Lizzie Borden Essay, Research Paper

Lizzie Andrew Borden

( July 19, 1860-June 1, 1927 )

It is best described by the shutting statements for Lizzie Borden & # 8217 ; s defence, made by her lawyer, George D. Robinson:

The Lizzie Borden instance has mystified and fascinated those interested in offense forover on hundred old ages. Very few instances in American history have attracted as much attending as the tomahawk slayings of Andrew J. Borden and his married woman, Abby Borden. The bloodiness of the Acts of the Apostless in an otherwise respectable late 19th century domestic scene is galvanizing. Along with the ghastly nature of the offenses is the unexpected character of the accused, non a hatchet-wielding lunatic, but a church-going, Sunday-school-teaching, respectable, spinster-

girl, charged with parricide, the slaying of parents, a offense worthy of Classical Greek calamity. This is a slaying instance in which the accused is found non guilty for the violent and bloody slayings of two people. There were the unusual fortunes sing that it was an epoch of fleet justness, of huge newspaper coverage, grounds that was about wholly circumstantial, passionately divided public sentiment as to the guilt or artlessness of the accused, unqualified prosecution, and acquittal.

Not much is described of Lizzie Andrew Borden & # 8217 ; s childhood. On March 1, 1851, Emma Lenora Borden was born to Andrew and Sarah Borden, and on July 19, 1860, Lizzie had arrived. While Lizzie was at the immature age of two, Sarah died of uterine congestion. In 1865, Andrew Borden wed Abby Durfee-a short, diffident, corpulent adult female who had been a old maid until the age of 36. Abby & # 8217 ; s household were non every bit good off as the Bordens.

Lizzie suffered from psychomotor epilepsy, a unusual ictus of the temporal lobe that has one distinguishable symptom: a & # 8220 ; black-out & # 8221 ; in which the patients carry out their actions in a dream province, aware of every action without cognizing what they are making. Lizzie Borden seemed to hold two wholly different personalities: the good girl ( a member of the Congressional Church, and a brilliant ( conversationist ) , and the bad girl ( profoundly resentful of the patriarchate ) . These two personalities could be explained by the households & # 8217 ; contradiction about their societal positions. She besides had a wont of stealing from the local merchandisers.

The Borden household of Fall River, Massachusetts, was good known-not merely because of Andrew Borden & # 8217 ; s wealth, but besides because of the New England name. Lizzie was the ninth-generation on her male parent & # 8217 ; s side to populate in Fall River. Andrew held many places throughout his life, which included president of Union Savings Bank, manager of First National Bank, manager of Durfee Safe Deposit & A ; Trust Company, manager of Globe Yarn Mill Company, manager of Troy Cotton & A ; Woolen Manufacturing Company, and manager of Merchants Manufacturing Company. They led a modest life in the south portion of town near mills and City Hall. Despite this crowded vicinity and intimacy to the constabulary section, none of the neighbours saw anything helpful on the forenoon of the slayings.

What makes the Fall River slayings so confounding is that the motivation, the arm, and the chance for such a offense are all absent. They found no money or jewellery missing, non even little sums of alteration were taken in the daytime housebreaking at the Borden place a twelvemonth earlier. The place had been locked up as usual, the amah Bridget Sullivan-an Irish immigrant, 26, that had been working at the family since 1889-was lavation Windowss, and girl Lizzie was inside the house reading a magazine. Even if both were involved for some ground in this shocking offense, what became of the blood so conspicuously losing from the bludgeoned cadavers?

