Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Someone on Facebook claims this is a photo of the Borden Sisters. I try to tell people to look carefully at Lizzie's features. I direct them to our forum in order to clarify. Not the sisters.

I was about to ask about this picture but don't know how to attach.
They don't look like them to me....but would like to know people's opinions?

I was about to ask about this picture but don't know how to attach.
They don't look like them to me....but would like to know people's opinions?
Just read the last line.not the sisters.just as I thought. Thank you

I did a Google search and found two sources, which claim that picture is of Emma and Lizzie Borden.

The first source I ran across was, Pinterest. If you click at the bottom of the information, where it states, ‘See More’, you will find information that states: Find this pin and more at Real Horrors by lostlenore1970. When you click on that information, you are taken to a web site titled, Real Horrors Lest we forget. Scroll down; the picture is on the left hand side of the page. (Warning: There are some graphic pictures within the Real Horrors web site.)

Pinterest.com: http://tinyurl.com/y9vaw4fa

The second source I ran across is, listverse. Now this web site is very convincing that the photo is of Emma and Lizzie Borden. There are 10 photos shown along with 10 reasons why Lizzie Borden is guilty of murder. There are 8-9 known pictures of the Andrew J. Borden’s family, the crime scenes and people associated with the case. (Picture number 8 is obviously a drawing of Lizzie.)

listverse.com: http://tinyurl.com/y7fjhr6k

Those of us who have studied the Borden Murders, know that picture is NOT of Emma and Lizzie Borden.

The person on Facebook, who is determined that that picture is of Emma and Lizzie Borden needs to realize that you can't believe everything you find on the internet.

Everything we've known so far causes me to think that there is not much credence to this picture being of the sisters. Interesting though

Dont.think they look like either one of them

Since we are talking photographs...

Here's an interesting discovery that many, if not most, have overlooked. Discovered by Stefani as we were inspecting some high resolution photographs purchased from the Historical Society. Looking at them with a magnified glass Stefani discovered that when Abby was lying on the floor, dead, by the side of the dresser and bed she was covered with a sheet. So what you see in the photo from the waste down to Abby's ankle is a bed sheet. I always thought that it was Abby's dress.... but no.
They must have folded it down to take the photo... and Abby must have been covered from head to ankle. If you remember the maid was ordered to get a sheet to cover Andrew Borden. Naturally, the same was done for Abby. What looks like Abby's dress is really a sheet which was folded down to around her waist. Small find but interesting no less.




http://lizzieandrewborden.com/MondoLizzie/

Around her waist - I must say I've been reading it as apron bunched about the apron-ties at her back (while lifted to the fore, beneath the body.)
From then on down surely those creases and folds are in a disposition to suggest the shape of the contemporary skirt? - deeply gathered onto the rear waist and fanning over the rump. Also, isn't it creasing like dressweight rather than bedlinen? And it does end where the skirt hem would end.
I'm having trouble finding the sheet.
If that's a fold of sheet at her mid-section, there doesn't seem enough of it to cover her top half.
There may be an apron-tie in there
Was it Dr Bowen who smoothed down her skirts? If they'd photographed her as they'd first found her the presentation might have been much more instructive for forensic psychologists.

...When Bridget went for sheets Abby hadn't yet been discovered, surely? For some reason I can imagine Andrew Borden cloaked by two sheets while upstairs Abby didn't get any, even after they did go find her.

Yes of course:

Theoretically you may be right. There is tons of talk and testimony in the trial about Andrew Borden and the sheet that covered him. But none about Abby.

But it is certain that Mrs. Borden's body would have been covered with a sheet as was Mr. Borden. It is unlikely that it was not. Covering the dead was, and still is, traditional and formal decorum, custom, and most of all, respectful. We must remember that the body of Abby was moved, rolled over for examination, and repositioned for 'picture taking'. There is no way that the body would have been left on the floor uncovered. Especially as it waited for the photographer.

After Stefani and I studied the high resolution photographs, we did the same along with the staff of the Fall River Historical Society. We have all concluded that it is indeed a sheet.

Still, it is a topic open for constructive criticism and everyone's interpretation or perceptions only hone's in on the truth.

After never giving it a thought that it was anything other than her dress I now am also able to see it as a sheet. To me it seems that it was rolled at the waistline but the roll doesn't look like it consists of much material for it to cover all the way, as Interested mentioned above, so that is a little confusing. I think we all may agree that she would have been covered at some point, but now I wonder would they have covered past the shoes. Interesting article by Stefani for sure at least to help us exercise our observation skills.

To further what may be perceived as a mystery, over to the right of the photo I saw something I never noticed before. There's a man siting, kneeling or squatting by the right of the bed.

There must have been a host of people in the room. After all, photographers were interesting people, with their oversized magical box.

I also see a sheet, now that it has been pointed out. From the appearance of the rolled material around her waist, I have to agree that the sheet had to have covered her entire body, except for her feet, and then it was rolled under (perhaps to hide blood that would have gotten on it from the back of her head) and downward to her waist so that the photos could be taken.

Covering the body of the deceased is a tradition that goes back to biblical times, and I know it is a tradition that is still practiced today. So, I have to agree with MB; Abby’s deceased body would have definitely been covered with a sheet.

Great observation on Stefani’s part. BTW: I enjoyed reading the interesting article she posted on her MondoLizzie blog!

Thanks Twins:

The tradition of covering the body of the dead is grounded in many habitual practices. Mostly it is a form of respect, basically to maintain the decease's dignity. Also to be considered is the fact that many are alarmed by looking at the dead in the face. To some in the distant past, it was to trap the person's spirit from escaping the body before burial, or escaping into the house, along with a host of other superstitious practices. Like carrying the dead body feet first out of the house so it does not look back into the house and urge the living to follow... or covering mirrors or stopping clocks.

Covering a body with a sheet may mean different things to different people but there is no mistaking the practice and the fact that it is embedded in history and part of human behavior.

The one on the right looks like a relative of. Lizzies, but the other one doesn't even come close.