Lizzie Borden - Background

Background

Lizzie Borden's father Andrew Jackson Borden, despite being the descendent of wealthy and influential residents of the area, grew up in very modest surroundings and had struggled financially as a young man. As he grew older he prospered through the manufacture and sales of furniture and caskets, though with respect to his home life he continued to exert significant energy to being frugal. He later became a successful property developer and directed several textile mills including the Globe Yarn Mill Company, Troy Cotton, and Woolen Manufacturing Company. By the time of the murders he owned considerable commercial property and was both president of the Union Savings Bank and a director of the Durfee Safe Deposit and Trust Co. Despite his wealth, Andrew was known for his frugality. The Borden home, for instance, lacked indoor plumbing, and was located near Andrew's businesses; the wealthiest residents of Fall River, Massachusetts generally lived in a more fashionable neighborhood ("The Hill") that was further away from the industrial areas of the city and much more homogenous racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically.

Lizzie had a relatively religious upbringing, attending Central Congregational Church. She and her sister Emma lost their mother Sarah Anthony Borden neé Morse. After the death of Emma's and Lizzie's mother, Andrew married Abby Durfee Gray, who thereby their stepmother. As a young woman Lizzie was very involved in activities related to her church, including teaching Sunday school to children of recent immigrants to America. She also was involved in Christian organizations, such as the Christian Endeavor Society, where she served as its secretary-treasurer. Lizzie was also involved with contemporary social movements such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and was a member of the Ladies Fruit and Flower Mission.

During the inquest family live-in maid Bridget Sullivan testified that Lizzie and her sister rarely ate meals with their parents. Further during questioning by police and during the inquest Lizzie indicated that she did not call her stepmother "Mother" but rather "Mrs. Borden" and demurred on the subject of whether or not they were cordial with each other. In May 1892, there was an incident in which Andrew, believing that pigeons Lizzie kept in the barn were attracting intruders, had killed the pigeons with a hatchet. A family argument in July 1892 prompted both sisters to take extended "vacations".

Tension had been growing in the family in the months before the murders, especially over Andrew's gifts to various branches of the family. After Abby's relatives received a house, the sisters demanded and received a rental property—which they later sold back to their father for cash—and just before the murders a brother of Andrew's first wife had visited regarding transfer of another property.

For several days before the murders the entire household had been violently ill. The family doctor blamed food left on the stove for use in meals over several days, but Abby had feared poisoning—Andrew Borden had not been a popular man.