FR MAP&SARAH CORNELL

[Kat]

Sorry, do not know date of map!
It's a good piece, showing Ferry St., Second, (Third & Fourth St.s) etc, and French St and Oak Grove Cemetery...from birth to death of Lizzie Borden!
Anyone recognize, please report...Thanks!
[mb says 1883- see further below]
Can clickonpic

[mbhenty]

It is an 1871 map of the center of Fall River.

You can find new copies readily available on ebay.

Below is an original up for "buy it now" on ebay as we speak. That's a very good price for an original 1871 copy, but inspection of item much closely is needed along with any questions of the buyer.

[Kat]

Eeek! That old? Why is it a different color? Was my piece desaturated, like Photoshopped?
Thanks for posting the date! Yay!

[mbhenty]

Yes Kat

The originals of these map were taken from Atlases. Large books called elephant folios.

The Fall River map above, the one that I posted, was probably taken from the 1871 Bristol County Atlas.

The one you posted was taken from the 1883 edition of the Bristol Atlas.

Then there was one last Atlas published. That was the Bristol County 1895 edition. Most of these were torn apart and had their maps removed and sold separately. Such maps were not published as a stand alone map but part of a book.

The actual different color tinting in the maps themselves notes the various wards.

Below are the 1871, the 1883, and the 1895 Atlases. The publisher was more proud of the 1871 issue since it got nice stamped leather covers.

[mbhenty]

Now, what you see in the 1871 map in the post above is only half of the actual map as it was published in the Atlas. When you opened the atlas the Fall River map was actually two pages. But most of the time when you find the map it is only of the center of town. This is probably because when the atlas was put together the eastern half of Fall River was sewn into a separate signature in the earlier version of the map, though it doesn't look that way in the map below

[mbhenty]

Now, this is probably more information than you need. But

Below is the 1871 map as it sits on my wall.

[mbhenty]

And as if your brain in not already on overload.

Here are a couple of more Atlas maps. They are all over my walls.

One is the 1871 map of Westport, Massachusetts and taken from the same atlas as the Fall River map above.

The other is the 1895 map of Westport. You can see that the image is brighter and cleaner than the 1871 version.

I won't show you the picture of the velvet bull fighter hanging over my sofa or the velvet one of Elvis over my bed. That would be a bit much.

[mbhenty]

Velvet Elvis

[mbhenty]

Oops

Just got scolded by Stefani for going off topic.

So I tried to find a velvet painting of Lizzie.

This is as close as I could come.

What piercing eyes, heh?

Back to maps

[Kat]

I lOVE MAPS!
I have seen a couple of yours, but not all, I think...

[mbhenty]

Yes Kat:

I also like maps. When I was a little boy I was always drawing up pirate treasure maps. X always marked the spot. Usually of the backyard and marking the place where I hid my rubber ball or some other childish treasure.

What I started collecting now are Nautical Charts. Eldridge Nautical Charts from the turn of the last century, being 1900. The Chart below is of the Isles of Shoals and York Maine harbor. Eldridge charts were published around 1905 and some of them were hand colored by George Eldridge's daughters, such as the one below.

As for the Lizzie connection...

Some of you murder sleuths may remember a book titled Murder at Smutty Nose, by Edmund Pearson. Smuttynose is one of the islands at the Isles of Shoals. In the same book is an account of the Borden murders.

The murder at Smuttynose Island is an interesting one. It involved the strangling and the axe murder of two Norwegian woman, Karen and Anethe, sister-in-laws... supposedly by one, Louis Wagner, of German decedent.

Below is also one of the Eldridge charts as it hangs on my wall.

[Kat]

Thanks for the pics! I would think you could probably actually use the nautical chart, since you sail! But the topography changes over time, doesn't it, thru weatherization and tides, so how often would a chart have to be updated for safety and accuracy?

I'm very partial to the Smutty Nose Murder story, but I've noticed other members are specializing in the Borden case, rather than other regional murders, for instance Sarah Cornell, or Bertha Manchester, or Smutty Nose.

[mbhenty]

Yes Kat:

I find the Sarah Cornell case more interesting than the Lizzie saga. But as for Bertha, no where as much. Very little is known about the Manchester murder. Publicity about it was minimal compared to the Borden case. The trial overshadowed poor Bertha's conclusion.

On the other hand, the Cornell case would make a wonderful movie. Someone in Hollywood should look into it. Almost no one in Fall River knows who Sarah Cornell was.

A real life Nell and Snidley Whiplash With no Dudley Do-Right to save her. (Sixties and Seventies cartoon thing, you see)

Poor Sarah.

https://library.brown.edu/exhibits/arch ... eryms.html



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[Kat]

Thanks for the good link, mb.
I remember Tommy at Oak Grove was so satisfied that we asked to see her grave, telling us it was sad that folks forgot about her. Every time we visited Oak Grove we would go visit Sarah.

[Kat]

Turns out Phillips included Sarah Cornell in his History, and today is the 190th anniversary of the finding of her body, so thank you. mb for "resurrecting" her story! How did you do that?

by
ARTHUR SHERMAN PHILLIPS
With additions and interpolation s
194 1
PRIVATELY PRINTED DOVER PRESS FALL RIVER, MASS.
1946THE PHILLIPS HISTORY OF FALL RIVER
Chapter XII
NOTORIOUS LOCAL MURDERS
The Cornell Murder
Sarah Maria Cornell was found murdered in the stack yard of the
Durfee Farm, which was then within the limits of the South Park in Tiver -
ton, on the morning of December 21st, 1831 . She was twenty-eight years
of age and descended from a respectable family and had been a mill worker
in Fall River and other places for several years . She was a member of the
Methodist church in Fall River, of which Dr . Bidwell was pastor.

