The Preliminary Hearing Adjourned.
About ten days elapsed between the date of Miss Borden’s commitment to
Taunton Jail and the date set for the preliminary trial. During this
time there was no end of theories advanced by both sides as to the
guilt or innocence of the accused. Meanwhile she remained in custody of
Sheriff Wright and was apparently undisturbed by circumstances which
surrounded her. The days went by in a quiet uneventful manner and those
who predicted a collapse of her mental or physical system, while she
was a temporary inmate of the jail were disappointed; as there was no
outward evidence that the prisoner was at all alarmed at the gravity
of her position. In many ways the consideration extended to her by the
authorities was manifest. During her incarceration she was visited
regularly by Rev. E. A. Buck, her sister Emma and her legal counsel.
From all parts of the country came assurances that the prisoner had
a host of devoted friends. Ministers of the gospel took occasion to
proclaim her innocence from the pulpit. A sample of this friendliness
can be seen from the following words of Rev. Dr. Mason of Bowden
College Church, Brunswick, Me. He occupied the pulpit of the Central
Church in Fall River and in the course of his sermon said “A great,
dark cloud has settled down upon one of our families. But God is in
that cloud. He is with that poor, tried tempest-tossed girl; he will
give her strength and peace; he will make her glad. It is impossible
for a wrong to be done in this world that eternity will not undo. Good
is coming; good out of evil; light out of darkness. The father is over
all. He will vindicate, and raise and glorify.”
At a meeting of the Woman’s Auxiliary of the Young Men’s Christian
Association of Fall River held about this time a prayer was offered
for Miss Borden by Mrs. Hezekiah C. Brayton of Fall River, and the
religious societies all over the country called upon the Divinity to
assist the unfortunate woman. Throughout the whole proceeding against
Miss Borden she was called “unfortunate,” but no man or woman, good,
bad, or indifferent was heard to say that the murdered man and woman
were “unfortunate.”
[Illustration: TAUNTON JAIL.]
Judge Blaisdell, who presided at the inquest and who, being the
Justice of the Second District Court, was to be the presiding justice
in the coming preliminary trial came in for more than his share of
criticism. He was a man of advanced years and remarkable vitality, had
served in both branches of the State legislature and was one of the
first mayors of the city of Fall River. He had presided as Justice of
the Second District Court since its establishment about twenty years
ago. He said that he thought he knew enough to attend to his duties no
matter who sought to criticise him. A sample of the editorial attacks
which were being made upon the Judge was shown to him. It related to
the harsh words used in the complaint which accused Lizzie A. Borden
of murdering her father. The Judge said that he did not know before
that such ignorance existed. The form of complaint was decided upon
at least one hundred and fifty years before Miss Borden was born, and
was adapted to fit capital crimes. Rev. W. W. Jubb, Miss Borden’s
pastor, characterized Judge Blaisdell’s action in sitting on the bench
while presiding at the inquest as indecent, outrageous and not to be
tolerated in any civilized community. He proposed to use every means
to have another Judge preside at the preliminary hearing. Rev. Mr.
Jubb, formerly of Morsley, England, had at that time been a resident
in America about twelve months. The act which he criticised was an
American constitution nearly two hundred years old.
