Lizzie Borden Pleads “Not Guilty.”
Miss Lizzie A. Borden was to be arraigned in the Second District Court,
on Friday morning. By 9 o’clock a crowd of people thronged the streets
and stood in a drenching rain to await the opening of the door of the
room in which the court held its sittings. It was not a well-dressed
crowd, nor was there anybody in it from the acquaintance circle of the
Borden family in Fall River. Soon after 9 o’clock, a hack rolled up
to the side door and Emma Borden and John V. Morse alighted and went
up the stairs. They were not admitted at once to the matron’s room.
Rev. E. A. Buck was already present and was at the time, engaged in
conversation with the prisoner. Judge Blaisdell passed up the stairs,
while Miss Emma was waiting to see her sister, and entered the court
room. Mr. Jennings, the counsel, also arrived. The District Attorney
was already in the court room, and soon the Marshal brought in his
large book of complaints, and took his seat at the desk. The door of
the matron’s room opened and Mr. Jennings, Miss Emma Borden and Mr.
Morse met the prisoner. All retired within the room. A few moments
later Mr. Jennings came out and entered the court room. He at once
secured a blank sheet of legal cap and began to write. The City Marshal
approached him, and Mr. Jennings nodded an assent to an inquiry if the
prisoner could now be brought in.
Lizzie Borden entered the room immediately after on the arm of Rev. Mr.
Buck. She was dressed in a dark blue suit and her hat was black with
red flowers on the front. She was escorted to a chair. The prisoner was
not crying, but her features were far from firm. She has a face and
chin betokening strength of character, but a rather sensitive mouth,
and on this occasion the sensitiveness of the lips especially betrayed
itself. She was constantly moving her lips as she sat in the court
room in a way to show that she was not altogether unemotional. Clerk
Leonard called the case of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts against
Lizzie Borden, on complaint of murder. Mr. Jennings, who was still
writing, asked for a little more time. He soon arose and went over to
the prisoner. He spoke to her, and then she arose and went to his desk.
He read what he had been writing to her, and then gave her a pen. She
signed the paper.
Mr. Jennings then addressed the court saying:
“Your Honor, before the prisoner pleads she wishes to present the
following.” He then read as follows:
“Bristol ss. Second District Court. Commonwealth vs. Lizzie A. Borden.
Complaint for homicide. Defendant’s plea.
“And now comes the defendant in the above entitled complaint and
before pleading thereto says that the Hon. Josiah C. Blaisdell, the
presiding Justice of the Second District Court of Bristol, before which
said complaint is returnable, has been and believes is still engaged
as the presiding magistrate at an inquest upon the death of said
Andrew J. Borden, the person whom it is alleged in said complaint the
defendant killed, and has received and heard and is still engaged in
receiving and hearing evidence in relation to said killing and to said
defendant’s connection therewith which is not and has not been allowed
to hear or know the report of, whereof she says that said Hon. Josiah
C. Blaisdell is disqualified to hear this complaint, and she objects to
his so doing, and all of this she is ready to verify.
“Lizzie A. Borden, by her attorney, Andrew J. Jennings, (Her signature)
Lizzie A. Borden. Sworn to this the 12th day of August, A. D.,
1892, before me, Andrew J. Jennings, Justice of the peace.”
When Mr. Jennings concluded the District Attorney arose and asked the
Court if this paper was to delay the prisoner’s plea. The Court said it
was not to, and ordered the Clerk, to read the warrant.
“You needn’t read it,” said Mr. Jennings, “the prisoner pleads not
guilty.”
The text of the warrant however was as follows:
“Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
To Augustus B. Leonard, Clerk of the Second District Court of Bristol,
in the county Bristol, and Justice of the Peace:
Rufus B. Hilliard, City Marshal of Fall River, in said county, in
behalf of said Commonwealth, on oath, complains that Lizzie A. Borden
of Fall River, in the county of Bristol, at Fall River, aforesaid, in
the county aforesaid, on the fourth day of August, in the year of our
Lord 1892, in and upon one Andrew J. Borden, feloniously, willfully and
of her malice aforethought, did make assault and that the said Lizzie
A. Borden, then and there with a certain weapon, to wit, a hatchet,
in and upon the head of the said Andrew J. Borden, then and there
feloniously, willfully and of her malice aforethought, did strike,
giving unto the said Andrew J. Borden, then and there, with the hatchet
aforesaid, by the stroke aforesaid, in manner aforesaid, in and upon
the head of the said Andrew J. Borden, one mortal wound, of which said
mortal wound the said Andrew J. Borden then and there instantly died.
