Victoriana
Old Fall River, nineteenth century customs and lifestyle, interiors, Painted Ladies and more
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Bathsheba Spooner
Most folks who study the Borden case will, at some point, run into mention of another famous Massachusetts lady who had a more final brush with the gallows in 1778, Bathsheba Spooner. Brent Abrahamson has made a visit to the site at Brookfield and posted about the visit at this link: http://massachusettsobserver.blogspot.com/2008/08/murder-most-foul-in-brookfield.html
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Undertaker Winward
James E. Winward was the man Lizzie Borden wanted immediately to undertake the funeral of her father. On the day of the murders, just a very short time after Lizzie said she found her father on the sofa, she requested the services of Mr. Winward, who at the time had his business address at 13 South Main Street. Even before the body of Abby Borden was found on the second floor, Lizzie was voicing the opinion that she would be the one to go down to Oak Grove Cemetery to arrange her father’s funeral and burial. This may be construed as a curious statement as Mrs. Borden would have had this task herself-did Lizzie already know Mrs. Borden was lying dead upstairs?
Young Mr. Winward (aged only 38 on the day of the murders) came as requested, and was to find not one, but two bodies at #92 Second Street. He and his assistant had the grisly task of removing the heavily blood-stained sofa from the sitting room later in the day.
Mr. Winward enjoyed a successful career in his field, and fitted the ideal of a funeral director in every aspect of appearance and decorum. A photograph of Mr. Winward is soon to be published. At the end of his life, Mr. James E. Winward lived in a prosperous section in the north end of the city on Madison Street. He is buried with his wife Annie, his daughter Helen Winward Brown and his son-in-law in the cemetery where he spend so many years organizing funerals for so many city clients- Oak Grove.
The role of Mr. Winward was ably performed by funeral director Andrew Correia for the recent August 4th re-enactments at # 92 Second Street.
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Eli Bence’s New Bedford Pharmacy
One of the most interesting witnesses for the prosecution must surely have been young Eli Bence, the pharmacy clerk who testified that Lizzie Borden had asked for a dime’s worth of deadly Prussic acid on the morning before the murders. Mr. Bence denied her request without a prescription, but remembered her face and voice, and would later identify Lizzie, as did two other men in the store at the time, as the lady who visited the store that Wednesday morning.
Bence’s evidence was a godsend to the prosecution and stood firm until it reached the higher court. There it was ruled too remote in time from the killings -and no poison was ever found in the stomachs of the two victims. Eli’s evidence, had it been heard by the jury, may have had serious consequences. Miss Borden denied going to the pharmacy and even knowing where it was located on Main Street, only two blocks south of her house.
Bence left Fall River and started his own pharmacy in a residential section of New Bedford in 1894 at the corner of Russell and Fourth Streets. His wife died in New Bedford, but Bence remarried in 1904, to a Fairhaven woman, and the pair with his young son Roy Sydney Bence, moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts to establish another pharmacy. The couple had two children, Priscilla and Maxfield. Bence had a successful career and rose to the top of his profession. His name in print was always followed by a mention about the part he played in the famous Borden trial, even in his obituary. This medicine bottle, minus its cork stopper was recently found in a New Bedford antique store and reads Eli Bence Pharmacy, New Bedford.
For more on Eli Bence visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlJumWmayLc
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Warps and Wefts – One Year Anniversary
Thank you!
On Saturday, July 26th, Warps and Wefts marked one year on the blogosphere. As we approach our 200th post, thanks and appreciation go out to all our readers who have visited over the past year, and left comments and encouragement. We hope you have read something of interest here and will continue to visit Warps and Wefts and other Fall River sister blogs often.Friends of Oak Grove http://oakgrovecemetery.wordpress.com
Fall River Painted Ladies http://fallriverpaintedladies.wordpress.com
Fall River Eats http://fallrivereats.wordpress.com
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Jack the Ripper 2008 Conference
The fifth biennial U.S. conference on Jack the Ripper will take place October 10-12th in Knoxville, Tennessee. It will be held at the Four Points by Sheraton Knoxville Cumberland House Hotel, which is immediately adjacent to the World’s Fair Park and its distinctive Sunsphere and less than an hour’s drive from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. For more information please visit the website at http://www.ripperology.com/conference/where.html
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Victorian Air Conditioner
Summer paper fans were a popular advertising possibility to beat the summer heat and promote local businesses. Trade cards and calendars were also cheap tools to attract trade. This late Victorian-turn-of-the-century advertising fan is produced by a calendar company in Ohio for Fall River’s well-known department store, McWhirr’s, which would have been patronized by Lizzie in her day. Note the suggestion to use “the telephone” for placing an order! Mr. Borden had no phone in his house. The fronts of these fans were usually embellished with glorious chromos of sweet-faced children, beautiful women, fruit and flowers, or enticing landscapes. Sadly, McWhirr’s, once a Fall River institution for shopping needs, was torn down some years ago. The Fall River Historical Society revives the McWhirr’s candy counter, complete with the McWhirr’s signature paper candy boxes during the annual Victorian Christmas House Tour in the city.
