Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Someone is selling on eBay a newspaper clipping from October of 1927. The caption for the listing is something like, "Suit to Break Will Revives Lizzie Borden." That certainly piqued my interest! Sounds as if somebody tried to foil Lizzie's plans for disposing of her estate, forcing her to awake from the dead! When I clicked on the item, I learned that the suit had actually revived the public's interest in Lizzie -- not Lizzie herself! Interesting to note that the illustration of Lizzie in this newspaper article is the same one that accompanies Alexander Woollcott's "Vanity Fair" article, "The Theory and Lizzie Borden," also from 1927. It appears to be a drawing loosely based on one or more of the Lizzie photographs. The artist isn't identified in either place.

That's funny, Edisto!


Is this the portrait to which you refer?
I can't find anything on e-Bay without a Link!
But we do have the article by Woollcott!

Hmmm... To quote Daffy Duck from an ancient Warner Brothers cartoon.... ahem...... "Makeuppppppp!!!!!!"

Sorry, my cut and paste feature isn't working, so I can't post a link. However, the eBay auction number is 6568586644. It's open until 10/16, so you should be able to find it by going to eBay's home page and searching on the auction number or just on "Lizzie Borden," which will bring up all the current items featuring Lizzie, mostly those accursed "Living Dead" dolls.

See if this works:
http://cgi.ebay.com/OCT-15-1927-SUIT-TO ... dZViewItem


Tracy...

doug65oh @ Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:23 am wrote:Hmmm... To quote Daffy Duck from an ancient Warner Brothers cartoon.... ahem...... "Makeuppppppp!!!!!!"

I used to love those cartoons! I remember them all! That quote really tickled my funny bone

Thanks Tracy! That's it!

I think the paper was misinformed.

Rebello shows it was Emma's will which was in question. The name "Rowe" is spelled "Roe" in Rebello, and there is an Arnie Andrews, rather than a Mrs. George Andrews.
*Is Girard in Kansas?- see below

p. 342
"Emma Borden's Will Filed in Probate Court"

"Many Public Bequest In Emma Borden Will," Fall River Daily Globe, June 30, 1927.
"Cousins Would Break Will," Girard Press, Girard, Kansas.

"Henry L. Shaw, a farmer living near here, and four sisters and a brother have filed suit in Boston, Massachusetts, to break the will of their cousin Miss Emma L. Borden, by which she disposed of her estate The will said in part: 'I, Emma L. Borden, have valued at nearly one half million dollars today… intentionally omitted to provide in this will, for relatives and next of kin other than those mentioned herein ...' A family relative was sent to Fall River to represent the family and they later decided to drop the attempt to break the will."

"Contest Over Will of Emma L. Borden, Petition Against Allowance Filed in Probate Court in Behalf of Mary B. Fairchild and Eva M. Roe, Cousins, both of Illinois."

"The petition was filed in Probate Court in Taunton, Massachusetts. The petitioners were omitted in the lists of bequests in Miss (Emma) Borden's will. They were represented by the law firm of Hardy, Hardy, Barnes & Hardy of Galesburg, Illinois. Fifteen cousins in this and others parts of the country survive Miss Borden. 'I, [Emma L. Borden], have intentionally omitted to provide in this will for my relatives and next of kin other than those mentioned in my will.' " Fall River Herald News, August 5, 1927: 1.

p. 343
"Note: All cousins were listed as next of kin in Probate Court documents. However, their petition was unsuccessful. Only those relatives listed in Emma's will were acknowledged by the court as legal beneficiaries."

"Borden Will Opposed At Probate Session," Fall River Globe, August 5, 1927: 1.
~ ~ ~ ~
Edit here:
*Girard is in Illinois, not Kansas. Garnett is in Kansas. (R73). This KANSAS paper says Girard is in the state of Kansas!Update: There is a town named GIRARD in Kansas. But I didn't think the Shaws lived in Kansas.

Here's what Rebello has, pg. 73:
Mrs. Amy Andrews, niece, Scotts Bluff, Nebraska) children of Selecta Morse Shaw, married
Philip Shaw, Jr.
Mrs. Selecta M. Bee, niece, Wellington, Colorado )
Mrs. Sarah England, niece, Girard, Illinois )
Mrs. Bird Fairchild, niece, Garnett, Kansas )
Mrs. Eva M. Roe, niece, Arlington, Illinois )
Henry L. Shaw, nephew, Pittsburg, Kansas )
John W. Shaw, nephew, Fairfield, Iowa )

Joe had sent me a copy of the original document from which this list is an extract, and all the information is transcribed properly in Rebello, except the typed copy shows "Harry" L. Shaw, not "Henry."

Anyway, note the Kansas and Illinois town names. They are Girard, Ill., and Garnett, Kansas.
(Also, Arlington, Ill., and Pittsburg, Kansas.)