Today was the first summer day without rain so far this season. The Fall River History Club had the good fortune of having Fall River historian Bill Goncalo lead us on a tour of Interlachen, the former home of Spencer Borden, that juts out into the North Watuppa Pond, and the Cook-Borden ice house.
A slideshow of the tour is here for your viewing pleasure.
Cowabunga!
The new book about Lizzie Borden and her Fall River being written by the curatorial staff at the Fall River Historical Society is going to change everything!
Everything we thought we knew about Miss Lizzie A. Borden, everything we have heard so far, read so far, seen so far, decided so far, is going to have to be revised. Parallel Lives is not only a highly entertaining exploration of Fall River’s turbulent history, but is a watershed treatise on one of America’s most enigmatic women.
For the very first time, we see the flesh and blood Lizzie Borden. She is now three-dimensional to us, with depth, and breadth, and length, and height. And the most remarkable thing about it all is that nobody who has written about her in the past has even come close to the real Lizzie. All those books, all those words, all those guesses and deductions and suppositions, all of them are going to be obsolete.
I can’t even recall a book that has done this type of work before—a book that takes a true historical person, an icon to masses, feared by some, and loathed by many more, and spins the story of their life so that the main character emerges as someone unexpected, someone who we have never met before, someone who has literally been made new.
You can throw away all of your other Lizzie Borden books when this one is published. You won’t need them anymore. In fact, you will mostly laugh at them and look back in wonder at how their authors have fallen short.
Things are happening quickly at 132 Green Street in Fairhaven, MA, the former home of the Brownell’s where Emma Borden was visiting on that fateful day in 1892.
Today the vinyl siding is nearly complete. In addition, note the plastic corner boards and window frames. The eaves are also made of plastic.
While the house looks lovely from a distance, looks can be deceiving. What we have here is a fine old home coated in modern ANTI-GREEN materials —-in a sense, coated and dipped in plastic.
This renovation is not the restoration promised by the buyer when first purchased. One wonders what the inside will become.
Purists would rather the house remain damaged and untouched than have the house “ruined” in this way. Others may love the color and ooh and ahh at the fresh clean appearance. “Oh, my,” they will say, “vinyl siding is so much easier to maintain!”
Yes, it may be “easier” but it also literally ruins the historical value of a home. What once had class and character and original wooden shingles and corner boards, now is Barbie’s play house.
I wonder if it smells like plastic on the inside of the house . . . .
Many thanks to Chris Richards for the heads up about the changes as they occur!
Last summer as I was driving by the Borden farmhouse in Swansea, I noticed that the front door was open and a work van was parked in the yard. This is the farm that Andrew Borden once owned with his partner Almy, and the families shared the house for some time. Andrew eventually bought out his partner and when Andrew died, the farm house went to daughters Lizzie and Emma Borden.
I stood on the street and took these two shots. I found them most interesting as the inside staircase looks original, as does the hardware on the storage door under the stairs. It is but a glimpse into the life of what once was.
A quick update on the Green Street house in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Emma Borden, Lizzie’s Borden’s sister, was visiting the Brownell family there on August 4, 1892, the day her father and stepmother were murdered in Fall River—-and thus had an iron-clad alibi as to her whereabouts that fateful day.
Fairhaven is 16.7 miles away from the Second Street house in Fall River.
The house has been in disrepair of late and was recently sold. The building is in really good shape, however, and the new owner is starting the restoration/renovation. These photos were taken on Monday, November, 24, 2008.
I will post further developments as they happen to the old gal. She deserves the best.
E.J. Dionne is a substantial journalist. He works for the Washington Post and appears frequently as a commentator on This Week with George Stephanopoulos and Meet the Press. He wrote a sweet piece about being from Fall River and Ted Kennedy that you might find interesting. It captures the spirit of Massachusetts very nicely.
Oh, and by the way, when Dionne appears on This Week it is like seeing double. George Stephanopoulos is also from Fall River!
Award winning Canadian playwright, Sharon Pollock, author of the best play on the Borden case, Blood Relations, is in dire straits.
On May 27, a Canadian theatre icon awoke to a fire in her Calgary home. Although she managed to escape unharmed, playwright Sharon Pollock lost most of her possessions, including three of her beloved cats.
Damage to the house was extensive. While insurance will cover some of the cost of restoration and rebuilding, the financial burden Pollock faces is formidable.
