PRUSSIC ACID AND OTHER FABRICATIONS

[mbhenty]

YES SNOKKUMS:

You posted on another thread listing a quote that I made but you did not write anything along with it. So, I am moving the topic to it's own thread.

What I was trying to say in that quote is:

There are many writers, some well respected, that write things that are just not true or for which there is no proof, or based on gossip or unsubstantiated information. Then we repeat it here, or someone writes a blog about it as if it is the solemn turth, etc, making matters worst. (Like the dining room table for the autopsy)

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Now, here's one for you.

This one is about the prussic acid. I know that LizbethTurner is always looking for an intellectual exchange of theory, opinion or just an astute discussion on the case, here's one to research.

Prussic acid and the Borden case.

Much has been said about it in books and during or around the trial.

Let's take the indelible Frank Spiering. How can we forget his writings?

No.

Let me start with Edmund Pearson first....since he was the one to start and circulate the rumor.

Edmund Pearson said this about Lizzie and Prussic acid.


"When Mr Knowlton first entered the Borden house, he chanced to pick up a large book. It dealt with recipes, drugs and medicines. It fell open in his hand---the back was half broken---to an article on prussic acid."

Now, Rrebello mentions that Pearson said it. But that's it. He gives no opinion about it, or whether it is true or folklore. Here is what Rebello wrote:


Edmund Lester Pearson, in Five Murders (1928: 282-283), mentioned the following: "One of the attorneys (for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts), upon entering the Borden house for the first time, found a book of recipes and prescriptions. He took it up, and it fell open in his hand at a passage devoted to the subject of prussic acid. ..."

Now, back to Frank Spiering. Frank takes Pearson's statement and twists it a little, changing the characters and embellishing a bit more. Fiction! Frank Spiering said:

Bowen noticed that she had changed into a different dress. The one she had worn before was pale blue. This one was pink.And then he noticed the book on the side counter, its pages bent back, one of them broken loose from the binding. Looking closer he saw that it was a volume of household hints and on the page broken loose was an entry: PRUSSIC ACID- Hydrogen cyanide. A colorless almond-tasting liquid. Warning: Extremely toxic and usually fatal if taken internally.

Frankie takes the story, places Bowen in it, then he finds that a page is broken away and it's about Prussic acid.

Good one Frank.

Now, my question is where in the world did this information come from? Just because Edmund Pearson said it. Where did Pearson get his information? He does not say.

Did he make it up?

Is there any proof that this happened?

Why did it not come up in the trial or discussions during the trial?

Did Pearson make it up? Frank sure did.......

Or is it gossip, rumor, third hand information......which Pearson swallowed, regurgitated and spit out in one of his narratives?

Folklore or a down right lie?

Did it really happen? I can't find any other reference to the story. Not even in the Knowlton Papers.

I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I don't believe everything I read either, just because Pearson said it.

Perhaps some one here has information that I don't.....(?) Remember, Pearson was very prejudice towards Lizzie and was sure she did it.

Pearson conveniently mentions Knowlton finding the book, but does not say where he got the story. Such a vital revelation needs a source.

Could the reason Pearson did not give a reason was because he could not prove it was true? (found the information is some Chicago Newspaper?)

Did Pearson and Spiering belong to the same polo club? (made that one up)

What thinks you?

[mbhenty]

Yes:

Speaking about the things that writers make up.......

Here's a perfect example by Frankie Spiering>

Now remember... this is not a book of fiction. Spiering thinks Emma did it. Read as he describes Emma and the axe, and she stops, just as Abby's head was about to come off.....


The axe hit her again and again, each time Emma wielding it with all her might, the blood from Abby's neck and head spraying across the floor, hanging like a fog in the air near the edge of the bed as Emma kept hitting her, hitting her, hitting her....
And then she stopped, as Abby's head toppled off, held on only by a thin sinew of flesh.
Emma hit her again.

de Mille and Lincoln have nothing on Prince Frank. He's the king of twisting the truth.

[snokkums]

Sorry about t he way I posted on the other thread. I quoted you mbhenty, and put my post in the middle of yours. Oops, sorry, but I went back and corrected it.

[SallyG]

Perhaps it was the fact that the druggist came forward (?) about Lizzie trying to buy prussic acid. One of the attorneys finding a book open to a page on prussic acid probably sounded like a dramatic touch! Unless it was mentioned specifically in the trial as an event that actually happened, I tend to think it was an embellishment to built up the prussic acid "incident", if indeed THAT actually ever happened either.

