Forum Title: LIZZIE BORDEN SOCIETY
Topic Area: Lizzie Andrew Borden
Topic Name: Mr. Morse's Niece

1. "Mr. Morse's Niece"
Posted by harry on Jul-9th-02 at 8:19 PM

A curious statement made by Morse's niece at the Emery's on Weybosset St.  This from the Aug. 5 Evening Standard, page 7:

"Morse's niece was asked if she had ever seen her uncle before, and replied that she had. She had met him when she was five years old, and three weeks ago he had taken her from the cars at Warren to the Borden farm, Swanzey."

Later on in the same article:

Mr. Morse's memory in regard to his niece is somewhat defective. He had said that he went to call on her for the first time yesterday. He was interviewed again.
"I thought that you told me, Mr. Morse," said the interviewer, "that you never saw your niece before to-day?"
"I never did," replied Mr. Morse.
"She says," was the rejoinder, "that you met her in Warren and drove her to Swanzey."
"Ah, that is so. I did," said Mr. Morse. "I saw her for just a moment or so."

Why would Morse drive her to the Borden farm in Swansea? And why the secretiveness on Morse's part? It would also take more than "a moment or so" to drive from Warren to Swansea.


2. "Re: Mr. Morse's Niece"
Posted by NANAJAN on Jul-9th-02 at 9:17 PM
In response to Message #1.

Victoria Lincoln's theory....He was taking the niece to see her new home where she would housekeep for him.

"Incredibly, it was, in effect, the Whitehead house business all over again. One can only assume that Andrew was too single-minded to have much intelligence to spare outside the field of finance.

Andrew was fond of the Swansea place and did not want to sell it off. However, it did not pay for itself, the Swede's wages were an item, and for five years (since the
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start of the cold war, that is, when the girls stopped vacationing with the family) it had only been used for very short stays. Morse liked Swansea. He had an unmarried niece, his sister's daughter, who would be willing to housekeep for him if he lived there; he would have pasturage for his horses; he still enjoyed farming in a small way; and he enjoyed Andrew's society. Andrew would always be welcome to visit Swansea when he felt like it. Since a note dropped off at the post office would bring Morse from over the river to pick him up, Andrew would even be freed from the expense of keeping his own horse any more, for he lived within easy walking distance of all the other places to which he ever cared to go.

Thus far, it made excellent sense; we need not wonder that he promptly sold the horse at the first good offer.

The fantastic element enters with Andrew's hitherto undisclosed decision to put the farm in Abby's name before Morse moved in. Small wonder it has remained undiscovered all these years. Why he would have done a thing like that twice, God only knows. But he did. It got out through a leak in banking circles. My grandfather thought that this explained how people first got the idea that just before the murders Andrew Borden was about to make a will. He assured me that this was a false idea; for Mr. Jennings, Andrew's lawyer, had denied it, and Mr. Jennings invariably told the truth or simply kept quiet. No, Andrew Borden wasn't planning to make a will at all---just to put the Swansea place in Abby's name."


3. "Re: Mr. Morse's Niece"
Posted by Susan on Jul-9th-02 at 10:40 PM
In response to Message #2.

I wonder if there is any way to check into records from the past to check on that.  I've read about the transfer too and it does sound feasible. 


4. "Re: Mr. Morse's Niece"
Posted by Kat on Jul-10th-02 at 3:55 AM
In response to Message #2.

If the farm *didn't pay* why would Andrew put it in his wife's name?  It would almost be the same as keeping it himself, wouldn't it?  He'd STILL be responsible for the expenses...

I wonder did Abby WANT the farm...was she particuliarly attached to it?

If Morse thought he was going to get the farm, and it's going to be disposed to someone OTHER than him which may have been an agreement, is he mad enough to kill?  Is there a motive here?  I haven't read Lincoln in Years...

Also, wasn't that niece like 16 or 19?  I don't believe her working For or living WITH her uncle would have been sanctioned by polite society.


5. "Re: Mr. Morse's Niece"
Posted by rays on Jul-10th-02 at 4:56 PM
In response to Message #4.

It wasn't all that unusual for a young girl to work days for a couple (who could afford it). Maybe even for an old man. (My elderly aunt once told me about doing this as a teen-ager before WW II.)

Owming a farm is NOT the same as working it! You certainly had hired hands then, or now (depending on ...). Henry Hawthorne's recollection about his parents working on Wm S Borden's farm. (About 30 years ago I heard about a relative working on a farm w/ his family. He got living quarters, all the firewood he could chop, 500 lbs of potatoes a year, half a cow (after butchering, for the wiseguys), land to grow a garden, etc. And some cash - maybe $200 a month. Until he found a better job.


6. "Re: Mr. Morse's Niece"
Posted by Kat on Jul-10th-02 at 7:51 PM
In response to Message #5.

A girl working and living with a bachelor just wasn't cool back then, in my estimation.

You refer to "working for a couple", and then I'd say O.K., niece, you can do THAT...that's chaperoned.

I guess I don't get your point about "owning" vs. "working" a farm.  I can't agree or disagreee because I have no knowledge of such things as you describe, Ray.

But, I do think that the OWNER would ultimately be responsible if the farm failed.  So why saddle that worry onto Abby?  Especially if he is gone (Andrew--as in d e a d ) and he's the financial brains of the family?  As I stated, it still seems to me that he might as well keep it himself.  I only think the Logic is flawed in the surmising of Lincoln...


7. "Re: Mr. Morse's Niece"
Posted by rays on Jul-11th-02 at 12:17 PM
In response to Message #6.

People, and young girls, work for money and to live. "Appearances"?
Better than being on the street? Were people more moral a century ago, or is this just a naive impression due to censored news?


8. "Re: Mr. Morse's Niece"
Posted by rays on Jul-11th-02 at 12:20 PM
In response to Message #6.

It was not unusual for a farm owner to get hired hands during the harvest season. "Hoe Boys" [hobos] went from farm to farm to work for food, shelter, and a dollar.
You can ask the older generation, or anyone living in a rural area.


9. "Re: Mr. Morse's Niece"
Posted by Kat on Jul-11th-02 at 5:51 PM
In response to Message #8.

I beilieve you...I don't have to ask anybody.  On this subject you have given some helpful and interesting info.

But again, now we have *hobo's* introduced into the mix.  Now we have the teenaged maiden niece of Morse living alone with him and dealing with casual labor?  Her reputation would be *beyond the pale*.  She would be hard-pressed to ever find a respectable suitor, which is the real *job* of any Victorian female.

Do we know whatever happened to her?


10. "Re: Mr. Morse's Niece"
Posted by Edisto on Jul-11th-02 at 8:49 PM
In response to Message #9.

I have no idea what happened to Morse's niece, Anna/Annie.  However, I do know what happened to Bertha Manchester, who apparently was in the position described (dealing with her father's casual labor).  She came to a bad end (although her death might have been fortunate for Lizzie).



 

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