Lizzie Borden

Lizzie Andrew Borden was born on July 19, 1860, in Fall River, Massachusetts, to Andrew Jackson Borden and Sarah Anthony Morse Borden. Her mother died when Lizzie was young, and Andrew later married Abby Durfee Gray. Lizzie and her older sister, Emma, lived with their father and stepmother at 92 Second Street, a comparatively modest home despite Andrew Borden's considerable wealth from property, manufacturing, and banking interests.

On the morning of August 4, 1892, Andrew Borden and Abby Borden were killed inside the family house. Abby was found in an upstairs guest room; Andrew was found on a sofa in the sitting room. Both had suffered repeated blows from a sharp instrument, commonly described as an axe or hatchet. Lizzie was present at the house and called for help after Andrew's body was discovered. The crime immediately drew intense attention in Fall River and beyond.

Lizzie was arrested on August 11, 1892, and charged with the murders. Her case was tried in New Bedford, Massachusetts, beginning in June 1893. The prosecution presented circumstantial evidence, including disputed testimony concerning Lizzie's attempt to buy prussic acid shortly before the killings and the burning of a dress after the deaths. No murder weapon conclusively tied to her was established. Her defense included former Massachusetts governor George D. Robinson, Andrew V. Jennings, and Melvin O. Adams. On June 20, 1893, after deliberating for little more than an hour, the jury acquitted her.

Following the trial, Lizzie and Emma inherited their father's estate, which had been valued at more than $300,000. Lizzie later adopted the name Lizbeth and moved with Emma to a large house on The Hill, Fall River's fashionable residential district. The home, purchased in 1893, was called Maplecroft. She owned a carriage, attended the theater, kept pets, and was associated with local social life, though public suspicion and fascination never disappeared.

The sisters' relationship eventually broke down. Emma moved away in 1905 and never publicly offered a full explanation. Lizzie remained at Maplecroft for the rest of her life. She died there on June 1, 1927, from complications of gallbladder surgery, at age sixty-six. Emma died nine days later.

The Borden case has remained embedded in American popular culture through books, stage works, films, television programs, and the children's rhyme beginning, “Lizzie Borden took an axe.” The rhyme is not reliable evidence: it says she gave her mother forty whacks and her father forty-one, but Abby was her stepmother, and the recorded wounds do not match those numbers.