Spirits are said to Live at Lizzie Borden's House in Fall River, MA

Lizzie Borden took an axe
Gave her mother forty whacks
When she saw what she had done
She gave her father forty-one
Did she .. or didn’t she?

The question posed by this famous poem has never been answered, and the murder
of Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother remains one of the 19th century’s 
great unsolved mysteries.  The popularity of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast
& Museum, on 92 Second Street in Fall River, attests to this grizzly murder’s
continuing allure.

According to Edward Thibault, the Night Manager and Tour Guide at the Borden
Museum, the notoriety of the Borden murders is second only to those committed
by Jack the Ripper.  Mr. Thibault, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Andrew
Borden, indulges the curiosity of his guests by giving guided tours of Lizzie’s
house every half-hour.  Although the furniture has been replicated, the
structure of the house is the same as it was when the murders took place more
than 100 years ago.  

There are three floors in the Borden home, and there are no hallways. It was
built to accommodate two families, but Andrew Borden converted the house into
a single family home.

Andrew Borden was murdered on the couch downstairs, on August 4, 1892,
apparently while he was sleeping.  His wife, Abby, was murdered in the bedroom
upstairs; she was facing her attacker.  Lizzie found her father on the couch,
his face mutilated by the attack.  She yelled upstairs for the cook, who was
resting in her bedroom on the third floor. 

Bridget Sullivan, nicknamed Maggie by Lizzie and her sister, Emma Borden, came
downstairs and ran across the street to fetch Doctor Bowen.  The doctor wasn’t
home, so she called on one of Lizzie’s friends, Miss Alice Russell who lived a
few blocks away.  In the meantime, another neighbor, Mrs. Churchill, came to
Lizzie’s assistance, and Dr. Bowen arrived on the scene.  Bridget returned, and
she and Mrs. Churchill discovered Abby Borden’s body in the guest room on the
second floor before the police arrived.

Bridget left the Borden home a couple of days after the murders, never to
return.  It is speculated that she lived in Ireland for several years before
returning to the United States.  She married and settled in Montana, and the
inscription on her gravestone reads that she took her secrets to her grave.

Although Lizzie Borden and her parents had been arguing about some financial
matters prior to the murders, her father was not generally well liked in the
community either.  Some people respected the wealthy banker/realtor’s advice,
while others, who may have thought that Mr. Borden was a little too harsh on
his tenants, cheered his death.

Lizzie, however, remained the prime suspect, and she was tried for the murder
of her father and her stepmother.  There was not enough evidence to convict
her, and she was acquitted of the charge.  Their murders remain unsolved to
this day.

Although it is unlikely that new evidence will be presented to re-open the
murder investigation, Mr. Thibault does believe that spirits live in the
house.  The windows mysteriously open after he closes them, and a breeze often
blows through the house, moving objects and opening and closing doors.

Mr. Thibault encourages visitors to visit the Bed and Breakfast for a more
extensive, authentic experience of the Borden household. Sleep in the Borden’s
beds, read books and watch videos about the Lizzie Borden murder mystery, and
listen to stories about the history of the house.  Then eat a big breakfast
upon awakening.  If you finish your breakfast, you’ll be served an ax-shaped
sugar cookie for dessert.
  


Thibeault, the night manager, beside a replica of the couch that 
Andrew Borden was murdered on.