Am I Wrong About the Fundamentals?

[Lorcan]

I was reading Spencer's CALB and he mentioned Andrew used to walk Abby back from church and he makes a good case that Andrew chose 66/92 Second Street so Abby could be closer to her family. He had been walking to work for 27 years and still enjoyed walking even 20 years later, so it wasn't to make his own walk shorter.

I wonder if either Andrew remembered working on 66/92 Second Street or if Miller mentioned it to him at church or something like that. I wonder how good of a case can be made that Andrew actually had a much closer relationship to Abby than is usually portrayed. I wonder if he did things for her or her family quietly (in addition to Forth Street) so as not to make the daughters jealous. I'm thinking little things like maybe the $4 allowance wasn't her only "allowance" and Andrew was privately more generous to her.

I'm also starting to wonder if I am totally wrong about Lizzie and Emma wanting out of the house. Maybe they wanted to stay to keep an eye on their influence with Andrew and their inheritance?

Could we be looking at a situation where Andrew actually did marry for love, took care of Abby privately, and the rivalry amongst the women for influence with Andrew kept them together in the house rather than Emma and especially Lizzie wanting to get away?

[camgarsky4]

This reads as Abby letting Mrs. Case know what her allowance was. I would imagine she would have told tell her what it was if it was actually more.

Witness Statements Page 18
Sunday 21. Summoning witnesses, Bestcome A. Case and wife of 199 Second street. Their
statement. Understood from general talk the girls and Mrs. Borden did not get along very pleasantly.
Never heard Mrs. Borden say anything about the family relations. Her allowance was about $200. a
year; but much of it was spent on articles for the house. The lace curtains in the parlor she purchased.
The girls got the same amount as she, but it was for their own use. A short time ago Mrs. Borden, for the first time, told me of the robbery, which took place about a year ago. She simply mentioned it, and said she would tell me all about it some time.
Mrs. Case directed me to Mrs. Daniel O’Leary of Fifth street, who at times worked for the
Borden’s. She could give no information.

[camgarsky4]

That is a intriguing and, very likely accurate, working theory you have on the emotional conundrum the Lizzie faced. She desired a grander lifestyle & independence but also wanted to retain whatever family control/influence she held.

I excluded Emma because I'm not sold that she wasn't fine with the lifestyle, but she definitely wouldn't want Abby to have AJB all to himself.

[Inspector]

I always considered it a toss up. whether Andrew and Abby had a close, caring relationship or not. I don’t remember any evidence that would show they didn’t care for each other.

[Lorcan]

The other fundamental that I'm starting to question is an actual trigger for the murders in the form of something set in motion that left a physical artifact (like the draft of a will, a letter, a property deed, etc.). I'm starting to consider something far more subtle and paranoid.

This is pure conjecture, but let me paint a picture. I'll number them for easier pushback.

1. Lizzie once thought the she had more influence over Andrew than Abby. The Fourth Street transaction shattered that perception and she now had terrible proof that her future could be altered by Abby's growing influence with Andrew without Lizzie knowing about it.

2. Could Abby have been, rightly or wrongly, worried about what would happen if Andrew were to die without a will and with Abby having very little money to live on in the case of a long legal fight with Emma and Lizzie. Could she have talked Andrew into formally protecting her? Could Andrew have agreed in principle and not actually done anything legal on paper? Now hears where the real conjecture comes in...

3. Could Abby, reassured of safety, indicated in some subtle way that she was much more comfortable with her future. It would be a simple as the look on her face when a topic was mentioned, maybe just her tone of voice, or an off the cuff comment that was overheard or misinterpreted.

4. Could Lizzie have sensed something changed that was far worse for her than the reality of the situation and begun to obsess over it? Fear of the unknown being far worse than what Andrew was actually planning...

