the podium at her local Historical Society to once and for all clear her name, or will she? With a tour de force performance by Ellen Barry (Terrence McNally‘s A Perfect Ganesh) as Lizzie Borden, Lizzie relives the compelling events that lead to the headline murders of the century. The bloody dress, the food poisoning, the broken hatchet in the basement, the mysterious bloodless-ness of the crime scenes— all clues pointed towards Lizzie for the murders. But Lizzie has an alternate explanation, and, at long last, she’s ready to tell the whole spine-tingling story. Originally produced and developed and performed at the Historic North Hall in Huntington, MA, this is Lizzie Borden At Eight O’Clock’s New York City debut.
**NOTE*** Lizzie Borden At Eight O’Clock deals with graphic material that may be unsuitable for younger audiences.”
For more about cast and crew http://offoffbroadway.broadwayworld.com/article/Workshop_Theatre_and_Alvin_Out_Productions_Present_LIZZIE_BORDEN_AT_EIGHT_OCLOCK_32443_20110209
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Bridget at the Perry House, Newport
Bridget Sullivan gives testimony about her first employment when she arrived in America, long before going to work for the Bordens on Second Street. Today the old opera house is the Jane Pickens theatre on the green near the courthouse. The Perry House Hotel, the original building destroyed many years ago, is at the intersection of Thames and Broadway. Bridget lived awhile with a man named Sullivan during her year in Newport, a fact which seemed to cause a little sensation as to if he were a married man or a single man.
Testimony:
Q. You came to New York first, and went from New York to Newport?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. That then is five or six years ago, is it not?
A. Six years ago the 24th of last May.
Q. How old are you?
A. Twenty-five.
Q. When was your last birthday?
A. I do not know.
Q. You do not know?
A. No Sir.
Q. Then how do you know you are twenty-five; because you have been informed so?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. Did you ever live anywhere else than in Pennsylvania and Fall River?
A. In Newport I worked twelve months.
Q. In whose family there?
A. A hotel.
Q. What hotel?
A. The Perry house.
Q. That was when you first came to this country?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. How long did you stay there?
A. Twelve months.
Q. Did you work anywhere else in Newport than in the Perry House?
A. No Sir.
Q. And you were at work all the time while you were in Newport. While you lived there, in the Perry House?
A. I was a little while with my friends before I went to work. I was twelve months in Newport before I left it.
Q. Friends where?
A. In Newport.
Q. Who were they?
A. Sullivans.
Q. What Sullivan is it, what is the first name?
A. Dennis.
Q. Mr. Dennis Sullivan; does he live there now?
A. I do not know.
Q. Was he a relative of yours?
A. A friend.
Q. A married man?
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It’s Emma- Again
In case you missed it- an old theory back for another round. Review at http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8028572-lizzie-borden-didnt-do-ittrue-crime-solved Hard copy by Branden Books, or available now for Kindle.
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40 Whacks Museum Closed in Salem
As has been reported elsewhere, the Salem enterprise has decided to call it quits. A number of newspapers have carried the news and comments by locals on the closing. The economy and failure to connect with local schools, plus high cost of operation have been cited as reasons the business failed to make a go of it in Salem, a city connected with witches far more than Lizzie Borden in the minds of tourists.
Boston Herald http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20110111lizzie_borden_museum_gets_40_whacks/srvc=business&position=alsoFall River Herald News -
Lizzie Borden Cupcakes are a winner
Cupcakes have been a trendy foodie item recently. After the TV success of shows such as Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes, and now Cupcake Wars, it was only a matter of time before Lizzie made it to the cupcake competition. Iron Cupcake, an organization which celebrates the miniature morsels and hosts themed cupcake bake-off contests, has cupcake affiliate chapters all over. In October of this year, the Toronto branch had a Halloween competition. The entries were creative and tasty, and the competition was fierce,but in the end it was the Lizzie Borden display which won. The photo of the winning display below is from the “Cake Bites” web blog of Gabriella Caruso who was a competitor in the Halloween challenge. http://cakebitess.blogspot.com/2010/10/iron-cupcake-toronto-halloween.html
The white chocolate hatchet is spectacular and the cupcake shown on the ribbon and lace bedecked round platter in the background has a small skull on the top. Monica Law was the creator.
