Karens Road

Make a reservation at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast/Museum, the site of the infamous 1892 murders. Wouldn’t it be fun to spend Halloween night at such an infamous house? The house, located in Fall River, MA is being restored. You can read more in the article from the B & B’s website. Rhode Island nursing home owner Donald Wood bought the house — now a bed-and-breakfast and tourist attraction — last year, he said one of his first priorities was to remove two structures added in the 1900s, which housed a print shop. The city landmark known as the Lizzie Borden house is on its way toward looking more like it did on the day in 1892 when Andrew J. Borden and Abbey Durfee Gray Borden were murdered than it has in decades.

The house’s history with the Bordens began in 1872, when Andrew J. Borden, a wealthy Fall River businessman, bought it in order to live closer to the city’s downtown district. His daughter Lizzie became the prime suspect when he and his wife, Lizzie’s stepmother, were murdered.

Lizzie was acquitted in 1892, and she and her sister Emma moved out of the house, to a home on French Street. Lizzie lived there until her death.

The Borden sisters sold the house in 1918, and it has changed hands several times since then.

Before Wood, it was owned by the McGinn family, who bought it in 1940 and used it as a private home and base for Leary Press. In 1996, they converted it to a bed-and-breakfast.

The proprietors of the B & B offer two two bedroom suites, Lizzie & Emma’s Bedrooms, and Abby & Andrew’s Bedrooms (this suite has a private bath); the John Morse Guest Room, Bridget’s Attic Room and two additional spacious attic bedrooms (the Jennings & Knowlton Rooms), each of which offer a double bed in a room with Victorian appointments.

Guests are treated to a breakfast similar to the one the Bordens ate on the morning of the murders, which includes bananas, johnny-cakes, sugar cookies and coffee in the addition to a delicious meal of breakfast staples.

The interior and exterior of the home has been restored to its original Victorian splendor, with careful attention to making it as close to the Borden home of August, 1892 as is possible.

The owners of the home invite all to view their collection of both Fall River and Borden memorabilia at 92 Second Street.

Located just fifty miles south of Boston, minutes from Providence or Newport, R.I. and the gateway to Cape Cod, this landmark home is accessible from all major highways.

To see actual pictures of the house and various rooms, visit the website at www.lizzie-borden.com.

There have been many unanswered questions concerning the murders.

Maybe the maid did it

The maid, Bridget Sullivan, was not treated so well by the Bordens. First of all, they insisted on calling her Maggie because that was the previous maid’s name and they couldn’t be bothered to remember hers. Second, her lodgings were pretty poor, considering how rich the Bordens were (by today’s standards they would be millionaires). Despite his wealth, Andrew Borden was notoriously cheap and even had the hot water shut off when he bought the house he was killed in. Third, the morning of the murders, Bridget was supposed to be washing the windows outside (on the hottest day of the year, mind you) but asked Abby if she could do them later as she was feeling ill. Abby told her absolutely not and sent her out to do her chores anyway. Bridget disappeared after the murders and it was rumored that the Borden sisters helped her move back to Ireland. She later turned up in Montana where she remained until her death. One story says that right before she died in 1948, Bridget summoned a friend to her deathbed and said she wanted to confess something. The friend was too late, though, and Bridget died before she was able to – what? Confess that she was the murderess? Implicate Lizzie?

The Criminal Investigation

The autopsies of Andrew and Abby Borden were conducted on the Borden’s dining room table. Oddly enough, everyone slept in their respective rooms the very same night of the murders; even guest Uncle John Morse, whose bed Abby Borden was making when she was killed. So he slept right next to the huge bloodstain on the floor where Abby’s body laid until it was discovered.

Police interrupted the burial of the Bordens to inform everyone that the doctor wanted another autopsy. Thus, the heads of Abby and Andrew were removed from the bodies. Andrew’s was never returned.

Other oddities:

Psychic or Shrewd?

Either Lizzie had psychic abilities or she was trying to direct attention away from herself in advance, because the day before the murders she told her friend Alice Russell that she had a feeling something bad was going to happen. She said she just couldn’t shake it and she was concerned about her father’s well being. The day after the Bordens’ funeral, Alice was also the one who discovered Lizzie burning one of her dresses in the kitchen stove. When Alice asked what was going on, Lizzie told her that the old dress had paint all over it so she was just disposing of it.

Following up the trial of the century:

“Lizzie Borden: you’ve been acquitted of brutally murdering your father and your stepmother and have successfully been ostracized from the entire town! What will you do next?” Since Disneyworld wasn’t around in 1892, Lizzie followed up the murders a bit differently. She and her sister took the money they received from their father’s will and bought a mansion in the elite part of town. She started calling herself “Lizbeth” after that, perhaps to distance herself from the murders or perhaps to make herself sound more sophisticated since she was now living in such a fashionable district. Lizzie named the mansion “Maplecroft” and even had the name carved into the steps of the house.

In 1904, Lizzie became friends with actress Nance O’Neil. Emma didn’t approve of Lizzie’s lifestyle because she was having raucous parties with actors and actresses. Around this time, Emma moved out of Maplecroft and she and Lizzie never spoke again. Lizzie died on June 1, 1927, from complications of a gall bladder surgery. Emma died nine days later when she fell down the stairs of her house.

I am fascinated by this stuff!

What better way to forget your troubles than to stay at the notorious Lizzie Borden B & B? Theater designer Tim Haskell of New York City, has created an elaborate haunted house experience that is just waiting for you.