Borden crime timeline

[PossumPie]

Anyone know of an accurate, evidence-based comprehensive timeline for the Crime? In searching the Forum and books, there are a few that are partial timelines. The best that I found by far is Rebello's Appendix H in L.B.P &P. Rebello probably has the most exhaustive and it is "mostly" accurate, but I found a few places where the events contradicted testimony. (Fleet testified that he arrived at the scene and spent a long time inside and searching around outside before going to barn and Rebello has him arriving and going right to the barn.) A few years back a member named Scott Crowder did a visual timeline, it is well done, albeit he uses some time elements a bit too liberally to defend his pet theory. If I were retired, I'd take time (would take weeks I'm sure) to research all evidence and put a minute-by-minute timeline together that was comprehensive. I finished my final exam last night, so I dove into the forum this morning and decided to post a partial timeline for just the barn. Holy Cow! It took me 2 1/2 hours of scouring the testimonies, and books. I literally edited and reedited the post over 20 times as new information was added. To do this for every significant event would be time consuming.
Yes, I know that there are many contradictions in times but these could be pointed out.

[Kat]

Good luck. It could take months. You might want to timeline one topic at a time, like the barn, for instance, or the finding of the axes and hatchets. You'll want to figure out how and why you want to organize a particular topic. I hope you have word search! When you start, you might go ahead and put your source right then with your fact, otherwise you'll kick yourself that you didn't start it the way you will want it when you're "done."

Here are my efforts from LABVM/L:

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/chronolo ... nology.htm

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/chronolo ... 9-1892.htm

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/chronolo ... events.htm

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/chronolo ... meline.htm

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/chronolo ... meline.htm

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/chronolo ... meline.htm

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/chronolo ... meline.htm

[Kat]

I don't have that new Spencer book...does that have a timeline?

[PossumPie]

Thanks, Kat.
I agree that small chunks based on topic is the best way to go. As I mentioned, Rebello has one of the best "day of the murder" timelines in his book's appendix. I still verify though as testimony can be contradictory or "clarified". Clarkson testified that he arrived at the Borden's at about 11:40, then it was later clarified that it was closer to 11:30. While the exact minute isn't critical in his particular testimony, it might be in Lizzie's. Unfortunately clocks ran fast or slow, people in 1892 didn't wear wristwatches, time was guessed at which is notoriously inaccurate. Twenty minutes sitting in a boring lecture feels like an hour while 20 minutes at a party feels like 5 minutes. Anytime in testimony where someone is asked "how long were you doing XYZ?" the answer may be wildly wrong.

I don't have the Spencer book either.

[camgarsky4]

Spencer doesn't have a traditional looking timeline (list format), but his book is written chronologically. So still not easy, but MUCH quicker a process than reading all the testimonies. He also adds commentary when the times don't make sense.

On a side note, I highly recommend his book.

Possum -- your call, but you might want to hold on this for a couple weeks and I'll breakdown the barn chapter into something more digestible. It would take me a while since I'm only able to do that type of work in short, random chunks of time.

[PossumPie]

Spencer doesn't have a traditional looking timeline (list format), but his book is written chronologically. So still not easy, but MUCH quicker a process than reading all the testimonies. He also adds commentary when the times don't make sense.

On a side note, I highly recommend his book.

Possum -- your call, but you might want to hold on this for a couple weeks and I'll breakdown the barn chapter into something more digestible. It would take me a while since I'm only able to do that type of work in short, random chunks of time.

Thanks. I did about all I'm going to do in the other thread with regard to the barn timeline. I have all of the witness testimony sorted and the various times listed in order. One thing is perfectly clear: Medley who swore that no dust was disturbed and "proved it" by disturbing the dust himself to see if he could see marks is either lying or hallucinating. He was NOT the first one to the loft after the crime, but several/many others were up there walking around and moving things before he could get out there. Too many testimonies with collaborating times contradict him. Either there wasn't enough dust for him to know if anyone had been up there or he deliberately fabricated some of his testimony. He arrived at the Borden house at 11:45 one minute before Fleet. He did all of the below listed things BEFORE going to the barn. Conservatively they take at least 15 minutes making his barn trip about noon. By then Me and Brownie, Clarkson, Donnelly, Cook, and "three gentlemen I didn't recognize" had all made trips up in the loft between 11:38 and noon.

