--Lyddie
When Emma got home
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lydiapinkham
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I find it interesting that Emma had planned to stay the whole summer at Fairhaven. Sounds as if she wanted to keep her distance from the family fold. Maybe all the affectionate talk about Father was just talk--like the myth (?) of his bounding up the stairs to greet Lizzie upon her return from the Grand Tour.
--Lyddie
--Lyddie
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Harry
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I ran across something in Masterton's book (page 146+) that may help explain why it took so long for Emma to return home.
Masterton in this section of his book is discussing possible suspects and looks at the problems with Emma being the murderess:
"While Emma had a plausible motive for the murders, she had little or no opportunity to commit them. Granted, it's only fifteen miles from Fairhaven, where she was visiting friends, to Fall River. Today the trip could be made perhaps in twenty minutes by automobile. A century ago, however, transportation was generally slow and uncertain. A fifteen mile trip could easily take a couple of hours. Emma would have had to make three trips that day, one to Fall River in the morning, another to Fairhaven around noon to receive Lizzie's telegram, and then back to Fall River in the late afternoon.
To avoid detection, Emma would have been wise to travel by train. In that case the trip via New Bedford would have taken a couple of hours assuming she walked back and forth to the railroad stations. To make matters worse, trains were scheduled only at three hour intervals. ..."
We know Bowen sent the telegram at 11:32 am. Since there was no telegraph office in Fairhaven it would have to go to New Bedford first and then hand carried to Fairhaven. (per Rebello, page 82) That would take probably a half hour or more and Emma would not have received it until after 12 noon.
Now for the sake of discussion, let's assume the train either just left or would leave in an insufficient amount of time for Emma to pack her things and make it on board. Since the trains ran only every 3 hours that would result in a minimum 3 hour wait until the next one. If the two hour trip for the ride is accurate then she would arrive home about 5pm. It is said she arrived home in the "late afternoon" which would agree with this scenario.
The two hour trip is supported by the fact that for some reason the train ride went via New Bedford - Weir- Fall River. The Weir station was just south of Taunton and not at all on a direct route from New Bedford to Fall River.
Masterton in this section of his book is discussing possible suspects and looks at the problems with Emma being the murderess:
"While Emma had a plausible motive for the murders, she had little or no opportunity to commit them. Granted, it's only fifteen miles from Fairhaven, where she was visiting friends, to Fall River. Today the trip could be made perhaps in twenty minutes by automobile. A century ago, however, transportation was generally slow and uncertain. A fifteen mile trip could easily take a couple of hours. Emma would have had to make three trips that day, one to Fall River in the morning, another to Fairhaven around noon to receive Lizzie's telegram, and then back to Fall River in the late afternoon.
To avoid detection, Emma would have been wise to travel by train. In that case the trip via New Bedford would have taken a couple of hours assuming she walked back and forth to the railroad stations. To make matters worse, trains were scheduled only at three hour intervals. ..."
We know Bowen sent the telegram at 11:32 am. Since there was no telegraph office in Fairhaven it would have to go to New Bedford first and then hand carried to Fairhaven. (per Rebello, page 82) That would take probably a half hour or more and Emma would not have received it until after 12 noon.
Now for the sake of discussion, let's assume the train either just left or would leave in an insufficient amount of time for Emma to pack her things and make it on board. Since the trains ran only every 3 hours that would result in a minimum 3 hour wait until the next one. If the two hour trip for the ride is accurate then she would arrive home about 5pm. It is said she arrived home in the "late afternoon" which would agree with this scenario.
The two hour trip is supported by the fact that for some reason the train ride went via New Bedford - Weir- Fall River. The Weir station was just south of Taunton and not at all on a direct route from New Bedford to Fall River.
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FairhavenGuy
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Harry, I am pretty certain that Fairhaven did, in fact, have a telegraph office at its railroad terminal as early as 1856, two years after the Fairhaven Branch Railroad was built. (As I've mentioned in other threads, the Fairhaven train did not connect with the one across the river in New Bedford. Emma most certainly took the train from New Bedford.) This telegraph office would have been about five minutes from "19 Green Street" at a brisk walking pace. Probably two minutes for a messenger on a bicycle.
That really doesn't matter, though, unless we are absolutely certain that Emma was actually at the Brownells when the telegram arrived. The only Emma time we can pin down is that she left New Bedford on the 3:40 train. That is more than FOUR HOURS after Bowen sent the telegram.
