1. "Little Abby"
Posted by augusta on Jun-2nd-02 at 7:16 PM

"Little" Abby Whitehead Potter's interview in her old age is very interesting.  Does anyone have the complete text of it?

The story about Lizzie killing the cat is in it. That sounds far fetched, and I've always attributed that to Little Abby's age and imagination. 

There is another story about Lizzie killing a cat with chloroform that sounds credible.  And yet another story about her strangling, then throwing a cat that got in the way when her and a friend were walking that doesn't sound believable. (Both come from other sources.)

If Little Abby was in her right mind when she gave the interview, is it possible that Masterton's theory of who wrote the note is correct?  I'm not saying I go for the rest of his theory - even Abby leaving the house.  I don't think she did.  That would account for her not feeling the need to change her dress, going to see just family.  Hmm.

Goodbye Lizzie Borden, Robert Sullivan, pg. 34-5:

"Parenthetically, one of the great mysteries of the Borden case was, and remains, that Sarah Whitehead, beloved half-sister of Abby Borden, was never inquired of at any time in the police investigation of the murders. Indeed, only Bridget, and she during the first frenzy following the discovery of Andrew's murder, thought it would be logical to ask if Mrs. Whitehead knew where Abby could have gone. Also, by all accounts---including Mrs. Potter's when I discussed the murders with her---Abby Borden had few if any friends other than Mrs. Whitehead, and none other than Mrs. Whitehead would be likely to write a note to Mrs. Borden in the event of sickness. And still further, when the note from the "sick friend" was supposed to have been sent, Sarah Whitehead was hale and hearty and was, in fact, that day on the sail to Rocky Point to attend the police clambake, about which so much has been written. All in all, it is incredible that a thorough examination of the total transcript reveals that Sarah Whitehead was never called to the witness stand by the prosecution. A distressing footnote was supplied by Mrs. Abby Potter, who told me:

'On the morning of 4 August, the day of the murders, my mother  [Mrs. Sarah Whitehead],  planning to attend the policemen's annual picnic at Rocky Point, was making arrangements for the care of my younger brother and myself. George was to go to [another aunt's house], and I was to spend the day with Aunt Abby at 92 Second Street. At the last moment there was a change in plans, and I was sent with my brother to [my other aunt's] house, which was next door to the home of Marshal Hilliard in another section of Fall River.
In the late afternoon while I was helping Aunt Lucy wash windows, Marshal Hilliard returned home, and standing in the yard, informed Aunt Lucy of Aunt Abby's murder.  The shock of the news was so great that Aunt Lucy dropped the window on my hand.' "


(Message last edited Jun-3rd-02  4:37 PM.)

Kat, now that you have posted this, I recall reading this book in jr. high school!  The memories just came flooding back about this book, thanks for the info! 

Goodbye Lizzie Borden, Sullivan, pg 22-3

"If the resentment which Lizzie Borden admittedly harbored for her stepmother did not begin with the incident of the Whitehead house, by all accounts her ill will definitely reached a high plateau on that occasion. Two stories told me by Mrs. Potter---and to my knowledge never before published---amplify the various reports from disinterested persons concerning Lizzie's feelings toward her father's wife.

The first describes an incident apparently recounted by Abby Borden on one of her visits to her sister's home, and these are Mrs. Potter's words as recorded on tape for me in 1972:

'Lizzie Borden had company and my aunt had a tabby cat and the cat was trained so that it would touch the latch---you know, it was [sic] latches in those days---she'd touch the latch and the door would open. So the cat went in where Lizzie was entertaining and she took it out and shut the door again, and it came back so this is what she told Aunt Abby and Abby told my mother . . . Lizzie Borden finally excused herself and went downstairs---took the cat downstairs---and put the carcass on the chopping block and chopped its head off. My aunt . . . for days wondered where the cat was---all she talked about. Finally Lizzie said, "You go downstairs and you'll find your cat." My aunt did.'