Furthermore, the prosecution ne’er proved the arm was an axe. When Officer Mullaly asked if there were tomahawks in the house, Lizzie replied with, & # 8220 ; Yes, they are everywhere. & # 8221 ; Bridget and Mullaly went down to the cellar and found four tomahawks: one rusty claw-headed tomahawk, two that were dust-covered, and one that had dried blood and hair on it ( subsequently determined as cow & # 8217 ; s blood and hair. One of these was without a grip and covered in ashes. The interruption on the grip appeared to be recent so it was submitted as grounds. Yet microscopic scrutiny of this blade revealed no hints of blood. Mrs. Borden was struck with a & # 8220 ; heavy, sharp-edged candle holder, & # 8221 ; yet no axe, tomahawk, or even candlestick could be found to continue these theories in tribunal. The contrarieties of the instance caused more than 1,900 divorces ( harmonizing to a New York Times canvass at the clip ) in which hubbies and married womans, argued over the artlessness or guilt, decided that they were reciprocally incompatible.

By nine 30 August 4, 1892, Abby Borden & # 8217 ; s caput was about lacerate off her shoulders by a blunt instrument as she lay face down in the upstairs guestroom. Forensic experts at the clip justice that she had seen her aggressor when struck. When examined by Dr. Bowen-a friend, doctor, and neighbor-he found her caput crushed by 19 axe or hatchet lesions in the dorsum of the scalp. Because of the deficiency of blood, it has been determined that Abby died from the first blow, and with decease her bosom had stopped pumping blood. The 200-pound victim ballad sprawled out on the articulatio genuss face down to be discovered two hours subsequently. For 30 old ages Abby and Lizzie lived together under one roof, yet on the twenty-four hours of the slaying Lizzie gave no indicant that they of all time got along. Deputy Marshal John Fleet testified that on the twenty-four hours Abby died he asked Lizzie & # 8220 ; if she had any thought who could hold killed her male parent and mother. & # 8221 ; Lizzie responded with, & # 8220 ; She & # 8217 ; s non my female parent, Sir. She is my stepmother. My female parent died when I was a child. & # 8221 ;

& # 8221 ; I did non see her as my female parent, though she came at that place when I was immature. I decline to state whether my dealingss between her and myself we those of female parent and girl or non. I called her Mrs. Borden and sometimes Mother. & # 8221 ;

Edmund

Pearson’s celebrated description of the scene where Andrew Borden-70, a tall grey inexorable adult male, known for his concern abilities and wealth in Fall River-was found dead:

& # 8220 ; This was a little room, about square, with but two Windowss, both on the south side. The floor was covered with the usual garish, flowered rug, customary in such houses at that clip, and the wallpaper was of a similarly disturbing form. The furniture was mahogany or black walnut, upholstered with the invariable black horsehair. On the north side of the room, opposite the Windowss, was a

big couch, and on this lay the dead organic structure of Mr. Borden with his caput and face so hacked as to be unrecognisable even to his friend and doctor, Dr. Bowen. Borden & # 8217 ; s caput was somewhat dead set to the right, but his face was about unrecognisable as human. & # 8221 ;

One oculus had been cut in half and out of its socket, his olfactory organ had been severed, and there were 11 distinguishable cuts within a reasonably little country widening from the oculus and nose to the ears, four of them oppressing the skull. The lesions were so terrible that the first eleven must hold killed him.

When the constabulary eventually arrived after the slayings, Lizzie acted more like a concerned citizen instead than a girl in daze. Many suspects had been eliminated, but it was inevitable that Lizzie would go the premier one, particularly that after they learned she had tried to buy 10 cents worth of prussic acid toxicant the hebdomad before from Eli Bence, a clerk at Smith & # 8217 ; s Drug Store. Adelaide Churchill, the neighbour who stayed with Lizzie until the physician arrived, testified in tribunal that she did non see any blood on Lizzie & # 8217 ; s frock when she left at midday. Harmonizing to Mrs. Churchill, & # 8220 ; I stood in forepart of her, rubbing both her custodies and fanning her, and I did non see any blood on her face, nor any disorganizations of her hair. Such a immaculate visual aspect seems impossible if Lizzie had committed the offense, for she had at best 20 proceedingss after her male parent fell asleep to strike him eleven times about the caput, conceal the slaying arm, and clean all grounds off her apparels and organic structure.