And so the complainant aforesaid, upon his oath aforesaid, further
complains and says that the said Lizzie A. Borden, the said Andrew
J. Borden, in manner and form aforesaid, then and there feloniously,
wilfully and of her malice aforethought did kill and murder.
(Signed) R. B. HILLIARD.”
“The prisoner must plead in person,” said Judge Blaisdell. At a sign
from City Marshal Hilliard the prisoner arose in her seat.
“What is your plea?” asked the Clerk.
“Not guilty,” said the girl, and then, having said this indistinctly
and the clerk repeating his question, she answered the same thing in a
louder voice and, with a very clearly cut emphasis on the word “Not.”
Mr. Jennings now arose. “It seems to me,” said he, “your Honor, that
this proceeding is most extraordinary. This girl is called to plead to
a complaint issued in the progress of an inquest now only in its early
stages. The complaint has been brought in spite of the fact that she
was not allowed to be represented by counsel in the hearing before the
inquest. She has no knowledge of the evidence on which the complaint
is made. I spoke to the District Attorney about this fact before she
testified at the inquest, and I admitted that it might be legally done.
But this has left the girl in this position, that she is charged with a
crime in a complaint issued during the inquest, and I understand that
inquest is still open. Your Honor sits here to hear this case, which is
returnable before you, when you have already been sitting on the case
in another capacity. We do not know what you have heard on this case in
the inquest or of the purport of the testimony there. By all the laws
of human nature you cannot help being prejudiced from the character of
the evidence which has been submitted to you. You might look at things
differently from what you do, if certain questions that may have been
asked in the inquest had been excluded, or if you had been allowed to
hear both sides, with counsel to ask for rulings upon the character
of the interrogatories. So it seems to me that you are sitting in a
double capacity to hear a charge against my client based upon evidence
of which we know nothing, and for all that we know you may have formed
opinions which make you incompetent to hear this complaint under the
rules of law. The constitution does not allow a Judge to sit in such
a double capacity and it guarantees a defendant from a prejudiced
hearing.”
District Attorney Knowlton answered saying: “The commonwealth demurs
from the plea. My brother is entirely in error in stating that there
is anything extraordinary in this proceeding. This is exactly the line
laid down that has been followed in other cases that have excited
less attention than this one. More than twenty times to my certain
knowledge, has a similar thing been done, and I should not be doing
my duty if this thing should not be done now. You have your duty at
the inquest and you are also obliged by statute to hear cases of this
kind. I must respectfully submit that it is not a compliment to your
Honor’s conception of your duty, to suggest that you cannot faithfully
and impartially perform the duties that devolve upon you in this case.
The inquest was against no one. It was to ascertain who committed these
murders. The inquest is still proceeding, and the evidence before it
has nothing to do with this case. It is your Honor’s duty to hear this
complaint and you ought not to be deterred.”
Mr. Jennings then said: “I don’t think that the District Attorney
comprehended my point. The inquest is generally held early in a case
of this kind, and you can see where suspicion falls. The difference
between the custom and this case is, that after the police determined
whom they thought the guilty person was, then, without holding an open
trial at once, they settled on the guilty party and held an inquest to
examine her, without anybody to defend her. That’s what this inquest
is, and because your Honor has been sitting here before the inquest you
can’t help being prejudiced. To illustrate: A person comes to your law
office and states his case, and then after that you go into court to
hear the case and pronounce judgment on it.”
Judge Blaisdell—“I think Mr. Jennings is mistaken. The statutes
make it my imperative duty to hold an inquest and upon the testimony
introduced at that hearing, to direct the issuance of warrants. The
motion is overruled and the demurred sustained.”