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Jack’s Back
For scholars of the Ripper case, (England’s Lizzie Borden), this summer looks like a bumper season. New from Peter Ackroyd is Jack the Ripper and The East End, a hefty volume containing copious maps, photographs and essays. Amazon has a few used copies in the 40-60 dollar range. The book is enjoying mixed reviews, mostly positive all in all. Those who don’t mind the depressing exchange rate for the dollar can visit the new Jack the Ripper Exhibit at the Museum in Docklands touted as “… the first time the public will have the opportunity to examine the original police documents relating to the murders and their investigation.”
For more information visit http://www.molg.org.uk/English/NewsRoom/current The exhibition runs through November 2nd.
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Good-bye to Lizzie’s Schoolhouse
The Nathaniel Borden School , formerly the Morgan Street School, closed its doors forever in June of 2007. Lizzie Borden was a student here until her 14th birthday. There are no plans to demolish the historic 1868 building, but its ultimate use to the city is still undecided.
The Nathaniel Borden Morgan Street School before closure
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Garfield Tea-What was in that stuff?
Andrew’s inexpensive cure- cheaper than a house call from Dr. Bowen! After passing a miserable night on August 2, 1892 due to stomach cramping and vomitting, Abby Borden went across the street to Doctor Bowen for a remedy on Wednesday morning and voiced the opinion that the family may be poisoned through the baker’s bread. He sent her home with directions to give castor oil a try, while Andrew Borden, too frugal to waste money on office visits, dosed himself with an over-the-counter preparation called Garfield Tea, named for the assasinated president. Manufactured by the Stillman Remedies Co. of 58 West 55th Street in New York, the concoction was made entirely of herbs, chiefly senna leaves and crushed couch grass. The price of a box was 25 cents and the tea was made by putting a teaspoonsful in a cup, covering with 8 ounces of boiling water, and allowing the mix to steep for a couple of hours. Taken before retiring, it promised relief from liver problems, constipation, and stomach upset. Andrew was still looking feeble on the morning of the murder, Thursday, August 4th in spite of his self medication although Abby was somewhat improved.
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The New Boston Bakery
One charming and friendly eatery not to miss when visiting Fall River is the New Boston Bakery on New Boston Road. Breakfast and lunch feature home made pasteries, soups, and sandwiches, prepared fresh on the spot in a cozy decor of lace, teapots and Victoriana.
The owners, who are preservation- minded, have retained all the old charm of the building and even saved an original stained glass panel. New Boston Bakery is closed on Sundays.
Also be sure not to miss the gingerbread gem next door, the former 1890 Leanna Barker Grocery Store which has been beautifully restored.
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Gargoyles on Rock Street
It’s no wonder Lizzie Borden wanted to belong to the stylish Central Congregational Church at 100 Rock Street. Many of the fine mill owner families from The Hill were congregants there. Listed today on the National Register, the granite, Nova Scotia freestone and red brick edifice was designed by Hartwell and Swazey (also architects of the Academy Building) in the Ruskinian Gothic Style, in 1872. It is the only church in Fall River which features gargoyles on its exterior facades.
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Leg O’ Mutton Madness
The popular gigot, or leg o’ mutton sleeves continued to grow in size from 1890 until they reached ridiculous proportions by 1898. After reaching gargantuan dimensions, there was nowhere to go but down- and they did. The new Edwardian era changed the emphasis entirely from huge sleeve, hourglass figure, and wide -bottomed skirts to a slim silhouette, monobosom, the “S” shaped curved silhouette and by 1911, a pencil slim hobble skirt which barely allowed a lady room to walk at the bottom. All of that was topped off by monstrous cartwheel hats which were recently glorified in the Cameron film, Titanic.
An advertisement for starch, 1898, the leg o’muttons last gasp
(blogger’s collection)
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1890’s Fashionplates
Fresh from the McDowell Dress Cutting Academy Journal in New York- Summer fashions for the seaside. This could have been Emma Borden and her friend Helen Brownell at Fairhaven shore, dressed in some serious leg o’ mutton sleeves.
(From the blogger’s collection)
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Dressing Up History
Over the years since 1991, it has been fun to re-live the 1890’s and to re-enact history as part of the cast at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast. Every August 4th there is a new script and new faces to fill the roles. Before the house was open to the public in 1996, some of us had fun dressing up and giving performances and carriage tours around the city. In 1992 the city put on an impressive effort to mark the centennial of the Borden case with Maplecroft open, plays, a Victorian Cafe, city exhibits and a conference at the local Bristol Community College. 1992 may never be equalled. The Second Street Irregulars, a group of armchair sleuths, evolved from the conference as friends were made there who wanted to continue to meet when the centennial ended. Today the group is going strong again, and meets twice a year to discuss aspects of the case and visit places pertaining to the Borden family and the crime.