The train schedule in the August 5, 1892, New Bedford Evening Standard lists departure times as 8:45 a.m. 3:40., 6:15 and 9:40 p.m.
Morse, however, mentions having taken a train from New Bedford to Fall River on Wednesday at 12-something. 12:30? I think it took him an hour or so. (Sorry, I don't have my testimonies handy tonight.)
There certainly was a train somewhat-after-noontime on some days, at least.
Assuming one train is making trips back and forth, the fastest round-trip time listed above is 3:40 to 6:15, which is about 2 1/2 hours between departures. That makes the trip under 1 1/4 hours. The same is true for the 6:15 and 9:40 departures. (How can departure times be three hours apart if the trip one-way is two hours, as Masterson suggests?)
I honestly think one way or another, it's easily within the realm of possibility that Emma could have got from Fairhaven to Fall River and back again and still have quite a bit of time to catch that 3:40 train.
If Andrew is pretty well near dead around 11:00 a.m., it was 4 hours and 40 minutes later that Emma departed New Bedford on the train.
That really doesn't matter, though, unless we are absolutely certain that Emma was actually at the Brownells when the telegram arrived. The only Emma time we can pin down is that she left New Bedford on the 3:40 train. That is more than FOUR HOURS after Bowen sent the telegram.
The train schedule in the August 5, 1892, New Bedford Evening Standard lists departure times as 8:45 a.m. 3:40., 6:15 and 9:40 p.m.
Morse, however, mentions having taken a train from New Bedford to Fall River on Wednesday at 12-something. 12:30? I think it took him an hour or so. (Sorry, I don't have my testimonies handy tonight.)
There certainly was a train somewhat-after-noontime on some days, at least.
Assuming one train is making trips back and forth, the fastest round-trip time listed above is 3:40 to 6:15, which is about 2 1/2 hours between departures. That makes the trip under 1 1/4 hours. The same is true for the 6:15 and 9:40 departures. (How can departure times be three hours apart if the trip one-way is two hours, as Masterson suggests?)
I honestly think one way or another, it's easily within the realm of possibility that Emma could have got from Fairhaven to Fall River and back again and still have quite a bit of time to catch that 3:40 train.
If Andrew is pretty well near dead around 11:00 a.m., it was 4 hours and 40 minutes later that Emma departed New Bedford on the train.
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Kat
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Emma at the trial, 1550
Q. Where were you in Fairhaven?
A. Do you want me to tell you the street?
Q. What house?
A. At Moses Delano's, on Green Street.
Q. Is that a relative of yours?
A. No, sir.
Q. Or some friends?
A. No, sir; he is not.
Q. The people in the house were?
A. The people that I was visiting were living in his home.
Q. And who was it that you were visiting?
A. Mrs. Brownell and her daughter.
Q. And you received a telegram from Dr. Bowen?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And came, of course, as soon as you could?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where were you when you got the telegram?
A. At Mrs. Brownell's.
Q. At what time did you arrive at the house?
A. I think about five.
Q. That same afternoon?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Had you seen Miss Lizzie during the two weeks?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When?
A. Well, I can't tell you what day it was; some few days after; she had been at Fairhaven.
--It sounds almost like it was dark out, at the Inquest answers:
113+
Q. She did not serve as a stand up waiter, did not stand behind the party. When you got home, was she at home?
A. Thursday night, yes sir.
.........
Q. After you got home that night, you did not hear Maggie say anything about where she was when the thing happened?
A. No Sir.
Q. Nor have any talk with her at all?
A. No Sir.
Q. Did you see your sister then when you came home?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. What did she say about it?
A. I dont know, there was so much going on.
Emma at the inquest, 107
Q. Visiting in Fairhaven?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. Where were you visiting there?
A. 19 Green street.
Q. Who?
A. Miss Helen Brownell and her mother.
Q. What time did you get back?
A. I came on the train that left New Bedford 3.40.
Q. You came right to the house. You went up to Weir Junction and came down.
Q. Where were you in Fairhaven?
A. Do you want me to tell you the street?
Q. What house?
A. At Moses Delano's, on Green Street.
Q. Is that a relative of yours?
A. No, sir.
Q. Or some friends?
A. No, sir; he is not.
Q. The people in the house were?
A. The people that I was visiting were living in his home.
Q. And who was it that you were visiting?
A. Mrs. Brownell and her daughter.
Q. And you received a telegram from Dr. Bowen?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And came, of course, as soon as you could?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where were you when you got the telegram?