The preliminary trial of Miss Borden was assigned for Monday, August
22, and the prisoner was on the morning of that day taken from Taunton
Jail and brought by rail to Fall River. Clad in the same gown that she
wore at the time of her departure from Fall River, and with her face
partly concealed with the same blue veil, she stepped from the train
in custody of Marshal Hilliard and Rev. Mr. Buck. As she was still
possessed of all that wonderful nerve there was no indication in her
manner nor bearing that she was a prisoner who had been taken from jail
after several days confinement to face the mass of evidence which the
State announced it had accumulated against her. And for aught that her
appearance might indicate she was the same undemonstrative traveler
returning to her home and quietly welcomed by her friends. The trip
to Fall River had been made without incident, she sitting motionless
in her seat and not even raising her eyes to see the passengers who
walked through the car in ostensible search for seats, but really to
satisfy their curiosity with a glance at the young woman. In Fall River
it was common knowledge that she was to arrive just before 2 o’clock,
and so the arrival of Miss Emma Borden and Mrs. Holmes at the police
station at 10:30 attracted no attention. The police gave no sign,
but after the arrival of Miss Emma, half a dozen of them sauntered
slowly towards the depot. As the train from Taunton pulled up at 11
o’clock, Lizzie Borden and the others alighted. Some newspaper men
were on the train and others were at the depot. The services of the
police were not needed, for there was no crowd to keep back, and the
carriage of the authorities drove away in an opposite direction to
that of the police station. Then it wound around through alleys and
back streets, and finally reached the police headquarters through a
rear thoroughfare. As a result there were just five persons at the
side entrance through which the party passed, and before the gathering
had swelled to hundreds, which it did very promptly, Miss Borden was
greeting her sister and friend in the room of the matron, adjoining
the court room. Lunch was served there and preparations were made for
facing the ordeal of the afternoon. Soon after noon the regular session
of the Second District Court concluded. City Marshal Hilliard, acting
under orders from the Judge, did not allow everybody to enter the court
room. Only those persons who had good reasons for being present were
to be at any sessions of the hearing. The scenes attendant upon the
commencement of the hearing, which, in public estimation was to take
more of the form of a trial, will long be remembered in Fall River.
During the noon hour the crowds commenced to gather in Court Square,
and the passageway through the centre of the narrow streets upon which
the Central Police Station stands was rendered impassable. There are
two entrances to the building on the side, and from each of these,
lines strung out, formed at first of men in single file, and then
widening out until toward the end they formed large crowds. There they
stood for hours and perspired while the police labored strenuously
to keep them in order. In the meanwhile the little courtroom, with
seating capacity for three hundred, was rapidly being occupied without
the knowledge of the patient crowds who were waiting for the doors to
open. The curious individuals were not confined to the males, for at
12:30 o’clock all the seats in the large guard room of the station were
occupied by women. Apparently none of them were from the lower walks
of life and the majority were good looking and well dressed. In but a
very few cases were they accompanied by escorts, and an hour before the
announced time for the commencement of proceedings they were allowed to
file up-stairs. Upon arriving in the court room they promptly occupied
all the best seats and then spread out on the sides. After them
prominent citizens of Fall River were admitted and these comprised a
goodly number. Judge Carter, of the Haverhill Police Court, a friend of
Judge Blaisdell, accompanied by his wife, were prominent figures in the
centre of the room. Despite all the talk about limited accommodations
for the press, tables and chairs in sufficient quantities were placed
inside the railing. There were about forty newspaper representatives
present. Many members of the Massachusetts bar came to the building and
were admitted, and other professional men came into the court room. A
peculiar feature was the presence of a large number of physicians, and
they manifested a great curiosity in everything relating to the affair.
As time passed the crowds outside the building received accessions and
a few minutes before 2 o’clock the jam was almost frightful.
An immense delegation of mill girls had swelled the throngs at the
entrances and had managed to get near the doors. There they waited
while the hundreds in back pushed them about and created work for the
officers. At the main entrance a large force of women had succeeded in
getting into the guard room, and this compelled the placing of more
officers at the stairway leading from there to the court room. At any
of the doors it was worth one’s life to attempt to enter or leave the
building, and traffic in the vicinity was necessarily abandoned.
The seats on the left of the court room were reserved for witnesses
and those on the right for friends of the family. The first person
of consequence to enter was Bridget Sullivan, and she grew white
under the glances of the crowd and the buzz of conversation that her
presence created among the women. She was followed by Dr. S. W. Bowen,
Mayor John W. Coughlin and others prominent in the case, the advent
of each adding excitement to the occasion. Five minutes later the
District Attorney entered. Inside the court room the atmosphere was
torrid. Judge Blaisdell entered the room at 2 o’clock and took his
seat. All the witnesses were present. Half an hour passed and there
was no movement toward commencing the proceedings. Attorney Jennings’
books and documents were piled up on his table, but he was nowhere to
be seen. It was finally learned that he was closeted with his client.
The presence of Eli Bence, the drug clerk, among the witnesses, caused
general belief that one of the theories upon which the State was
placing dependence was that relating to the purchase and use of poison.