MEDLEY TRIAL TESTIMONY
Q. After Mr. Fleet came [11:45], what did you do?
A. I went round the house and walked round part of the way to the back door and tried a cellar door, a porch, and looked around generally and went in the house.
Q. How did you find the cellar door?
A. I say I went in the rear of the house and while there tried this cellar door. The cellar door was fast.
Q. Whom did you see as or after you went into the house?
A. I saw Mr. Fleet again, and Mr. Mullally, Miss Russell, Mrs. Churchill, and one or two doctors, and Miss Lizzie Borden.
Q. Did you have any talk with Miss Lizzie Borden?
A. Yes, sir.
...
MR. ROBINSON. Give the conversation as near as you can,---what you said and what she said.
THE WITNESS. Yes, sir. And I asked her where Bridget was, and she told
me that Bridget was up stairs in her room: and I said, "Where were you?" and she said
that she was up stairs in the barn, or "up in the barn",---I am not positive as to the "stairs" part. She said she was up in the barn.
...
I came down stairs from there and went through the room where Mr. Borden lay, and went out of the house into the barn and up stairs
...
Q. After you went into the barn what did you do? Describe in detail.
A. I went up stairs until I reached about three or four steps from the top, and while there part of my body was above the floor, above the level of the floor, and I looked around the barn to see if there was any evidence of anything having been disturbed, and I didn't notice that anything had or seemed to have been disturbed, and I stooped down low to see if I could discern any marks on the floor of the barn having been made there. I did that by stooping down and looking across the bottom of the barn floor. I didn't see any, and I reached out my hand to see if I could make an impression on the floor of the barn, and Idid by putting my hand down so fashion (illustrating), and found that I made an
impression on the barn floor.
Q. Describe what there was on or about the floor by which you made an impression?
A. Seemed to be accumulated hay dust and other dust.
Q. How distinctly could you see the marks which you made with your hand?
A. I could see them quite distinctly when I looked for them.
Q. Go on and describe anything else which you did?
A. Then I stepped up on the top and took four or five steps on the outer edge of the barn floor, the edge nearest the stairs, they came up to see if I could discern those, and I did.
Q. How did you look to see if [you] could discern those footsteps which you had made?
A. I did it in the first place by stooping down and casting my eye on a level with the barn floor, and could see them plainly.
Q. Did you see any other footsteps in that dust than those which you made yourself?
A. No, sir.

The only way that I can see Medley was not lying was if all of the throwing of hay back and forth raised such a cloud of dust that after the last person left it settled down covering all previous footprints. In that case he wouldn't have known if Lizzie or anyone else had been there.

[Reasonwhy]

Kat and Possum, your thorough work on these timelines is impressive and tremendously helpful. All of them help clarify my thinking on events. Bravo to you both!!

[Kat]

Spencer doesn't have a traditional looking timeline (list format), but his book is written chronologically. So still not easy, but MUCH quicker a process than reading all the testimonies. He also adds commentary when the times don't make sense.

On a side note, I highly recommend his book.

Possum -- your call, but you might want to hold on this for a couple weeks and I'll breakdown the barn chapter into something more digestible. It would take me a while since I'm only able to do that type of work in short, random chunks of time.

A collaboration might be highly beneficial, actually. (When working with Joe on the Morse genealogy, we were able to check and balance each other, which doubled the chance that the facts were correct.)

And since I've been asking Stef questions obout Spencer's book, apparently I am getting it for Christmas! I've felt like its something I should not miss.

[Reasonwhy]

You will like it, Kat, I predict. It’s thorough. Best part is at the very end, where he recreates how the crimes happened.

[PossumPie]

Spencer doesn't have a traditional looking timeline (list format), but his book is written chronologically. So still not easy, but MUCH quicker a process than reading all the testimonies. He also adds commentary when the times don't make sense.

