Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Does anyone know why Emma, who, according to what I remember, never stayed overnight anywhere any other time, decided to visit relatives? Do you think there could have been a major blowup in the household (maybe over a discovery of Lizzie's sexual preference, or some incest issues, for instance) and Emma just had to get out of there to escape the unpleasantness and tension? And if, during that time, when Lizzie was alone with her upset parents (maybe telling her to move out, or telling her she as cut out of the will, or whatever) and maybe Abby could have said one thing to topple her over the edge, Lizzie lost it? I guess we can speculate all we want, but it is interesting to think of different possibilities.

Hi Angel,

I agree Emma's trip fuels speculation that something was going on at home. Just a minor point, the folks she stayed with here in Fairhaven were not relatives of hers.

I'm still trying to figure out how Emma's friendship with Helen Brownell came about. Maybe through the "Marion group," or were those just Lizzie's friends? We did have Bordens in Fairhaven, too. And Morses. Any family connections would be pretty far back, though, and probably not a factor.

Is there really any evidence that supports the assumption that Emma never stayed with friends before this? Or is it all just hearsay?

Thats true, Allen, I don't think there is any direct evidence that Emma was a hermit and never left the Borden house or stayed away from home. Emma has been portrayed in that light by many authors, but, no source is given for that information. We really know so little about Emma.

But, whether she traveled quite often or not, it seems more to be her timing of this particular trip. Was she away from home because she knew something was going to happen or was it just happenstance? How much did Emma really know? Or figure out for herself later on? We may never have an answer.

The Bordens usually went to the farm in the summer.
I get the impression that Andrew *commuted* from there to the city but maybe not every day.
Do we know if they all went, or was that the elder's chance to escape the surly girls and have an extended vaccy without them bothering them?

Since Andrew and Abby decided not to go to the farm that summer, maybe that decided Emma to go visit friends elsewhere?

I'm still trying to figure out how Emma's friendship with Helen Brownell came about.

Can you tell me more about the Brownell's? Names, ages etc.

So far I have a Helen and Jennie. I did find a Brownell family in fairhaven on a genealogy site and it list the male as a physician.

Sorry I can't give you their dates at the moment. That info is filed at my office. (And I don't get my "Rebello" until Saturday!)

The people, though are these:

Emma's friend was Miss Helen Brownell. She died about 1920, I think.

Helen was the daughter of Rebecca (Delano) Brownell. Her husband was a Captain, but I'm blanking out on his name at the moment.

Helen and her mother lived at the home of Moses and Amanda Delano, both in their 70s in 1892. Moses was a well known shipbuilder in Fairhaven. Rebecca Brownell was his sister.

They would all be in the 1880 or 1890 census for Fairhaven.

If the "Jennie Brownell" name came from an author, I believe we found that was wrong and misleading and you should throw out that name.

Okay, here's what I have now.

In 1892, Moses Howe Delano was 72 and his wife Amanda was 74. Moses was born July 21, 1820 in Rochester, MA. (Present-day Rochester, Mattapoisett or Marion)

Rebecca (Delano) Brownell was the widow of Capt. Allen Brownell (1801-1884). She was born Aug. 2, 1814, also in Rochester. She married Allen Brownell on October 19, 1837. Capt. Brownell died June 16, 1884. Rebecca died March 24, 1897, at age 82.


Rebecca and Moses Delano were siblings, children of Joshua and Eunice (Ellis) Delano.

Helen Mar Brownell was born in March 27, 1838. She was the third of five children, the others of whom had all died by 1892.

The house where Emma stayed was then numbered 19 Green St. (It's now renumbered 132.)

By the time of the trial, the Brownells had moved to what is now 32 Union Street. Emma stayed with them for a couple of days during the trial.

Helen Brownell later lived at 23 Walnut Street. That home no longer exists. It was on a lot that's now part of the Unitarian Memorial Church property.

Kat @ Thu Dec 09, 2004 10:49 pm wrote:The Bordens usually went to the farm in the summer.
I get the impression that Andrew *commuted* from there to the city but maybe not every day.
Do we know if they all went, or was that the elder's chance to escape the surly girls and have an extended vaccy without them bothering them?

Since Andrew and Abby decided not to go to the farm that summer, maybe that decided Emma to go visit friends elsewhere?

Hmmmm.. This made me wonder if instead of wondering why Emma was not home-- we should concentrate more on why Lizzie was home!

