Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I found this in the New Hampshire Death & Burial Records, Index 1654-1949, FHL Film # 202 - 5960.

There was no way to see the original of this document. Someone at Ancestry.com transcribed it, and they are not 100% accurate at all. So all I can do is transcribe this from their transcription.

Name: Emma L. Borden
Gender: Female
Death place: Newmarket, Rockingham (county*), New Hampshire.
Father name: Andrew J. Borden
Mother name: Sarah A. Morse
Event type: Death

* = I added the word "county". "Newmarket" was typed as one word.

I don't know what kind of records these are. Apparently they were done on cards and filed. It is not a legal death certificate/record.

I can show a copy of the original record.

That is so cool. Wonder what lizzie's death notice looks like.

Wow - thanks for posting that, Allen! I'm gonna ask you where you got it, but if you would rather not tell that's okay. There are times when it's best to protect your source. Gee, I tried and tried to see it on Ancestry.com. I've never seen this record before. It says it's continued on the back. Do you know if there's anything on the back of it?

Only the front is available to be seen. I had no luck finding a death record for our Lizzie so far.

Allen wrote:I can show a copy of the original record.

I saw the image you posted but I read that Emma died due to a fall down the back stairs about 2 weeks after Lizzie died. I can't make out the cause of death on the image. Anyone?

I think it's nephritis, something to do with the kidneys isn't it, though I'm not medically trained! A fall downstairs wouldn't have helped either at Emma's age. Peculiarly, I think Lizzie died of kidney disease too, didn't she? I wonder whether the sisters perhaps inherited poorly functioning kidneys from Sarah, their mother?

Curryong wrote:I think it's nephritis, something to do with the kidneys isn't it, though I'm not medically trained! A fall downstairs wouldn't have helped either at Emma's age. Peculiarly, I think Lizzie died of kidney disease too, didn't she? I wonder whether the sisters perhaps inherited poorly functioning kidneys from Sarah, their mother?

I didn't think of it like that- I always suspected Sarah had cancer but figured they would call it something else back then. Thanks!

Curryong wrote:I think it's nephritis, something to do with the kidneys isn't it, though I'm not medically trained! …

You are correct; Emma died from chronic nephritis, which refers to the inflammations that occur in the kidneys. It is a complex kidney disease.

Curryong wrote:… I think Lizzie died of kidney disease too, didn't she? …

No, Lizbeth’s health declined after a gall bladder operation, and she died from pneumonia.

Curryong wrote:… I wonder whether the sisters perhaps inherited poorly functioning kidneys from Sarah, their mother?

Sarah died of uterine congestion and disease of the spine, which pertains to the uterus or womb. As far as I know, Sarah nor Lizzie had poor functioning kidneys.

These three women died from very different causes.

MysteryReader wrote:... I always suspected Sarah had cancer but figured they would call it something else back then. Thanks!

I do not have the medical background to know if Sarah’s cause of death was related to cancer or not. PossumPie, being an RN, could give us a much better understanding of what 'uterine congestion' and 'disease of the spine' mean, as well as if they are related to cancer.

I did find an interesting thread on Sarah Borden’s cause of death:

viewtopic.php?t=450

Thank you for that twinsrwe. Interesting, indeed! It all, tuberculosis, cancer of the spine, uterine varicose veins, sounds painful and awful, doesn't it? And there was virtually nothing that could be done to alleviate anything!

You're welcome, Curryong. It sounds like Sarah's illnesses were very painful, and I'm sure there was not a lot that could have been done to help alleviate her suffering!!!