[Yooper]

I agree with SallyG, testimony about a book falling open to a given page pales in comparison to three witnesses putting Lizzie in the drug store and attempting to buy prussic acid. Testimony about the book does not link a specific person as the cause, nor does it imply that anyone reading about prussic acid would necessarily attempt to buy it.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

A little tidbit form Victoria Lincoln's book, A PRIVATE DISGRACE.

Victoria boasts in her book about all the people she was close to who knew Lizzie. She claimed to have lived "next door" to Lizzie. Probably all true. But, she also wrote the following.

Still, she was rich and a Borden. In high school she was accepted on the wistful outer edge of the inner circle. But when she graduated, and high-school rings were being exchanged, it was on her father's little finger that she put her own, asking him to wear it always. It was on his hand when he died.

Lincoln, Radin, Spiering, Porter, Pearson, all claim that Lizzie finished high school. Also David Kent, though he is a little vague. He claims she left school at 18, and does not use the word, "graduated". But, if you read the next sentence he seems to almost imply that she did graduate. This is what Kent said:

Lizzie was 18 years old when she left Fall River High School and, in that era, little thought was given to her attending college. Young ladies retired to their homes, learned and practiced domesticity, and waited for suitors to call.

[mbhenty]

Hint to Victoria's Statement in the post above.

Fall river High School Rings did not become popular until the middle 1880s in fall river, around the time they built the new High School building, BMC Durfee.

Before then graduating pins were given out.

By the time rings were fashionable, Lizzie was not far from turning 30 years old.

[diana]

Lizzie told police Andrew was wearing the gold ring on his little finger the day of the murders and Emma was questioned about it at trial.

Q. Did your father wear a ring, Miss Emma, upon his finger?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was or was not that the only article of jewelry which he wore?
A. The only article.
Q. Do you know from whom he received the ring?
A. My sister Lizzie.
Q. How long before his death?
A. I can't tell you accurately. I should think ten or fifteen years.
Q. Do you know whether previously to his wearing it she had worn it?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did he constantly wear it after it was given to him?
A. Always.
Q. Do you know whether or not it was upon his finger at the time he was buried?
A. It was. (Trial, 1530)

During closing arguments, Robinson said: “He was a man that wore nothing in the way of ornament, of jewelry but one ring, and that ring was Lizzie's. It had been put on many, many years ago when Lizzie was a little girl, and the old man wore it and it lies buried with him in the cemetery.” (Trial, 1689)

I think when he said “when Lizzie was a little girl” in his closing arguments, Robinson may have sacrificed accuracy to push home his rather sentimental point. Emma’s statement is probably closer to the truth – and her reckoning could make Lizzie about seventeen when the ring was given to Andrew.

But you’re right, it seems unlikely that Andrew would wear a high school ring. Dolan, who saw the ring on the day of the murders, said it was gold, but was not able to say what kind of ring it was and you’d think the doctor would remember something like a Durfee High School insignia. (trial,865).

[mbhenty]

Yes:

Thanks Diana for the information.

I become so preoccupied and absorbed at times about this stuff... that is, what writers have written. But, as long as no one refers to me as MikeS I'll be ok.

But, there's a good number of writers who assumed that it was a high school ring.

The Fall River Historical Society has a group of graduation pins dated well after Lizzie was presumed to have graduated. In her day it was pins not rings.

Poor Victoria. I'm so hard on her.

Now Frank Spiering....he's another story. His book reads like a novel, or at least his sentence structure lends its self more to fiction than non-fiction.

I remember the year Spierings book came out.

I purchased a copy at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair. This was back in 84 or 85. I purchased it from a dealer named Patterson Smith out of N.J. They specialized in books about true crime and detective, etc., and were well known and respected the world over. I spoke to the fellow who was running the booth. Not sure if he was one of the owners. It was long ago.

But, I remember him telling me that Frank Spiering had contacted him about Edwin Porter's book, The Fall River Tragedy and wanted to know the history on the book. At the time, Spiering was under the impression that there were only 3 copies in existence. The fellow at Patterson Smith set him straight and told Spiering that there were many more than 3. (Which we know to be true, today) Dealing in such books, Patterson Smith knew what he was talking about. After all, it was his trade and he had probably handled more than one copy himself. He told me that he was surprise to see that when Spiering's book Lizzie was published, Speiring choose to ignore his advise about how many copies existed, claiming that only 3 were know to exist.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

It is worth noting that there were some similarities between Lizzie Borden and Victoria Lincoln.

