1. "Handy & Andy"
Posted by Kat on Jul-4th-03 at 10:16 PM

Evening Standard, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 1892, pg.1:

"You see Mr. Borden was exactly what you have termed him, a puritan; he was not as affectionate a man in his manner as some.  He was a hard man, perhaps, in money dealings.  I used to ride with him a good deal and suggest(ed) to him to get a pair of horses for the girls to go riding.  He was a just man and the home was a happy one."

Knowlton, Glossary:
"HANDY, BENJAMIN JONES 1849 - 1929: born in Marion, Massachusetts, son of Frederick Plummer and Sylvia Grace (Berry) Handy. Educated in public schools in his native town as well as Middleborough, Massachusetts, he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Medical School in 1871. He maintained a successful practice in Fall River, Massachusetts, from 1874 to 1913, when he returned to Marion. He married Miss Susan E. Holmes. Active in several professional organizations, he held memberships in both the Fall River and Massachusetts Medical Societies. Having retired from practice, he died in his native city. A 'witness at both the preliminary and final trials, he gave testimony pertaining to a man he observed in the vicinity of the Borden residence."

I wonder what business Dr. Handy and Andrew had that caused them to "ride a great deal" with each other. And ride to where? Somehow I can't see Andrew out joy riding.

Apparently the Handy's and the Borden's at least had more than a passing acquaintance. From Rebello, page 12:

"Mrs. Susan E. Handy, wife of Dr. Benjamin Handy, was interviewed by the The Fall River Evening News. She said, "I have been a frequent visitor at the Borden home during the last fifteen years and I never saw anybody more kind both to Mr. and Mrs. Borden than Lizzie and Emma."

It was at the Handy cottage in Marion that Lizzie was supposed to join the "girls'. 

It was also Dr. Handy who in an interview described Lizzie as a "great fisherman" (page 14, Rebello)

I could find nothing on the Handy's attending the funerals nor was Dr. Handy a pallbearer. Maybe the relationship between Andrew and Dr. Handy became distant in later years. Was it not Dr. Handy who Andrew said made house calls without being asked? That would certainly do it for Andrew.

Maybe they rode together in years past out at Marion or Swansea.  If Lizzie was great friends with the Handy family maybe they shared day vacations.  I didn't know Handy's wife Susan, was great friends with the Bordens!

Remember Morse talking about bringing Miss Davis to Fall River and they got Emma to go ride?
I was thinking maybe Andrew denied the girls riding horses in town, and just had a horse for the carriage.  I forget people rode horses back then for recreation and enjoyment and to socialize.

Maybe the girls enjoyed that activity or had the possibility at being good at it, IF they had horses, and that Dr. Handy had noticed.
Also, I was wondering about that quote from the papers that Andrew had once been a 'sporting man' back when he was younger.  That could mean Athletic, and a rider...which he may have not provided that for his daughters tho he himself may have enjoyed it.

--Then there is Dr. Handy's pale-faced man who he claims to see outside the Borden house the murder morning.  That has seemed suspicious to me.
Thanks a LOT for the extra info!  I bet there's more.

If Mrs. Handy is speaking the truth then it looks like Abby had yet another friend.

A while back Diana found a paper which indicated that Abby may have held some office in a club of some sort. I can't seem to locate the thread to see if possibly Mrs. Handy also belonged to that club.

Come in, Diana.

Date: May 20, 1891
Source: Fall River Daily Globe
 
 



Transcription provided by Bruce Laurie, Department of History, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.



"Report from the First Annual of the Women's Auxiliary

The Women's Auxiliary of the Y.M.C.A. held its first annual meeting yesterday afternoon which was largely attended. This branch of the association has contributed largely to its success and has been untiring in its efforts to promote the work which has been undertaken.

