Twins/MB or any of the other folks who have been on the forum for a long time...one of my favorite posters was Curryong. However, I just read this post below where she says Hiram Harrington lied about talking to Lizzie the evening of the murders. Do you know why she felt that way?
In the newspaper article, Hiram is quoted as telling about Lizzie visiting the barn to look for sinkers. That is the first time that part of the alibi became public knowledge and then was verified at the inquest when Lizzie testified. He could only have gotten that part of the story direct from Lizzie. Maybe Hiram didn't care for Andrew or Lizzie, but why is there hesitancy to take what he shared as essentially accurate? What parts of the interview are unbelievable and highly imaginative?
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Re: Okay...here's my theory :-)
Post by Curryong » Fri Nov 28, 2014 7:48 am
These posts are really getting out of sequence here for some reason. A post of mine went into the ether which talked about the Harringtons. Philip Harrington who didn't like Lizzie wasn't a relative of the Borden/Morse clan. He became a police Captain but died early shortly after his marriage. Hiram Harrington was married to Lurana who was Andrew Borden's younger sister. They had one son who died young. Hiram lied and said he had been to see Lizzie after the murders and later gave an imaginative interview to the Press about it.
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Hiram Harrington & Curryong
Moderator: Adminlizzieborden
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camgarsky4
- Posts: 1813
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- Real Name: George Schuster
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Rolie Polie
- Posts: 43
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- Real Name: Beverly Blakemore
Re: Hiram Harrington & Curryong
This entire story is so crazy that I would even believe that Hiram Harrington thought that his wife, sister to Andrew, should have inherited the other half of Andrew's estate that didn't go to Emma. I read somewhere, but can't find it now, that Lizzie didn't like him much and vice-versa. If someone could verify that, I'd be pleased. I think that he suggested that Lizzie did it hoping that she would hang without receiving her part of the inheritance, which he could have and control by virtue of marriage.
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camgarsky4
- Posts: 1813
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- Real Name: George Schuster
Re: Hiram Harrington & Curryong
Below is the article with Hiram Harrington's interview.
There are multiple references he makes that are verified via other sources. This reads exactly like something you'd expect from an 'in-law' who knows and understands family dynamics, has been around it for ~30 years, but doesn't super like the patriarch and at least one daughter. Maybe there is an edge to the judgmental comments, but not over the top at all from my point of view. I can't identify a single clear and blatant fabrication.
Frankly, I think this article is the single best means to get an idea of the Andrew & Abby Borden family environment.
A big reason I take this interview at pretty much its face value (outside of the multiple verifiable comments), is that Hiram describes the purpose of Lizzie's visit to the barn to be finding lead for sinkers to go fishing. This is the only mention of this alibi until the inquest. All witness statements regarding the purpose of the barn trip made prior to this article involved "iron" to fix something. The word "lead", "sinker" and "fishing" first surfaced in this interview. He could only have gotten this version of the alibi from Lizzie herself.
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Fall River Daily Herald — Aug. 6, 1892
CLOSE IN MONEY MATTERS
Hiram Harrington, 40 Fourth street, is married to Laurana, Mr. Borden's only
sister. A reporter who interviewed him gathered the following story: 'My wife,
being an only sister, was very fond of Mr. Borden and always subservient to his
will, and by her intimacy with his affairs I have become acquainted with a good
deal of the family history during years past. Mr. Borden was an exceedingly hard
man concerning money matters, determined and stubborn, and when once he got an
idea nothing could change him. He was too hard for me.
'When his father died some years ago he offered my wife the old homestead on
Ferry street for a certain sum of money. My wife preferred to take the money,
and after the agreements were all signed, to show how close he was, he wanted my
wife to pay an additional $3 for water tax upon the homestead.'
"What do you think was the motive for the crime?" asked the reporter.
'Money, unquestionably money,' replied Mr. Harrington. 'If Mr. Borden died, he
would have left something over $500,000, and all I will say is that, in my
opinion, that furnishes the only motive, and a sufficient one, for the double
murder. I have heard so much now that I would not be surprised at the arrest any
time of the person to whom in my opinion suspicion strongly points, although
right down in my heart I could not say I believed the party guilty.