Accordingly, the Alberta Playwrights’ Network (APN) and Downstage Theatre are hosting a benefit reading of Pollock’s celebrated 1981 Governor General’s Award-winning play, Blood Relations — a dramatic and particularly imaginative whodunit account of the infamous axe murders of Lizzie Borden’s mother and father on a muggy Massachusetts day in 1892. Directed by Downstage artistic director Simon Mallett, the reading will feature well-known Calgary actors Valerie Planche, Karen Johnson-Diamond, Katherine Kerbes, Laura Parken, David LeReaney, Kevin Rothery, and Stephen Hair.
Admission is by donation, with all proceeds going toward helping Pollock rebuild her house and replace her possessions.
With generous support from the Epcor Centre and Steam Whistle Brewery, the fundraiser takes place July 23 at 7 p.m. in the lobby of Jack Singer Concert Hall.
For further information, or to find out how to make a donation, call APN at 1-800-268-8564, or visit www.albertaplaywrights.com.
Dr. Philip Silvia, the author of the seminal collected work of Fall River history as seen through its newspapers, is being honored with a lifetime faculty research award at his university, Bridgewater State College.
Siliva edited the three volume set, which was published in different years: Victorian Vistas: Fall River, 1865-1885 as Viewed Through Its Newspaper Accounts was published in 1987; Victorian Vistas: Fall River, 1886-1900 was published in 1988; and Victorian Vistas: Fall River 1901-1911 was published in 1992.
It is rather difficult to get all three volumes in one set, and individual copies sell for anything from $90 to $375. The most sought after volume is, of course, the middle one, which contains information regarding the Lizzie Borden case.
If you are interested in them, try to purchase them with dust jackets in tact. The value of the set is only enhanced by these.
Lizzie Borden was born on July 19, 1860, and Fall River and the Lizzie Borden B&B is celebrating . . .
It’s Lizzie’s birthday, and you’re invited
By Deborah Allard
Herald News Staff Reporter
Fall River —
Celebrate a little local infamy today with something sweet for Miss Lisbeth Borden. It’s her birthday.
Lizzie Andrew Borden was born on July 19, 1860, to Andrew and Sarah Borden. Sarah died when Lizzie was just 3 years old.Lizzie lived at 92 Second St. in her early years, where the grisly murders of her father and step-mother, Abby Durfee Borden, occurred on Aug. 4, 1892.
After Lizzie was acquitted of the murders, she moved to Maplecroft on French Street, where she lived until her death on June 1, 1927. Her funeral was held in the home.
“We’ll have a little cake for Miss Lizzie,” said Lee Ann Wilber, manager of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast.
Wilber said she’ll host about six guests overnight to celebrate Lizzie’s birth. On Sunday, a horror writer’s club will celebrate Lizzie’s birthday with cake and a talk.
The public is welcome to visit the home from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tours are given on the hour. The cost is $12.50 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $5 for kids ages 7 to 15.
If that’s not enough Lizzie for a day, visitors can also tour the Fall River Historical Society, 451 Rock St., from 1 to 5 p.m. to view Borden artifacts. Or, take a trip to Oak Grove Cemetery and follow the arrows to the Borden gravesite.
For the anniversary of the murders, The Herald News will publish a story in its Life section on Sunday, Aug.3, recipes in RSVP on Thursday, July 31, and video of all Lizzie’s favorite haunts — not literally of course.
UPDATE: The roof has been completed on the old Borden farm on Gardner’s Neck Road in Swansea, MA.
Morton Gould wrote the score for Agnes de Mille’s Fall River Legend ballet. He died in 1996. This biography details his impressive achievements.
I was watching a stupendous documentary from the series Investigative Reports on the A&E channel on cable the other day and learned a new fact. The show was a rerun of the 1998 film “Peace, Love, and Murder.”
Review Summary
This documentary, part of the Investigative Reports series from A&E, examines the story of hippie-turned-fugitive Ira Einhorn. Narrated by host and producer Bill Kurtis, this episode looks at the life of the radical who played a major role in the antiwar peace and love movement of the 1960s. In 1977, Einhorn was arrested after his girlfriend was found murdered. With the help of some of his powerful associates, Einhorn was able to flee the country and escape incarceration for 20 years. After police caught up with him in France in 1997, Einhorn still managed to allude jail time. Investigative Reports interviews some of the people who have been involved in this case through the years, including law enforcement officials, lawyers, and members of the victim’s family who would like justice to be served. ~ Cecilia Cygnar, All Movie Guide
One thing jumped at me. Ira Einhorn, the killer, is also Ira Einhorn the organizer of the very first Earth Day in Philadelphia in the the 1970s.
CrimeLibrary.com confirms the report.
The Magic City Morning Star even has a piece from two years ago titled, “Ira Einhorn, Earth Day’s Dirty Secret.”
If you read a lot to true crime, as I do, you know all about Ira and the murder of his girlfriend, Holly Maddux.