Mrs. Norman E. BOrden, the president, tendered her resignation but her executive ability and efficiency were too highly appreciated by her associates and they refused to entertain the idea of her withdrawal. Consequently she consented to serve another term and all were reelected. Interesting reports of various topics then followed the election. They are as follows:

Membership by Mrs. Andrew J. Borden

Social by Mrs. George Stowell

Rooms by Mrs. B.J. Handy

Devotional by Mrs. R.K. Remington

Visitations of the Sick by Mrs. E.T. Marvel

The exercises were interspersed with vocal music by Ida F. Ferry, Mrs. R.K. Remington, and Mrs. D.A. Chapin.

The general secretary in a few brief word expressed the appreciation of the association of the help rendered by the Auxiliary after which the meeting adjourned for a social hour during which chocolate and cake were served by the social committee.

Later on it is possible that the receptions which have been so successful will be repeated."

 
 

Good memory, Har!

See, you guys don't need me at all!  This is a fascinating thread, Harry and Kat. 

Here's a couple of things I wondered about when I was looking for references to Handy.  One is in Lincoln's book.  She says that the girls rented Dr. Handy's cottage for the summer vacation.(p.59)  Does this make it look like the relationship was not as close as a friendship?  but more an acquaintanceship?  (But of course, we have to consider the source here.)
The other thing that caught my eye was in Porter.  He says:
"Information reached the police that Officer Joseph Hyde had seen a suspicious looking stranger in the vicinity of Second street on that morning. On the following Tuesday, Dr. B. J. Handy, one of the best known physicians in the city, made public the fact that he also saw a very strange appearing man on Second street on the morning of the murder between 10:25 and 10:45 o'clock.
The doctor took some notice of this man and in the afternoon while in conversation with his wife he became more and more impressed with the idea that the stranger had some connection with the awful crime. This theory became a matter of much importance and Dr. Handy did not at this time know that Officer Hyde was reported to have seen a similar person." (Porter, 49-50)

I don't remember Hyde coming forward with this?  I don't see it right away in his Witness Statement -- he didn't testify at the Inquest or the Prelim. -- and his trial testimony was just about the evening visit to the cellar by Lizzie and Alice. I wonder where Porter got this? 

(Message last edited Jul-5th-03  6:52 PM.)

All right!  There she is, Mrs. B. J. Handy, right in the middle, in charge of "rooms".

That cements it for me that it is our Abby in charge of membership.  This was less than 15 months before the murders.

So it seems our Abby got out a lot more than has been reported.

Thanks ladies!  And we'll always need you Diana. That was a great find.



(Message last edited Jul-5th-03  7:18 PM.)

Everywhere I read *Oh Dr. Handy's description was backed up by officer Hyde*...but I was thinking when I started this, I don't remember any officer Hyde giving testimony about the pale-faced individual Thursday!

I'm glad you brought that up.

I am going to go look at Our Mr. Hyde some more.

There are odd things about Dr. Handy.  See, I had added him as a *suspect* way long ago to my list!  Because he sounds suspicious to me:
..................
http://www.lizzieandrewborden.com/SuspectsListPart2.htm

Dr. Handy — Rebello, pg. 65, 251:  Boston Daily Globe, Thursday, June 15, 1893: 1 : "Dr. B. J. Handy Testifies About A Pallid-Faced Man."  Also, W.S., pg. 14-15, Harrington, Wed., Aug. 10, notes, that when the police took Dr. Handy to Boston to I.D. a man, he was not at home.  Dr. Handy was shown a photo of the man he said he had seen that day (Aug. 4th), Henrick Wood.


. . ." Dr. Handy so readily pronounced him not the man, is, to my mind, very significant.  His social relations with Miss Lizzie are very close.  She was to spend her vacation at Dr. Handy's cottage at Marion, with his daughter . . ."  


Also, W.S. pg. 19, Harrington, Sept. 25, notes,  Dr. Handy explains,

"Now Mr. Harrington, I never told you I thought the man I saw committed the crime, did I?  I never said the man I saw committed the crime, and don't think he did."