Mr. Jennings—“Then, your Honor, we are ready for trial.”
Mr. Knowlton—“The evidence in this case could not be completed at
once. It could hardly all be gathered by next week.” He moved a
continuance till one week, Monday, August 22, at 2 o’clock, when the
State hoped to be entirely ready with the case.
Mr. Jennings—“We are very anxious to proceed at once. We ask for a
trial at the earliest possible moment.”
District Attorney Knowlton—“I didn’t know but what you would waive
examination here, so I am not ready now.”
The two lawyers consulted for a moment, and then announced they had
agreed on Monday, August 22, as the date of the preliminary hearing.
District Attorney Knowlton moved that the prisoner be committed till
that date. Judge Blaisdell granted the motion, remarking that other
procedure was impossible, the offence not being a bailable one.
Bridget Sullivan had entered the court room during the talk between the
court and the lawyers. Mr. Morse had not entered the room. Neither had
Miss Emma Borden. The District Attorney now addressed the Court again.
He said the importance of Mr. Morse and Bridget Sullivan to the case of
the State was so great that he wished to move that they be placed under
bonds to guarantee their presence inside the Court’s jurisdiction.
Judge Blaisdell said he would grant the request, and asked how much the
bonds should be.
[Illustration: MAYOR JOHN W. COUGHLIN.]
Mr. Knowlton—“Three hundred dollars is the usual amount, but on
account of the gravity of this case I suggest the amount be $500. Mr.
Morse can procure bail, we suppose; but we don’t know about Bridget
Sullivan.” The servant girl was called from the corner where she sat,
and Mr. Morse got up. Bridget was as pale as a ghost and her eyes
plainly said she did not understand what was going on. The order of the
Court was read to the man and woman, they standing side by side. They
were then led across the room by the Marshal and given seats far away
from the outside door. Mr. Jennings had two of the Notary Publics whom
he keeps at his office in the court room, and he at once dispatched
one of them down town for a bondsman or bondsmen. Lizzie Borden had
in the interval left the room on the arm of Rev. Mr. Buck. She went
back to the matron’s room. Her sister and Mr. Buck remained with her
for fifteen or twenty minutes. Then Mr. Morse, having obtained bail,
came out. The elder sister soon after left the court building with
Mr. Morse, being driven home in the same carriage they came in. The
crowd about the carriage when the old man and his niece entered it was
a large one. Messrs. Almy and Milne, proprietors of the _Fall River
Daily News_, went bail for Mr. Morse. Bridget returned to her friend’s
residence on Division street. The prisoner remained in the matron’s
room to await transportation to the County Jail at Taunton.
For the first time in six days the strain was lifted from Fall River
and people breathed and thought and transacted routine business more
naturally. The suspense was temporarily over and everybody felt
relieved. This would have been the result whatever the verdict reached
Thursday evening. A decisive step had to be taken in one direction
or another, and when the final announcement came, the mind of the
community grew more settled. There was more or less excitement, of
course, and the impulse to dart into Court Square whenever a coach or
the patrol wagon made its appearance, was nearly as strong as ever, but
on the whole, men talked and acted more rationally. They were anxious
to learn what the breaking of the safe had revealed, how the prisoner
passed the night, the particulars of the arraignment and other minor
details, but when they were informed that the safe had hidden nothing
which bore on the case, that Miss Borden had slept quietly and appeared
to be self-contained and composed in her quarters in the matron’s
room, and that there were likely to be no further developments of
importance for a week or more, the life of the town settled back into
the old ruts. Rev. E. A. Buck called on the prisoner at noon and from
the sidewalk near the station a bouquet could be seen in the windows
of the matron’s apartments. After the vigorous protest of Andrew J.