For more on the competition, read an article about the contestants and entries at the link below.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/11/27/bake-off-brawling-at-the-iron-cupcake-competition/
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A Letter from Lizzie Borden
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?
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“Bertie” Whitehead takes a trip
(click on image for full-sized)Sarah Bertha “Bertie” Gray Whitehead, half sister to the victim, Abby Borden, apparently got out of Fall River from time to time. In January of 1931 she crossed the border at Bridgeberg, Ontario. Going to visit her son-in-law, Charles Potter and her daughter Abbie Borden Whitehead Potter, Bertie had visited them before in November of 1929. The destination given is 512 Riverside Drive in Toronto. She lists her son George Whitehead and his wife as nearest relative living in Haverhill at 6 Flora Street and we learn the Whiteheads are Baptists. Always interesting to have these small details about the family of Abby Borden, and to know Bertie’s later life as a poor widow, contained some pleasurable experiences. Bertie’s daughter, Abbie Borden Potter would have nothing good to say about Lizzie Borden in years after.
Bertie died not long after this trip in Winnipeg, Manitoba in her 68th year, only about a year older than Lizzie lived to be herself. Bertie is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River, with her daughter Abbie and husband George Whitehead, and near the graves of her mother, Jane Eldredge Gray and her father, Oliver Gray (also Abby Durfee Gray’s father).
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Channeling Lizzie onstage
Gillian Murphy as Lizzie Borden in Fall River Legend
Gillian Murphy a principal dancer in the New York’s American Ballet Theatre, previewed the upcoming controversial film, The Black Swan and compares approaching such a terrifying role undertaken by Natalie Portman to her take on channeling Lizzie Borden.
“ I once played the character of Lizzie Borden in “Fall River Legend.” That was fairly intense because you have to embrace the role onstage and experience what that character is about — very repressed and angry. But does that mean I was a nightmare to live with? Absolutely not — Ethan [Stiefel, her boyfriend ] would not have lived with me if that was the case.”
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Boston Buzz About New Book
As time grows ever closer to the release of the long-anticipated book about Lizzie, Parallel Lives, the buzz is growing in Fall River, among Borden case afficianados and in the Press. Today’s Boston Globe has this article http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2010/11/28/the_real_lizzie_borden/
The countdown begins!
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Emma and her furs
Lizzie’s furs, her sealskin “sacques”. reputed to have required Prussic acid with which to remove moths in that testimony by pharmacist Eli Bence were a luxury garment. The furs were rumored to have been a 30th birthday gift for Lizzie prior to her trip to Europe on the Grand Tour with lady friends. Furs as a rule are put in cold storage in the Spring and removed later for winter wear. Apparently Emma Borden knew how to take care of her fur coats as this Portsmouth Herald newspaper reported on August 5, 1943, long after Emma’s death. Nice to know Emma had a few luxuries.The text of the article:
” Miss Emma’s identity was kept secret by Miss Anne Connors with whom she lived in Newmarket and townspeople had no idea of the connection with the reknown Borden family until her death when she was buried beside her sister, mother, and her murdered father and stepmother. A quiet, elderly woman who was always dressed in rich mourning, she never visited neighbors and made two trips to Boston, one to put her fur coat in storage at the beginning of summer, and the other to take it out in the fall.
Miss Lizzie, on the other hand, lived in her new and modern home, attempted to resume her ardent church activities and made frequent trips to Boston where harrassed hotel managers tried to keep her presence a secret from other patrons and newspapermen.”
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Congratulations to Ric and Company!
The Alliance for Community Media has given Lizbeth the Award for Best Documentary. Congratulations to all involved in the project. The documentary will air this coming Saturday on PBS at 7 pm and Sunday at 11 pm. Some still shots may be seen below taken on the day of the shoot last Spring.