Also, W.S., pg. 19, Harrington, Sept. 25, notes, 

"James E. Cunneen . . . Drove up Second street that day, and the only strange thing I observed was Dr. Handy's actions.  His carriage was drawn up to the west side of the street, about opposite Dr. Kelly's yard.  He sat in the buggy, and was quickly turning his head from right to left, and left to right.  He seemed very nervous, and his strange actions caused me to look around to see what was the occasion of this;  but I observed nothing.  Before I reached where he was standing, he started and drove slowly down the street by me." [see Henrick Wood].
.............

Dr. Handy says he looked around like that on Second St. because he was staring at an odd individual who he implied was suspicious.  Then we meet Mr. Cunneen who finds Dr. Handy every bit as suspicious as this mysterious pallid-faced person.



(Message last edited Jul-5th-03  11:35 PM.)

From the Witness statements, page 14+, August 10th, Doherty & Harrington:

"Went in search of Dr Handy; found him at Chas. J. Holmes'. Asked him, would he accompany an officer to Boston to see a party whom the Boston police located, and who they thought resembled the person whom he saw."

Interesting that he should be at the Holmes residence, the same place Lizzie went after she was found not guilty.

(Message last edited Jul-5th-03  11:45 PM.)

I was led to understand by Ter that Handy was related to Holmes family.  The Knowlton Papers has his wife's maiden name as Susan Holmes.

And apparently the Remington's married into the Holmes family.:

"Mrs. Mary Anna (Remington) Holmes, a friend of Lizzie's, testified at the Borden trial that Lizzie had joined Central Congregational Church "about six years ago," taught in the Chinese department and that she and Lizzie were members of the Women's Board of the Fall River Hospital, sometimes known as the Hospital of the Good Samaritan, a charitable organization. She recalled they served on the board for two to three years. (Trial: 1498) Lizzie Borden became a Board Member of the Good Samaritan Hospital on June 24, 1891."--Rebello, 15.


So I was under the impression that Handy girl, Holmes girls & Remington girls were all somehow related or *in-lawed* to each other.  I can't prove it though.

(Message last edited Jul-6th-03  12:47 AM.)

There seems to be a whole lot of cross marriages between these families.

An interesting note is that Louise Handy, Dr. Handy's daughter, was born in 1876 (Rebello pages 64 & 65) which would have made her only 16 at the time of the Marion vacation.  She is also described as being a school teacher!

There is Hyde in the newspaper:

Evening Standard
Wednesday, August 10, 1892  Page 1:
"Late last evening the police began to put some credence in this rumor, and it was said that a man answering this description was seen by Officer Hyde about the same time. "
And
"Now here are two reliable persons, Officer Hyde and Dr. Handy, both of whom saw this strange man..."

--Hey Har, is that a mistake about Louise Handy?  Should we look her up some more?

(Message last edited Jul-6th-03  12:30 AM.)

Rebello says she was born in 1876 twice, once on page 64 and then again on page 65.

On page 64: "Friends at the cottage included Dr. Handy's daughter; Miss Louise Holmes Handy (1876 - ?), a school teacher;..."

This is on page 65:  "Dr. Handy married Susan Elizabeth Holmes, a resident of Whitman, Massachusetts. They were the parents of three children: a daughter, Louise H. Handy, born in 1876; and two sons, Benjamin and Frederick. Both sons died at a young age."

I doubt if we have any other place to look. Maybe Hoffman, but I don't have that.

Yes, Louise is not in Knowlton Glossary nor in Hoffman.
I did find a cute pic of Dr. Handy for our Susan, tho...  (She likes to be able to visualize the characters)...  in Dr. Hoffman's book.  I didn't expect This guy...I thought he would look like one of the Smothers Brothers.



(Message last edited Jul-6th-03  1:34 AM.)

Dr Handy being only 11 yrs older than Lizzie (more Emma's contemporary), sounds rather strange he'd have much to do with Andy.

Lots of "in breeding" going on in Fall River!

Harry, are you really so convinced the Mrs A J Borden of YMCA fame is our Abby?  I'd think if this were true, there would have been mention of her YMCA involvement @ the time of the murders, in obit, etc.  More people @ the funerals.  YMCA people as pall bearers...I just don't think it was her.