The second incident Mrs. Potter related was that, after the murders and after the trial, Lizzie sent to Mrs. Whitehead all the personal effects of the murdered Abby, including Abby's wedding picture. Perhaps Lizzie did this to rid herself of unpleasant reminders; perhaps it was a final salute of hostility, of total rejection; perhaps it was a gesture of remorse. Whatever her motives, they remain inscrutable. Mrs. Potter still has this picture of her Aunt Abby, prominently displayed in her modest Providence apartment. It shows Mrs. Borden in her wedding gown, not at all the stout woman she was to become after twenty-eight years of marriage to Andrew, but as a slender woman with a somewhat cherubic face, half smiling and with a twinkle in her eye. "

That story of the beheading of the cat has ALWAYS seemed farfetched to me knowing Lizzie's love of animals.  UNLESS it was something done just to hurt Abby with, but, it does still seem out of character for her. 

Sullivan, pg.18-20

"However unhappy Abby Borden was in No. 92, she was much loved in the Whitehead house near by on Fourth Street where lived her half-sister and her nephew, George, and the little niece, Abby Borden Whitehead who was named for her. There were almost daily visits between the two homes."

Page 20

"Mrs. Abby Potter recalls those visits and the little gifts which her aunt brought to the far less prosperous Whiteheads; especially she recalls her aunt's freshly baked mince pies, into which Mrs. Borden had sprinkled rosewater to make them more tempting to taste and smell."

pg. 39

"... at 10:00 A.M. the service for Andrew and Abby Borden was held privately in the sitting room of No. 92, with very few persons allowed to attend. Little Abby Whitehead was there, with her mother, Sarah Whitehead, and her grandmother, Mrs. Oliver Gray. Only these three came to mourn Abby Borden; the rest of the assemblage was made up of business associates and relatives of Andrew Borden. Mrs. Abby Borden Whitehead Potter remembers the occasion, remembers the sadness and shock which she, even as a child of nine, felt at the loss of her kindly aunt. Here is how she described the funeral scene eighty-one years after it took place:

'The two black caskets were in the Borden sitting room side by side. Andrew Borden's casket was completely closed but Abby's was not: it was half open---or open to about the waist---so that Mrs. Borden's face and upper body were on view. On one casket was placed an olive branch, on the other a sheaf of wheat. There were no flowers in the room, The funeral ceremony consisted of a reading from the Scriptures and the recitation of a series of prayers.' "



(Message last edited Jun-4th-02  4:01 PM.)

What wonderful posts, Kat!  Thank you!  I've never read "Goodbye, Lizzie Borden", tho a very sweet friend sent it to me.  I've gotta get crackin' and get to that.  About Abby having little if any friends, that may be true.  But it didn't mean it was because she was mean and no one liked her.  Phebe Bowen was her friend (I'm surprised she wasn't "allowed" at the funeral).  In the Alice Russell letter from the Knowlton Papers, she has Abby saying that the Bowens were "all the neighbors we've got", which does imply they were the only neighbors the couple was friendly with. 

What a lousy funeral.  I can see why Abby's casket was open and Andrew's not, looking back on where their wounds were.  I've always read that Andrew's casket was open and his head turned to the "good" side. 

I agree with Susan.  That cat story just sounds far-fetched.  There were the other two cat stories, tho.  Especially the one with the chloroform was pretty credible.

The wedding picture of Abby - is this the Young Abby picture we see of her standing alone in the dark dress?  Or is this a yet-to-be-unveiled treasure we can look forward to?

I believe Mrs. Southard Miller was also a good friend to Abby, though I'm not sure as to when She died.

Sullivan makes a slight age mistake as to lil' Abby.
He says she's " 9".
However, she was born July, 1884, so at that funeral, in AUGUST, she would be one month barely into age 8.

I had never heard Mrs. Miller was one of Abby's friends.  Do you have a source for it?

I had read that when Abby had an illness, it was in the newspaper.  That may have been the time she had bronchitis, and neither "girl" looked in on her.  Does anyone know where to find that article at?  Was in reprinted anywhere? 

