Emma Lenora Borden
Encyclopedia
Emma Lenora Borden was the elder sister of Lizzie Borden, who was the central figure in the hatchet murders of her father and stepmother on August 4, 1892 in Fall River, Massachusetts
in the United States.
Emma and Lizzie inherited their father's wealth, and with interest and investments, maintained their wealth throughout their lives. Upon their deaths, their estates were completely liquidated. Books from their library in Maplecroft were all stamped and signed by them as they were added, and are highly valuable and collectable even to this day. Emma entrusted her cousin Preston H. Gardner to handle her wealth, and he set up a trust fund for her which was outlined in her will. Mr. Gardner was the Vice President of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company (and other financial companies). Its assets in 1914 (first year after the Federal Reserve Act) were $49 Million USD, with $5.5 Million USD in cash, with the rest in loans and investments. The Trust is still active, and appears to be a rock for investors. While sister Lizzie's will took almost seven years to probate
, with significant legal expenses deducted, Emma's will was dispatched within months of her death.
On June 2, 1906, Emma boarded the White Star
liner, RMS Cymric in Boston, with stops in Queenstown and Liverpool
. The purpose of the trip was to visit ancestral lands in Scotland.
Unlike her sister Lizzie, who owned two automobiles (1923 Lincoln, 1924 Buick), and was often chauffeured with her three dogs to the family farm in Swansea
, Emma depended on others for transportation.
in the home she shared with Annie C. Connor in Newmarket, New Hampshire
. Annie Conner was a trained nurse who looked after Emma in the last four years of her life. Emma moved to this location in 1923 at the suggestion of her cousin Preston, both for health reasons, and to get away from the public eye, which had renewed interest in the sisters at the publication of another book about the murders. Emma died only nine days after her sister Lizzie's death. Though reportedly estranged late in life, both were interred side by side in the family plot in Fall River, Massachusetts
.
.
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...
in the United States.
Early life
There are only three known pictures of Emma before age thirty. One was with her birth mother Sarah, another about age ten, and a final photograph in her twenties (about the time General Custer died at Little Big Horn). In all the photographs she is shown with the same hairstyle, and without a smile. She would have been five years old when her sister Alice Esther was born, and seven when she died. Her sister Lizzie was born when Emma was nine, and their mother died when she was twelve. Emma's father, Andrew Jackson Borden, married Abby Durfee Gray when she was fourteen and Lizzie was five. It was Emma who reared Lizzie until Emma went away to high school for a year and a half.Later life
After the murder trial in 1893, the two sisters purchased a modern home (half-interest each), which Lizzie christened Maplecroft. They lived together there for 12 years. Neither married or had children. Emma moved out of Maplecroft in 1905 around the time that Lizzie became heavily involved with theater friends. Emma being nine years older, and 54 at the time, had little interest in that sort of life. Emma attended church services regularly, while her sister did not. When Emma left Maplecroft, she moved in with Alice Lydia Buck, to live in the home left to Alice by her father Reverend Buck, who died in 1903.Emma and Lizzie inherited their father's wealth, and with interest and investments, maintained their wealth throughout their lives. Upon their deaths, their estates were completely liquidated. Books from their library in Maplecroft were all stamped and signed by them as they were added, and are highly valuable and collectable even to this day. Emma entrusted her cousin Preston H. Gardner to handle her wealth, and he set up a trust fund for her which was outlined in her will. Mr. Gardner was the Vice President of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company (and other financial companies). Its assets in 1914 (first year after the Federal Reserve Act) were $49 Million USD, with $5.5 Million USD in cash, with the rest in loans and investments. The Trust is still active, and appears to be a rock for investors. While sister Lizzie's will took almost seven years to probate
Probate
Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will. A probate court decides the validity of a testator's will...
, with significant legal expenses deducted, Emma's will was dispatched within months of her death.
On June 2, 1906, Emma boarded the White Star
White Star Line
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...
liner, RMS Cymric in Boston, with stops in Queenstown and Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. The purpose of the trip was to visit ancestral lands in Scotland.
Unlike her sister Lizzie, who owned two automobiles (1923 Lincoln, 1924 Buick), and was often chauffeured with her three dogs to the family farm in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, Emma depended on others for transportation.
Death
On June 10, 1927, at age 76, Emma died from chronic nephritisGlomerulonephritis
Glomerulonephritis, also known as glomerular nephritis, abbreviated GN, is a renal disease characterized by inflammation of the glomeruli, or small blood vessels in the kidneys...
in the home she shared with Annie C. Connor in Newmarket, New Hampshire
Newmarket, New Hampshire
Newmarket is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,936 at the 2010 census. Some residents are students and employees at the nearby University of New Hampshire in Durham....
. Annie Conner was a trained nurse who looked after Emma in the last four years of her life. Emma moved to this location in 1923 at the suggestion of her cousin Preston, both for health reasons, and to get away from the public eye, which had renewed interest in the sisters at the publication of another book about the murders. Emma died only nine days after her sister Lizzie's death. Though reportedly estranged late in life, both were interred side by side in the family plot in Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...
.
Genealogy
Andrew Jackson Borden married Sarah Anthony Morse on December 25, 1845. They had three children: Emma Lenora in 1851; Alice Esther in 1856; and Lizzie Andrew in 1860. Alice Esther died in 1858. Sarah Anthony Borden died in 1863. Andrew married a second wife, Abby Durfee Gray, on June 6, 1865. Andrew and Abby Borden died in 1892, and Emma and Lizzie died in 1927. They are all buried in the Borden Family Plot in Oak Grove CemeteryOak Grove Cemetery (Fall River, Massachusetts)
Oak Grove Cemetery is a historic cemetery at 765 Prospect Street in Fall River, Massachusetts.The cemetery was built in 1855 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.-Notable burials:...
.
Trivia
- She was portrayed by Katherine HelmondKatherine HelmondKatherine Marie Helmond is an American film, theater and television actress, who played Emily Dickinson on Meeting of Minds, as well as such fictional characters as Jessica Tate on Soap, Mona Robinson on Who's the Boss?, Doris Sherman on Coach, and Lois Whelan on Everybody Loves...
in the television movie The Legend of Lizzie BordenThe Legend of Lizzie BordenThe Legend of Lizzie Borden is a 1975 American television movie. It premiered on ABC on February 10, 1975.-Plot:The film, although based on fact, is a stylish retelling of the events of August 4, 1892 when the parents of New England spinster Lizzie Andrew Borden were found brutally murdered in...
(1975).