Rev. Mr. Burnham, Andrew J. Borden’s former pastor, now occupying a
pulpit in Springfield, was also present. Mr. Jennings’ consultation
with his client lasted but a few moments, and then he commenced a
conference with District Attorney Knowlton. Time passed slowly in the
court room, and the presiding Justice frequently glanced impatiently
at his watch. Everybody was offering surmises as to the cause of the
delay, and it was finally learned that there was a disagreement of
opinion between the attorneys representing the prosecution and defence
regarding the amount of testimony to be submitted by the Government.
Mr. Adams, associated with Mr. Jennings for the defence, was also
present at the conference, and the attorneys continued to argue as the
minutes dragged along. The Government desired to place in evidence the
reports of certain experts, and the attorneys for the defence insisted
that they should be furnished in evidence at the hearing. It was
understood that the report upon which there was a disagreement was that
of Professor Wood, of Harvard. Finally, at 2:50 o’clock, the attorneys
entered the court room. A few minutes conversation ensued between the
lawyers, and then District Attorney Knowlton addressing Judge Blaisdell
said: “Your Honor, some parts of this case required the examination
of various things belonging in the house of the prisoner and attached
to her person, and these things are now in the hands of gentlemen who
are experts in the examination of such matters. We have not been able
to get reports of the examinations sufficiently extensive to allow the
experts to be called as witnesses. My learned friends both agree that
this case cannot, therefore, be ready to-day, to-morrow or the next
day, and we are thus forced to ask that the trial be adjourned till
Thursday at 10 o’clock. I think my brother will agree to what I ask.”
Mr. Jennings arose and assented to what Mr. Knowlton had said, and
Judge Blaisdell at once declared the hearing adjourned till Thursday
the 25th, at ten o’clock, a. m. The prisoner remained in charge of the
police matron and was not taken back to Taunton Jail.
The day before the preliminary hearing commenced, a scene was reported
to have occurred in the matron’s room between Misses Lizzie and Emma
Borden which surprised the attendant, Matron Reagan. During the day,
Miss Emma entered the matron’s room and to her great surprise was
greeted with this remark from Miss Lizzie:—“You gave me away, Emma,
didn’t you?” Then said Emma “I only told Mr. Jennings what I thought he
ought to know.” Miss Lizzie was apparently very much agitated at this
and said to her sister, “Remember, Emma, that I will never give in one
inch, never.” Mrs. Reagan was interviewed by the writer shortly after
this incident and next day some of the leading newspapers published an
account of the quarrel. The doubting Thomases stamped it as a “fake”
and an effort to prejudice the public against the prisoner. Next day
and after the court had adjourned Attorney Jennings made himself the
object of much interest in and around the police station. He and his
associate, Col. Melvin O. Adams, of Boston, with Rev. Mr. Buck and
other staunch friends of the accused, attempted to show to the public
that the story of a quarrel between the sisters was a lie, pure and
simple. But the plan probably did not succeed as well as anticipated.
Detective Edwin D. McHenry, of Providence, who had from the beginning
been actively engaged under orders of Marshal Hilliard, happened to
see the friends of Miss Borden in the act of drawing up a document
which he learned was to be presented to Matron Reagan to sign. He
promptly notified Assistant Marshal Fleet and the two officers awaited
developments. The paper was drawn up and its contents set forth that
Mrs. Reagan, the undersigned, never overheard a quarrel between the
two women as related in the many papers of that day and that moreover
she never told anybody that she had. It also set forth that she was
to assert upon her oath that the story of a quarrel was false from
beginning to end. This carefully prepared statement was placed in the
hands of Mr. Buck and he was entrusted with the delicate mission of
inducing Matron Reagan to affix her name thereunto. But Mrs. Reagan
refused, saying that she would have to consult the marshal. Meanwhile
the two officers mentioned had informed the Marshal of what was passing
and he was prepared for the advent of Lawyer Jennings. This action on
the part of the defense had taken place up stairs; and upon the refusal
of Mrs. Reagan to sign, lawyer Jennings carried the document to the
Marshal’s office. The writer was present when the Marshal refused to
allow Mrs. Reagan to sign the paper, even if she were willing to, and
Mr. Hilliard’s advice to Mrs. Reagan was that she remain silent until
called upon to testify to what she had heard. To say that Mr. Jennings
was excited would be putting it mildly. He left the Marshal’s office
in a state of rage and with the paper in his hand called loudly to
the half hundred newspaper men in the guard room, saying:—“This is
an outrage, the Marshal has refused to allow Mrs. Reagan to sign this
denial of the quarrel story.” The lawyer was informed that Mrs. Reagan
had not agreed to sign it; therefore the Marshal had nothing to do in
the matter. An exciting scene followed in which there was animated talk.