On a side note, I highly recommend his book.

Possum -- your call, but you might want to hold on this for a couple weeks and I'll breakdown the barn chapter into something more digestible. It would take me a while since I'm only able to do that type of work in short, random chunks of time.

A collaboration might be highly beneficial, actually. (When working with Joe on the Morse genealogy, we were able to check and balance each other, which doubled the chance that the facts were correct.)

And since I've been asking Stef questions obout Spencer's book, apparently I am getting it for Christmas! I've felt like its something I should not miss.

Didn't Stef do the artwork for the cover? I'm thinking I read that somewhere. 800 pages sounds exhaustive! and exciting!!!

[Kat]

Thanks for asking! She also was editor, fact checker, proofreader, publisher, and designed the book.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6177&p=99221&hilit=Spencer#top

When the book premiered, I was not doing Lizzie, but since then, I am. The author is sending it to me so I hope that means it will be signed!

[PossumPie]

Thanks for asking! She also was editor, fact checker, proofreader, publisher, and designed the book.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6177&p=99221&hilit=Spencer#top

When the book premiered, I was not doing Lizzie, but since then, I am. The author is sending it to me so I hope that means it will be signed!

Being an editor is a difficult task.
One of my pet peeves is reading a poorly edited book. Several of the Borden books over the years have been poorly edited. In defense of some, when they are converted to Kindle it is an automated process where a computer turns a photograph of words into actual words and it is sometimes incorrect, but many of the books actually do have multiple errors. In the age of "Grammarly" and Spellcheck, there is no excuse for poorly constructed sentences or spelling errors in books, and even if authors submit work with verb tense errors or without singular/plural agreement, a good editor would catch them. In a world where the "woke" are trying to say mathematics should not have "one right answer" and the use of grammar should be subjective, I shutter to think how unreadable books will become in the future...[end of rant]

[Kat]

Somehow, she has just the right temperament for the job...enjoys it so much...and considers it a bonus to be learning something from the author all at the same time.

Personally, I'm just trying to tell all the people on TV to say "an" in front of the word "apple," instead of "a". I'm not getting anywhere (I have humble ambitions, now.. )
I keep telling myself that language is fluid, and to just accept. (But back in my assistant editor days, that was more strict, of course.)

[PossumPie]

Somehow, she has just the right temperament for the job...enjoys it so much...and considers it a bonus to be learning something from the author all at the same time.

Personally, I'm just trying to tell all the people on TV to say "an" in front of the word "apple," instead of "a". I'm not getting anywhere (I have humble ambitions, now.. )
I keep telling myself that language is fluid, and to just accept. (But back in my assistant editor days, that was more strict, of course.)

If others had the ability to see how many times I go back and correct things in my posts, they'd laugh. I write a post, double-check it, post it, then see I put an apostrophe in the wrong place or used effect instead of affect. I go back correct it, and repeat. Errors still slip by, but I realize that long after I'm dead, somebody may read a post by "PossumPie" and catch an error. "Hmmph, PossumPie must have been a hillbilly who really ate possums to make such a grammatical error!"

[Kat]

I get it, believe me! And this iPad doesn't help. It wants to spell everything for me, and I end up with sentences I never intended! Talk about proofreading!
It's most recent quirk is it wants desperately to spell Borden, "Birden!"
If you see Birden, it's the ghost in the machine...

[InvestigatorGal]

Hi All, I am new here and I am enjoying reading the various posts. My comments are from a newbie's perspective, so forgive me if my points are redundant to those of you who have been here longer. Two timelines (or non-existent timelines) that seem very telling to me surround Lizzie's claim that she heard Abby's return home and the second is about Abby's receipt of a note to visit a sick friend.

Regarding Abby's return home, when would Lizzie have had the opportunity to hear this if she were in the barn for some time as she claimed? If Lizzie thought she heard Abby return home before her father's murder, why would Lizzie have told Bridget that she did not want to be left alone in the house? If Lizzie were implying that Abby came home after the murder of the father, with all of the commotion going on both inside and outside, why would Abby just be hanging out upstairs? Then there is the fact that Abby was actually deceased early on, so what was Lizzie claiming she heard that resulted in the others going to look for Abby?