At 3:00 p.m. the organic structures of Andrew and Abby were carried into the dining room, where Dr. Dolan performed the necropsies. Emma Lenora Borden returned merely earlier seven from sing friends in Fairhaven after hearing of the happening by telegraph. The constabulary continued to look into for hebdomads to come, but nil of significance was found. The forenoon after the funeral, Miss Russell-a neighbor-witnessed Lizzie firing a frock in the kitchen range, she claimed that it was stained with pigment and was of no usage.

It was because of this testimony that Judge Blaisdell of the Second District Court charged Lizzie with three counts of slaying ( curiously, for the slaying of her male parent, the slaying of her stepmother, and the slaying of the both of them ) and if found guilty, faced decease by hanging. The test was set for June 5, 1893.

This was the Victorian epoch, when adult females were & # 8220 ; surely non capable of killing anyone. & # 8221 ; You must retrieve that Lizzie was of a affluent household of high position. After merely an hr, the 12 jury members declared Lizzie to be non guilty. It is said that it merely took 15 proceedingss to make up one’s mind, but out of regard for the prosecution, they waited another 45 to inform the tribunal of their pick. Lizzie was lawfully free, but in the public & # 8217 ; s sentiment, she was still guilty.

After the acquittal, Lizzie lawfully changed her name to Lizabeth, moved out of the house on 92 Second Street. Emma and Lizzie inherited $ 200,000.00 each from their male parent & # 8217 ; s decease ; their first purchase was a lovely place on The Hill at 7 Gallic Street, the most stylish topographic point in Fall River, in which Lizzie named Maplecroft.

Lizzie enjoyed the theater, and met a stage/silent movie actress by the name of Nance O & # 8217 ; Neil. It was a party thrown for Nance and her moving members that caused Emma to travel from Maplecroft in 1905, she merely could non stay by Lizzie & # 8217 ; s new raucous friends. After Emma moved to Newmarket in New Hampshire, Lizzie and her had small or no communicating and the two sisters ne’er saw each other once more.

Lizzie died on June 1, 1927, at the age of 67. Emma did non go to the funeral, because on the twenty-four hours of Lizzie & # 8217 ; s decease, she had fallen and suffered a broken hip. Emma died on June 21, 1927 at the age of 76. Both were buried in the Borden household secret plan in Oak Grove Cemetery. Andrew Jackson Borden lies between Sarah and Abby, while Lizzie and Emma are at his pess.

Lizzie Andrew Borden is everlastingly linked with one of history & # 8217 ; s greatest unresolved enigmas. And now thanks to Martha McGinn ( president of TILBA, The International Lizzie Borden Association ) for $ 150 per dark, members of the populace will be able to really kip in the house where the slayings took topographic point. The Lizzie Borden House Bed and Breakfast Museum was to open on, suitably, August 4. The breakfast includes nutrient eaten the forenoon of the slayings, such as bananas, johnny cakes, sugar cookies, and java with the direction dressed as and playing the portion of the Bordens.

& # 8220 ; Borden Murder Trial Begun. & # 8221 ; New York Times June 6, 1893.

Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton: Princeton Publishing, 1992.

Kent, David, erectile dysfunction. Lizzie Borden Sourcebook. Boston: Branden Publishing Co. , 1992.

The Legend of Lizzie Borden. Video. Director William Bast. George Lemaire Productions in association with Paramount, 1975. Staring Elizabeth Montgomery.

& # 8220 ; Lizzie Borden is Acquitted. & # 8221 ; New York Times. June 21, 1893.

Porter, Edwin H. The Fall River Tragedy: A History of the Borden Murders. Portmand, Maine: King Phillip Publishing, 1985.

hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sirus.com/~rlf/lizzie/chronology.html & # 8220 ; Lizzie Borden Basic Chronology. & # 8221 ;

hypertext transfer protocol: //www.bram.addr.com/newpage41.htm & # 8220 ; Try to Catch Forty Whacks? Er, Winks? At This B & A ; B. & # 8221 ; by Bram Eisenthal