There are few criminal trials more famous in Massachusetts than the infamous murder trial of Lizzie Borden, born on this day (July 19) in 1860. Regardless of whether you believe Borden did or did not kill her father and stepmother in 1892, the State Library’s collections include many interesting resources from the late 1800’s to newer volumes regarding the many theories surrounding the case.
Lizzie Borden was born and lived in Fall River, Massachusetts in the later half of the 19th century. She had an older sister named Emma and grew up in an affluent religious Congregational household. Their mother died when the sisters were young, and three years afterward their father Andrew Jackson Borden married their stepmother, Abby Durfee Gray. It appears that Lizzie and Emma did not like Abby, so much so that Lizzie rarely dined with her parents and later the sisters traveled to New Bedford following a family row. Tension within the family continued to rise as the sisters believed their stepmother was primarily interested in their father’s wealth, especially after he appeared to gift property to members of Abby’s family.
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| Postcard featuring Lizzie Borden and her residence where the murders occurred. Courtesy of the Fall River Public Library. |
On the morning of August 4, 1892, according to the testimony provided by the Bordens’ housemaid Bridget Sullivan, Abby went upstairs to clean the guest room between 9 and 10:30 in the morning, where Lizzie allegedly killed her with a hatchet. Her father arrived at the house as Sullivan supposedly heard Lizzie laughing upstairs, but Lizzie dismissed the maid and then allegedly also killed her father around 11am.
The investigation that took place afterward was full of contradictions. Lizzie’s alibi changed multiple times, her answers often appeared strange or contradicted each other, and her behavior throughout the investigation and inquest was erratic. The police admitted that they did not thoroughly check her or her house for evidence, nor did they remove any of the hatchets found in the home during the investigation. Her trial took place in New Bedford in June 1893, and Lizzie’s legal team included former Massachusetts governor George D. Robinson. The trial lasted 15 days, and afterward the jury acquitted her after just an hour and a half of deliberation. No one else was ever charged for the murders, and despite being ostracized Lizzie remained in Fall River until her death in 1927.
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| Illustration of Lizzie Borden and her counsel, former governor George D. Robinson at the trial, by Benjamin West Clinedinst (1893). Courtesy of WikiCommons. |
At the time, the Lizzie Borden trial was a national sensation, receiving extensive coverage and even a three-page article in the Boston Globe before the trial even began. If you are interested in the grisly testimony and twists and turns regarding this case, check out the historical resources listed below:
- The Fall River tragedy: a history of the Borden murders (1893) by Edwin H. Porter
- The Borden trial: closing arguments of ex-Governor Robinson and District Attorney Knowlton (1893?)
- The conduct of the law in the Borden case with suggestions of changes in criminal law and practice (1894) by Charles Gideon Davis
- Trial of Lizzie Borden: edited, with a history of the case (1937) by Edmund Pearson
- Proceedings, Lizzie Borden Conference: Bristol Community College, Fall River, Massachusetts, August 3-5, 1992
- The Lizzie Borden sourcebook (1994) by David Kent
- The Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Lizzie A. Borden: the Knowlton papers, 1892-1893; a collection of previously unpublished letters and documents from the files of prosecuting attorney Hosea Morrill Knowlton (1994)
- The Lizzie Borden quarterly (1993-2003)
For more publications regarding the Lizzie Borden murder case in the State Library’s collections, please search our catalog.