Fall River YMCA --

Miss Handy's being only sixteen and working as a school teacher might not have been mutually exclusive!  My late Aunt Margaret Gupton began teaching when she was seventeen, and that was in the early 1920s.  Probably by that time the educational requirements were stricter than they would have been in 1892.  Aunt Margaret told me some of her pupils were older than she was, and she was cautioned not to tell the students her age, because they wouldn't have proper respect for her if they knew.  By the time she began teaching, my Aunt had two years of college, but I don't believe that was a requirement.  If she graduated from high school at fifteen (which was probably the case), she could most likely have begun teaching immediately.

I wonder if Dr. Handy painted as a hobby... (Just kidding; this picture makes him look a bit like Toulouse-Lautrec.)  When I recall Andrew's remark about Dr. Handy ("hanging around, Dr. Handy-style") I get the feeling Andrew didn't have the warmest feelings for the Doc.  I have wondered if he thought Dr. Handy was "chatting up" Emma or Lizzie.

I don't think I'm ever 100% convinced of anything in this case. It just appears to me to be too much of a coincidence. Also I've never believed that Abby was the recluse she's usually depicted as.

The article says: "Mrs. Andrew J. Borden - membership".  Does anyone have an idea of what duties that would entail?  Those duties might shed a little more light.  For instance I couldn't see Abby running around and making speeches trying to attract new members, but I can see her in a more secretarial type roll.

From Rebello, page 104

Pallbearers at the Bordens' Funeral

Andrew J. Borden:  John H. Boone, businessman, merchant tailor and gents furnishings; Andrew J. Borden, treasurer of Merchant Manufacturing Co. and member of Central Congregational Church; Jerome Cook Borden, a first cousin to Andrew J. Borden; Richard A. Borden, a prominent businessman and mill owner, treasurer of Troy Cotton & Woolen Manufactory, Richard Borden Manufactory Co., vice president of the Fall River National Bank, and a member of Central Congregational Church; George W. Dean, businessman; Abraham Gifford Hart, treasurer of Union Savings Bank; James M. Osborn, a member of Central Congregational Church.


The other Andrew J. Borden listed here was a company treasurer, and probably would have had a socially prominent wife.

Yes, Tina-Kate, thanks, I was aware of the other A J Bordens. It's just that Mrs. Handy said that she had been calling at the Borden's for 15 years so I thought they must know each other fairly well and perhaps shared something in common.

There are so many similar names in that town it's hard to figure out who is who.

I figured that had our Abby been engaged in business outside of the home, she would have been more prominent in the newspaper reports of the murders & there would have been statements from the other YMCA Auxiliary ladies, etc.

Confuses things further that ladies were identified by their husband's names rather than their own.

Thanks, Kat.  I thought the same thing as Edisto did when I first viewed the pic, he looks kind of like Toulouse Lautrec. 

So, from what I've been reading in this thread so far is that Andrew was not overly fond of Dr. Handy, yet Dr. Handy considered them to be friends.  Andrew sounds like quite the loner, doesn't want guests to entertain.

And if Rebello is correct, Dr. Handy's daughter is only 16?  Rather odd that a woman of Lizzie's age is hanging out with a 16 year old?  What could they possibly have in common?  Now I'm curious as to the ages of all the other "girls" who were on that trip to Marion. 

I think being a Membership Chairperson usually involves getting in touch with people, telling them about the organization, and trying to get them to join.  Speechmaking could be a part of the duties, but I suppose the contacts could be individual visits to potential members.  It sounds like a strange job for an introvert, at the very least.

The reference to Andrew disliking Dr. Bowen *coming over here Dr. Handy style* comes from Knowlton Papers, pg. 227, Alice Russell's letter to Mr. Moody, dated June 2, 1893.

It is a review of Alice's conversation with Lizzie Wednesday night before the muders.  So it is a repetition of supposedly what Lizzie told Alice, and then it is Alice telling us.  It does have a ring of truism, so when Susan says maybe Handy thought he was more friends with Andrew than Andrew thought he was with Handy, that can happen, I'm sure.