Regarding the note to visit a sick friend (as claimed by Lizzie), when would this note have arrived without anyone else being aware of it? With the front door so securely locked, is it reasonable to think that someone came to the front door, delivered a note, and then the door was so securely re-locked? Alternatively, would a delivery person go to the side door to deliver a note and if they did, wouldn't Bridget or Lizzie have been aware of it since they were about? Finally, according to Lizzie and Bridget, after dusting Abby said she was going upstairs and neither of them saw her again. So did this note, if real, come very early in the morning, and if so, wouldn't Uncle Morse or Bridget have been aware of its delivery?

I know there is no smoking gun here, but these two claims by Lizzie call into question their authenticity when trying to fit them into a reasonable timeline.

[KGDevil]

Hi All, I am new here and I am enjoying reading the various posts. My comments are from a newbie's perspective, so forgive me if my points are redundant to those of you who have been here longer. Two timelines (or non-existent timelines) that seem very telling to me surround Lizzie's claim that she heard Abby's return home and the second is about Abby's receipt of a note to visit a sick friend.

Regarding Abby's return home, when would Lizzie have had the opportunity to hear this if she were in the barn for some time as she claimed? If Lizzie thought she heard Abby return home before her father's murder, why would Lizzie have told Bridget that she did not want to be left alone in the house? If Lizzie were implying that Abby came home after the murder of the father, with all of the commotion going on both inside and outside, why would Abby just be hanging out upstairs? Then there is the fact that Abby was actually deceased early on, so what was Lizzie claiming she heard that resulted in the others going to look for Abby?

Regarding the note to visit a sick friend (as claimed by Lizzie), when would this note have arrived without anyone else being aware of it? With the front door so securely locked, is it reasonable to think that someone came to the front door, delivered a note, and then the door was so securely re-locked? Alternatively, would a delivery person go to the side door to deliver a note and if they did, wouldn't Bridget or Lizzie have been aware of it since they were about? Finally, according to Lizzie and Bridget, after dusting Abby said she was going upstairs and neither of them saw her again. So did this note, if real, come very early in the morning, and if so, wouldn't Uncle Morse or Bridget have been aware of its delivery?

I know there is no smoking gun here, but these two claims by Lizzie call into question their authenticity when trying to fit them into a reasonable timeline.

I've also always found it absurd that Lizzie said she heard Abby come. For pretty much all of the same reasons that you've stated. When would there have been a time that makes sense, taking into account her own testimony, that she could've heard Abby come in? It just doesn't make sense. I've always thought she used that as an excuse to send someone to look for Abby's body and have it found.

If she heard her come in before Andrew came home why tell Andrew she was out? If after Andrew came home why didn't Abby hear Lizzie scream? Why didn't Abby hear the voices of people coming in and out? Why didn't Lizzie go and look for her to speak to her? Why would Abby come in and go directly up to the guest room? How could Lizzie hear her come in from the barn? Why didn't Bridget hear her come in? Why were there zero witnesses who saw Abby traveling to her sick friend? There was no sick friend.

There is no way to fit that into the time line of events and have it make sense.

[InvestigatorGal]

Thank you KGDevil for your response and for the additional points you raised. These claims by Lizzie definitely do not fit into a plausible timeline ... or at least not one I have discovered yet.

[PossumPie]

Also remember that during Lizzie's initial questioning, she never mentioned Abby getting a note or going out. She kept saying that she must have been up in her room or in the sewing room. It wasn't until later that Lizzie mentioned a note.

[InvestigatorGal]

Thank you PossumPie, but didn’t Lizzie mention the note on the day of the murders as well?

[PossumPie]

Thank you PossumPie, but didn’t Lizzie mention the note on the day of the murders as well?

Yes, but it was almost like she forgot that she did. When she was questioned later, she went around and around about all the ways or reasons that she could have not seen Abby after 9:30. She was grilled pretty hard, then after much questioning, almost like she remembered the note story, she said "well she got a note and may have gone out." She said that Abby asked her what she wanted for the noon meal as she was going to pick something up, but never told Bridget that she was bringing home lunch. Very suspicious...