Well she had been planning a trip to Marion with some friends.Her friends had already left for the trip but Lizzie had not accompanied them.I have always wondered about that myself.Why didn't she go with them? Seems to me she was trying to find reasons to get out of going so that she might stay home.She made a visit to the cottage but did not stay long because she said she was unable to laugh and talk and enjoy herself as the others were.Could be because she had some pretty serious issues on her mind? This is the answer Lizzie gives as to why she did not go to Marion at the time. I found this is Porter's book on page 119.

"Did not go to Marion at that time, because they could go sooner than I.I had taken the Secretaryship of the Christian Endeavor Society and had to remain over until the 10th."

I assume this can also be found in the inquest testimony,since this seems to be where he is drawing this information from.

Another interesting thought- When things got uncomfortable for Emma at Maplecroft , her solution was to run away from the problem. Maybe this was her way to cope with stress- her trip away from home just before the murders was another one of those times when she used escape to remove herself from something bad happening at home.

I can see Emma wanting to get away because of all the tension at home.There are a few people I know who cannot handle stress, and their solution is to try to distance themselves from the problem as much as possible.This is something I can picture each one of them doing in a situation like that.

Thanks Christopher! That's helpful.
Can you tell me from where the info comes that Emma stayed with the Brownell's during the trial? Is that in the legend of your town? And how far from New Bedford courthouse to Fairhaven?

And does anyone recall that the Jennie name was a false one?

The "Jennie" question was discussed in the October 2001 LBQ. Denise Noe had written a letter to the editor asking for clarification on the name "Jennie".

Leonard Rebello, in a long reply, stated that the Jennie Brownell referred to in Spiering was in error. I can scan the salient points if anyone is interested.

Kat @ Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:22 am wrote:If the "Jennie Brownell" name came from an author, I believe we found that was wrong and misleading and you should throw out that name.

I got the Jennie Brownell name from Spieling's book, "Lizzie" which is not the best source of information on the case.

[quote="FairhavenGuy @ Tue Dec 21, 2004 10:27 am"]Okay, here's what I have now.

In 1892, Moses Howe Delano was 72 and his wife Amanda was 74. Moses was born July 21, 1820 in Rochester, MA. (Present-day Rochester, Mattapoisett or Marion)

Thanks for the excellent report on the Brwonell issue. I want to do a little genealogy research on them.

Thanks again, FairhavenGuy, for the good work.

Harry @ Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:38 pm wrote: Leonard Rebello, in a long reply, stated that the Jennie Brownell referred to in Spiering was in error. I can scan the salient points if anyone is interested.

"Brownell, Jennie" is llisted in the index of Spiering book as being on page 4. Damned if I can find any reference to any Jennie on that page. So much for Spiering.

"Spiering" might be a good word to describe giving out faulty information.

The "legend" that Emma stayed again with the Brownells for two days during the trial is from some fella named Rebello, who wrote a cover story on Emma in Fairhaven in a Lizzie Borden Quarterly. My photocopy of the article isn't with me right now, but I think it was July 2001 or July 2000. He gave the address of the Brownells at that time as sixty-something Union Street. (I don't remember the exact number.) That is a house now numbered 32 Union Street.

The "legend" I cannot confirm is from lizzieandrewborden.com "Cast of Characters," where it says "Following a falling-out in 1905, Emma left Fall River and relocated first to Fairhaven, then to Providence, RI, and continued to maintain her residence in Providence after she began spending part of each of her last years in Newmarket, NH. " It was that little tidbit that led to my eventually signing up as a member here. (I still can't figure out what the source of that one is.)

So that is in Rebello? Thanks Christopher.
I didn't mean the "info" was a "legend", I meant was it part of the story "of your town?"
I think you may find your answer on December 26th

Thanks you guys for the Spiering reference too. (false Jennie).
My books are asleep after 11 p.m. I'm not used to this!
I appreciate the help!

Kat,

I've never seen anything at all about Lizzie or Emma Borden included in any history of our town. Thanks to the website, this forum, Len Rebello's LBQ article and a couple of local sources, I'm trying to change that.

In August, I put a page about Emma's stay in Fairhaven in Navigator, the monthly magazine Lori and I publish. (And at the bottom of the page, I listed lizzieandrewborden.com as a source for further information about Lizzie.)

I'll learn these Fairhaven folks a thing or two yet.