A. At Mrs. Brownell's.
Q. At what time did you arrive at the house?
A. I think about five.
Q. That same afternoon?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Had you seen Miss Lizzie during the two weeks?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When?
A. Well, I can't tell you what day it was; some few days after; she had been at Fairhaven.
--It sounds almost like it was dark out, at the Inquest answers:
113+
Q. She did not serve as a stand up waiter, did not stand behind the party. When you got home, was she at home?
A. Thursday night, yes sir.
.........
Q. After you got home that night, you did not hear Maggie say anything about where she was when the thing happened?
A. No Sir.
Q. Nor have any talk with her at all?
A. No Sir.
Q. Did you see your sister then when you came home?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. What did she say about it?
A. I dont know, there was so much going on.
Emma at the inquest, 107
Q. Visiting in Fairhaven?
A. Yes Sir.
Q. Where were you visiting there?
A. 19 Green street.
Q. Who?
A. Miss Helen Brownell and her mother.
Q. What time did you get back?
A. I came on the train that left New Bedford 3.40.
Q. You came right to the house. You went up to Weir Junction and came down.
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Susan
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Thanks for all the train info, Chris! If Emma did take the train twice the day of the murders, do you picture her in disguise or just going as she was? I can totally picture Emma wearing a long, dark, heavy veil that would hide her face, no one need know who the woman in mourning was on the train that day.
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FairhavenGuy
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Oh, gosh, Susan, I don't mean to imply I believe Emma did go to Fall River and return to Fairhaven. I'm only suggesting that it's not impossible for her to have done so.
Harry, almost all historical works have small errors in them, often because the researcher doesn't know what questions to ask, research material is unavailable, or because the particular archivist doesn't have a clue about what's in a particular collection of source material. Sometimes a researcher might accept a local person's statement, "no telegraph station here," without checking further.
Since I am very familiar with the history of my town, I might have run across stray facts that eluded somebody else researching a particular subject.
A lot of Rebello's facts on the Brownells, Delanos, 19 Green Street, etc. are correct. However, in a Lizzie Borden Quarterly article on Emma in Fairhaven, he reproduced an 1871 map of the center Fairhaven and called it the 1895 map. It would take someone pretty familiar with local history to know the difference. However, the street car line wasn't laid until 1872, so one can't see how close the trolley ran in relation to 19 Green Street in the map that Rebello used.
There was also a weekly newspaper in Fairhaven in the 1890s. I don't know if Mr. Rebello is aware of it. Nor do I know if there's anything about the case in it, though I suspect there must be something. I've never seen the Fairhaven STAR cited by anyone with regard to the case.
Thanks, Kat, for confirming that Emma did personally receive the telegram and that she left New Bedford on the 3:40 train.
Harry, almost all historical works have small errors in them, often because the researcher doesn't know what questions to ask, research material is unavailable, or because the particular archivist doesn't have a clue about what's in a particular collection of source material. Sometimes a researcher might accept a local person's statement, "no telegraph station here," without checking further.
Since I am very familiar with the history of my town, I might have run across stray facts that eluded somebody else researching a particular subject.
A lot of Rebello's facts on the Brownells, Delanos, 19 Green Street, etc. are correct. However, in a Lizzie Borden Quarterly article on Emma in Fairhaven, he reproduced an 1871 map of the center Fairhaven and called it the 1895 map. It would take someone pretty familiar with local history to know the difference. However, the street car line wasn't laid until 1872, so one can't see how close the trolley ran in relation to 19 Green Street in the map that Rebello used.
There was also a weekly newspaper in Fairhaven in the 1890s. I don't know if Mr. Rebello is aware of it. Nor do I know if there's anything about the case in it, though I suspect there must be something. I've never seen the Fairhaven STAR cited by anyone with regard to the case.
Thanks, Kat, for confirming that Emma did personally receive the telegram and that she left New Bedford on the 3:40 train.
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Kat
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"Morse, however, mentions having taken a train from New Bedford to Fall River on Wednesday at 12-something. 12:30? I think it took him an hour or so."- FHG
Inquest
Morse
98
Q. You say that the day before the tragedy, you came about what time?
A. I left New Bedford on the 12.35 train. I suppose I got to his house about half past one.
Inquest
Morse
98
Q. You say that the day before the tragedy, you came about what time?
A. I left New Bedford on the 12.35 train. I suppose I got to his house about half past one.
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FairhavenGuy
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Thanks, Kat.
