Treasury of Victorian Murder: The Borden Tragedy Book

Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.

My dad used to recite that to me when I was a kid, (Yes, I know. My upbringing was not unlike that of Wednesday Addams...) so often in fact, that I thought HE was the one who'd made it up. According to this book, that charming children's rhyme came into being during Borden's well publicized trial.

Lizzie's step-mother was the first to die, with nineteen blows to the back of her head.

But you can't chop your Mama up in Massachusetts
Not even if you're tired of her cuisine.
No, you can't chop your Mama up in Massachusetts
You know it's almost sure to cause a scene.

A few hours later, her father suffered ten fierce and heavy blows to the head and face.

'Cause you can't chop your Papa up in Massachusetts
Not even if it's planned as a surprise.
No, you can't chop your Papa up in Massachusetts
You know how neighbors love to criticize.


But, was Lizzie the one responsible for these heinous crimes?

There were other suspects - the mysterious John V. Morse, a visiting relative, Lizzie's older sister, Emma, the family maid, and a suspicious-looking man who was seen loitering near the Borden household.

But, Lizzie was the one who went on trial, incurring everlasting infamy, before being declared "not guilty" by the jury.

This nifty little graphic novel offers no definitive answers - just the facts, ma'am. No one will ever know what really happened on that sweltering August day in 1892. The account presented here is adapted from the unpublished memoirs of one of the residents of Fall River, Massachusetts. It's an interesting read that will leave you speculating as to what really went on in the Borden household.

Some folks say she didn't do it
And others say of course she did.
But they all agree Miss Lizzie B
Was a problem kind of kid.


*All song lyrics taken from Lizzie Borden by The Chad Mitchell Trio

Listen to the song here: - The video shows the Borden house and photos of the crime scenes.