[Inspector]

Here’s something you probably already know.
The question is, why was it in Abby’s pocket?
It suggests to me that Abby was at least somewhat involved in Andrew’s finances, other than just her allowance.
Below is AI

IMG_4128.jpeg

[Inspector]

The Fall River Evening News February 1893 said the list was written in 1891, but you may want to read the actual articles because the FRDG read a bit more into the story.
I don’t think we would ever have known about the paper if the sisters had found the note before handing Abby’s clothes to her heirs.

[Lorcan]

Thanks, here's an article we can review.

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/hatcheto ... ys-pocket/

[Lorcan]

Continuing on with my auditing of the fundamentals of the case, let's see if we can figure out the dynamics at the beginning of the marriage between Andrew, Abby, Lizzie, and Emma.

March 1, 1851: Emma is born
July 19, 1860: Lizzie is born, Emma is 9
March 26, 1863: Sarah Morse Borden dies, Lizzie is 2, Emma is 12 - Emma promises to take care of baby Lizzie

June 6, 1865: Andrew and Abby get married, Lizzie is almost 5 and Emma is 14
April 1867 - July 1868: Emma attends Wheaton Female Seminary (now Wheaton College) in Norton, Massachusetts

So, Lizzie probably only had fragmented memories prior to Abby becoming her step-mother and really, probably only started to have permanent continuous autobiographical memory just before Emma went away to college. You would think Abby would be all-in on trying to bond with Lizzie while Emma was away. It's actually perfect timing if the goal was to bond with Lizzie without Emma being around.

Lizzie said "she always went to Emma" and "Emma had the care of me after mother died" but I hope that was not the case and Abby tried very hard to bond with Lizzie while Emma was away at college.

That leads me to wonder what percentage of the following had the most influence on their relationship when Lizzie was young:

1. Did Abby really try to bond with Lizzie in that critical period when permanent memory is forming and Emma is away at college?
2. Did Emma push back at this and try to be a mother to Lizzie?
3. Was Lizzie actually receptive to Abby or was Abby stuck with two daughters, neither of which would bond with her?

[Lorcan]

An earlier version of the above post had a question about another woman (not Phoebe Davenport - died 1853) named Davenport that might have been a younger cousin helping out after Sarah died and living with the Bordens on Ferry Street, but I can't find any confirmation of that. There were some people around who would likely help with young Emma and baby Lizzie.

I don't remember where I heard it and it's probably just a rumor or made up story - but the story was this Davenport cousin stayed at the Ferry Street house around the time of Sarah's death and although she moved away, Andrew sent her $10 every Christmas from that point forward.

Andrew's sister Lurana probably did the bulk of the caregiving, I would assume.
1860 census: Caroline T. Gray (age 19), live-in domestic.
1865 census: Elizabeth Morse (almost certainly a relative), age 27, as a housekeeper
1865 census: Sarah Welch (Irish, age 21), domestic servant

Later domestic help:
1880: Mary Green
1889: Bridget Sullivan

Inspector, thanks for the post above. I wasn't able to get the original newspaper article you referenced about what was in Abby's pocket.

[camgarsky4]

This might be what you are referencing. Phebe Currier was not Mr. Borden's sister.

Witness Statement page 17.
Mrs. Phebe Warner of Second street, with whom Mrs. Currier, Mr. Borden’s sister, lived and said, knew nothing substantial. During her sickness which was quite long, the Bank street Church took care of her. Mr. Borden and the girls called once in a while. Mr. Borden gave her $10. each Christmas. She heard things were not pleasant there, but knew nothing about them.

[Lorcan]

That has to be part of the same story. I can't quite understand what is being said in the witness statement. Are they saying Lurana was sick, Sarah Morse Borden was sick, Phebe Warner was sick, or Phebe Currier was sick? The story I heard conflated the $10 gifts with some cousin on the Davenport side of the family helping out when Sarah Morse Borden was sick, but I have no idea where I heard/read it. Perhaps $10 was Andrew's normal gift to relatives that he had good relations with and he might have done that for more than one person.

[camgarsky4]

What helps with making sense of the statement is that Phebe Currier died in June 1892, before the murders. Additional info is that the 1880 U.S. Census lists Phebe Currier living with Phebe Warner and her family. So Currier lived with Warner on Second Street a really long time.