I've wondered if there was a 12:35 train on Thursday. Morse mentions one on Wednesday, but the N.B. Standard doesn't list one in Friday's paper.
(I'm using that Evening Standard repro book, which doesn't reproduce all the paper's pages for every day, but only the one's with Lizzie stories.)
Checking the archives at N.B. Free Public Library might turn up a Thursday train schedule. And a Fall River paper might list departures to New Bedford, which would be interesting. If a train is departing New Bedford at 12:35 p.m., it might have left Fall River at oh, say, 11:10 a.m.!
Of course, Emma says she was at the Brownells' when the telegram arrived. But of course she would say that, wouldn't she? (Lizzie is horrible at lying. She fumbles around like crazy trying to twist her answers into something relatively truthful. Emma, though, I could see lying easily and well.)
I've wondered if there was a 12:35 train on Thursday. Morse mentions one on Wednesday, but the N.B. Standard doesn't list one in Friday's paper.
(I'm using that Evening Standard repro book, which doesn't reproduce all the paper's pages for every day, but only the one's with Lizzie stories.)
Checking the archives at N.B. Free Public Library might turn up a Thursday train schedule. And a Fall River paper might list departures to New Bedford, which would be interesting. If a train is departing New Bedford at 12:35 p.m., it might have left Fall River at oh, say, 11:10 a.m.!
Of course, Emma says she was at the Brownells' when the telegram arrived. But of course she would say that, wouldn't she? (Lizzie is horrible at lying. She fumbles around like crazy trying to twist her answers into something relatively truthful. Emma, though, I could see lying easily and well.)
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Susan
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I see that, Chris, I was just playing "Lets Pretend". Since it could be a possiblity that Emma might have come back to Fall River by train, if you were going to place her on that train, how do you think she would travel? As herself? In disguise?Oh, gosh, Susan, I don't mean to imply I believe Emma did go to Fall River and return to Fairhaven. I'm only suggesting that it's not impossible for her to have done so.
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Kat
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Stef actually has an 1889 train schedule. Tonight she gave me the times.
From Pearl Street, New Bedford to the Fall River RR Station = 13.5 miles.
Leave New Bedford weekday/ Arrive Fall River
7:05 ------------- 7:40
10 -------------- 10:30
12:35 --------------- 1:10
5:45 -------------- 6:20
Leave Fall River weekday/ Arrive New Bedford
8:50 -------------- 9:25
12 --------------- 12:35
3:30 -------------- 4:05
6:35 -------------- 7
There is only a Fairhaven to Boston and back, with stops, 1889.
From Pearl Street, New Bedford to the Fall River RR Station = 13.5 miles.
Leave New Bedford weekday/ Arrive Fall River
7:05 ------------- 7:40
10 -------------- 10:30
12:35 --------------- 1:10
5:45 -------------- 6:20
Leave Fall River weekday/ Arrive New Bedford
8:50 -------------- 9:25
12 --------------- 12:35
3:30 -------------- 4:05
6:35 -------------- 7
There is only a Fairhaven to Boston and back, with stops, 1889.
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FairhavenGuy
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FairhavenGuy
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Correct, Kat, about the Fairhaven-Boston runs. I wrote a story about the Fairhaven Branch Railroad history for our September issue of Navigator Magazine. Our train, from 1854 to 1953, ran east out of Fairhaven and through Mattapoisett and Marion to the Tremont Station in Wareham. From there, one could continue on an Old Colony Line train to Boston or get on a Cape Cod Railroad train to go to the cape. The western terminus of the Fairhaven Branch was at the ferry slip on the Acushnet River. Passengers traveling from Boston, etc., could get to New Bedford from Fairhaven either by ferry or by horse car or, after 1872, by horsecar or electric trolley (after 1895).
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FairhavenGuy
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Well, Kat, the times are somewhat different from the way they were listed in 1892, but your timetable does show us that the time between departure and arrival could be as quick as half an hour. This, I think, would have been the line that ran from New Bedford through Dartmouth and Westport into Fall River from the east. It wasn't the route that Emma took north to Taunton and then south into Fall River from Weir Junction.