On the morning of August the 25th, the day set for the beginning of
the trial, the same old scenes were enacted in and around the police
station. At 8 o’clock crowds of men, women and children were upon the
sidewalks, and half an hour later their numbers had been increased
to such an extent that an extra detail of police was placed at the
entrance in a vain endeavor to keep the roadways passable for vehicles.
The ordinary session of the Court commenced at 9 o’clock, and at that
very hour every seat outside the railing was occupied. As before,
the gathering was composed almost exclusively of women, many of whom
marched boldly into the court room swinging lunch baskets in their
hands. There were fewer of these from the station of life occupied by
the Borden family than on Monday, but those who were present listened
eagerly while a man was tried and convicted of being a common drunkard;
craned their ears to listen to the testimony of wives who bore marks of
their husband’s brutality, and smiled at the children who were charged
with violating the laws of the Commonwealth by refusing obedience to
their parents.
In the room of the matron across the passageway Lizzie Borden awaited
the commencement of the hearing. Her first visitor of the day was
her sister, and soon after Rev. Mr. Buck arrived full of solicitude
for the comfort of the prisoner. In the meanwhile the session of the
court dragged on in the midst of considerable disorder. This was
not occasioned by those in the spectators row, for they were fully
occupied, and no more were admitted. Inside the railing however, the
great body of newspaper correspondents labored vigorously while the
court officers hurried in and out with chairs and tables in their
efforts to accommodate the largely increased number of reporters. These
latter reached nearly fifty, and they touched elbows all around as
they wrote. Attorneys from near-by cities were present, courtesy of
admittance being extended to them. The Fall River bar and the medical
profession were as before largely represented in that section of the
room generally reserved for witnesses, and there were clergymen of all
denominations scattered about in the place. The entrance of Bridget
Sullivan at ten minutes before 10 o’clock transferred the interest of
the spectators from the trial of a Sunday liquor seller to the most
important government witness in the Borden case. Miss Sullivan stood
the curious glances and loud whispers much better than on Monday, and,
though evidently a trifle disconcerted, the pallor noticeable upon her
countenance at her previous entrance to the court room was absent. She
was accompanied by her attorney, James T. Cummings. The other witnesses
commenced to arrive at this time and then Mr. Jennings entered the
matron’s room for a consultation with his client. At 10 o’clock the
session of the ordinary court was still in progress, and the gathering
was amusing itself by listening to the trial of an individual who
declared that he had purchased many hogsheads of beer to celebrate the
accession of Gladstone to power, and had no intention of selling the
stuff. This concluded the minor cases and there was a great bustle of
expectation as the numerous prisoners were taken from the room. Their
places were quickly occupied, while outside the building the waiting
hundreds stood patiently in the streets. The latter included many
out of town people, who had come to the place in the hope that they
might secure admission to the court room. So large was this influx
of visitors that all the rooms in the hotel were engaged at an early
hour of the morning. At 10:15 o’clock Attorneys Jennings and Adams of
the defence entered and took positions at the table, two green bags
filled with books being brought after them. The excitement immediately
increased, and the eyes of all the spectators were riveted on the door,
awaiting the entrance of the prisoner. “Make way for the witnesses,”
called out the court officer, and the remaining persons summoned filed
into the room. Their number was a general surprise, for they extended
in a long line around the room. Among them the figures of John V.