[camgarsky4]

There are large number of riddles to be answered if one wishes to believe the note story is true.

Here are three of them:
#1 Per Lizzie's inquest testimony, Abby told her about the note in the dining room as Lizzie came downstairs around 8:50. At that same moment, Andrew was reading in the sitting room 20ish feet away and Bridget was in the kitchen 20ish feet away in another direction. We are to believe that Abby chose to tell Lizzie about receiving the note, but did not tell her husband or maid, whom per testimony tended to tell where she was going in most cases and certainly in this case if it impacted what was being served for dinner.
#2 The note must have been delivered to the front door between roughly 8:45-8:50.....a 5 minute span. Andrew & Morse were in the sitting room, mere feet from the front door from 7:30 to 8:45. Morse did not hear anyone ring or knock, nor did he hear Abby talking to anyone. Lizzie testified that she came down and was told about the note around 8:50. So literally, it was a sliver of time that the note could have been delivered to the front door without Morse or Lizzie being aware. I am sure there are creative ways to explain that other windows of time exist, but each of them feel like a stretch to me (maybe the messenger boy was quiet like a ninja) .
#3 In spite of a reward being offered and the case being publicized nationally, no one came forward as the sickly friend or the young messenger.
Again, folks come up with creative explanations like....maybe the person didn't want publicity. Really? An acquaintance of Abby's would let Lizzie be charged for murder because they might be embarrassed. Is that possible...sure....but to me, this is extremely unlikely.

[KGDevil]

If you go through Lizzie's testimony and isolate the questions about Abby, in my opinion, you can almost see Lizzie flailing for answers and the evolution of her excuse about the note.

Witness statements page 2 (Harrington & Dougherty): Lizzie said she had not seen Mrs. Borden since about 9 o’clock. Then saw her in the bedroom when she was coming downstairs.
Witness Statements page 5 (Harrington & Dougherty): Heard no noise whatever while in the barn.” (To a question.) Not even the opening or closing of the screen door. “Why not, you were but a short distance, and would hear the noise so made?” “I was upstairs in the loft.”

Witness Statements page 9 -10 (Harrington & Dougherty): Mrs. Churchill No. 90 Second street. “Eleven o’clock is the nearest I can fix the time. Returned from market, saw Miss Lizzie at rear door. I thought she looked somewhat strange, asked her what was the matter. She replied, father has been killed. Please come over. I immediately complied. When I reached her I said O, Lizzie, Lizzie, where is your mother? She said, I don’t know. The relations between Lizzie and the step-mother were not very friendly, so I hear, but have no personal knowledge of it. Yes, I have heard they do not at all times eat from the same table.”

Witness Statements page 11 (Harrington & Dougherty): Second interview of Mrs. Churchill. Mrs. Churchill. “Must I, am I obliged to tell you all?” “Well, if I must, I can’t be blamed. O, I wish I had not to do this. I do not like to tell anything of my neighbor; but this is as it is. When I went over in answer to Lizzie’s call, I asked O, Lizzie where is your father? In the sitting room. Where were you? I was in the barn looking for a piece of iron. Where is your mother? She had a note to go and see someone who is sick. I don’t know but they killed her too. Has any man been to see your father this morning? Not that I know of. Dr. Bowen is not at home, and I must have a Doctor. I think I heard Mrs. Borden come in. Will I go and get one or find someone who will? Yes. I did so. When I returned the first thing I recollect she, (Lizzie) said is, O, I shall have to go to the cemetery myself. “
Page 12 same interview: Lizzie then said I wish somebody would go upstairs and try to find Mrs. Borden. So Bridget and I started. I think she led the way. We went up the front stairs, but I only went far enough to clear my eyes above the second floor. The door to the spare room is on the north side of this hall, and was open. I turned my head to the left, and through this door I could see under the bed of this room. On the north side of the bed, on the floor, I saw what I thought to be a prostrate body. There was not much light in the room, so I could not distinguish clearly, but I knew the object was more than a mat. I felt certain it was Mrs. Borden. I then rushed down stairs, and entering the dining room, I doubled myself up, and uttered an exclamation of fright. Miss Alice Russell asked, is there another? I said yes, they killed her too, or something to that effect. I then informed Charles Sawyer of the fact. He made some exclamation. Dr. Bowen then returned, and I told him Mrs. Borden was upstairs in the spare room. He left the sitting room; I think to go upstairs. I then thought I would go home, and said, Lizzie, if there is there anything you wish me to do, let me know later on. She said, there will be plenty to do bye and bye.