'Last evening I had a long interview with Lizzie Borden, who has refused to see
anyone else. I questioned her very carefully as to her story of the crime. She
was very composed, showed no signs of any emotion or were there any traces of
grief upon her countenance. That did not surprise me, as she is not naturally
emotional. I asked her what she knew of her father's death, and, after telling
of the unimportant events of the early morning, she said her father came home
about 10:30. She was in the kitchen at the time, she said, but went into the
sitting room when her father arrived. She was very solicitous concerning him,
and assisted him to remove his coat and put on his dressing-gown; asked
concernedly how he felt, as he had been weak from a cholera morbus attack the
day before. She told me she helped him to get a comfortable reclining position
on the lounge, and asked him if he did not wish the blinds closed to keep out
the sun, so he could have a nice nap. She pressed him to allow her to place an
afghan over him, but he said he did not need it. Then she asked him tenderly
several times if he was perfectly comfortable, if there was anything she could
do for him, and upon receiving assurance to the negative she withdrew. All these
things showed a solicitude and a thoughtfulness that I never had heard was a
part of her nature or custom before. She described these little acts of courtesy
minutely.
'I then questioned her very carefully as to the time she left the house, and she
told me positively that it was about 10:45. She said she saw her father on the
lounge as she passed out. On leaving the house she says she went directly to the
barn to obtain some lead. She informed me that it was her intention to go to
Marion on a vacation, and she wanted the lead in the barn loft to make some
sinkers. She was a very enthusiastic angler. I went over the ground several
times, and she repeated the same story. She told me it was hard to place the
exact time she was in the barn, as she was cutting the lead into sizeable
sinkers, but thought she was absent some 20 minutes. Then she thought again, and
said it might have been 30 minutes. Then she entered the house and went to the
sitting room, as she says, she was anxious concerning her father's health. "I
discovered him dead," she said, "and cried for Bridget, who was upstairs in her
room."
'Did you go and look for your stepmother?' I asked. 'Who found her?' But she did
not reply. I pressed her for some idea of the motive and the author of the act,
and after she had thought a moment, she said, calmly: "A year ago last spring
our house was broken into while father and mother were at Swansey, and a large
amount of money stolen, together with diamonds. You never heard of it because
father did not want it mentioned, so as to give the detectives a chance to
recover the property. That may have some connection with the murder. Then I have
seen strange men around the house. A few months ago I was coming through the
back yard, and, as I approached the side door, I saw a man there examining the
door and premises. I did not mention it to anyone. The other day I saw the same
man hanging about the house, evidently watching us. I became frightened and told
my parents about it. I also wrote to my sister at Fairhaven about it." Miss
Borden then gave it as her opinion that the strange man had a direct connection
with the murder, but she could not see why the house was not robbed, and did not
know of anyone who would desire revenge upon her father.'
Mr. Harrington was asked if he knew whether or not there were dissentions in the
Borden family. 'Yes, there were, although it has been always kept very quiet.
For nearly ten years there have been constant disputes between the daughters and
their father and stepmother. Mr. Borden gave her some bank stock and the girls
thought they ought to be treated as evenly as the mother. I guess Mr. Borden did
try to do it, for he deeded to the daughters, Emma L. and Lizzie A., the
homestead on Ferry street, an estate of 120 rods of land with a house and barn,
all valued at $3000. This was in 1887.
'The trouble about money matters did not diminish, nor the acerbity of the
family ruptures lessen, and Mr. Borden gave each girl ten shares in the Crystal
Spring Bleachery company, which he paid $100 a share for. They sold them soon
after for less than $40 per share. He also gave them some bank stock at various
times, allowing them, of course, the entire income from them. In addition to
this he gave them a weekly stipend, amounting to $200 a year.
