Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I have always been a bit curious about the rather good-looking William Moody who tried so hard to put Lizzie Borden behind bars. I had all ready read about some of his accomplishments after the trial. He went into politics and eventually was appointed Secretary of the Navy by Theodore Roosevelt. But what I wanted to know was what was his personality like. I finally found a rather interesting description of William Henry Moody in a book called Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris. It is a book about President Theodore Roosevelt. Moody and Roosevelt went to Harvard together. On pg. 270, Morris writes this about Moody:


The two men (Roosevelt and Moody) looked like brothers: stocky, hard-chested, ruddy, with big strong heads and ragged mustaches. They shared Harvard manners, blunt speech, and a constant heartiness. But whereas Roosevelt's warmth was genuine, there was a core of coldness in Moody, a Puritanism none could thaw. He was the only bachelor member of the Cabinet, walking home alone every night with a slight, rheumatic limp



Later in the book, on page 517 a description of an older Moody is given. He is said to be :

clean-shaven now, with a strange aloofness settled upon him


In a way he sort of sounds like Lizzie. As I recall people described her as somewhat aloof. Must have been a New England thing.

It's an interesting comparison for sure. I've sometimes wondered though if his cold, aloof manner might have been caused at least in part by a rheumatic condition - actually the very one Morris mentions. It apparently worsened as he aged. He retired from the Supreme Court at age 55 after only four years.

Does anyone happen to know Moody's address in Haverhill, MA.? I can't seem to find it anywhere. Is the house still standing? Thank You for any help or suggestions.

Actually I can help you with that – at least partially. Per the Haverhill directory for 1892, Mr. Justice Moody’s law office – where he apparently practiced in partnership with Mr. Horace E. Bartlett – was located in the Masonic Building, Rooms 2, 3, & 4, at 115 Merrimack . Moody’s residence (and again this is 1892 we’re speaking of) was located at No. 24 Cedar. (pg. 287)

*Note: The primary source for the information above is ancestry.com. However, they do not provide the name/publisher of the 1892 directory for Haverhill. (The first numbered page in the 1892 image set is pg. 3.)

An 1894 Haverhill directory is also available at ancestry.com though, and if you hunt through it, identical information to that cited above may be found on pg. 310. (The 1894 directory is The Haverhill, Bradford & Groveland Directory, published by W. A Greenough & Co., No. 97 Oliver Street Boston.)

Additionally, the page numbers are exactly that, and do not necessarily correspond to the image numbers.

That's all I have to say about that. Hope it helps!

Thanks for the information Doug. We found Moody St., Moody Elementary School, Moody's grave but couldn't find his residence. This is great, Thanks again!

Glad to help, xyjw! Interestingly, I just hunted at 411.com, and it appears that at least one of the two addresses still exists - 24 Cedar Street. Howver, it appears likely that the addresses might have been renumbered or rearranged over the past 115 years. A current address check for 115 Merrimack, for instance, comes up empty. However (and this is one of those odd things we trip over occasionally and say "Oh wow!") 111 Merrimack Street in Haverhill is currently the home of two Masonic lodges, both of which - according to records maintained by the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts - existed during the time Mr. Justice Moody kept his law office on Merrimack Street. (I just double-checked the 1894 directory to make absolutely sure of the Masonic Lodge Building address, it's definitely 115 Merrimack Street.)

So as I say, if I had to guess, a slight case of renumbering comes to mind there.

Well, I'll be dipped! If you hunt at Google Maps - fiddle a bit with the 115 Merrimack Street address, wander up and down the street (not quite aimlessly but close) you'll discover that the Masonic Lodge Building is situated next door to the Haverhill Beef Co. Unfortunately no "street view"is available for Cedar Street in Haverhill.

Okay, I'll shut up.

All streets were renumbered in Massachusetts in 1896. There may have been subsequent renumberings in individual cities after that date.

If you Google Cedar Street Haverill Mass using the Images option, a few house pop up on Cedar- 127-129, aluminum sided modest late 19th century.

Oh, okay, thanks Harry. I hadn't realized it applied to the whole of Massachusetts in 1896. The numbers in Haverhill apparently hadn't changed up to 1897, so they must have caught a later streetcar.

Justice Moody's residence is different but he apparently moved from No. 24 Cedar to No. 32 Summer Street. The law office was still headquartered in the Masonic Building at 115 Merrimack - up thru at least 1899.

Aha! In the 1901 directory, the address of Justice Moody's law office is given as Rooms 2, 3, & 4, Masonic Building, 113 Merrimack Street. (The 1900 directory still lists it as 115 Merrimack Street.)

The 113 Merrimack Street listing continues up thru at least 1903 - so if I had to make a guess, they've either redone the numbers one more time since then, or nudged the Masonic Lodge building over about 10 feet.

Here's a postcard of Merrimack St. circa 1904. I downloaded it from ebay quite a while ago. The date comes from that sale.

Wow! Too cool Harry! Thanks!