1. "Tour"
Posted by Stefani on Feb-19th-03 at 12:33 AM

East Hartford Parks and Recreation is offering this special tour! A little pricey but sounds fun!

THE LIZZIE BORDEN TRAIL Fall River, MA Saturday, April 26 - The trip will leave from EH Town Hall at 7:30 a.m. and will return at approx.630 p.m.. The trip will feature round trip deluxe bus transportation, special guided riding tour that begins outside of the Lizzie Borden House, lunch at McGovern's Restaurant with choice of roast turkey with stuffing or grilled ham steak. Shopping in the Portuguese District will feature a stop at Tony's Bakery to receive a complimentary loaf of sweet bread. Cost per person of $62. includes all of the above plus driver gratuity. Registration deadline is March 26. No refunds are issued unless the trip is canceled by the Department.

I wonder what else they're gonna do.  The FRHS, I imagine.  Oak Grove probably.  It'd be interesting to know what all is on the itinerary.  Thanks for the post, Stef.

(Message last edited Feb-26th-03  12:55 AM.)

No Maplecroft? 

What does everyone think about that place?  I have seen little posted on this forum about it.  Its pretty oppulent inside.  I suppose with all of the money Lizzie and her sister ended up with after the murders, it owuld be expected...

On Stef's tour of the B&B in '97 she was told the opinion that Lizzie had traded one house for another pretty like it.
We tried to figure out the costs, etc.

In Rebello, "Andrew Land Transactions" we find that Andrew bought THE LOT at #92 for $10,000.  We don't know that the price included the house there, as it doesn't say.  We have always heard, tho, that #92 Second Street cost Andrew Borden Ten Thousand dollars.
That is a house that has how many rooms?  9 or 10 if we include 2 in the attic and the large kitchen?  But not the basement.

That house was already 27 years old when purchased.

Maplecroft was built c. 1889?  14 rooms?  for $13-$15,000  ?

Stef thought maybe if #92 was considered as *income producing* tenement when purchased, that might explain the price.
But Maplecroft was in a better neighborhood, and almost 50 years NEWER when bought by Emmer & Lizzie, so maybe it was not much more than 1/4 to a 1/3 better house?
--Just trying to figure the differences according to the 1997 *spiel* at B&B...

The thing about Andrew was that through his ties at the bank, he was able to purchase property with what might be considered inside information these days.  Whatever price he paid for anything, I doubt it was actual market price.  So really, one should take those purchase prices with a grain of salt. Andrew didn't aquire riches by paying a fair price for any piece of property.  If he did, I am sure he regretted it.  He bought Maplecroft, and many other properties once it was in a state of foreclosure, or nearly so, from what I have been told.

Maplecroft was designed by an architect (I can ask my dad his name) and he ran out of funding.  Andrew bought the house as he did countless others throughout the city.  The name Borden pervades Fall River buildings, not becuase of Lizzie, but beciase of Andrew.

My father never tried to decorate Maplecroft to be simialr to that of Lizzie.  It was our home first and foremeost, at least to us.  If Maplecroft ever seemed unimpressive for any reason to a Lizzie fan, it would be becuase the house wasn't filled with period pieces.  Instead, there is a hand carved dining room table from Cambodia witha 3d scene of Shiva's journey with each chair carved with a different scene as well.  There is a very large buffet from the palace in Belgium.  There are two pianos, one baby grand, the other upright.  There were toys and coats and perhaps hand towels that we actually used in our daily lives that would certainly take away from a victorian feeling.  We didn't live there to preserve it as Lizzie's house.  We lived there to live with all of our modern trappings. 

I have seen the other house (the murder house, I like to call it, but in an affectionate way) and I can tell you that it is nothing like Maplaecroft.  It is filled with period pieces to give the impression you are walking into the house days at the time of the murders.  It is very well done, but the house itself is a plain house, of a plain design.  Don't get me wrong though - it provides for Lizzie fans, a look and a feeling of authenticity that is unmatched.  While it will always have the bigger attraction to Lizzie fans as the murder site, comparign the two houses is really apples and oranges. 