The officer wrote his notes very poorly. I believe it is telling us that Currier HAD lived with Warner, Currier HAD been sick a long time and that Borden gave her $10 each Christmas. Warner, herself, heard things were not pleasant at the Borden house.

Morse inquest testimony.
Knowlton was asking Morse about his various visits to Fall River. He visited and knew Phebe Curry (sic), so I would think she was a relative of the Morse clan and that is probably how your Davenport angle arises. That would suggest AJB was being thoughtful to help his former wife's family.

Q. Before that, can you recall the last time you were there?
A. It was somewhere the last of June. I know Phebe Curry was sick at that time, she died a little afterwards, I think about the last of June.

[Lorcan]

One fundamental that has thoroughly changed is my opinion of Andrew and money. It seems like there were very rigid principles involved, not very strict dollar amounts. Adding water as soon as possible, adding steam heat, always having at least one servant, an annual weeks long live-in dressmaker and the daughters owning 20+ dresses, sending Emma off to college for 4 semesters, sending Lizzie off to Europe for 4 months (and that was by definition a luxury tour, not a simple backpacking adventure), the daughters had stock, real estate with rental income, which they mishandled, and plenty of savings beyond their weekly allowance. They had a flush toilet (but no heated water in the kitchen stove and no bathtubs - that I don't get - why not? such a relatively tiny expense for a huge quality of life improvement).

There is the $10 Christmas gifts ($300 in today's value) to at least one member of his Morse relatives. Buying the half-share on Abby's behalf for her half-sister. Apparently choosing the Second Street house more for Abby being close to her only close relatives. There is a sealskin cape for Lizzie, the summer house in Swansea, and I'm sure more I forgot or don't know about yet.

So, Andrew wasn't scrooge in the sense of penny pinching, but he was strict on how money was handled in some situations and this is a gut feeling, but I think he really didn't like the party lifestyle of the Hill. My gut feeling is he thought it was shallow and wasteful, pretentious and even morally wrong and that it would corrupt Lizzie and he was not going to be responsible for her downfall.

John Morse is another of those pervasive myths that has changed for me. He's a lot more normal than I thought. The crazy alibi story is apparently from a 1940s book finished by Phillips' nephew, and the testimony of Dr. Bowen's coachman in the Jennings Journals ends the Rich Little theory. Morse had 3 witnesses (2 relatives and the downstairs neighbor) plus the implied witnesses of the streetcar driver/priests situation. So, Morse is definitively ruled out as a suspect for swinging the hatchet on Andrew, in my opinion. I think he wasn't planning to stay the night, hence the lack of luggage. As for the eating of pears and not seeing a crowd, I don't think there actually was a crowd when he came back. The witness statements about when the crowd formed make me think some of those times are not accurately reported and the large crowd wasn't until later.

Does anyone else have any fundamental myths or misconceptions from early in their studying of the case?

[camgarsky4]

Lorcan -- I like where you've landed on AJB's 'scrooge' reputation and Morse's guilt. Honestly, I can't remember what I thought of the case back when I started learning about it. What I have definitely learned and witnessed via numerous posters, is that everyone starts out leaning into the myths of the case and if they stay on the forum long enough, usually 'course correct' and avoid the conspiracy based theories.

[camgarsky4]

Abraham's first wife (Andrew's mother) was Phoebe Davenport. Not sure how or if that has anything to do with your Davenport question, but thought it might.

[Lorcan]

Yes, as close as I can remember the story it was during the time that Sarah Morse Borden was sick, a woman who was a relative from Andrew's mother's Davenport side of the family came to live with them on Ferry Street, presumably to help out during that time of need. She moved away some time after Sarah died, but Andrew sent her $10 every Christmas from that point forward. If Currier can be traced back to the Davenport line, then it's likely the same person. If not, perhaps Andrew gave a group of people whom he liked $10 every Christmas.