'In spite of all this the dispute about their not being allowed enough went on
with equal bitterness. Lizzie did most of the demonstrative contention, as Emma
is very quiet and unassuming, and would feel very deeply any disparaging or
angry word from her father. Lizzie, on the contrary, was haughty and domineering
with the stubborn will of her father and bound to contest for her rights. There
were many animated interviews between father and daughter on this point. Lizzie
is of a repellant disposition, and after an unsuccessful passage with her father
would become sulky and refuse to speak to him for days at a time. She moved in
the best society in Fall River, was a member of the Congregational church, and
is a brilliant conversationalist. She thought she ought to entertain as others
did, and felt that with her father's wealth she was expected to hold her end up
with others of her set. Her father's constant refusal to allow her to entertain
lavishly angered her. I have heard many bitter things she has said of her
father, and know she was deeply resentful of her father's maintained stand in
this matter.
'This house on Ferry street was an old one, and was in constant need of repairs.
There were two tenants paying $16.50 and $14 a month, but with taxes and repairs
there was very little income from the property. It was a great deal of trouble
for the girls to keep the house in repair, and a month or two ago they got
disgusted and deeded the house back to their father.
There are multiple references he makes that are verified via other sources. This reads exactly like something you'd expect from an 'in-law' who knows and understands family dynamics, has been around it for ~30 years, but doesn't super like the patriarch and at least one daughter. Maybe there is an edge to the judgmental comments, but not over the top at all from my point of view. I can't identify a single clear and blatant fabrication.
Frankly, I think this article is the single best means to get an idea of the Andrew & Abby Borden family environment.
A big reason I take this interview at pretty much its face value (outside of the multiple verifiable comments), is that Hiram describes the purpose of Lizzie's visit to the barn to be finding lead for sinkers to go fishing. This is the only mention of this alibi until the inquest. All witness statements regarding the purpose of the barn trip made prior to this article involved "iron" to fix something. The word "lead", "sinker" and "fishing" first surfaced in this interview. He could only have gotten this version of the alibi from Lizzie herself.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fall River Daily Herald — Aug. 6, 1892
CLOSE IN MONEY MATTERS
Hiram Harrington, 40 Fourth street, is married to Laurana, Mr. Borden's only
sister. A reporter who interviewed him gathered the following story: 'My wife,
being an only sister, was very fond of Mr. Borden and always subservient to his
will, and by her intimacy with his affairs I have become acquainted with a good
deal of the family history during years past. Mr. Borden was an exceedingly hard
man concerning money matters, determined and stubborn, and when once he got an
idea nothing could change him. He was too hard for me.
'When his father died some years ago he offered my wife the old homestead on
Ferry street for a certain sum of money. My wife preferred to take the money,
and after the agreements were all signed, to show how close he was, he wanted my
wife to pay an additional $3 for water tax upon the homestead.'
"What do you think was the motive for the crime?" asked the reporter.
'Money, unquestionably money,' replied Mr. Harrington. 'If Mr. Borden died, he
would have left something over $500,000, and all I will say is that, in my
opinion, that furnishes the only motive, and a sufficient one, for the double
murder. I have heard so much now that I would not be surprised at the arrest any
time of the person to whom in my opinion suspicion strongly points, although
right down in my heart I could not say I believed the party guilty.
'Last evening I had a long interview with Lizzie Borden, who has refused to see
anyone else. I questioned her very carefully as to her story of the crime. She
was very composed, showed no signs of any emotion or were there any traces of
grief upon her countenance. That did not surprise me, as she is not naturally
emotional. I asked her what she knew of her father's death, and, after telling
of the unimportant events of the early morning, she said her father came home
about 10:30. She was in the kitchen at the time, she said, but went into the
sitting room when her father arrived. She was very solicitous concerning him,
and assisted him to remove his coat and put on his dressing-gown; asked
concernedly how he felt, as he had been weak from a cholera morbus attack the
day before. She told me she helped him to get a comfortable reclining position
on the lounge, and asked him if he did not wish the blinds closed to keep out
the sun, so he could have a nice nap. She pressed him to allow her to place an
afghan over him, but he said he did not need it. Then she asked him tenderly
several times if he was perfectly comfortable, if there was anything she could
do for him, and upon receiving assurance to the negative she withdrew. All these
things showed a solicitude and a thoughtfulness that I never had heard was a
part of her nature or custom before. She described these little acts of courtesy
minutely.