Morse, Dr. Bowen and the drug clerk Bence were conspicuous and their
presence heightened the interest. Conversation was brisk and loud for
a few moments and then it lagged perceptibly and everybody fell to
wondering why District Attorney Knowlton was not present, and when
Lizzie Borden would come into the sight of the curious throng. The
District Attorney arrived at 10:30 o’clock, and a few minutes later
Lizzie Borden entered. First came Emma Borden, escorted by Mr. Holmes.
She was dressed in black, and appeared somewhat excited. Following her
came Mrs. Holmes and Mrs. Brigham, and behind them was the prisoner,
leaning on the arm of Rev. Mr. Buck. Lizzie Borden was dressed in the
blue gown which she wore to Taunton, and at her entrance everybody grew
so excited that nearly half of those present were on their feet almost
unconsciously. The prisoner was composed, and beyond a slight twitching
of the lips betrayed no excitement whatever.
[Illustration: ARRIVAL OF MISS LIZZIE BORDEN AT THE POLICE STATION.]
At 10:31 o’clock District Attorney Knowlton arose and asked the Judge,
“Is Your Honor all ready?” Judge Blaisdell answered that he was. Then
without other words of introduction he called on the Medical Examiner,
Dr. William A. Dolan, to testify. Dr. Dolan testified as follows: “Have
made a good many autopsies. First saw the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Borden
about a quarter of 12, Aug. 4. Saw the body of Andrew Borden first. It
was lying on the north side of a lounge which was on the south side
of the room. The head of the sofa was to the west. There was a Prince
Albert coat on the top of the sofa cushion. On that rested Mr. Borden’s
head. His feet were on the floor, his head was toward the front door
and the face was looking toward the sitting room windows. Examined the
wounds sufficiently to make a view then, and removed and sealed up the
contents of the stomach and sent same to an expert. Saw the body of
Mrs. Borden a few moments after I saw Mr. Borden’s body. She was lying
face down on the floor. She was dressed in a calico dress. There was a
silk handkerchief on the floor that might have been on her head. It was
touching her head as she lay there. Can’t say if it was cut.”
At this moment Thomas Kieran, an architect, who had drawn plans,
was sworn. He said he was at the house August 10, and described the
plans in detail. Mr. Jennings and Mr. Knowlton looked over the plans
together. Mr. Kieran said the length of the room where he had found
the carpet taken up was fifteen feet and five inches, and that there
was a space of two feet eleven inches. A board had been taken up in
this room, and witness had seen a spot of blood on it when the Marshal
showed it to him at the police station Sunday. Mr. Kieran said he had
also drawn a map of the outside of the house, with measurements of
the height of the fences and the character of the fences. Witness had
seen a spot on the casing of the kitchen door leading to the sitting
room, and one on the wall paper by the sofa. The witness was asked to
designate the head of the sofa on which Mr. Borden’s body was found,
and said that it was towards the parlor. There was also a spot of
blood on a picture in the sitting room hanging on the wall back of the
sofa. After questions bringing out these replies the District Attorney
inquired of Judge Blaisdell if he were familiar with the premises, and
upon an affirmative response from the Judge the District Attorney said
he would not bring out any further facts in relation to measurements.
Dr. Dolan was called back to the stand. He testified that when he
removed the sheet that had been over Mr. Borden’s head, he saw one
of the most ghastly sights he had ever known. He was told to speak
without generalizing and drew from his pocket a report of the autopsy
taken one week after the murders. He proceeded to read a description
of the wounds from his report. Mr. Jennings objected to the reading of
these notes and Mr. Knowlton told him to put them away. Dr. Dolan put
up his paper and gave a description of the wounds from memory. There
were ten in all from four to an inch and a half long. The largest was
four inches long and two and a half inches wide. There was no other
cause of death. The body was warm when he got there, blood oozing from
the wounds. Mr. Borden, the witness thought, could not have been
dead half an hour. There were in all eighty-eight blood spots behind
Andrew Borden’s head, dropping towards the east on the wall. These
eighty-eight blood spots were in a cluster, beginning three or four
inches from Mr. Borden’s head. “I then found on the paper of the wall
a spot of blood six feet, one inch and three-quarters from the floor.