Both were born to Fall River Aristocracy. Victoria's grandfather and father probably had more money than Andrew and Abraham Borden.

In many ways, they were more successful.

One thing we should keep in mind is that Lizzie and Victoria come from different times. Lizzie was old enough to be Victoria's grandmother. When Vicky was born, Lizzie was already 45 years of age. And Lincoln went to college and was probably a lot more intelligent than Lizzie.

Lincoln left fall river at a young age of 23, the year Lizzie died.

No doubt about it. Victoria Lincoln was blessed with a many, many stories, gossip, hearsay, scandal and plain old dirt about her fall river. But many were he said and she said stories. She claims to have lived on French Street near Lizzie. I know she lived on Bigelow Street, a couple of blocks from Maplecroft with her parents. Her father, Jonathan Thayer Lincoln, was also a published author, writing a book called The City of the Dinner Pail If anyone knows the address on French street let me know. She married right after college and moved out of fall river not long after.

If Lizzie did not kill her parents no one would ever have heard her name. On the other hand, Victoria Lincoln was a success in her own right. Even without writing A Private Disgrace she would still be well known. The book she wrote, February Hill, was made into a movie in 1940 called Primrose Path with Ginger Rogers and Joel McCrae. Though we can't claim she was suspected of killing anyone. darn!

[mbhenty]

Yes:

Now, here's a perfect example of Frank Spiering doing his readers wrong.

At the Borden funeral, there was a woman who broke from the crowd at the cemetery and tried kneeling at Mrs. Borden casket. It was reported that she probably worked for Mrs. Borden at one time. Below is how the story was told by EDWIN PORTER and FRANK SPIERING.

Spiering, thinking that he is writing fiction, changes the facts to make his account sound better. To do so, he claimed that the old lady was Maggie. I'm sure if Mr. Spiering was alive he would defend his telling by claiming that all maids were called "Maggie." But that was not the impression he wanted left with us. When he said Maggie, he meant Bridget Sullivan.

Not only that, but he claims that Lizzie recognized the women as Maggie. How do we know this? How does he know this? Reading Spiering's account one gets the idea that he took his information from Porter, changing the language a little to make it read better and sound his own. Spiering knew better. Maggie was not an old lady. She was younger than Lizzie.

Porter was probably the best source at the time. Edwin Porter Wrote in his book:

"an elderly lady in plain dress, who hastened to the casket of Mrs. Borden, and was about to kneel in reverence before it, when she was moved away by an officer, and went to the fence around the ground, where, with back to the crowd, she buried her head in tears. It was whispered that she had been employed long ago by the Bordens."

Now listen to the way Spiering tells it:


"Suddenly an elderly lady broke from the crowd and rushed toward Abby's casket. She was about to kneel before it when she was shunted away by an officer and jostled to the fence beside the grounds, where, with her back to the crowd, she buried her head in tears. Lizzie had recognized her. It was Maggie, the maid who had once worked for them."

[mbhenty]

Yes:

Now, since there's been much talk about Victoria Lincoln, I thought I would look to see how she wrote about it........Interesting.

The account given by Porter was the account written in the Daily Globe. It's also the one included in Rebello's book LIZZIE BORDEN PAST AND PRESENT.

Porter reports the old lady as being dressed in "plain dress."

Vicky describes her as dressed in squalid attire, calling her "shabby." Not only that. But Lincoln wrapped a ROSARY in her hand. You think she took liberties? Or just stretcccccccccccccccccccccccccccched the trurth.

This is how Victoria Lincoln put it:

As he fell silent, a shabby old woman pushed forward from the small huddle of the uninvited and knelt by Mrs. Borden's coffin, weeping, rosary in hand. She was led away. She had once been a servant of the family. Abby and Lizzie had one thing in common, at least; those who worked for them liked them.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

I started this thread in and effort to find the truth, that is, as it is written by famous writers over the years—who get it wrong, or just plain make things up.

When I first became interested in the Borden case I started with Edward Radin's book: Lizzie Borden The Untold Story.

With a new found hunger to read more, I happen to be at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair, this was 1985, and Spierings book Lizzie had just been published.

While there, I purchased a copy.

I was fascinated by reading it, taking everything he said for face value. Living with the case now for over 25 years I can't believe some of the things he claims, and for me, has become the Prince of embellishment.

A very popular writer, having written several books, you would think, "this guy knows what he's talking about" after all.........he's written a book.

Well here's another. Either he is making it up, or I've missed something, in which case you may start a thread of your own regarding my incompetence.

This is the bit where Spiering talks about Andrew Borden claiming that he could not go to Swansea to get away from the heat because he is having a lot of trouble at home. Now, Spiering does not mention what day Borden visited the Globe Yarn Mills. Talking about the heat, he leaves this reader with the impression that it is on the day of the crime.

Spiering says:


By eleven o'clock that morning the downtown area was swathed in a thick, moist glaze. The three-foot-long Samuel Thaxter thermometer mounted outside the north-facing windows of the Globe Yarn Mill Company registered ninety-four degrees.

Inside, Andrew Jackson Borden, the mill's most prominent director, strode briskly through the company's offices on his morning run of chores. Noticing him, Martin Blaine, the executive treasurer, asked casually, "Are you going over to Swansea to get out of the heat?"

Borden was stopped dead by the question. Turning, he stared at Blaine as if something had triggered off in his head. In a flat, dry voice, suddenly, strangely, he confessed, "I'm having trouble . . . a lot of trouble at home. I can't talk about Swansea until it's settled."

It was an odd outburst, which left Blaine dismayed.

With that, Borden moved quickly down the hallway.

Leaving by the side entrance, he headed away from the river toward the intersection of streets leading up the hill. As he drew nearer to the heart of town the sweltering heat seemed more intense. In the distance he could hear the rattle of traffic, of whinnying horses and drayage wagons laboring along Main Street.


Now Spiering is the only writer I know who mentions this story.

For one thing, though Borden was on the board of directors for Globe Yarn, it was not so in 1892. Also, I cannot find Martin Blaine in Fall River directories or in the Company's advertisement. It lists the treasurer as an Arnold Sanford. (at least between 1892 and 1896) Is Martin Blaine someone Spiering made up?

Another thing: Globe Yarn is over one mile and a half from the Borden house and over 3 miles there and back. It's nowhere near 92 Second Street.

How does he know there was a 3 foot thermometer outside Globe Yarn? Where did he come up with this information? That's a lot of mercury.

If this was true, Martin Blain could have been used as a witness that Borden was having trouble at home. Crucial detail and facts that would have come up somewhere, by someone? I can't find it.



What do you know about it?

[Allen]

I did not find any evidence of a Martin Blaine being involved with Globe Yarn Mills, or even in existence in Fall River at that time. I did find information on Arnold Borden Sanford.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

Great Allen... thanks for that.

Now I know who that guy is.

He lived down the street from Lizzie, about 3 blocks, on the corner of High and Lincoln Ave. I'm sure you have seen his house before. Shelly has it on her site of Fall River Painted Ladies. It's know as the Sanford House, naturally.

Below is a photo of the house... nice, huh?

This is called having pride in your historical home. Maplecorft should look so good..............really, it should.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

Yes:

Mother would have been very unhappy with my postings. I was taught never to talk about the dead who can't defend themselves.

Well, perhaps I was adopted?

When Spiering placed Andrew Borden at the Globe Yarn Mill, he did so trying to convince us that the mills were just down from Borden's house.

Speiring says:

By eleven o'clock that morning the downtown area was swathed in a thick, moist glaze. The three-foot-long Samuel Thaxter thermometer mounted outside the north-facing windows of the Globe Yarn Mill Company registered ninety-four degrees.

His description starts with "downtown" then goes directly to the thermometer on the Globe Mill building—giving us the idea that it was close by, when in fact it was over a mile away.

Below is a google map of that portion of fall river.

You can see the route between Borden's house and the Globe Mills on Globe Street. Borden's wanderings on the day of the murder did not include Globe Yarn. And, if he needed to go there, he would have taken a horse car or carriage.

AND, when you consider the rest of what he says, well................

[mbhenty]

Yes:

I was writing some dialogue and translating, or should i say, interpolating a line said by someone in the Borden House on the Saturday after the murder.

You know, when Coughlin and Hilliard walked in and informed Lizzie that she was a suspect.

If you remember, Emma said that, "We have tried to keep it from her as long as we could."

After she said this, the mayor offered his assistance to control the crowd. As he was about to walk out, Coughlin testified in the trail that Emma said:
"We want to do everything we can in this matter."


This is a small thing. An almost insignificant remark. But look what Spiering does with it. He changes the voice from Emma to Hilliard.

