Lizzie Borden: Journals by Lawyer Emerge 120 Years Later
Two journals belonging to the lawyer for Lizzie Borden have been donated to the Fall River Historical Society. Will they shed light on the infamous murder trial?
The famed 1892 case involving Lizzie, her father, and stepmother captivated a nation. Mr. and Mrs. Borden were found dead of multiple blows to the head; both suffered severe cuts from an axe. Lizzie was arrested for the double murder and put on trial but was acquitted of all charges.
Legend of the story continued to grow as no one else was arrested, and Lizzie became the subject of a famous child's poem: "Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks; and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one."
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Now the journals left by her lawyer, Andrew Jackson Jennings, may shed new insight into the unsolved case. The journals have been passed down through the Jennings family; when his grandson died, the journals were left to the Fall River Historical Society.
"It's all new material, completely unpublished," explained Michael Martins, curator of the Historical Society. "It's the only file Jennings retained and it's the first idea we have about how the defense went about building its case. It's so rare to have primary source material appear 120 years after the fact."
The journals will be treated in order to ensure their preservation, then be transcribed and published. According to Martins, they contain newspaper clippings, lists of people Jennings wanted to interview as well as his personal thoughts about the case.
Fascination with the Borden case has never truly died. The home where the murders were committed currently functions as a bed and breakfast and is open to tours. Several books have been published about various angles of the case, including the possibility of a relationship between Lizzie and the maid, Bridget Sullivan.
Borden has been the subject of several films and at least two television shows, including a 2-hour made-for-TV movie. Docudramas, ballets, and plays based on the trial have also been produced.
Now Borden fanatics have something else to look forward to, though it is unknown if there will ever be any closure to the case.