Lizzie Borden inquest:

page 62(19):
Q. When did you last see your mother?
A. I did not see her after I went down in the morning and she was dusting the dining room.
Q. Where did you or she go then?
A. I don’t know where she went. I know where I was.
Q. Did you or she leave the dining room first?
A. I think I did. I left her in the dining room.
Q. You never saw or heard her afterwards?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did she say anything about making the bed?
A. She said she had been up and made the bed up fresh, and had dusted the room and left it all in order. She was going to put some fresh pillow slips on the small pillows at the foot of the bed, and was going to close the room, because she was going to have company Monday and she wanted everything in order.
Q. All that was left was what?
A. To put on the pillow slips.
Q. How long would it take to put on the pillow slips?
A. About two minutes.
Q. How long to do the rest of the things?
A. She had done that when I came down.
Q. All that was left was what?
A. To put on the pillow slips.

Page 63(20)
Q. If she had remained downstairs, you would undoubtedly have seen her?
A. If she had remained downstairs, I should have; if she had remained in her room, I should not have. If she had remained downstairs, I should have. If she had gone to her room, I should not have.
Q. Where was that?
A. Over the kitchen.
Q. To get to that room she would have to go through the kitchen?
A. To get up the back stairs.
Q. That is the way she was in the habit of going?
A. Yes, sir, because the other doors were locked.
Q. If she had remained downstairs, or had gone to her room. you undoubtedly would have seen her?


Page 64 (21):
Q. I ask again, perhaps you have answered all you care to, what explanation can you give, can you suggest, as to what she was doing from the time she said she had got the work all done in the spare room until 11 0’clock?
A. I suppose she went up and made her bed.
Q. That would be in the back part?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. She would have to go by you twice to do that?
A. Unless she went when I was in my room that few minutes.
Q. That would not be time enough for her to go and make her own bed and come back again?
A. Sometimes she stayed up longer and sometimes shorter; I don’t know.
Q. Otherwise than that, she would have to go in your sight?
A I should have to have seen her once; I don’t know that I need to have seen her at all.
Q. You did not see her at all?
A. No, sir. Not after the dining room.
Q. What explanation can you suggest as to the whereabouts of your mother from the time you saw her in the dining room, and she said her work in the spare room was all done, until 11 o’ clock?
A. I don’t know. I think she went back into the spare room, and whether she came back again or not I don’t know; that has always been a mystery.

Page 65 (22):
Q. Had you any knowledge of her going out of the house?
A. No, sir.
Q. Had you any knowledge of her going out of the house?
A. She told me she had had a note, somebody was sick, and said “I am going to get the dinner on the way,” and asked me what I wanted for dinner.
Q. Did you tell her?
A. Yes, I told her I did not want anything.
Q. Then why did you not suppose she had gone?
A. I supposed she had gone.
Q. Did you hear her come back?
A. I did not hear her go or come back, but I supposed she went.
Q. When you found your father dead you supposed your mother had gone?
A. I did not know. I said to the people who came in “I don’t know whether Mrs. Borden is out or in: I wish you would see if she is in her room.”
Q. You supposed she was out at the time?
A. I understood so; I did not suppose anything about it.

Page 66 (23):
Q. Tell me what talk you had with your mother at that time?
A. She asked me how I felt. I said I felt better than Tuesday, but I did not want any breakfast. She asked me what I wanted for dinner. I told her nothing. I told her I did not want anything. She said she was going out, and would get the dinner. That’s the last I saw her or said anything to her.
Q. Where did you go then?
A. Into the kitchen.
Q. Where then?
A. Down cellar.
Q. Gone perhaps five minutes?
A. Perhaps, Not more than that; possibly a little bit more.