Finding costumes for the past 16 years has been a challenge, but thanks to Butterick and Simplicity patterns, and a new company called Recollections, (see link) dressing the part has become easier.
Thankfully costumes for the men are not as difficult, and for many years the part of Andrew Borden has been played by Borden scholar Ed Thibault who has made Lizzie the subject of interest for over 30 years and has worn a black frock coat to great effect! There’s nothing quite like time traveling in a costume with friends who share the same interests with matching enthusiasm.
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The End of an Era
The Funeral of Queen Victoria 1901 (shown in Youtube segment below)
The death of England’s beloved Widowed Queen marked more than the end of an era. The Victorian period in history was not only the reign of one monarch, but a way of thinking, a code of morality and behavior and social expectations which affected every particle of social custom and culture. Her son, Edward VII would be a pale shadow of his mother in his brief reign of barely a decade following Victoria’s death. King Bertie’s reign would be filled with court scandal involving the King’s many paramours – which no doubt the old Queen would have found “unamusing”. Bertie is show below with his favorite wirehaired fox terrier, Caesar. The little dog marched behind his master’s coffin in the funeral procession in May of 1910.
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Happy Birthday Mr. Poe
This Saturday will mark the 199th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe. So-what does this have to do with Lizzie Borden? Not much actually, except for that Poe is widely regarded as the Father of Detective Fiction and the master of the whodunnit and how. Detective fiction is widely considered to have begun in 1841 with the publication of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, a short story by Edgar Allan Poe featuring “the first fictional detective, the eccentric and brilliant C. Auguste Dupin. Many authors followed after Poe’s distinctive style including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie to name the two best-selling authors of the genre. Lizzie Borden would surely have read Poe’s works.
The city of Baltimore tries to lay claim to the genius, but Poe was actually born in Boston, Massachusetts and led a short but dramatic life. His actual cause of death is uncertain, but 40 years of not taking very good care of his health took a toll in the end- that and his deep sorrow at losing his young wife to consumption just two years before he died in 1849.
The Poe House in Baltimore observes the birthday every year with plays, toasts, readings of Poe’s works, and the famous Poe Toaster- a mystery man who slips into the cemetery on Greene Street with three roses and a bottle of cognac and leaves them on Poe’s grave in the dead of night. His identity is a secret well-guarded by the curator of Poe House.
One can only wonder what Poe would have thought about the Borden Case- he may have been inspired to write a short story about it! Poe was no stranger to the Fall River-Providence area as two years before his death he went wife-hunting again and his eye rested upon a Providence lady, whose parents forbade the marriage due to Poe’s reputation. Interesting to think of Poe strolling by that house on Second Street which did exist in 1845! http://www.eapoe.org/index.htm
Lizzie was as silent and cryptic in court as that famous bird in Poe’s most beloved work.
“Nevermore!”
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Fashionplates of the 1890’s
After the decline of the second rigid bustle period, the 1890’s ushered in an interest in the reprise of the leg o’ mutton sleeve, called “gigot” in a previous incarnation. While skirts became plainer and wide at the bottom, sleeves became elaborate and grew to an alarming rate at the upper arm, reaching ridiculous proportions by 1896. After reaching the limit, mercifully, the gigantic ballooning sleeves collapsed and returned to the more pleasing contours of pre-1890. Big shoulders and sleeves, a small waist, neat, close-to-the- head hair with frizzled bangs, and dainty boots were the aim of Lizzie’s 1892 social set. Those who could afford it had their evening gowns from Worth. It was a great time to be a girl! Images from www.fashion-era.com, the Delineator magazine, www.costumersmanifesto.com and Long Ago Fashions.
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A Companion Blog for Warps and Wefts
Whether you enjoy strolling through old cemeteries on a Sunday afternoon- or take an interest in Borden case personalities, the companion blog, Friends of Oak Grove, may be a new blog site of interest. A great many of the principle players in the case find their final rest within the walls of Oak Grove, in itself a superb example of the Victorian memorial park ideal of the mid-nineteenth century. The Borden family, friends, attorneys, policemen, witnesses and others of interest will be showcased on the web blog, which will also serve as a companion site for the upcoming publication, The Shadows Have Fallen : A History of Oak Grove Cemetery.
Victorian funeral customs, reference books, unusual stories and monuments, and historical background on the famous inhabitants will be featured. Friends of Oak Grove is a new group of locals who will undertake special projects for the cemetery under the direction of the superintendent such as guided history tours, planting and landscaping sessions, grave documentation and recording, photography, stone rubbing classes and other activities to benefit the cemetery. Follow the blogroll link on this page or click on www.oakgrovecemetery.wordpress.com
