Lizzie Borden: What the 1892 Record Shows

On August 4, 1892, Andrew Jackson Borden and his wife, Abby Durfee Gray Borden, were killed in their home at 92 Second Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. Andrew's daughter, Lizzie Borden, was tried for the murders in New Bedford in June 1893 and acquitted on June 20. No one else was ever convicted, and the case remains unsolved. This page separates what the surviving record confirms from the rhyme, tradition and speculation that grew around it. For book-length reading, see our guide to the best books about Lizzie Borden.

What the Record Confirms and What It Does Not

The Household and the Morning of August 4, 1892

The household at 92 Second Street consisted of Andrew, Abby, Lizzie, her sister Emma and the live-in maid, Bridget Sullivan. Andrew's brother-in-law, John Morse, had stayed the night of August 3. On the morning of the murders, Abby went upstairs sometime between 9:00 and 10:30 a.m., and Andrew returned home around 10:30. Detectives later estimated that he died at about 11:00.

Abby's body was seen from the stairs by Sullivan and a neighbor, Mrs. Churchill. Andrew was found on a sofa in the sitting room. The family physician, Dr. Bowen, pronounced both dead. These are the points on which the sources agree, and they are the base on which everything else rests.

The Investigation and the Indictment

Lizzie Borden appeared at an inquest on August 8, 1892, and her request to have her family attorney present was refused. A warrant was served and she was jailed on August 11. At the preliminary hearing, Judge Blaisdell found enough to send the case to the grand jury, and the Boston Globe of September 1, 1892, reported the ruling under the words “probably guilty.” The grand jury began hearing evidence on November 7, and it indicted her on December 2, 1892.

The Evidence and What the Court Allowed

A good deal of what people believe about the Borden case concerns evidence the jury never heard, or heard in a limited way.

• The hatchet-head. Police seized a hatchet-head with a broken handle from the basement on August 6, 1892. The prosecution argued that the killer had removed the handle. Officers contradicted one another about whether a handle was found nearby, and the head was never convincingly shown to be the weapon.
• Prussic acid. Testimony that Lizzie had tried to obtain prussic acid from a druggist the day before the murders was excluded, with the judge treating it as too remote in time. Stomach contents were tested, and no poison was found.
• The inquest. Her testimony at the inquest was ruled inadmissible at the trial.
• The burned dress. Alice Russell testified that she saw Lizzie burn a dress on the kitchen stove, and that Lizzie said it was ruined by paint. The defense did not challenge the testimony, but whether it was the dress worn on August 4 is not established.
• Her whereabouts. Lizzie said she was in the barn for twenty to thirty minutes. Witnesses placed her leaving the barn at 11:03 a.m.

The Trial in New Bedford, June 1893

The trial opened on June 5, 1893, in New Bedford, with Associate Justice Justin Dewey presiding. The prosecution was led by Hosea M. Knowlton and William H. Moody. The defense was Andrew V. Jennings, Melvin O. Adams and former governor George D. Robinson.

Contemporary newspapers survive and can be read online. The Library of Congress holds digitized June 21, 1893, front pages through Chronicling America. The Raleigh News and Observer ran a headline reading “Not Guilty the Verdict” over a New Bedford dispatch dated June 20. As that paper reported it, Lizzie Borden told the court she was innocent and left her case in the hands of the jury and her counsel. Judge Dewey told the jurors that the defendant's decision not to testify should not influence them. After the verdict, the district attorney moved that the other cases against her be dropped, and the court ordered that.

How long the jury was out is reported differently. Contemporary accounts put it at around forty minutes on one ballot, while later accounts say about an hour and a half. Either way, it was short.

After the Verdict

Acquitted of all charges, Lizzie Borden stayed in Fall River, and the Fall River Historical Society describes suspicion following her for the rest of her life. She and her sister Emma moved to a large house on The Hill that Lizzie named Maplecroft, and she used the name Lizbeth A. Borden. Emma left in 1905 and never saw her sister again. Lizzie Borden died of pneumonia on June 1, 1927, aged 66. Emma died nine days later in Newmarket, New Hampshire. Both are buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River.

