Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I know that Lizzie and Emma were upset with their father for giving Abby's step-sisiter and husband the interest from some property, but it seems to me that there was some real hatred going on between the girls and Abby.

What's behind that? Did they just not like each other from the get go, or was it all Emma being jealous of Abby moving in what she thought was her turf?

It seems that many step mothers are hated by the step children probably because the kids see the step mother as a very poor substitute for their birth mother so there is that instant dislike. In Emma's situation she probably looked at Abby as intruding on her turf, as you said Snokks. Emma may have felt she was old enough to run the house and didn't need an "outsider" telling her what to do. Hired help like a Maggie or a Bridget may have been seen as OK but Abby was probably viewed as a "threat" or a "boss." Abby could have been viewed as someone coming between the girls and Andrew or taking Andrew's attention away from the girls. Emma and Lizzie could have been thinking something like, "She came in to take over and now she gets the money too!"

I'm no expert so these are just my rambling thoughts.

-1bigsteve (o:

I suppose it's really anybody's guess. Emma was old enough to remember her mother and maybe resented the substitute. She may have thought she was being disloyal if she accepted Abby. Lizzie was likely too young to know the difference. If Emma resented Lizzie accepting Abby as mother, she might have done what she could to prevent it. I guess it's possible that Emma might have tolerated Abby in the role of temporary or surrogate to some degree, as long as she didn't consider herself a Borden. It may be that Andrew giving Abby something of substantial value changed all that. Abby also had a niece with the middle name Borden, so her family seemed to think she was a Borden family member. That may have turned the lights on for Lizzie and Emma.

Like Steve, I'm no expert! More art than science for this question!

It was Abbie's 1/2 sister, Sarah Bertha Gray Whitehead, who got a portion of the house, not a "step-sister" (altho she did have a step-sister-Lucy- and Rebello had found her but does not know what happened to her...)pg. 23.
It was a trick question, you guys!

(We've been lately playing the card game "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" and that's how they get ya!)

I think I can buy that many children don't like the step mon because they feel it's a poor subsitute, but Lizzzie wasn't old enough to remember her mother. So, the only thing I can figure with that statement on her is that Emma, who was old enough to remember her mother, was filling Lizzies' with ideas.

That, too, I ithink that they were upset at their father giving Abby's relatives money and property that they thought was theirs.

You are right Kat, it was Abby's half sister, not step sister who got the goodies. My mind must have been out to lunch on that one when I wrote the post. LOL!

Dominic Dunne hosted a show last night on channel 66 Tru TV about a wealthy Arizona woman who had been murdered by a killer, believed hired by her step-son, for her money. The killer was sentenced to death but the step-son has not (yet) been charged. No proof (yet). Sounds a lot like the Borden case doesn't it?

It doesn't have to be hate that drives a step-child to kill a parent, just a love of money. Maybe Lizzie didn't really hate Abby. Maybe Lizzie just loved the money. With many step-children, and others, money rules!

-1bigsteve (o:

I think the only reason why Lizzie hated abby so much was because of Emma. Lizzie never knew her mother.

I still think that Emma had something to do with it. She was just smart enough to get out of dodge so no one would suspect her.