Page 78 (35):
Q. Did you make any search for your mother?
A. No, sir.
Q. Why not?
A. I thought she was out of the house; I thought she had gone out. I called Maggie to go to Dr. Bowen’s. When they came I said, “I don’t know where Mrs. Borden is.” I thought she had gone out.
Q. Did you tell Maggie you thought your mother had come in?
A. No, sir.
Q. That you thought you heard her come in?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you say to anybody that you thought she was killed upstairs?
A. No, sir.
Q. To anybody?
A. No, sir.
Q. You made no effort to find your mother at all?
A. No, sir.

Page 79 (36):
Q. Do you know of any employment that would occupy your mother for the two hours between nine and eleven in the front room?
A. Not unless she was sewing.
Q. If she had been sewing you would’ve heard the machine?
A. She did not always use the machine.

.....

Q. Was that the room she usually sewed in?
A. No sir.
Q. Did you ever know her to use that room for sewing?
A. Yes sir.
Q. When?
A. Whenever she wanted to use the machine.
Q. When she did not use the machine did you know her to use that room for sewing?
A. Not unless she went up to sew a button on or something.
Q. She did not use it as a sitting room?
A. No sir.

80 (37):
Q. Never mind about yesterday. Tell me all the talk you had with your mother when you came down in the morning?
A. She asked me how I felt. I said I felt better, but did not want any breakfast. She said what kind of meat did I want for dinner. I said I did not want any. She said she was going out, someone was sick, and she would get the dinner, get the meat, order the meat. And I think she said something about the weather being hotter, or something; l don’t remember that she said anything else. I said to her “Won’t you change your dress before you go out?” She had on an old one. She said: “No, this is good enough for me.” That is all I can remember.
Q. In this narrative you have not again said anything about her having said that she had made up the bed?
A. I told you that she had made the bed.
Q. In this time saying, you did not put that in. I want that conversation that you had with her that morning. I beg your pardon again, in this time of telling me, you did not say anything about her having received a note.
A. I told you that before.
Q. Miss Borden, I want you to tell me all the talk you had with your mother, when you came down, and all the talk she had with you. Please begin again.
A. She asked me how I felt. I told her. She asked me what I wanted for dinner. I told her not anything, what kind of meat I wanted for dinner. I told her not any. She said she had been up and made the spare bed, and was going to take up some linen pillow cases for the small pillows at the foot, and then the room was done. She says, “I have a note from somebody that is sick, and I am going out, and I will get the dinner at the same time. “ I think she said about the weather. I don’t know. She also asked me if I would direct some paper wrappers for her, which I did.

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Q. Did you make any effort to notify Mrs. Borden of your father being killed?
A. No, sir. When I found him I rushed right to the foot of the stairs for Maggie. I supposed Mrs. Borden was out. I did not think about her at that time, I was so –
Q. At any time did you say anything about her to anybody?
A. No sir.
Q. To the effect that she was out?
A. I told father when he came in.
Q. After you father was killed?
A. No sir.
Q. Did you say you thought she was upstairs?
A. No sir.
Q. Did you ask them to look upstairs?
A. No sir.
Q. Did you suggest to anybody that they search upstairs?
A. I said, “I don’t know where Mrs. Borden is.” That’s all I said.
Q. You did not make any yourself?
A. No sir.
Q. I want you to give me all that you did, by way of word or deed, to see whether your mother was dead or not, when you found your father was dead.
A. I did not do anything, except what I said to Mrs. Churchill. I said to her: “I don’t know where Mrs. Borden is. I think she is out, but I wish you would look.”
Q. You did ask her to look?
A. You said that to Mrs. Churchill?
Q. Where did you intend for her to look?
A. In Mrs. Borden’s room.

[InvestigatorGal]

Thank you PossumPie, Camgarsky4, and KGDevil. Your responses affirm my belief that the note was a fabrication, among others.