Another spot was near that one. These two were the highest spots of any
except one found on the ceiling. They were the largest spots of blood
found. They were about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The blood
spot on the picture was fifty-eight inches from the floor. I found
spots on the moulding back of the lounge also. Had to move the lounge
to find the spots. Also found seven blood spots on the upper two panels
of the parlor door. There were two spots on the ceiling, but only one
of them was human blood. I think an insect had been killed on the other
spot. Another spot was on the west door jamb of the door leading to the
dining room. It was not a spot, but a string, so to speak, of blood,
two and one-half inches long, as it was drawn out. There were two spots
on the kitchen door, one in the groove of the door and another on the
edge of the casing. The spot I describe as a stain on the jamb of the
door leading to the dining room, was such a mark that the murderer of
Andrew J. Borden might have made. A hatchet or axe was, in my opinion,
the weapon with which the murder was committed. A weapon weighing four
or five pounds could easily have made the cuts.”
[Illustration: OFFICER A. E. CHACE.]
“Couldn’t see any part of Mrs. Borden’s face, for the arms were thrown
about it. As it lay there you could see there were a number of wounds.
There were at least seven or eight blows which went through the skull
into the brain. I turned the body up. Altogether there were eighteen
distinct wounds on the head, and all but four of them were on the right
side of the head. Imagine a line drawn from the nape of the neck around
the ear. That would include fourteen of the wounds. They were from the
left side back and downward to the right side. One of them was five
inches in length. They were diagonally. Seven or eight of them went
through the skull into the brain. Others took pieces of the skull out.
The other four were on the left side, but none of them went through
the skull. Those on the left were flat scalp wounds half an inch in
depth. There was a contusion on the nose and two over the left eye.
They were such as might be made by falling. I found one immediately
over the spine some time later. It was two and one-half inches long and
two and one-half inches deep. It was a conical wound. These were made
by a sharp cutting instrument and might have been caused by a hatchet
or small axe. Under her head and pretty well down on her breast she
was lying in a pool of clotted blood. The front of the clothing was
very much soaked and also the back. On the pillow sham there were three
spots, on the rail of the bed were thirty or forty spots. Those on the
sham were near the wall. The sham was eighteen inches from her head.
The spots on the rail were lateral. On the drawers of the dressing
case there were three or four spots on the first one and six or seven
on the second, as if they had gone up in the air and come down. On the
moulding of the east window there was a spot, and above that and about
two feet there was a spot on the paper. These were six or seven feet
from the head, on an angle.”
The witness saw Mrs. Borden’s body immediately after viewing that
of Mr. Borden and was asked by Mr. Knowlton if there was anything
inconsistent in his opinion in the appearance of the body with the
supposition that she had been dead for two hours?
Mr. Adams objected and Mr. Knowlton said he had asked a similar
question in every murder case he had tried. Mr. Adams retorted that
there were a number of bad habits the District Attorney had acquired
which should be corrected. The Court thought the question could be
allowed. Mr. Jennings thereupon objected and commenced to argue. Mr.
Knowlton said the habit of arguing after a decision was not one of his
bad ones, and Mr. Adams objected to Mr. Knowlton’s hitting him over Mr.
Jennings’ shoulder.
Dr. Dolan said there was nothing inconsistent with the appearance
of the body and the opinion that she had been dead for two hours.
Mrs. Borden died from shock. He removed her stomach and forwarded it
by express to Prof. Wood. “I went down the cellar stairs and found
four axes or hatchets resting against the cellar partition. One was
a peculiar hatchet, the head being a hammer claw. There were three
others, and all were lying six or eight feet from the cellar door. I
examined two of them, which were brought to me by the officers. One
of them looked as though it had been scraped on the blade. This had
a cutting surface of five inches and would weigh from three to five
pounds. The officer took it. Afterwards I examined it with a glass and
found two hairs upon it and what appeared to be blood. I could not
swear it was blood. I gave this hatchet and the axes to Prof. Wood, on
all of them there was what appeared to be blood. Took certain dresses
also. Told Mr. Jennings I wanted them and he got them of Miss Borden.
Sent them to Prof. Wood.”