'I then questioned her very carefully as to the time she left the house, and she
told me positively that it was about 10:45. She said she saw her father on the
lounge as she passed out. On leaving the house she says she went directly to the
barn to obtain some lead. She informed me that it was her intention to go to
Marion on a vacation, and she wanted the lead in the barn loft to make some
sinkers. She was a very enthusiastic angler. I went over the ground several
times, and she repeated the same story. She told me it was hard to place the
exact time she was in the barn, as she was cutting the lead into sizeable
sinkers, but thought she was absent some 20 minutes. Then she thought again, and
said it might have been 30 minutes. Then she entered the house and went to the
sitting room, as she says, she was anxious concerning her father's health. "I
discovered him dead," she said, "and cried for Bridget, who was upstairs in her
room."
'Did you go and look for your stepmother?' I asked. 'Who found her?' But she did
not reply. I pressed her for some idea of the motive and the author of the act,
and after she had thought a moment, she said, calmly: "A year ago last spring
our house was broken into while father and mother were at Swansey, and a large
amount of money stolen, together with diamonds. You never heard of it because
father did not want it mentioned, so as to give the detectives a chance to
recover the property. That may have some connection with the murder. Then I have
seen strange men around the house. A few months ago I was coming through the
back yard, and, as I approached the side door, I saw a man there examining the
door and premises. I did not mention it to anyone. The other day I saw the same
man hanging about the house, evidently watching us. I became frightened and told
my parents about it. I also wrote to my sister at Fairhaven about it." Miss
Borden then gave it as her opinion that the strange man had a direct connection
with the murder, but she could not see why the house was not robbed, and did not
know of anyone who would desire revenge upon her father.'
Mr. Harrington was asked if he knew whether or not there were dissentions in the
Borden family. 'Yes, there were, although it has been always kept very quiet.
For nearly ten years there have been constant disputes between the daughters and
their father and stepmother. Mr. Borden gave her some bank stock and the girls
thought they ought to be treated as evenly as the mother. I guess Mr. Borden did
try to do it, for he deeded to the daughters, Emma L. and Lizzie A., the
homestead on Ferry street, an estate of 120 rods of land with a house and barn,
all valued at $3000. This was in 1887.
'The trouble about money matters did not diminish, nor the acerbity of the
family ruptures lessen, and Mr. Borden gave each girl ten shares in the Crystal
Spring Bleachery company, which he paid $100 a share for. They sold them soon
after for less than $40 per share. He also gave them some bank stock at various
times, allowing them, of course, the entire income from them. In addition to
this he gave them a weekly stipend, amounting to $200 a year.
'In spite of all this the dispute about their not being allowed enough went on
with equal bitterness. Lizzie did most of the demonstrative contention, as Emma
is very quiet and unassuming, and would feel very deeply any disparaging or
angry word from her father. Lizzie, on the contrary, was haughty and domineering
with the stubborn will of her father and bound to contest for her rights. There
were many animated interviews between father and daughter on this point. Lizzie
is of a repellant disposition, and after an unsuccessful passage with her father
would become sulky and refuse to speak to him for days at a time. She moved in
the best society in Fall River, was a member of the Congregational church, and
is a brilliant conversationalist. She thought she ought to entertain as others
did, and felt that with her father's wealth she was expected to hold her end up
with others of her set. Her father's constant refusal to allow her to entertain
lavishly angered her. I have heard many bitter things she has said of her
father, and know she was deeply resentful of her father's maintained stand in
this matter.
'This house on Ferry street was an old one, and was in constant need of repairs.
There were two tenants paying $16.50 and $14 a month, but with taxes and repairs
there was very little income from the property. It was a great deal of trouble
for the girls to keep the house in repair, and a month or two ago they got
disgusted and deeded the house back to their father.