And if this is not weird enough for you, Einhorn’s attorney was ARLEN SPECTOR. Yup, that Arlen Spector.
Arrested, Einhorn’s attorney was considering a run for the Senate. His name was Arlen Spector, of Pennsylvania. The darling of New Age society, politicians, Ivy League professors, and corporate executives alike, Einhorn had no shortage of friends during his bail hearing. With his great love for the earth, surely Ira would not have murdered anyone. Released on a mere $40,000 bail, of which he had to pay only ten percent, Einhorn fled to Sweden, remaining as a fugitive in Europe until 1997, when he was found living in France under another name.
While a fugitive, Einhorn was convicted in absentia in 1993, and sentenced to life in prison. The government of France, however, refused to extradite Einhorn unless the death penalty was taken off the table and he was promised a new trial. Eventually, this was agreed upon. Ira Einhorn, the founder of Earth Day, was once again convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Today, we celebrate Earth Day, sacrosanct, proclaimed by none other than our Republican President George Bush, and every president since 1975, when President Ford first proclaimed and urged observance of Earth Day on the March equinox.
We’re living in a time where wacky is in, and life doesn’t mean very much.
While it is likely that Einhorn’s violent history is not shared by other Earth Day founders, the observance is nevertheless bizarre.
There you have it.
The Hatchet found a new Lizzie Borden image! Read all about it in this press release!
The newest issue of The Hatchet is now online for your viewing pleasure. The Hatchet is in its fifth year of publication and this issue marks #21. As the magazine is now an official adult, there will be a party!
Subscriptions for the ONLINE journal are still only $20 for four issues! You can subscribe here.
In this issue: a fantastic piece on Emma’s 1913 interview by Borden scholar and author Leonard Rebello; a story detailing the finding of the Lizzie Borden photograph (PLUS OTHER SURPRISES FOUND) by Stefani Koorey, Ph.D. (that’s me); another great installment of “Lizzie Borden Girl Detective” by Richard Behrens; a personal tribute to the late Neilson Caplain by his son Ron; a story about Lizzie’s Grand Tour by Shelley Dziedzic; an interview with criminologist, Professor Thomas Mauriello; a sweet plea about Edwin Porter’s grave by Sherry Chapman; a list of all residents of Second Street in 1892 (a massive accomplishment) by Harry Widdows; biographical pieces by Kat Koorey; and our regulars—Mary Elizabeth Naugle, Sherry Chapman, Douglas Walters, Eugene Hosey, and Denise Noe bringing in their very best work!
We have made some changes to the journal, the most obvious of which is the name. Now we are known at The Hatchet: Lizzie Borden’s Journal of Murder, Mystery & Victorian History. We are broadening our niche and promise to bring you the same level of scholarship and entertainment you have been used to.
The print copy of The Hatchet will be available later in the week through LuLu.com. Check back here for details.
If you would like to order back copies of The Hatchet in print, please visit our print-on-demand partner LuLu.com here.
On 16 October 1910, the Boston Daily Globe reported that City Marshal John Fleet had a high regard for Fall River.
If you remember, John Fleet was Assistant City Marshal under Marshal Hilliard at the time of the Borden murders of 1892. According to Commonwealth of Massachusetts VS. Lizzie A. Borden; The Knowlton Papers, 1892-189 3. Eds. Michael Martins and Dennis A. Binette. Fall River, MA: Fall River Historical Society, 1994, this is what we know of Fleet:
“FLEET, JOHN 1848 – 1916: born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, son of Richard and Charlotte (Brown) Fleet. He emigrated to the United States as a youth and was employed at the American Linen Company in Fall River, Massachusetts. He then enlisted as a landsman in the United States Navy in 1864, serving a seventeen-month term. Following the Civil War, he returned to Fall River where he worked at various trades and married Miss Lydia Wallace of that city. In 1877, he was appointed to the police department and rose through the ranks from patrolman to city marshall, retiring in 1915. He died one year later in Fall River. It was as assistant city marshal in 1892 that he was called upon to arrest Miss Lizzie A. Borden for the murders of her father and stepmother. His extensive testimony at the preliminary and final trials concerned the police search for evidence at the Borden residence, providing detailed information about the hatchets found there.”
Interesting find by Harry Widdows. Thanks!
Today the Daily Hampshire Gazette ran a piece by Kristin Pepini about Mount Holyoke and the Borden case.
You might remember that the August issue of The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies included brand new research on where Emma Borden went during her “away years” in the 1860s. It turned out that Emma went to Wheaton College in Norton. This fact was discovered by Kristin Pepe and she graciously shared that information on The Lizzie Borden Society Forum.
Here is the article:
