A view of John V. Morse from Iowa

[Harry]

This is an article from the New Bedford Evening Standard a reprint from a Hastings, Iowa newspaper.

[Franz]

Thank you Harry. As Darrowfan said in another thread: "Your knowledge of exact dates in the Borden history is very helpful in putting the whole strange and tragic story together."

The most interesting for me in this article is that Lizzie sent a detective to investigate Morse, her own uncle for more than 30 years. I can't help myself thinking that, immediately after the murder, Lizzie said: he is my uncle, he couldn't know nothing, he left the house early morning and was in the town all morning (something like that). She also said that Bridget and that old man in the farm couldn't have nothing to do with the murder. Only when questioned, and with reluctance, she mentioned that unknown man who quarelled with her father. If Lizzie were guilty, it should be more probable - I'm not saying "must" - that Lizzie had tried to draw suspicion on somebody.

But then, she sent a detective to investigate uncle John whom she absolutely didn't suspect after the murder. Many years after, Lizzie and Emma refused to accept nothing when he died... Interesting...

[NancyDrew]

I'm more confused than ever. What WAS the nature of the relationship between Uncle John and Lizzie? Between Uncle John and Emma?

[PossumPie]

Thank you Harry. As Darrowfan said in another thread: "Your knowledge of exact dates in the Borden history is very helpful in putting the whole strange and tragic story together."

The most interesting for me in this article is that Lizzie sent a detective to investigate Morse, her own uncle for more than 30 years. I can't help myself thinking that, immediately after the murder, Lizzie said: he is my uncle, he couldn't know nothing, he left the house early morning and was in the town all morning (something like that). She also said that Bridget and that old man in the farm couldn't have nothing to do with the murder. Only when questioned, and with reluctance, she mentioned that unknown man who quarelled with her father. If Lizzie were guilty, it should be more probable - I'm not saying "must" - that Lizzie had tried to draw suspicion on somebody.

But then, she sent a detective to investigate uncle John whom she absolutely didn't suspect after the murder. Many years after, Lizzie and Emma refused to accept nothing when he died... Interesting...

I bet good money that her lawyers told her to send a detective. It shifts blame off of her onto someone else. I have followed modern cases where the killer actually posted rewards for the capture of the 'killer' or had the police investigate some 'shady person'. What better way to shift blame off of you?
What that letter tells me is that even TRYING to dig up dirt on Morse, no one could find anything more to say about him other than he was a miser, didn't have many friends, and was very honest. I hope that is all they could find about me!

[irina]

Yikes! Here's something else of interest that I think would specifically interest a couple folks around here.

[debbiediablo]

Hastings, IA is 30 miles from Villisca, home of the infamous axe murders. Not that this piece of trivia has anything to do with anything...!

[debbiediablo]

I'm from Iowa. My husband's grandfather lived in what some people (including me) would consider a shack. He drove a car made in the 50s for so long that there was a hole worn in floor which necessitated purchase of a new one. (Or be asphyxiated.) He walked into the dealership and paid cash for a Lincoln Continental. When he died, the estate made each of his seven living children independently wealthy. Grandpa F could be John Morse right over again except for a wife and nine kids.

[Curryong]

All in all, the info in above attachment seems quite fair about Uncle John. No doubt Jennings was all for exploring every possibility.
All that never spending 10 cents when 1 would do would meet with Andrew's full approval. No wonder the two of them became friends! I like the one suit of clothes every two years stuff. I wonder how often he changed his undies? Once for summer, once for winter?

[debbiediablo]

All in all, the info in above attachment seems quite fair about Uncle John. No doubt Jennings was all for exploring every possibility.
All that never spending 10 cents when 1 would do would meet with Andrew's full approval. No wonder the two of them became friends! I like the one suit of clothes every two years stuff. I wonder how often he changed his undies? Once for summer, once for winter?

Maybe he took a bath while wearing them. Two birds. One stone...

There's a saying in farm country to this very day and it holds a lot of truth: "Live poor. Die rich." Frugality in rural America isn't just love of money; living an extravagant lifestyle is considered arrogant and ostentatious. This has changed somewhat in the past 25 years, but there's still a degree of pride in living simply.

[Curryong]

I'm sure that was true of rural New Englanders generally, too. I think they would have been very scornful of today's consumer society.

[PossumPie]

As I said 8 months ago in the original posting of the thread, MANY guilty people who can afford to, send detectives to "find evidence" that will sway a jury that they are innocent.
IF Morse didn't form close friendships, and IF Lizzie could even harbor a belief that he might be guilty, WHY would he have risked his life to kill the Borden's just so Lizzie could get an inheritance? You can't have it both ways...

[irina]

I read your earlier post yesterday Possum, and thought about it deeply. It's also possible the police were thinking of a conspiracy between Lizzie and Morse and as a family attorney Jennings was watching out for both interests. The reporter who wrote the article took a guess and made it into something it wasn't.

[Curryong]

It may have been so, but there's no evidence that Morse regarded Jennings as his family attorney, (and also no evidence really that he took offence to a detective being sent!) It seems to have been more of a fishing expedition on the part of Jennings and co.

The detective was probably trying to find out about John's probity, temper, any financial troubles etc. (If they could find out that Uncle John's farms were doing badly, that Andrew had loaned him money which had not been repaid, a lot of interesting things could have been explored in court, etc.)