What Remains Unknown

• Who committed the murders. Lizzie Borden remained the prime suspect in public memory despite the acquittal, and John Morse was for a time a police suspect. Neither has been proven guilty.
• The weapon. The hatchet-head's status is unconfirmed.
• Her movements. Her account of the barn and the witnesses' account of the time do not settle the matter.
• The dress. It is not established that the burned dress was the one she wore on August 4.
• A deathbed confession by Bridget Sullivan. The claim exists, and the sources we checked say it was contradicted.
• Abuse in the household. This is sometimes asserted as a motive, but there is little evidence for it.

The Rhyme and the Legend

The case was memorialized in a skipping-rope rhyme sung to the tune of “Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay.” Folklore says an anonymous writer made it up to sell newspapers, and others attribute it to the anonymous “Mother Goose.” Whatever its origin, the rhyme's numbers do not match the sources, which put the blows at 18 or 19 for Abby and 11 for Andrew. That gap is the clearest example on this page of tradition outrunning the record.

Keeping the Victims in View

Andrew and Abby Borden were killed in their own home. Most retellings begin with the defendant and treat the case as a puzzle. We have tried to keep to what documents and contemporary reports show, and to say plainly where they stop.

Where to Read the Primary Material

• The Fall River Historical Society describes its holdings as the world's largest collection of Lizzie Borden material, including original trial exhibits, photographs and primary-source documents, organized in named collections. See its Lizzie Borden collections page. The Society's museum and archive were closed for an infrastructure project when we checked, so confirm access before planning a visit.
• Chronicling America, a Library of Congress program, includes the June 21, 1893 edition of the Raleigh News and Observer, among other papers from that date.
• Books. Edwin H. Porter's The Fall River Tragedy (1893) is the earliest full-length account, and Kent and Flynn's The Lizzie Borden Sourcebook (1992) is an edited collection of documents. Our guide to the best books about Lizzie Borden covers more titles.
• The house today. The Lizzie Borden House is a museum by day and an overnight inn. Our Massachusetts haunted places guide covers visiting it as a site, while this page covers the case.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was Lizzie Borden ever found guilty?

No. She was tried in New Bedford beginning June 5, 1893, and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on June 20. The district attorney then moved that the other cases against her be dropped, and the court ordered that. No one else has ever been convicted of the murders of Andrew and Abby Borden.

Who killed Andrew and Abby Borden?

That has never been established. Lizzie Borden was acquitted, and John Morse was for a time a police suspect, but neither was proven guilty. The murder weapon is unconfirmed, there is no confession, and the case is generally described as unsolved. Any account that names a killer as settled fact is going beyond the record.

Was the hatchet found to be the murder weapon?

No. Police seized a hatchet-head with a broken handle from the basement on August 6, 1892, and the prosecution argued that the handle had been removed. But officers contradicted one another about whether a handle was found nearby, and the head was never convincingly shown to be the weapon used in the murders.

Did Lizzie Borden testify at her trial?

According to the Raleigh News and Observer of June 21, 1893, the judge told the jury that the fact the defendant did not testify should not influence them, and Lizzie Borden addressed the court briefly at the end, saying she was innocent. Her inquest testimony had been ruled inadmissible at the trial.

Did Abby and Andrew Borden really receive forty blows?

No. The number comes from a rhyme, not from the record. The sources we checked put the blows at 18 or 19 for Abby and 11 for Andrew. The rhyme's origin is unknown, and folklore says an anonymous writer made it up to sell newspapers, so it should not be used as evidence about what happened.

What happened to Lizzie Borden after the trial?

She stayed in Fall River and, with her sister Emma, moved to a house on The Hill that she named Maplecroft. Emma left in 1905. Lizzie died of pneumonia on June 1, 1927, aged 66, and Emma died nine days later in Newmarket, New Hampshire. Both are buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Fall River.

Sources

• Fall River Historical Society, Lizzie Borden collection.
• Library of Congress, Chronicling America: The News and Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), June 21, 1893.
• Wikipedia (English), Lizzie Borden, and the works it cites, including Kent and Flynn's The Lizzie Borden Sourcebook (1992) and Edwin H. Porter's The Fall River Tragedy (1893).

Keep Reading

• 7 Best Books About Lizzie Borden
• 18 Real Haunted Places in Massachusetts: The History Behind Each Legend (2026 Guide)
• Jack the Ripper: What's Actually Documented About the 1888 Murders