Jennings, Esq., relative to the preliminary trial had electrified the
court room audience, and his motion had been overruled, it was decided
to take the prisoner to Taunton on the 3:40 train. Fall River has no
house of detention and no quarters suitable for sheltering persons who
are held on suspicion. Court Square was choked as usual with a crowd
of sightseers. One carriage drew up at the main entrance and Miss Emma
Borden and Andrew J. Jennings, Esq., entered it and were driven to
the depot. Miss Lizzie Borden, the prisoner, stepped into a carriage
which was in waiting at the side entrance and was also driven off. To
all outward appearances, she was as calm as though she had been going
for a visit to relatives. Rev. E. A. Buck, City Marshal Hilliard and
State Officer Seaver accompanied her. A small valise containing the
prisoner’s clothing was placed on the box.
The representatives of the press followed the carriage containing the
prisoner in cabs, and at 3:30 Court Square was quiet. The newsboys, who
had taken possession and held high revel in it for a week, had gone off
with their bundles, the curious no longer loitered on the sidewalks,
and no more rumors floated out from the guard room. On Thursday night
when the finale was known, the friends of the Borden family were cool
and philosophical. Friday they denounced the course pursued by the
authorities from beginning to end. In partnership with her sister, Miss
Emma Borden had offered a reward of $5000 for the conviction of the
murderer of her father and stepmother, and had secured the services
of a detective to track the butcher. On the Government side it was
fair and natural to presume, that she, above any person on the face
of the earth, desired to bring the wretch who had committed the deed
to the gallows. The very fact that she was suspected, was of itself
sufficient to warrant such a conclusion, all other considerations
aside. The only surmise possible, therefore, was that she would assist
the authorities to the best of her ability in unravelling the mystery
and in freeing herself from the chain of circumstances, weak or
strong, which surrounded her. It was to be supposed that she would not
only answer every question cheerfully, but that she would volunteer
every particle of information in her possession, and that the more
searching the examination, the better she would be satisfied. She had
everything to gain and nothing to lose by a full revelation of the
truth. Anybody in his sober senses would have been slow to even suggest
that District Attorney Knowlton, or any other prosecuting officer, was
eager to convict the innocent, to embarrass witnesses, or to impose any
unnecessary hardships upon them. At the inquest every person examined
was a government witness; there was no defendant, and of course, no
witnesses for the defense. Whether Miss Borden did assist the court and
the authorities to clear up the grim problem which confronted them, was
not known. If the government officers were possessed of the ordinary
intelligence, they were aware that it was a terrible thing to swear out
a warrant for the arrest of a young lady and charge her with killing
her father. If, as it was openly alleged at the time, the government
did so, because it did not appreciate the full significance of such
a charge, it must be admitted their conduct was more extraordinary
and inexplicable than any feature of the crime itself. The government
authorities knew that once the warrant had been issued, Miss Borden’s
character, at the time of trial which had always been irreproachable,
was blotted forever; it must have known that even if she left the
Superior Court room acquitted, nothing that it could do could lift the
blight from her life.
The route taken by the carriage containing Lizzie Borden, Marshal
Hilliard, Officer Seaver and Rev. Mr. Buck toward the Fall River
railroad depot was most peculiar. It is a direct road from the Central
Station to the depot. Along the main thoroughfare were people eager
to catch a glimpse of the prisoner, and the Marshal, considerate of
his charge, decided to disappoint the curiosity seekers. Accordingly,
the journey was up hill and down dale, through side streets and along
thoroughfares skirting the river. Following the carriage were others
containing the representatives of the leading newspapers of the East,
and these latter drew up at the depot a few seconds in advance of the
official vehicle. A squad of officers was on duty there, and as the
crowd surged they pushed it back. The train for Taunton was a few
minutes late, and until its arrival Lizzie Borden and Mr. Buck remained
in the carriage. As the clang of the engine bell was heard, the Marshal
pulled up the carriage curtains and assisted Lizzie Borden to alight.
She was prettily dressed and appeared quite prepossessing. She wore a
blue dress of new design, and a short blue veil. At the realization
that the moment for departure had arrived she seemed overcome by a
momentary weakness and almost tottered. She was at once supported by
the Marshal and Mr. Buck, and leaning upon the arms of these two she
walked through the ladies’ waiting room and out towards the cars. The
eager crowd pushed and stared and gossipped as the party entered the
rear car of the train. Rev. Mr. Buck carried a box containing a number
of religious and other papers and magazines, and also some books. A
telescope bag containing Miss Borden’s apparel was placed in the cars.