Also, this meeting of the Women's Auxilary is the First Annual one.
Not only that, but it sounds as if the President is  trying to get the members to reaffirm her:  What's that all about?
It sounds like she felt under-appreciated, or there was some controversy as to her continuing presidency.  (Mrs. Norman Borden)
It also sounds a bit like they had been up and running a year, and this was the first overview get-together?
Then if Abby died, she may  only have been involved with the membership duties for a short time.
It also reminds me of those "Wrappers" Abby had asked Lizzie to address.  This could be part of the membership drive and not Andrew's newspapers as we had surmised.

I don't know anything about this for a fact...so am ruminating.  But I think we have ascertained that Abby was not such a recluse or as introverted as some authors would have had us believe.
And if Handy & Remington's were part of this organization, they may have been Abby's contacts.
I also don't recall reading an actual Obit on Abby, and as she was very close-mouthed about her home life, people just may not have known much about her.

In the Knowlton Glossary under Bridget Sullivan, there is the notation that Bridget worked for a Remington* until 1889 and then was hired to the Bordens.

In her Preliminay Hearing testimony [45] she says she was at "Mrs. Remington's in High Street (Fall River)"..."7 months".


*Clinton V. S. Remington (?)

(Message last edited Jul-7th-03  3:02 AM.)

From Rebello, pg. 64, as to the ages of all the girls going to Marion:

"Lizzie was to vacation with friends in Marion, Massachusetts, at the summer cottage of Dr. Handy.
Friends at the cottage included Dr. Handy's daughter; Miss Louise Holmes Handy (1876 - ?), a school teacher;
Miss Isabel J. Fraser (1863-1936) a teacher at the Nathaniel B. Borden School in Fall River, formerly the Morgan Street School where Lizzie attended;
Miss Anna Covell Holmes (1861-1943), a teacher and her sister, Miss Mary Louisa Holmes (1859-1934), a former teacher at the Nathaniel B. Borden School and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Holmes;
Miss Elizabeth Murray Johnston {1861-1907), a principal at the Broadway School in Fall River and Sunday school teacher at Central Congregational Church;
Miss Annie Childs Bush (1864-1912), a teacher at Foster Hooper School in Fall River;
Miss Louise O. Remington (1869-1950), a teacher at Mount Hope Avenue School in Fall River and her sister Mabel H. Remington (1866-1956), a teacher at the Pine Street School in Fall River;
Miss Alice Lydia Buck (1855-1944), daughter of Rev. Augustus Buck;
Mrs. James Frederick Jackson (Caroline S. Thurston and daughter of Rev. Eli Thurston, D.D. of Central Congregational Church);
the wife of the former mayor of Fall River;
Miss Edith Jackson(1883 -?), nine year old daughter of Mrs. James F. Jackson;
and Miss Jennie Stowell.
The Misses Buck, Bush, Fraser, Anna and Mary Holmes, Johnston, and Louise and Mabel Remington and Mrs. James F. Jackson were members of Central Congregational Church in Fall River and served on various committees at Central Congregational Church.

Note: No information was found on Jennie Stowell."

--I wonder at the size of Dr. Handy's cottage!  Are they camping out and just using the cottage as a meeting place or place to eat?  This is 13 people!  Maybe they dropped in and dropped out.

Thanks, Kat.  It looks like a majority of the women were closer to Lizzie's age.  I think the term cottage is a misnomer, the Victorians' idea of what a cottage was as compared to our idea today is different.  Heres an engraving of an 1865 cottage on the lake:

Doesn't look like the girls would be roughing it too much?

Jeesh!  On Dr. Handy's Salary?????  Maybe his wife was rich.
I love it!

I believe that all you needed to teach Grammar School in those days was graduating from High School. They didn't waste time and money on overtrained teachers.
Don't the Amish in Penna only complete Grammar School by State Law?

But that is NOT the Dr & Mrs Handy residence!

THAT is an example of a caricature, not an exact reproduction. You can see other examples in literature from that time.

