Lizzie Borden Society Forum

According to the timelines, JM opened the downstairs windows and “Maggie” closed the windows. Would the windows in the house be opened or closed? What about the upstairs windows? The house is in a busy place, so street noise may have bothered them all, but it was August, so perhaps the windows were opened. Any thoughts?

If we are talking about the week of the murders, yes, by all means windows would be opened.... but depending on the time of day. If we are to believe that the Borden family were very concerned with locking doors, it is probable that windows were closed and locked when gong to bed. That is likely, and considering the busy part of town where the house was located, a sure thing. At least the first floor windows.

I don't remember the situation to do with the opening or closing of windows.(?) But the confusion about opening and closing windows, if it was done on the day of the crime, probably had to do with Bridget's labors as she washed windows she closed them. As it was hot, JVM opened them. You can almost envision the scene:

John Morse walks over, opens the creaky screen door, and shouts out to the maid. "Are you done with the dinning room window's Maggie?" The maid, who had been washing them, tiredly plops down her bucket. It lands on an uneven stony ground. The freshly filled pail topples spilling its contents of soapy water into the parched, dusty soil. "Aye, sir," she shouts. She wipes her brow with her sleeve and lets out a disheartening puff of air, lifting her wispy bangs off a sweaty brow. "Are they not done well?" She utters, with concern. An impatient Morse shakes his head. He flicks a spent, smothering cigarette butt over the porch railing and into the Churchill yard next door. Adelaide Churchill's clandestine surveillance of activities on the Borden property is interrupted. She slams down her window with displeasure. Morse looks over at the shut window and emits a disdainful smirk. "Should I wash them once more?" shouts the maid. He ignores her and instead lights another cigarette. Maggie watches as Morse disappears into the house. She was never sure how to take the old man. He was an odd fellow and her simple mind could make no sense of his dismissive disposition. The windows on the Borden house are swiftly opened, one after another. Maggie stands staring at the house unsure of what John Morse wanted. A steam of dancing smoke is vacuumed out a yawning window and into the open air.

This beg s the question, where were all the inventors and why did not someone invent the tilt down window. Simple mechanism and something easily fabricated with 19th century know-how. Ahhh... but would Andrew dish out the money for replacement windows? (Not serious here, you understand.)

According to the timelines, JM opened the first floor windows at 6:35 am. “Maggie” closed the windows somewhere between 9-9:30 am (JM left at 8:45 am). So, it appears JM liked open windows and perhaps JM opened his window on the second floor.

While the narrative is interesting, it most likely did not occur since JM called “Maggie” the servant.

Oh, yes BeeQueen. I was just toying with a little fiction. What I wrote, if it happened at all, did so only in my own head. Just having some fun.

But it is expected that Bridget shut the windows so she could wash them.

And right you are. JM never called the maid Maggie. At least not on record anywhere. I'm sure that if he had to address her directly he had to call her something. Whether Maggie, or Bridget, or Miss Sullivan, we can only guess. The epithet "Maggie" was likely only used by the girl.

Since Abby Borden called the maid Bridget it is likely what Morse called her the same.

I’m interested in the windows. I read that the temperature on the day of the murders only rose to 78 degrees, not that hot,and perhaps even nice at 6:35 am when JM opened the first floor windows. The windows on the second and third floors could have been opened all night and in the morning. Someone could have accessed the house that way. Or maybe the open window was a “sign” to someone on the outside.

On a side note, JM said he came down after “making toilet” - did
JM just go in his room and expected Maggie, Abby, or Lizzy to clean it?

"Making toilet" doesn't mean what you think it did. In that day, it meant washing up, shaving, combing your hair, generally making yourself presentable.

OMG, FairhavenGuy, welcome back!!! You have been missed.

Thank you for the meaning of "Making toilet". I knew it meant something other than what automatically comes to mind, but I couldn't think of what it was to save me.

BeeQueen: Welcome to the forum. I am finding your thoughts and questions refreshing.

Thanks for the welcome - I have been interested in this case/mystery for a long time. I have read the transcripts and other documents, but I stay away from books and others’ interpretations because I find the authors don’t really know the facts. I remember reading someone’s interpretation about a quiet tree-lined street, etc., and just thought this person has no clue about the actual house or location.

My daughter and I stayed in the Lizzie/Emma rooms a while back. I can attest that there are no ghosts in that house. It’s a total come-on. It’s an old house - I grew up in an old house. Old houses make noise. Shadows come from everywhere (even birds flying by close to the window make huge ghost-like shadows - “shadow people”). Radiators spew vapors, noise, etc. Sorry ghost-hunters! My grandfather’s attic was scarier than the Lizzie house!

Per the case, sometimes people question Lizzie’s actions after discovering her dead father. Lizzie stayed in the house and sent “Maggie” out to get the doctor. If Lizzie loved her father, and there is no evidence to state the opposite, being a good Christian (which by all accounts Lizzie was), perhaps Lizzie stayed with her father to pray for him (not wanting to admit the truth of his death). Just a thought.

Thanks again!