Lizzie Borden Sourcebook, Kent, 1992. pg. 10, Fall River Herald, no date:

Southard Miller comments printed, and at the last is included:
"As the reporter was leaving Mr. Miller's parlor, Mrs. Miller who was present during the interview, said that she had lost, in Mrs. Borden, the best and most intimate neighbor she had ever met."

--Now this is probably printed elsewhere, but I don't remember where.  Stef and I have brought this up to each other several times.  She tends to believe it, but I'm not so sure.  Only because we have no death-date for Mrs. Miller, and Rebello, pg. 24, has Mr. Miller's bio. and he died Oct. 29, 1895, in Fall River, a widower.  (His wife was Esther G. Peckham Miller).  On page 103, "Neighbors who attented the funeral were Dr. Bowen and his wife, Mr. Southard Miller and his son, Mr. Franklin Miller, Mrs. Addie Churchill, Mrs. Thomas Cheetham, Mrs. Rescomb Case, and Mrs. James D. Burt."

--So I always got the impression Esther was dead by the time of the tragedy....  But I included her as a friend, for Stef's sake.
--Maybe the reporter meant Mrs. Dr. Bowen was present at the interview, instead of Mrs. Miller?

Rebello, pg. 22, Fall River Evening News, March 2, 1888: 2 notes:
"Mrs. Andrew J. Borden is quite ill at her home with bronchitis."

I believe there is Bridget's testimony, like one line (?) about this illness.

Why was Abby's being sick newsworthy?  Was there a rash of Bronchitus going around?  Very strange. 

Sullivan claims first interview with Lil' Abby in 1972.
Rebello, pg. 499-500 gives some citations that might imply she at least spoke about her early life to somebody as early as 1966:

' "Quips, Quotes and Queries,'  Yankee Magazine, November / 1966: 239.

The mudered Abby Borden was my mother's half-sister and I am her namesake.  I remember Abby very well and I also was one of the twelve at the funeral of the murdered couple.  My aunt and my mother were very close and she always told my mother things no one else knew- especially how mad Lizzie Borden was when she heard that her father, Andrew, had given my Grandma's share of the old homestead on Fourth Street in Fall River to my mother.  There is the motive- Lizzie was money mad.

                                                      Abby B. Potter
                                                      Providence, R. I..' "


" 'When Lizzie Borden Took an Axe...,'  'Providence Evening Bulletin, January 17, 1969: 1.

Mrs. Abby (Whitehead) Potter was eight years old at the time of the Borden Murders.  She discussed her recollections of August 4, 1892.  Mrs. Potter believed Lizzie had planned to kill the Bordens as she feared Abby would inherit Andrew's estate.  She remembered her aunt Abby as 'friendly, weighed about 200 pounds and was always kind to her mother. ' "


" 'A Borden Kin Remembers She Was An Outsider,'  Providence Evening Bulletin, January 17, 1969: 8.

Mrs. Abby (Whitehead) Potter, neice of Abby Borden, described Lizzie as 'an outsider, a big, mannish woman that people were afraid of.'

Mrs. Potter's mother told her Lizzie killed her own cat by chopping off the cat's head.

When Mrs. Potter was working for a cleaner, Lizzie had come in to pay a bill.  'I didn't look at her, but I signed my name on the receipt.  She knew who I was all right, but she didn't say a thing.' "

Kat, I guess you are right about Little Abby being nasty!  Lizzie is a big, mannish woman?  She was only like 5'4".

And theres that cat story again, I can't believe it.

Now, the cleaner story, that sounds interesting!  They actually had dry cleaners in the 1890's?  I thought that that was a fairly recent invention?  Could you imagine Lizzie's indignation when she found out who waited on her? 