Lizzie and her sister had the dad's wealth to pour into the house.  She had french linen imported to line the dining room ceiling.  Tiffany chandeliers, sconces.  6 car garage (to house the first electric car in Fall River).  There are 6 or 7 fireplaces, most of which are hand carved, 2 of which had poems that were Lizzie's favorites.  There are recessed radiators and other radiators that were especially built to mould to the sides of mantles.  There were two gas fireplace, one wood, one coal and a couple of combo fireplaces.  Emma's room was the only non servant bedroom wihtout a fireplace.  The dining room has wainscoating on the wall.  The woodwork throughout the first floor is exquisite.  A hige stained glas window on one side of the house and two others on the other side.  Two huge wrap around porches, the front enclosed with huge windows, the back screened in (though it is open air now).

The 2nd street house is well known for the murders.  Maplecroft is known for its oppulance, at least compared to 2nd street.  But that is just my opinion of course.

So, was Emma's room at Maplecroft as tiny and plain as her bedroom at Second Street?  Have you ever found any Lizzie or Emma artifacts in Maplecroft at all? 

we found a commode.  it was there from when Lizzie was there.  it was not likely a servant's.  after all, they can get their servant butt up and go to the bathroom, right?

The commode is white ceramic with designs (white on white).  Original curtains in the dining room.  Original wall paper in the dining room.  Lots of other stuff, but I don't count stuff that is attached to the house in a perminant fashion, like sinks, stained glass windows.  I suppose the wallpaper is attached, but it was the ONLY room with origianl wallpaper, so it meant something to us.

Emma's room is very small.  The smallest non-servant bedroom.

When Lizzie passed, there was the rush for anything that was hers, much like with anyone who dies leaving things of value.  Over the years, we were offered items that was Lizzie's for purchase, but often far more than what we fealt was a reasonable amount.

I'll ask my dad what else...

(Message last edited Feb-26th-03  4:13 AM.)

I was thinking of small things, like say, a hairpin that was maybe stuck between the floorboards.  Those kinds of things that you always seem to find in the oddest places.

Sounds like our Emma had a thing for small rooms.  I wonder how big her room was at the house she died in?  Thanks so much for all your info, Mike! 

I am likely wrong, but did Emma pass in a house in Somerset, MA?  I have never seen the inside of that house, but have driven by.  If not, it was just another house she and her sister owned at the time.  But I thought I had heard she passed there.

Rebello, pg. 312:

"1919-1926 Emma boarded at the Minden Apartments, 123 Waterman Street., Apt. 80, on the East side of Providence. In 1923, Emma went to Newmarket, New Hampshire. 1927 Emma died in Newmarket, New Hampshire, June 10, 1927."

I believe her body was pretty quickly shipped by RR to Swansea where she was laid out for memorial at Cousin Gardner's home?
From there buried at Oak Grove.

After reading all Michael's descriptions of Maplecroft, I'd have to say the guide was not informed who spoke to Stef on tour of B&B in '97.

Also, today at 8 p.m. on PBS there was a story on I don't know what--but they stressed that there was an *economic depression* in 1893 and unemployment rates were as high as 20%.

Stef and I talked about all this and think that Maplecroft was probably found for the girls at a *steal/deal* plus adding into the equation the depression that very year.  (Banks were failing, etc...)
This might lead to inequity in the house comparisons...
as in *Not Comparable*...

Emma died on June 10, 1927 in Newmarket, NH.  She was 76 years old.  Cause of death was chronic nephritis (kidney inflammation), secondary cause senility.  (A "peenut"?  ... I am just terrible tonight...)  The funeral was held 'Monday' at the home of her cousin, Orrin A. Gardner in Swansea.  She was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery on June 13.  (Reference used Rebello, pages 341 & 342)

Somerset runs right into Swansea down this one road, doesn't it?  I think I remember a little black and white sign to let you know you're technically in Swansea at one point, but it would be real easy to confuse one with the other. 

Just west of Fall River is Somerset.  Just west of Somerset is Swansea.  The area where the funeral was held is a very nice little area, right near the water.  I think it is called Ocean Grove (in the way that Maplecroft is located in the "Highlands").

Thanks, Mike.  I've always wanted to see the Bordens' Swansea home.  Does anyone have an address & directions?
I have seen a current day photo I think in Rebello.

This little snippet appeared in the 8-27-2000 Providence Journal in an article on Swansea:

"The farmhouse at 1205 New Gardner's Neck Rd. is perhaps the most infamous house in the area. In 1874, it was purchased by Andrew J. Borden and his business partner William Almy, both of Fall River, Mass.

Borden, his second wife, Abby, and his daughters, Emma and Lizzie, summered there for several years."

I'd use the Yahoo maps to locate the house.