What does this mean?

At the very least, Spiering was wrong.......at worst, he twisted the truth. It is what Frank does. If it sounds dull, change it, if it does not, change it anyway.

An error on Franks part? I don't think so.

This is the way Spiering tells it:


(It was the distraction Coughlin sorely desired. It would be brought to the house, he promised, as he rose from his chair. Once again he assured them that if there was any annoyance from the crowds, they had only to report it to the policemen on duty to receive all the protection the force could provide.
Hilliard hastened to back him up. "We want to do everything we can in this matter." )



What was the purpose of changing this line? Because it sounds better for Hilliard to say it?

Beats me.

But, it's not right to change established testimony at will if it's not fiction.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

The account which led to the post above can be of question, also.

There is no arguing that Hilliard and Coughlin had trouble getting to the house due to the crowd in the road.

Coughlin and Hilliard testified to as much.

But Spiering exaggetates the matter.

Not a big deal.....but not exactly the facts.

Coughlin said at the trail that:

"The sidewalk on the east side was some little distance down north and to the south, was crowded with people. The middle of the street—there was a large number of people gathering there, and in fact it was with difficulty that we were able to drive through without running someone down. I notified the marshal that they should be removed. We drove to the police box, he got out of the carriage and pulled in a box."

This is what spiering said about it:


Yet when Hilliard and the mayor turned into Second Street they found it blocked with traffic. Both Hilliard and the mayor were recognized but no one would let them through. Angrily Hilliard sent for a detail of police to force back the hostile mob so that they could get up the street.
It took twenty minutes for their carriage to forge its way to the front steps of the house. Emma met them at the door and showed them into the parlor, the one room in the house reserved for special guests.


There is no doubt that Hilliard and Coughlin had trouble getting through. But Spiring says, "Let us make this more interesting. Let's twist it a little."

Of course Spiering did not say that. I did. Like Spiering, I took liberties.

The specifics are that Spiering made it sound like it was impossible to get through. The Mayor (Coughlin) said that they had difficulty getting through without running someone down. Spiering claims that " no one would let them through," making it sound like the crowd refuse to let them through untill the police cleared the streets. Not so.

Also there is no testimony that Hilliard was Angry (Angrily Hilliard sent for...) or that the crowd was a Hostile mob or that it took twenty minutes for the carriage to forge through

These are all embellishments.

No proof that Hillard was angry.
No proof tht it took 20 minutes.
No proof that the "mob" was hostile.
No proof that crowd recognized the mayor and police officer and still refused to let them through.

Hilliard did "pull a box" to call for recruits, but to clear the street...not because they could not get through.

[Harry]

In regard to Andrew saying he could not go to Swansea, I too was unable to locate any Martin Blaine. However, the story is very similar to the one told by one Cyrus Rounseville. Here is what the newspapers reported on this,

Boston Advertiser, Oct.11, 1892: "...Mr. Borden talked with Secretary Rounseville of the Manufacturers Association, shortly before his death about his family affairs. He told Mr. Rounseville that he was not living on his farm during the summer because there was so much trouble in his family that he did not feel like going. ..."

Almost identical wording appeared in the Boston Globe, NY Times and Evening Standard.

He is also mentioned in the Jennings' notebook:

"i. Rounseville--told Phillips that Mr. Borden speaking to him about going over to his farm for the summer said his family affairs were such this summer that he would not be able to go."

Rounseville appears in the Glossary of the Knowlton Papers. A condensed version reads:

"ROUNSEVILLE, CYRUS COLE 1852 - 1919: born in Acushnet, Massachusetts, ...He attended Bryant and Stratton Business College in Boston, Massachusetts. Following graduation, he relocated to Fall River, Massachusetts, and, in 1869, worked as a clerk for the Narragansett Steamship Company. He subsequently gained employment as an administrator in various textile corporations. His interests also leaned toward banking, where he was vice-president of both Union Savings Bank and Troy Co-operative Bank. ...Summoned as a witness, he was not called upon to testify."

He's listed as living at 120 Rock St. in the 1892 city directory.

Now why Spiering would use another name only Spiering could answer.

