Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I had the good fortune to attend Stefani's lecture last night in Fall River. It was a beautiful presentation and Stef's energetic persona had a full house of Bordon-ites completely taken in. (I occasionally looked around to watch the locals' faces) I am so glad I made it, it was wonderful to meet Stef, Kat and the other lucky forum members who attended. A late night visit to the gravesites with Stef, Kat and Harry will be etched in my memory...I had a fantastic time, thank you so much!
Kudos to Professor Koorey!

Kash

Kash, I enjoyed meeting you last night and second what you say above! Stefani presented a creative and interesting program regarding various documentaries produced since the 1990s about the Borden case; there was a full house at the community hall of the First Congregational Church for this presentation. Marilou and I spent the day in Fall River and it was great to see and visit again with Forum members in attendance. Tours of the Fall River Historical Society and 92 Second St. are extra special when experts like Stefani, Kat, Harry, Sherry and family, and Eugene are there, too. Ben did a fine job as our tour guide at 92 Second St. and we heard about some of Lee-ann's plans for the B & B and saw the progress being made since the press building was removed.

Mark, again I've enjoyed your Fall River photograhy and meeting your family last evening. And, welcome Cynthia to the Forum!

thanks Doug, it was great meeting you and Marilou too! I think it would be great if we could all meet at in Fall River some time. (and arrange another raffle!)

Best,
Kath

Our first 'first hand' reports ! YEA !! Thank you !! I knew Stef would do a primo job. I am so glad there was a great time had by all !


Tracy...

She was fantastic-funny, energetic, insightful. It was a great presentation! When I get my pictures developed I wil (try to) post them.

Thanks Kash & Doug! Ooooh...now I really can't wait to hear all the great stories!

I also want to comment on how great Stefani's talk was. It was very informative and entertaining. Her presentation was superb.

I'm sorry I didn't have time to post yesterday, but I did my 5th tour of 92 Second Street (my first time in the cellar) , then drove by the farm house on Gardner's Neck in Swansea (which looks shabbier than the last time I was there). I also drove by the location of the Isaac Davis homestead in Dartmouth (where Uncle John Morse was staying).

It was really great to meet Stef, Kat, Kasheshan and Doug so recently after joining the forum. I also got Leonard Rebello to autograph my copy of his book.

This was truly a memorable 113th anniversary!

Hi Cat Lover!
It was nice to meet you too.
Kash

i've got much to think through and write about. i started right away wednesday night, in fact. i want to preserve this.

i'll post a pic now if i don't have to back up and shrink it. this should be kat and me on the murder sofa.

lizzie and emma on murder sofa.

those i met know, but that would be: stef, kat, harry, doug, sherry, kash, mark, and a few others. the FRHS tour guide lady and m martins and B&B LA and ben.

(special thanks to mark A for guiding me out of FR after the lecture.)

Great photos Eugene ! THANK YOU for sharing !!!!


Tracy...

Love it! We have lots of treats to look fwd to as everyone reports in...

Nice pictures Eugene-it was great to meet you!
Kath

thanks for the pix Eugene, makes one want for
more!

From that old Frank Sinatra song: "It's nice to go traveling... but it's oh so much nicer to come home."

But what a great time I had. Off the top of my head, also attending Stef's talk: Kat, Sherry Chapman & family, Eugene, Mark A. & wife, Doug & Marylou , Bob G., Bill Pavao, Kashean (how nice to see her), Michael Martins, Dennis Binette, Len Rebello, Lee-Ann (in costume) and Shelly from the B&B and I'm sure others who I didn't get a chance to meet. It was so well attended that extra chairs had to be brought in! Bravo Stef, bravo!

It was the first time I had met Kashean, Bob G. and Bill Pavao. It was great fun to finally meet the people you've discussed the Borden case with through this and previous forums.

Lee-Ann has done a marvelous job with the B&B and Ben did an excellent job at giving us a tour. We also got a chance (my first) to tour the beautiful Fall River Historical Society. It's simply gorgeous and not to be missed. There's more than Lizzie Borden in Fall River.

We could not have been treated more kindly and I can't thank enough (not in any particular order) Lee Ann, Len, Michael and Dennis for their warm hospitality.

I'm sure we will be posting lots of photos and impressions.

One of our side trips was to New Bedford to see the Ash Street jail where Lizzie was held during the trial. I was only able to get this small shot because immediately after it was taken, a policeman came out of that door and shook his finger at us - NO PHOTOS. It was for security reasons I guess. Maybe they thought we were making plans to spring an inmate.
LOL.

(kash, likewise. i hope you'll write some more stories.)

most of the downstairs rooms have these doorknobs, which i gather are original. this is to the closet in the dining room, which meets up with the doorway into the sitting room.

stairway up and down.

The door knobs (or, at least the one pictured) are most likely not original. The hardware behind it is in the Art Deco style, and therefore made in the 1930s.
Most of the homes around here built in the mid-19th century have brown ceramic door knobs, made by Bennington pottery.

i stand corrected. the b&b position is that most of the "doors" are original -- not necessarily the door knobs.

