The Borden-Swansea Link: Gardner, Morse, Mason, Emery

by Kat Koorey

Photo discoveries and research by Stefani Koorey, PhD, and Leonard Rebello

First published in April/May, 2008, Volume 5, Issue 2, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.

Family pictures—If we are fortunate, we have photos of those near and dear to us, and those who are far away, in distance and in time. To meet and get to know one’s ancestors through family pictures is a legacy we can pass on to those who come after. 

But what happens when we are the last of our line? Must these once vital memories recede and fade? It can be sad to contemplate discarded portraits—we wonder who these people who once loved and were loved are, yet now are lost to their family. There is an instinct to adopt them through their portraits—an urge to collect them and give them a home.

This wonderful collection of pictures that had been filed away in Swansea, Massachusetts, are now unveiled and their subjects identified. They are being presented here to the modern Lizzie Borden scholar and enthusiast through the investigative efforts of Stefani Koorey, Leonard Rebello, and Michael Brimbau.

The Gardner family and the Morse family ties are strong—please meet the people who are Emma and Lizzie Borden’s extended family members. Let us not forget them.