After all this, I'm beginning to feel a little sorry for lil' Abby.
Here she is blood relation to Andrew's wife and is working for a living while Lizzie & Emma live up on the Hill.  It must have been galling!
BUT, she doesn't have anything to say about Emma At All, at least that was printed.  Lil' Abby seems fixated on Lizzie.  I guess if she truly believed her own stories, she must have hated Lizzie.

If anybody cares, I found a reference to Mrs. Miller in Bridget's Trial testimony.  Pg. 337, she had gone on an "errand" to Mrs. Miller's Thurday afternoon before she changed her dress.

This harkens back to my post # above, not knowing if Mrs. Miller was still alive and a friend of Abby Borden's by Aug., 1892.

Yes, I was curious about whether Mrs. Southard Miller was still alive in 1892, because I didn't remember reading anything about her.  According to Hoffman (and as I posted elsewhere) Mrs. Esther Miller was indeed alive and living with her husband in the other half of the Bowen house, along with her artist son, Frank.  (Or at least Frank was Mr. Miller's son; I assume he was Mrs. Miller's as well.  One thing I've learned from the Borden case is that it's dangerous to assume ANYTHING!)

Rebello, pg. 81
"Nailing The Poison Story / Neither Nor Any Relative Bought Prussic Acid at Brow's", Boston Herald, Aug. 8, 1892: 2.

It was claimed Lizzie made a second attempt to purchase prussic acid at Walter J. Brow's Drug Store at 62 Second Street.  A Boston Herald reporter interviewed Mr. Brow to verify the rumor.  Mr. Brow said Lizzie traded at his store and had known Lizzie for the past twenty years.  He assured the reporter Lizzie did not purchase any prussic acid.  He recalled that Lizzie stopped trading at his store about four years ago.  Her last purchase was chloroform, stating she wanted it for the purpose of killing a cat.  Mr. Brow states Miss Borden asked for the stuff in rather a surly manner, and he answered just as saucily.  Miss Borden paid for the chloroform and went out.  She has never been in the shop since."

--Now, could it be possible that Lizzie was not "surly", but rather "upset" at having to put a cat to sleep?  Could this BE the same *cat incident*, only warped, that Lil' Abby tells 80 years later?
--If the purchase happened 4 years before 1892 that would make it 1888.  (Lil' Abby was born in 1884).  If the earliest interviews with Lil' Abby were in 1966, that would make HER second-hand cat information 78 years old...

Wow, thats a new one on me, Kat!  So, do you think that there is some truth then to Little Abby's story about the cat?  Chloroform?  If she did need to put the cat to sleep, I wonder why she didn't get Andrew to do it or Dr. Bowen?  I would imagine that its probably the least violent way of getting rid of a sick or dying animal.  But, still! 

Actually, that house was not left to the Whiteheads.

Abby's father divided the house equally to his wife, daughter Abby, and two other children. Abby gave her share to her step-mother. The son gave his share to his sister (he was married and lived elsewhere).
Andy bought the widow's share and gave it to Abby. AR Brown says it was a minimal payment for over 20 years of marriage, etc.

That story seems to be garbled in the retelling, or dishonest gossip.

I think the choloroformed cat and the decapitated cat are two different instances.  I don't see how Little Abby could get the two confused.  We know Lizzie was a dog lover, what with her pets at Maplecroft.  I haven't read anything about Lizzie being fond of a cat.

I notice that Abby's bronchitis that hit the papers occurred in 1888 - four years before the murders.  The "girls" had turned against Abby by then over the Ferry Street house.  Still, to let her just lay there and not even check on her.  That's mean.

Abby must have been somewhat known if her illness appeared in the paper.  Was this a common thing, for blips to be published like that when people were ill?

I think it was a common thing for the papers to publish little space-filling bits like that -- things that certainly wouldn't be considered news today.  The newspapers seem to have taken the place of several other media: telephone, radio, television.  The old Fall River papers that I've seen contained lots of trivia about the comings and goings of the local citizenry.

Would this mean that Abby was a rather well-known citizen in Fall River?  Perhaps because of being the wife of Andrew? 

Abby was listed as a member/officer of some charitable organization:  I believe it was the YMCA.
Apparently she was "in society" more than we knew.
I can try to find the position she held--it's in this computer somewhere.

PS:  RAYs, Oliver Gray Had No Son

(Message last edited Jun-7th-02  10:29 PM.)

Date: May 20, 1891
Source: Fall River Daily Globe
 
 



Transcription provided by Bruce Laurie, Department of History, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.



"Report from the First Annual of the Women's Auxiliary

The Women's Auxiliary of the Y.M.C.A. held its first annual meeting yesterday afternoon which was largely attended. This branch of the association has contributed largely to its success and has been untiring in its efforts to promote the work which has been undertaken.

Mrs. Norman E. BOrden, the president, tendered her resignation but her executive ability and efficiency were too highly appreciated by her associates and they refused to entertain the idea of her withdrawal. Consequently she consented to serve another term and all were reelected. Interesting reports of various topics then followed the election. They are as follows:

Membership by Mrs. Andrew J. Borden

Social by Mrs. George Stowell

Rooms by Mrs. B.J. Handy

Devotional by Mrs. R.K. Remington

Visitations of the Sick by Mrs. E.T. Marvel

The exercises were interspersed with vocal music by Ida F. Ferry, Mrs. R.K. Remington, and Mrs. D.A. Chapin.

The general secretary in a few brief word expressed the appreciation of the association of the help rendered by the Auxiliary after which the meeting adjourned for a social hour during which chocolate and cake were served by the social committee.

Later on it is possible that the receptions which have been so successful will be repeated."

Wait a minute.

We recently found out beginning with an "Edisto" post, that there were at least 4 Andrew J. Bordens, right?
That all came out AFTER I had seen this source...now I don't know to which Mrs. A. J. Borden it refers!
Ah, confusion reigns...

The difference between eyewitness testimony and hearsay/gossip is the ability to specify date, time, and place. The story about Lizzie and Abby's cat fails this test. It is only a story.

Until the price of newsprint skyrocketed about 1990, many newspapers ran filler items to amuse and entertain their readers. Don't you all remember this?

What a find, Kat!  Now, if we knew just which Mrs. Borden they meant.  Still it was a wonderful piece of sleuthing.

Fillers are used to this day in almost every paper or magazine.  It's a little odd today to see that Abby's bronchitis was in the paper.  It would be interesting to know why that was done.

I wonder if Abby's illness was listed in the society column?  I DO recall seeing those in the paper growing up, local well to do people, their comings and goings and such.  Since Abby was the wife of one of the more affluent and therefor more IMPORTANT citizens of Fall River, maybe that is why it was listed? 

Last night reading Bridget's first section of trial testimony, I found a referrence to Abby being ill.  Bridget said Abby had been ill two times while she was there.  One time, when none of the girls entered the room, was when Abby was sick One Day .

The bronchitus (sp?) naturally would have lasted much longer.

Rays:  I think this is Deja-vu.  You said something about Oliver Gray's "SON" and I wrote that he had no son.
Then I went to check up any peripheral info that may pertain.  So here is Rebello, pg. 23n:  (let's jot this in our "memory books"?)

Oliver Gray's SECOND wife, Jane Eldredge Gray, was the widow of Obed Eldredge, who was lost at sea in 1857.
She married Oliver May 8, 1862 (LBQ, Jan. 2002).  At that time she already had 2 children, a 10 year old boy named Henry, and a daughter Lucy of which not much is known.
So to be precise, Oliver had a stepson for 16 years before he (Oliver) died, in 1878.
However, his will does not divide part of his house to Henry.
Henry later died of consumption in 1882.
Lucy was married to a "Cahoon".
--As Jane Gray was the mother of Sarah (Whitehead), Abby & Priscilla's 1/2 sister, it's odd to also contemplate that Abby had, by that marriage to her papa, gained 2 step-siblings, and eventually a 1/2 sister.
I wonder what Abby's relationship was with a consumptive step-brother?