That's funny, Stuart. I have almost identical doorknobs/hardware in my place, which was built around 1878. I also thought they looked very deco (mine are a bit more angular than those @ 92). However, my house was separated into apts during the Depression, which probably accounts for that hardware.

I was always told the doorknobs were original, by Bill and by the House tour guide later.
I did ask, both times. But I don't know much about doorknobs.

I didn't make the presentation - Harry including me may be a bit of "you weren't there? I could've sworn you were!" I'm loving the pictures on the sitting room couch - Eugene, you're cute!

Bob Gutowski @ Mon Aug 08, 2005 5:03 pm wrote:I didn't make the presentation - Harry including me may be a bit of "you weren't there? I could've sworn you were!" I'm loving the pictures on the sitting room couch - Eugene, you're cute!

Bob, I didn't mean meeting you at the lecture but I can see how my message would lead one to believe that.

It was great however meeting you after all these years. Yes, the talks on Len's deck and at the restaurant were a lot of fun. Quite a lot of total years of Borden knowledge at those talks. Did we solve the case? Nah.

I wish I'd been there! Maybe next time, when Stef speaks about "Purported Religious Visions Which Have Featured Lizzie."

Lunch was great, and I loved looking over at you, Harry, to figure out what you were thinking, if I could.

These guys!
Bill P and Stef and Bob on one side of the booth (at the old Mill), with Len, me and Harry on the other.
Pretty soon Bill & Stef & Bob go into this Rap version of The Legend of Lizzie Borden movie!
The older folk (us) are watching, amazed!
It was hilarious!

some more pictures i have not posted from the August trip.

kat going down attic stairs.

dining room.

maplecroft.

screen door

i'm sitting in a chair. that's harry, kat and lee-ann. that's stefani in front of harry.

Thanks, Eugene!

Here is one that Harry took of us on the B&B sofa!

Harry @ Sat Aug 06, 2005 7:54 pm wrote:From that old Frank Sinatra song: "It's nice to go traveling... but it's oh so much nicer to come home."

But what a great time I had. Off the top of my head, also attending Stef's talk: Kat, Sherry Chapman & family, Eugene, Mark A. & wife, Doug & Marylou , Bob G., Bill Pavao, Kashean (how nice to see her), Michael Martins, Dennis Binette, Len Rebello, Lee-Ann (in costume) and Shelly from the B&B and I'm sure others who I didn't get a chance to meet. It was so well attended that extra chairs had to be brought in! Bravo Stef, bravo!

It was the first time I had met Kashean, Bob G. and Bill Pavao. It was great fun to finally meet the people you've discussed the Borden case with through this and previous forums.

Lee-Ann has done a marvelous job with the B&B and Ben did an excellent job at giving us a tour. We also got a chance (my first) to tour the beautiful Fall River Historical Society. It's simply gorgeous and not to be missed. There's more than Lizzie Borden in Fall River.

We could not have been treated more kindly and I can't thank enough (not in any particular order) Lee Ann, Len, Michael and Dennis for their warm hospitality.

I'm sure we will be posting lots of photos and impressions.

One of our side trips was to New Bedford to see the Ash Street jail where Lizzie was held during the trial. I was only able to get this small shot because immediately after it was taken, a policeman came out of that door and shook his finger at us - NO PHOTOS. It was for security reasons I guess. Maybe they thought we were making plans to spring an inmate.
LOL.

Oh Harry that photo is soo cool!! Thank you for posting it,espically what you had to do to get it! Thank you!!!

the first step is short.

front door

guest room doorway

toward churchill from guest room.

Thanks Eugene! The picture of the guest room is cool.
Can't tell if there are casters on that bed, though.
Seeing the photographer in the mirror is interesting!

these pictures were taken about the same time of day as the crime scene photos -- wouldn't you say?

That's eerie. It's possible Abby saw a reflection just like that, showing who was coming into the room.

Great shots Harry and Haulover-you look very handsome on the sofa with Kat, Haul ;0)

kash

That's a good point Angel.
If Abby was kneeling between the bed and bureau, tho, she would not have seen anything in the doorway [reflected in the mirror] from that position. I tried it, because I had the same thought!

Eugene, The Walsh pics were taken about 3 pm- 3:30 pm, something like that. Were we there then?

Brackets show my edit.

I like the newly added piece of furniture in the guest room, but I can't tell from the picture what happened to the sewing machine that used to be there? There was a sewing machine in that room when the Borden's lived there so I thought that made it more authentic. Did they removed from the room? I haven't seen the inside of the house in a few years so it might not be so newly added, but this is the first time I've had a chance to notice.

I had noticed a sewing machine in the attic.
One used to be in the guest room yes you are correct (in Borden days and more current days).

i never looked at a clock, but i believe it was between 3 & 4. i'm sure stefani would know exactly because she was time-sensitive at the time.

i thought about it when i noticed a ray of light coming through the west window in the guest room.

This is the sewing machine to which I referred in my post. It is a little cut off in the picture but you can see it for the most part.

That is a personal picture you took, is it?
It almost looks black and white.

Yes that's a picture from my personal collection. The pictures turn out like crap when I scan them into my computer. I've been too cheap to by a new scanner because I hardly ever use it.