The prisoner sat near the window in a seat with Mr. Buck, and behind
them was Mr. Hilliard. The blinds were drawn in order to prevent
annoyance to Miss Borden by curious persons. Her glance was vacant and
her thoughts were manifestly removed from her present surroundings. Not
a word was exchanged between the members of the party, and the prisoner
still remained in the same position, staring at nothing. In some manner
the information that Miss Borden was upon the train spread, and at the
few stations at which it stopped small knots of inquisitive people were
gathered.
Taunton was reached at 4:20 o’clock. Awaiting her arrival was a
gathering of hundreds, and they crowded about every car. Officer
Seaver in order to attract their attention, hurried to the north end
of the station, and the throng hurried in that direction. At this time
Mr. Hilliard and Mr. Buck escorted the prisoner from the south end
of the station and into a carriage. Mr. Seaver joined them, and the
crowd found itself disappointed. After the vehicle rolled the cabs of
the newspaper men. Taunton Jail is not far removed from the centre
of the city and is a picturesque looking stone structure. There is
the main building and the keeper’s residence, which is attached. On
the outside of the structure ivy grows in profusion and the building
does not resemble, except in the material of its construction, the
generally accepted appearance of a place of confinement. It has
accommodations for sixty-five prisoners, and the women’s department is
on the southeast side. In this portion of the building there are but
nine cells, and before the arrival of Lizzie Borden but five of these
were occupied. These were confined for offences of a minor nature,
as it was not customary for the officials of Bristol County to send
many women to Taunton, the majority being committed to the jail at
New Bedford, where there is employment for them. The matron is Mrs.
Wright, wife of Sheriff Andrew J. Wright, keeper of the jail, and her
personal attention is given to the female prisoners. The officers
had been notified of the coming of Miss Borden, and her arrival was
unattended by any unusual ceremony inside the jail. Her step was firmer
than ever, as, unassisted, she walked up the three steps and into the
office of the keeper. From there she was directed to the corridor which
runs along the cells of the women’s department, and here Mr. Hilliard
left her. Returning to the office he handed the committing mittimus to
Sheriff Wright, who examined it and found it correct.
In the meanwhile Lizzie Borden was alone with the clergyman. He spoke
words of cheer to her and left her in the care of the matron. Mr. Buck
said she was not shocked at the sight of the cells, and, knowing that
she was innocent, accepted the situation with a calm resignation. He
said her friends would call upon her from time to time, this being
allowed by the institution.
The cell in which Lizzie Borden was confined is nine and one-half feet
high and seven and one-half feet wide. Across the corridor, looking
through the iron bars, her gaze will rest upon whitewashed walls. The
furniture of the cell consists of a bedstead, chair and washbowl. At
her personal request she saw none of the daily newspapers. Consequently
she was not familiar with the comments of the papers regarding the
case. Taken in charge by the matron, Lizzie Borden was escorted to
the cell, and the iron doors clanged behind her. Perhaps no person
in Taunton experienced a greater surprise and shock at the arrival of
Lizzie Borden than Mrs. Wright, the matron, in whose care the prisoner
was committed. Sheriff Wright was for years a resident of Fall River,
and at one time held the position of Marshal of the city police,
the place now occupied by Mr. Hilliard. Mr. and Mrs. Wright were
well acquainted with the Borden family, but the first names of their
acquaintances had slipped from their memory, and the Sheriff and his
wife did not connect the Borden they formerly knew with the prominent
actors in this tragedy. When Lizzie Borden entered the presence of the
matron, the latter noticed something familiar in the countenance of
the young woman, and after the retirement of Rev. Mr. Buck commenced
to question her. Finally, after a number of questions, Mrs. Wright
asked, “Are you not the Lizzie Borden who used as a child to play
with my daughter Isabel?” The answer was an affirmative one, and the
information touched Mrs. Wright to the quick. When she appeared in the
keeper’s office a few moments later her eyes were moist with tears.