Armchair Field Trip: The Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast

"Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one."

With a great little ditty like that, how could I not stop by the Lizzie Borden house when I visited Boston/Providence last weekend? Thanks to your fabulous suggestions, it made the list of things to do on our little extended weekend vacation.

I felt kind of bad about dragging my friends to a maybe-haunted house where a possible psychopath might have killed her parents, especially since we only had a couple of days in the area (and the Boston-Providence area is obviously not lacking in things to do). But it turns out that I wasn't the only one itching to see it "“ our lovely hosts Sam and Kylie had been meaning to get there ever since they moved to the area. By the way, if I mentioned her in the story, Kylie wanted to me to note that she is a great dancer. Just so you know.

Anyway, now I had justification, so we took off on Sunday morning (is that sacrilegious?) and made it to Fall River around noon. For those of you unfamiliar with the infamy of Fall River and Lizzie Borden, here's the abbreviated story:

On a 100+ degree August afternoon, Andrew Borden and his wife Abby were brutally hacked to death with an axe in their own home. And when I say brutal, I mean brutal: they each received about a dozen blows each; Andrew's wounds were so severe that his skull caved in on one side and his nose was severed.

Lizzie, Andrew's youngest daughter (Abby was her step-mom), was accused but ultimately acquitted. It's still debated as to whether Lizzie committed these heinous crimes or was simply the victim of unfortunate coincidences, but I'll tell you what I learned on the tour and let you decide for yourself.

Maybe the maid did it

Criminal investigation processes have really changed

The autopsies of Andrew and Abby Borden were conducted on the Borden's dining room table. Ugh. And 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. Talk about disrupting evidence!

Also, when Lizzie was charged, she was charged with not one, not two, but three counts of murder: one for her dad, one for her step-mom, and one for the couple together.

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. Hmm. 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"¦ and there was speculation that Lizzie and Nance were having an affair. 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.

The Aftermath

Sooo, following the tour of the house, we simply had to go to the gravesite. It was pretty easy to find as Fall River is rather small. Plus, they must get a lot of visitors because there are arrows painted on the road of the cemetery leading to the Borden plots.

There was an Ouija board set up in front of Lizbeth's grave, which was really just prime for a photo op. In hindsight, I think this was probably disrespectful, because after my friend Lisa and I took the picture, I slipped in some mud and tumbled down a muddy incline about 10 steps away from the Borden family marker. Sorry, Lizzie, I apologize. I guess I'm just lucky there wasn't an axe lurking in the mud.

I've rattled on enough here, but you can go here for more pictures and more details. So, what do you think? Was Lizzie the culprit or just a victim? Has anyone ever actually stayed at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast?

Previously on mental_floss...

"¢ Stacy's visits to The Corn Palace, The Grassy Knoll and The Texas State Fair
"¢ Jason's trips to Old Faithful (not that Old Faithful) and Utah
"¢ Ransom's honeymoon in Portugal