Lizzie Borden case journals discovered

Two journals that were kept by Lizzie Borden's lawyer Andrew Jennings have been discovered, and bequeathed to the Fall River Historical Society in Massachusetts, giving a very rare insite to one of the most legendary murder cases in history.

I'm sure this will be a fascinating read once the material is published (although it may be some time due to the pages being fragile, and they are to be conserved before they are transcribed).

Perhaps we'll get early releases of some of the material.

For those not familiar with Lizzie Borden case:
en.wikipedia.org...

Source

The personal journals Lizzie Borden's lawyer kept during her 1892 trial were bequeathed to the Fall River Historical Society in Massachusetts, officials said.

Two journals Andrew Jackson Jennings kept during Borden's trial were left to the society by the lawyer's grandson, who died last year, the Boston Globe reported Monday.

"It's all new material, completely unpublished,'' said Michael Martins, curator of the Fall River Historical Society. "It's the only file Jennings retained and it's the first idea we have about how the defense went about building its case.

"It's so rare to have primary source material appear 120 years after the fact,'' Martins said.

Matins said the journals have become fragile over time and the pages are brittle.

"We really want to handle them as little as possible,'' Martins said. The journals will be conserved before they are transcribed, he said, then later published.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

The Globe quotes just one example that will already throw given perceptions of the case into question.

On writing about Andrew Borden - Lizzie's notoriously miserly father who was hacked to death - Jennings recounts a generous, loving man.

Jennings remembered that Mr Borden mentioned he enjoyed receiving letters from his daughters Lizzie and Emma, whom he called 'my girls'.

Martins said: 'It’s clear from what people said that Andrew Borden was apparently quite concerned about his daughters’ well-being.

At odds with the common description of Andrew Borden, Martins added: 'We know now that he was not a gentleman who deprived his daughters of much.'

It's going to be interesting to see what is contained in these two journals, and if they give any additional information on the case that isn't already known.

reply to post by isyeye

It was the first night after our honeymoon and in a new town and rented house, and while my husband was at work I picked up a book of his to read. It was about LIzzie, and I was thoroughly rapt in the story of the murders when I thought I heard someone at the back door. Too scared to move, I just slid further under the covers and wished I could have reached the light. Then I thought I heard footsteps coming in my direction. A minute later, my husband slowly pulled down the bedding and when I opened my eyes he caught the look of terror on my face, as well as the book. He laughed and asked me to make him something to eat, while telling me I should be reading something else on my first night alone in a new town.

It will be interesting to see what this new material holds. Keep us posted?