The court then took a recess for dinner and Mr. Adams furnished for
publication a copy of a letter received by Emma Borden. He produced
the original copy and the envelope, and according to the latter it was
mailed in Waltham, Mass., August 18, at 11:30 a. m., and received in
Fall River on the same day at 4:30 p. m. The letter is as follows:
Waltham, Mass., Aug. 17, 1892.
Miss Emma Borden:
Dear Madam—You must excuse that I take the liberty in sending
you these few lines. I ought to have written to you before
this, as I was unable to do so, as I was travelling every day.
My name is Samuel Robinsky. I am a Jewish pedler. When the
fatal murder in Fall River occurred I was only a few miles
from Fall River. That day, while sitting on the roadside,
towards New Bedford, I met a man who was covered with blood.
He told me that he worked on a farm and that he never could
get his wages, so he had a fight with the farmer. He said he
ran away and did not get any money after all. All he had was
a five-dollar bill. He bought from me four handkerchiefs, one
looking glass, one necktie, collar and shoe blacking. His boots
were covered with blood, and he put lots of blacking on them.
I helped him to fix up again and get cleaned, but by this time
I did not know anything about the murder. I felt sorry for him
and thought only he gave the farmer a good licking. I advised
him to travel at night, which he said he would do, as he feared
arrest during the day. I gave him my lunch, and he gave me a
quarter, and told me not to say anything that I met him. He
asked me what time the train left for Boston after 8 o’clock at
night and I told him. He had also a bundle with him which was
about two feet thick or big; when I was peddling I did not read
any papers only Sundays, as I am studying the English language.
When I was in Boston last Sunday a friend of mine told me about
the Fall River murder. I told him about the stranger, and my
friend said: “And why did you not report this to the police?” I
told him I was afraid, as they would lock me up as a witness,
and another thing, I did not have any license, so I was afraid.
I told my friend I would write to you, or Mr. Jennings, I read
last Sunday’s Boston _Globe_, and thought that I might have
seen the murderer. If I should see him in Boston, I am sure,
yes, dead sure, I know him again. He is of medium height, dark
brown hair, reddish whiskers or moustache, weight about 135
pounds, a gray suit, brown derby hat. His shoes were what they
call Russian leather. No blacking on so-called summer shoes.
He put my blacking on to make them look black, so that people
could not see the blood. It was about 1 o’clock noon that day.
I only heard about the murder at 6 or 7 o’clock that night.
I kept quiet as I had no license and feared to be arrested.
My stranger was very much afraid. He asked me a million times
if he looked all right again, and I brushed him off with my
shoe brush and told him to wait till dark. If I come again
to Fall River next week I shall call on you, if you think it
is necessary, but all I can swear he is the stranger which I
have seen that afternoon. This is all; but if this man was the
murderer I cannot say, but I shall find him out of fifteen
thousand. Will close now. Will go to Fitchburg to-morrow
morning and return to Boston Saturday night. Please do not say
anything to the police. I would be arrested. If I had known
about the murder the time I met my stranger it would have been
different, as I would have followed him up and perhaps got the
reward. I thought it was a poor farm hand and so took pity on
him, as I know as a rule, farmers seldom pay their hands during
summer. Hoping that my information may be of some use to you,
I remain very respectfully,
SAMUEL ROBINSKY.
P. S.—Please excuse paper and mistakes as I am a foreigner.
Immediately upon the receipt of this letter Mr. Jennings dispatched the
following telegram:
“Aug. 19, 1892—To George L. Mayberry, Mayor, Waltham, Mass.—Does
Samuel Robinsky, a Jewish peddler, live in Waltham? Andrew J. Jennings.”
The answer received from the Mayor of Waltham was as follows, dated
Waltham, Mass., Aug., 20, 1892:
To Andrew J. Jennings, Fall River. “Cannot find that he lives here. Am
told that a peddler of that name is living in Boston, and sometimes
comes out here. Signed, G. L. Mayberry.”
This satisfied the attorneys for the defence that such a person as
Robinsky existed and Mr. Adams assured the newspaper representatives
that they were making strenuous efforts to find him. He said a search
had been made around the vicinity of Manchester, and that they were now
looking for the man. He appeared to think that the publicity attendant
upon publication of the letter might assist in locating the individual.