Her body was frozen stiff ; the knees evidenced, by bruises and clinging grass,
that she had been dragged for some distance and she had apparently been
hung by a rope taken from one of Durfee 's wagons . The rope was tied by
a clove hitch knot, not by a slip knot, so that she could not have committed
suicide by hanging because the clove hitch could not be drawn tight except
by the pulling of both ends together . Her feet were only a few inches above
the ground and it was apparent that she was at least unconscious before
she was hung because there was no evidence of struggling . Pieces of a
broken comb and evidence of a struggle were found at two different places
within the limits of the farm . She was in a delicate condition. Soon it
appeared that she had consulted a Dr . Wilbour in Fall River on the 8th of
October previous and disclosed to him the secrets of her liaison, her cond -
ion having been caused at a session of a camp meeting in Thompson,
Conn. during the previous summer.

When she was cut down a jury of inquest was immediately summoned
who determined it was a case of suicide, but other facts above stated soon
appearing, with much evidence directed against the Rev . Ephratus K.
Avery, a Methodist minister at Bristol, complaint was made against him .
Before a warrant could be served he had disappeared and after diligent
search he was located in an obscure town in New Hampshire and brought
back for trial . At the trial he was acquitted . The trial was held in Newport
in May 1833 .

There was ample evidence that the minister had been frequently seen
in her company ; that he had counseled her to take poison; that, while
refusing to take any action against him because of the respectability of his
wife and family and refusing to meet him in Bristol, she had asked him to
discuss the situation in Fall River . There was evidence that he did come
to Fall River the night of the murder by persons who saw him here and at
the Howland Ferry after the murder, but he proved by a great many wit -
nesses that he was home in Bristol that evening at such an early hour that
his speed of return, if he did return, was almost beyond human possibility .

Apparently there was no evidence that he was expert in the tying of a clove
hitch knot and, of course, he was not observed at the scene of the crime .
A score of clergymen took oath to his good character and to every one who
testified that the girl was above reproach so far as other men were concerned,
there were as many or more who testified as to her delinquencies ,
not with men but by her conduct in the affairs of the church of which she
was a member and to which she seemed to be most devoted and her prayers
about her shortcomings most incessant . That twelve men agreed that upon
all the evidence he was not guilty leads us to accept that conclusion, but it
was not accepted by the people at large ; much criticism was directed against
the public attorney.

[Kat]

Do you have a pic of her headstone, after she was moved and re-buried at Oak Grove, mb? I have one in my computer, but it says 1832 and the rest is hard to read.
I also thought it was lying down? I think she is resting in the "children's section?"

[mbhenty]

The grave of Sarah Cornell at Oak Grove in Fall River, Ma. I took the Photos in 2006.

[Kat]

Thank you! It does say 1832...I wonder why?

--After further looking, I think good ole Phillips got the year wrong.
In my copy of Wicked Conduct, it says 1832. Phillips had 1831...

[mbhenty]

Yes:

You think about it.... how can a woman, Lizzie, kill her own mother and father

Well, it is the same with Sarah Marie Cornell. How could a Reverend kill one of his own parishioners? Or make them pregnant?

Sarah died 189 years ago this past Monday. She was murdered on a cold December day, five days before Christmas, in 1832. The trial took place in the spring of 1833 and was quickly followed by Catherine Williams book, "Fall River An Authentic Narrative".

There were other narratives written about the murder. Some can be found unbound or in pamphlet with out boards. In 1833 there were narratives published by Drury Luke, Benjamin Hallett, and Harvey Harnden.

The following year there was an account published, but lacking author, titled Vindication or: A VINDICATION OF THE RESULT OF THE TRIAL OF REV. EPHRAIM K. AVERY; TO WHICH IS PREFIXED HIS STATEMENT OF FACTS RELATIVE TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES BY WHICH HE BECAME INVOLVED IN THE PROSECUTION. Published in hardcover in 1834. I say "hardcover" since I only have seen one copy and it was in hardcover.

(Back then books could be issued without covers, or in 'wraps" giving the buyer a chance to have the book bound in the boards of their choosing. Many books about the murder of Sarah were published in wraps, since they were short accounts.)






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[mbhenty]

A little insight:

Back in the nineteen eighties I took a one day book binding class in Bristol, R.I. And introduction to bookbinding. There I met an old gent. Can't remember his name. He was in his late 70s and a renowned Rhode Island poet.... or at least it was how he was introduced to me. On the way home the book dealer I hung out with at the time told me that the old gent would visit Sarah Cornell's grave every December 20th, the day she died, and leave flowers on her grave. He had practiced the kindness for many years. It was told to me that he thought of Sarah Marie as very special and dear since she was forgotten and forsaken over time. The old guy appeared to be a gentle soul, if I remember. And to confess my ignorance, it was the first time I was introduced to the actual account behind the murder of Sarah Marie Cornell.

[Kat]

Your local anecdotes are always interesting, mb!
And yes, I also was very much involved with the story of Sarah Cornell.
Link to 2 reviews of books about her, written in The Hatchet, by moi, if anyone is interested, and our Richard also wrote about the case The Reverand and the Mill Girl. I did not review Wicked Conduct.
My favorite was the "Narrative" by Williams, as it was published the following year after the crime.
Were you able to read any of the other "Narratives?"
Maybe some here will become interested...?

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/HatchetO ... rah+cornel