Jefferson Borden and John V. Morse

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:09 pm

I'm hoping someone here may already have this information.

It is my understanding that Jefferson Borden went bankrupt in the 1870s. What exactly was his social/financial status at the time he called on Lizzie?
Also, was it Jefferson Borden Jr. who was the yacht designer?

Next, John V. Morse returned to Iowa after the trial and ultimately died there, but he did return to Bristol County and purchased land with Amos Caswell in Fairhaven in years after the trial. Was he still living at the Davis Farm at this time?

Any info you may have will be greatly appreciated. My eyeballs are getting sore looking at all the old directories and fuzzy microfiche and -films.

Thanks!

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 1:18 pm

Note: have since found Mystic Seaport site. Jefferson Borden Jr. was definitely the yacht designer.

diana · Post by **diana** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 1:57 pm

nbcatlover writes:

It is my understanding that Jefferson Borden went bankrupt in the 1870s. What exactly was his social/financial status at the time he called on Lizzie?

I'm intrigued by "at the time he called on Lizzie"? The Jefferson Borden who went bankrupt in 1879 would have been 59 years older than Lizzie and died about 5 years prior to the murders.

Are you perhaps thinking of Jerome Borden -- who called at the house the day following the murders?

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Mon Aug 29, 2005 4:03 pm

You're right, Augusta. I've been looking at so many family genealogies that the names are just all running together. Thanks for setting me straight again.

Cynthia

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 3:28 am

That was Diana.

According to Jeffery's document, Davis father and son were both dead by 1900. I don't know who Morse could have stayed with. Did he need to come in person to buy land in Fairhaven?

Maybe Christopher knows about maybe John V. Morse buying land thereabouts?

FairhavenGuy · Post by **FairhavenGuy** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 8:00 am

Christopher doesn't know yet about Uncle John buying Fairhaven land, but he's certainly going to look into it.

Glancing at my 1902 town directory, I see a few Caswells: Abram, Arthur G., David P., M. Eva, and William. No Amos then. Was he supposed to be a Fairhavenite?

diana · Post by **diana** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 12:40 pm

Thanks, Kat.

The following is from Rebello, page 77:

"John V. Morse and Amos R. Caswell, a resident of New Bedford, purchased a lot in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, from George H. Howland on October 24, 1906. (Registry of Deeds, New Bedford, Massachussetts, Book 267 and Page 267)"

Although it doesn't deal specifically with the year of this sale, Rebello's synopsis of Uncle John's whereabouts on page 75-78 might help track his movements around that time.

This brings up something in Rebello's 'Compilation of Names' section in the back of Past and Present that has always niggled at me -- and that is:
"Morse, John V. , of Fall River, a cousin and brother-in-law of John V. Morse, visited the Borden home the day after the Borden's were murdered." (Rebello, 534)

This listing appears directly above the one for Morse, John Vinnicum. So were there two John V. Morse's in Fall River? If so, could it be the other John V. Morse who bought the land with Caswell?

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 9:54 pm

The Caswells owned a livery stable in New Bedford. I've also been told that they operated something called "the Barge" which took people some large camp-meeting in the summers (the ad ran in the "Evening Standard". I don't remember if the camp was Beulah or The Hemlocks...

The property purchased by Caswell and Morse in Fairhaven overlooked Naskatucket Bay.

Through the area's notorious Lizzie-story mill, I had been told it was Uncle John V. Morse because he was related to the Shaws from Shaw's Cove (I don't know if this is factual).

During an historic house tour in New Bedford, I had been told that Uncle John lived in a house on Russell Street (again, I have no verification at this time) very close to the Pool residence on Madison. I don't even know what timeframe it was. Prior to the murders? After the murders?

Because of all the stories, I had honestly never considered the Fall River John V. Morse.

FairhavenGuy · Post by **FairhavenGuy** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 10:11 pm

By the way, I've talked a couple of times recently with Stafford Ames Morse of Seattle, WA, who is president of the Morse Society. They are holding their U.S. Convention in our area in October 2006. While they're primarily interested in Morses connected with whaling here, I notice in their plans they're arranging for a tour of the B&B.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 11:36 pm

Yes there was a Shaw connection with our Uncle John V. Morse, but I don't know about "Shaw's Cove."
Cynthia, did you get the Hatchet issue where Joe has his Morse genealogy? (June/July, 2004).

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:32 pm

Kat--

I just subscribed to 'The Hachet' this month. I haven't gone back to purchase the back editions yet. I'll have to keep that particular edition in mind.
Though I have done some probing in The Morse Society message boards online.

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:37 pm

Kat--

I just subscribed to 'The Hachet' this month. I haven't gone back to purchase the back editions yet. I'll have to keep that particular edition in mind.
Though I have done some probing in The Morse Society message boards online.

Fairhaven Guy--

Do you know anything about the history of the Shaw"s Cove area (I think part of it is Audubon-owned now and part is still private)?

FairhavenGuy · Post by **FairhavenGuy** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:52 pm

nb

At the cove end of Shaw Road (last right before hitting the town of Mattapoisett), there is the Lopes family farm and some Audubon property. The Shaw Road/Shaw's Cove name did come from a Shaw family living there. There's no house marked Shaw on the 1895 map, and I don't have 1871 handy, but I'm nearly certain that is where it appears.

Unfortunately, the history of East Fairhaven is poorly chronicled. It was primarily sparsely populated farm land and most of the "keepers of the history" lived in the center of town. Farmers weren't of much interest to them.

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 5:03 pm

Fairhaven Guy--are there early tax records or the like?

nbcatlover · Post by **nbcatlover** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 5:26 pm

Hi Fairhaven Guy--

I've been digging through a box of Lizzie research that I haven't checked out in over 2 years.

Have a very bad copy of part of the deed .

Says Amos R. Caswell or New Bedford and John V. Morse of the State of Iowa. Property conveyed to them by George H. Howland. Deed was recorded on October 24, 1906. Witness to the signing was J. E. Norton Shaw, Justice of the Peace. What I have scribbled in the margins is 1906 Book 267, Page 267 with another notation that it was later sold to Sarah E. Smith in October, 1909--Book 310, pg. 212.

Looks like a future field trip to the New Bedford Registry of Deeds. The parts of the photocopy I have don't describe the property but the consideration for sale was "one dollar and other valuable considerations."