I don't live in Pennsylvania, but I have a strong suspicion the state doesn't have laws that apply only to the Amish.  I think the Amish themselves shun education above a certain level, because they believe too much schooling will make their young people too worldly.

My kind of cottage!

I always wondered why the Marion "girls" were not questioned more than they were.

Were any of them going to go fishing besides Lizzie?

Just so there is no confusion, that picture I posted is not Dr. Handy's beach cottage, it is an example of what Victorians considered a cottage.  Personally I would think a cottage of someone with some money.  From what I could find looking in my books and my internet search, if a cottage was in town or in the country, it tended to be a smaller size home.  When on a waterfront, it tended to be a larger size like the one I posted.  But, thats why I think that that is such a confusing term.

And, yes, Harry, thats my idea of a cottage!  I wouldn't mind kicking back with some friends there for the summer! 

I agree.  I really love that place.
I still wonder where Handy got the ready for any nice big cottage that we all could visit, on the water.
(Yes Ray I know a caricature when I see it and a drawing of a cottage that is NOT Dr. Handy's- thanks anyway).
(We like to illustrate our posts....)

Yes, Victorian cottages are indeed "relative".

My parents live on the Isle of Wight, not too far from Queen Victoria's "cottage", Osborne House --



Harry, Rebello (page 14) --

"Lizzie was a great fisherman, and when my daughter went to Marion, she with the girls, were going to have fishlines."  Dr. Benjamin Handy, Fall River Daily Herald.

Wow, Tina-Kate!  Now that is some cottage!  I wonder from Dr. Handy's line about Lizzie being a great fisherman if Lizzie was going to teach "the girls" how to fish? 

I found that quote interesting, as Hiram Harrington (gee, threads seem to be overlapping these days!) seemed to call Lizzie an angler out of sarcasm.

Yeah Susan, that's the most amazing vacation getaway place I'VE ever seen.  Last time I went, I was with my sis-in-law & Mum.  Off season, we were pretty much free to browse as we wanted.  I sat on Queen Victoria's toilet (a no-no), just to be able to say I DID!  It was all wood, like a piece of furniture, but porcelain bowl.  They had the most modern of plumbing, even when Albert was still alive.  His bathroom was also incredible.

Yes, to me it seems as though Handy is trying to deaden the blow of Hiram's statement, but, his choice of the word fisherman made me cringe.

So, Tina-Kate, did you feel like a Queen while seated on Vicky's "throne"?    Sorry, couldn't resist!  That must have been pretty cool, to be in physical contact with something that she used on a daily basis.  I know I would have had to restrain myself if I had that freedom to browse. 

Thanks so much for the pic!
I have and have seen a lot of books on the Royal Family and never found a photo of Osborne House!
That was before my computer and I didn't stop to think to look there!
This is my first view, believe it or not!

Yr welcome.  I probably won't be going there this time.  I begged to go see Osborne again last time as I only saw it when I was 12 -- & what do you appreciate @ 12??  This time, I may not even be on the island.  It's my Dad's 75th & my sis-in-law is hoping to plan a mini reunion...& that calls for their house in Leicstershire.  There may be 7 of us.

Yes, Susan.  It was very cool.  Actually, we had more freedom in there than I did @ 2nd Street!  Reason being as the place is HUGE & during off season, not a lot of people in there & not as many tour guides working.

Kat, you'd love it.  Pls go if you get the chance. 

(Message last edited Jul-10th-03  5:03 AM.)

According to what I read in the local newspaper, Penna does exempt the Amish from mandatory education beyond Grammar School. It may be different in NY (visit Yates county?).
Would allowing local options be unimaginable?

But that cotttage, like the gingerbread on Victorian mansions, reflects the time when a man would work 12 hours a day for $1.
Notice how homes (and doors) became simplified after WW II?
...
I saw a picture of the cottage on Chappaquiddick where the party was held on July 1969. It IS a small house, from what I could see.

(Message last edited Jul-10th-03  3:34 PM.)

Perhaps the word "angler" had another meaning, like a "cheater" (one who works the angles?).