[BillwWilliams]

Hello Bordenites. My name is Bill and this is my first comment within this forum. The fictions spawned in the name of this crime do cloud the vision but it's the original thought of Lizzie as a poisoner that bothers me. Lizzie had easy access to major cities... why would she try to purchase poison in her own town? Poisoning is a secretive thing. If Lizzie WAS a potential poisoner, then certainly the over-the-counter patent nostrums of the late 1800's offered an array of options. Buying Laudanum or arsenic wouldn't have raised an eyebrow in Boston. Boiling down a couple pounds of tobacco to a thick sludge of poisonous nicotine would have been easier than trying to buy a controlled poison from the local chemist. Further, both chloroform (1847) and ether (1846) were available as solvents (you can still buy starting ether at any auto parts store).

...and that pear tree in the center of our universe... crush a pound or two of pear seeds, shake well with a quart of alcohol and voila: homemade cyanide.

'Lizzie the Poisoner' doesn't make sense. Lizzie doesn't seem foolish enough to make such a critical mistake as bounding into the local pharmacy and trying to buy a strong poison with idle folk standing nearby to watch the show.

I just can't accept this premise.

[Allen]

Hello and welcome to the forum Bill! Always nice to have new posters to contribute ideas! There is a story of Lizzie trying to buy chloroform from a local druggist quite some time before the murders. I believe it was in the witness statements but I will have to look that up. The druggist claims he asked her why she wanted to buy it, and she told him that she wanted it to kill a cat. So buying chloroform evidently would not have gone unnoticed. I think buying any poison may not have gone unnoticed because you still have to check it out for purchase. I don't know how far Lizzie would've gotten boiling down tobacco on the family cook stove either. Where else would she have accomplished this, and without drawing attention to herself? Lizzie taking an unprecedented trip to Boston, or any unusual points, may very well have been noticed. Her visit to New Bedford was very closely scrutinized, even down to finding the exact pattern she had purchased from the store there.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

Nice to see you post Harry:

Good find.........no, great find.

I have always heard that story. I thought I picked it up from Spiering. Could have discovered it somewhere else and couldn't remember. now, what are we talking about Oh, yes.

It's funny that that account with Mr. Rounseville or Rounseville himself is not talked about in Lincoln, Radin, Sullivan, Pearson, Kent, Porter or even Rebello. (nor the trail accounts)

If the account really happened, it was important testimony that things in the Borden house was not good and could have been used in court to prove Lizzie's ill will, or at least speak to it. I wonder why Rounseville was not called?

In any event, he had money and lived well. Below is the Rounseville home on Rock Street, Three blocks away from the FRHS.

[Allen]

Thanks for posting the picture MB. It's always nice to have a visual reference for things. Helps put them into perspective. I always enjoy the pictures you post.

[mbhenty]

Yes:

When talking about Lizzie, people in her day, fall river, etc., I am always interested where they lived, the sort of building, neighborhood, etc.

I just discovered something interesting.

The contractor that built the Cyrus Rounseville House is the same one that built Maplecorft. At least the same architect, anyway.

Notice the similarities in the roof peak, the facia trim, the double window over the porch with the single one above that, flat roof dormer windows along the roof, and even the same chimney. Interesting huh?

I always found that pointy peak roof on Maplecorft a dumb addition, looking out of place, like a wart. It doesn't belong there, or at the very least should have been constructed better with windows and such, and have some use.

The Rounseville House is owned by the bank and can be had on the cheap. But, I wouldn't want it. This is one of those marvelously large single family homes which were butchered in the 1970s. It was a single family home and now holds Six apartments. Think about it......6 bathrooms and 6 kitchens, all that wonderful woodwork. The destruction that must have developed to fit it all those flats. Shame, really.

[mbhenty]

Yes, thank you Allen........ and you're welcome.

How about that shot of Maplecroft and the Rounseville House. Looks almost like the same place, huh?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I love old houses. Even falling-apart old houses. I rather have an old house that is falling apart not be touched and retaining its authentic architecture than have it wrapped with vinyl or stucco.

Below is one of my favorite small Greek Revival homes, the Brownell house in Fairhaven. What a wonderful little house.......it was. Even in disrepair.

One of the pictures is of the double chimneys. Wonderful. The new owners did not want to spend the money to rehab them and had them removed—like taking a face and lobbing off the ears.

Gone are the original corner boards and clapboard, which could have been saved. And the wonderful long windows along the front, etc.

Oh well.

If you drive around the Brownell neighborhood you will find many original examples of such old homes, many with their original trim.

The last two photos were taken by me. The first picture was lifted from the web.

The picture of the Brownell chimneys was going to be used for the back cover of the Hatchet, but was rejected by the editor for another.

So, here it is.