The Lizzie Borden Society archive

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1. "Clothes, A Bonnet, Shawl, and Coats"
Posted by Kat on May-4th-02 at 2:08 AM

Inquest, Lizzie, pg. 64: 
Abby kept her best cape in the guest room, and..."she used those drawers for her own use."

Prelim., Bridget, pg. 9:
Andrew kept his outdoor coat in the dining room

Pg. 61:
Abby kept a bonnet and shawl in siting room closet

Bridget kept a woman's hat and a shawl that belonged to the "house" in the back entry way on the hooks...and "nobody hung clothes there except my aprons."

Pg. 61-2:
Andrew's "cardigan jacket" was kept "In the sitting room, as you go into the sitting room from the kitchen;  there was a nail there..."(by the stove.)

Pg. 62:
In the sitting room closet were kept "old coats", the implication being that they were Mr. Borden's.

One of the oddest clothing items I remember reading about at the Borden house is that someone (I think Bridget) said that a "rough and ready" hat was kept hanging near the back entrance for those going into the yard.  (Not sure where I read this...witness statements?) I assumed it was this hat that Lizzie took out with her when she went to the barn.  (Whether she wore it or not is anybody's guess.)  Anyway, I somehow translated "rough and ready" into "rough rider" and imagined Lizzie leaving the house looking like Teddy Roosevelt!

Good point, Edisto!  I too remember reading something about that hat that hung in the back hall, maybe it was the hat she wore out to the barn?  It was summer and she being a lady and all, would not want to get any color on her face from the sun.

It's possible you may be referring to this exchange, from the Prelim., same page, more info...(61)...Bridget:

Q: (That entry)...Any hooks there on the wall, or nails, or anything to hang clothing on in the entry way?
A: Yes Sir
Q: Who hung clothes there?
A: Nobody hung clothes there, except my aprons
Q: Was not there a hat ever hung there?
A: No Sir, not in that entry
Q: What, the back entry?
A: Yes Sir
Q: Did you ever see a woman's hat hung up there?
A: No Sir, except mine
Q: You hung up your own hat there ?
A: Yes Sir
Q: Did Miss Lizzie ever have a hat hung there ?
A: I did not see it
Q: A sort of a soft felt hat, or a rough hat ?
A: She might while brushing it, or something.  She did not keep it there that I recollect

--I like the "Rough Rider " picture you drew, Edisto..that was cute!
--I don't think Lizzie would deign to wear a "house hat" or a hat that belonged to "MAGGIE."
--We also need to remember that Possibly Lizzie and Emma's most common method of egress and ingress to the house was through the front door.  So it may be that Lizzie's outdoor apparal WAS kept upstairs, whereas, the servant and the elder Bordens were USED to using the back entry as their main entrance and exit, and so kept a few outdoors items close to that exit.
-Also it has been proposed that a young lady need not wear a hat in her own backyard, in 1892... (???)
--Also that the lawyer for Lizzie (Mr. Adams) was PREPARED to question Bridget about a *HAT*...wonder where this would have led?

Thanks for the insight, Kat!  Yes, I too wonder where the questioning on the hat was leading to?  So many things to think about!

It's interesting that on page 61 of the Preliminary, Mr. Jennings has a note scribbled:  "L.'s hat in back hall".  I can picture Lizzie whispering this to her attorney while he jots it down as Bridget testifies ...

Further down they say:
Q:  "Mrs. Borden had her bonnet and shawl down stairs?"
A:  "Yes sir, she kept them in the closet in the sitting room, sometimes her common shawl was there."
Q:  "If she wanted to go out, she could go to the closet in the sitting room and get her bonnet and shawl, and go out without going upstairs?"
A:  "Yes Sir."

That only makes sense.  I have an upstairs, and we keep all of our coats & hats downstairs.

At YahooSearch Site #150, Roadside America.com., it lists items seen by the commentator at the FRHS:


"...treats such as Mrs. Borden's hat , a bloodstained camisole ..."


Has anybody seen these things?


?????


http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/MAFALliz.html

(Message last edited May-5th-02  2:14 AM.)

Kat, where's the info that Lizzie and Emma habitually used the front door to exit and enter the house?  I'm sure that's probably true if they were going "downstreet" or out to the drugstore to buy a little Prussic acid, but to go to the barn?  My vision of Lizzie is that she was 'way too lazy to go out of her way like that.

I'll look around for that info, Edisto.

But we do know Lizzie was *in charge* of locking and unlocking the front door, and that, coupled with washing and ironong her own handkerchiefs, and keeping up her room, seem to be her only responsibilities. So I picture the front door as *Her* door.

We've heard over and over that the house was "divided", and that the elder Bordens rarely used the girls portion of the house.  Hence 2 seperate exits/entrances.

I guess I just don't picture Lizzie having any burning need to loiter around the back yard or barn previous to the murders.  If it is believed that she DID go to the barn that day, then, yes, admittedly she would use the side door...but didn't Bridget testify that it was "months" since she knew of Lizzie going into the barn?

I'm also taking into account her lady-like ways, and her pretentions toward society which might make her think that the constant use of the side door was beneath her dignity, and only for servants, etc...

(PS:  Did you visit the FRHS?  Did they have those items of Abby's on display?  I never heard of this before...)

(Message last edited May-5th-02  1:33 PM.)

I don't think there was a camisole with blood on it.  There was the white bedspread with blood spots on it from the guest room.  I don't remember Abby's hat there, either.  There was Abby's "rat", her hairpiece.  And the handle-less hatchet was there.  Doesn't that site say that Knowlton's old hip bath is there?  I never saw it. 

Years ago, you were allowed to hold Lizzie's dinner pail from jail (it was good-sized) and sit on her stool from her cell.  Those were the only photos you were allowed to take, too.  Now they don't let you touch them. 

I remember the first time I was in there, I saw the photos of the skulls on the wall.  It was the first time I'd seen the skulls.  What an impact that made on me!  (What am I talking about?  What an impact it made on THEM!)

You know, I have actually read before, I think it was the Lincoln book again, that Abby wore that hair switch to cover encroaching baldness!  But, as I was reading the trial transcripts, the autopsy notes say that the hair on her head was neither thin nor thick and that it was only 8 to 12 inches long?  I thought that all women during the 1800's just let their hair grow as long as they could?