Eliza Borden and the Children in the Well
Posted: 04.08.2021 | Updated: 02.06.2025
As we’re sure you’ve heard, the Lizzie Borden House is infamous for its history of pointed fingers, unsolved murder, and axes! We’ve all heard of Lizzie Borden but what about Eliza Borden? Lizzie’s name yells loudly throughout the paranormal community, ringing bells in anyone’s mind who hears it uttered, but Eliza committed murders just as tragic as Lizzie’s.
We know of Lizzie’s alleged murders of her stepmother and father, the anger that lived inside the house with them, and the coverups that occurred after, setting Lizzie free to live out the rest of her life in Fall River, Massachusetts as a free woman.
But, have you heard of the murders in the well? Of Eliza Darling Borden? Does this name ring any bells for you? Read on to find out just exactly what occurred, who she is, and the unspeakable acts she committed.
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Who Was Eliza Darling Borden?
Fall River, Massachusetts, is a city with a dark and twisted past, forever tied to the name Lizzie Borden, the infamous female axe murderer—or so the legend goes. But Lizzie wasn’t the only Borden with a story to tell. Deep in the Lizzie Borden family tree, there are other names that carry whispers of tragedy and mystery, including Eliza Darling Borden.
Her tale is one of heartbreak, madness, and a chilling end that still lingers in the shadows of Fall River’s haunted history. Could her fate have played a role in the darkness that seemed to follow the Borden name? Read on to uncover the eerie truth.
Children Down The Well
The story starts with Lizzie’s great-uncle Lawdwick and has long been a lesser-known footnote to the saga of the Lizzie Borden ax murders of 1892. Lawdwick Borden was the son of Martha Petty Bowen and Richard Borden. Lawdwick lived a normal life, as normal as could be for the late 1800s.
He was a ladies’ man and enjoyed the company of four wives throughout his lifetime, not too unusual, as women died in childbirth quite often back in those times. His second wife, Eliza Darling Borden, has genuinely piqued the interest of the paranormal community and the excitement of all who hear of her.
Looking back on her unthinkable acts, it is clear that Eliza suffered greatly from post-partum depression, a condition not familiar to women of the 1800s. Mental health was mainly ignored and swept under the rug during those times, for it was considered shameful to have any mental issues or disabilities.
The Gruesome Murders
Eliza had three children with Lawdwick in very rapid succession, Holder, Eliza Ann, and Maria. With details clouded by time, all that is known is that she killed two of her three children, sparing Maria, and took her own life soon after.
It is said that she brutally murdered two of her children by tossing them down the property’s cellar cistern and afterward went upstairs in the small Cape Cod-style home, slicing her own throat with Lawdwick’s straight razor.
Other versions claim that she committed suicide behind the cellar chimney, unable to make it up the stairs, her grief so intense. Even worse, in order to finish the deed, Eliza would have had to spend a reasonable amount of time drowning the children in the cistern, or even just throwing them in, their tiny bodies unable to escape, and soon drowning after exhaustion set in.
It’s even thought that Eliza’s husband Lawdwick committed suicide shortly after the ordeal, unable to deal with what his wife had done and the loss of his children. This left Maria to deal with the world on her own, and one can only hope that she did not grow up knowing of the horrors her mother had done.
Lesser-Known Entities
Paranormal investigators who visit the Lizzie Borden home today make extreme attempts to contact the spirits of the murdered children, who died so many years before Abby and Andrew Borden, their tragic demise caused by a hatchet in August of 1892.
Guests of the now Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast leave small toys for the ghost children in the guest rooms and claim that they hear children’s laughter and sounds of play on the second and third floors of the B&B.
Tragedy runs rampant in the Borden family, and it has endured for so long due to Lizzie Borden’s acts and her trial of 1893. Lizzie herself was carefully examined to determine if she were mentally competent and able to stand trial to be held accountable for the crime she had committed.
Questions were asked about her sanity and the mental state of the Borden family in general. Of course, the prosecution brought up the topic of Eliza Darling Borden and her unfortunate children and was introduced as a possible source of ‘inherited madness.’
The defense quickly shot down this claim, and Eliza was only a Borden through marriage, her bloodline not coexisting with the Borden clan. Mentions were also made that the one surviving child, Maria Borden, was alive and flourishing in the city with her children.
Another strange fact, Maria Borden’s husband Samuel Hinckley was a boarder in the Borden house in 1850 when Maria was just a young girl of five. Samuel was 18 at the time. The two wed on October 3rd of 1866. An age difference of such intensity was expected back in those times, but it is bizarre that he unknowingly became a part of the house’s tragic history, not knowing what would occur there.
Where did Lizzie Borden live?
Lizzie Borden, the infamous female axe murderer, lived in Fall River, a town forever linked to one of the most chilling crimes in American history. She was born in 1860 and lived with her father, Andrew Borden, her stepmother, Abby Borden, and her sister, Emma. The Lizzie Borden family tree traces back to wealthy but frugal ancestors, and tensions within the household were well-known.
The most famous house associated with her is 92 Second Street, where Andrew and Abby were brutally murdered with an axe in 1892. Lizzie was charged but later acquitted, leaving the mystery unsolved. After the trial, she moved to a grand home called Maplecroft, also in Fall River, where she lived out the rest of her days in isolation. Today, the Lizzie Borden House is a bed and breakfast, offering brave guests the chance to stay in one of America’s most haunted locations.
The Lizzie Borden House
In better news, US Ghost Adventures is in the process of purchasing the Lizzie Borden House, starting a new and exciting chapter in our paranormal tour story. Owning and caring for such an important landmark and historic site is an honor, and USGA is humbled to be able to share the Lizzie Borden home with our guests and clients in the years to come!
Lance Zaal, owner and operator of US Ghost Adventures told Realtor.com that he is dedicated to keeping the business running and plans to add a few new activities for guests. He said, “We’ll be adding several different events for both visitors and locals. We want this to be a place where people can kind of come in just to have a good time as well. We really want to give more people a reason to go there.”
Themes such as Victorian dinners, nightly tours, murder mystery dinners, and ghost hunts are also on the table. You can read more about the Lizzie Borden house here.
How did Lizzie Borden die?
Lizzie Borden died on June 1, 1927, at the age of 66 in Fall River—the same town where she had lived her entire life. She passed away from pneumonia, just days before her sister, Emma Borden, who also died that year.
Lizzie was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, near the rest of the Borden family. Even in death, her name remains synonymous with one of the most chilling unsolved crimes in American history.
Fall River’s Curse
Many people believe that the town of Fall River is cursed, creating the perfect storm for tragedies such as these to occur. Even the ‘Satanic panic’ of the later ’70s swept through Fall River when the Fall River Murders were committed. These were three homicides that took place from October 1979 to February of 1980, allegedly by a Satanic cult.
The first murder was that of Doreen Levesque, who was found under Diman Vocational High School’s bleachers, dead. The second, Barbara Raposa, occurred in November, and her body was not discovered until late January the following year. The third murder was that of Karen Marsden, and portions of her skull were found in April of 1980. Her body was never recovered fully.
Andrew Maltais was convicted and sentenced to life for the murder of Ms. Raposa, and Carl Drew and Robin Murphy were eventually charged with the Marsden murder. No one was ever convicted for the murder of Doreen Levesque.
What makes Fall River such a hotspot for murders, tragedies, and subsequent paranormal activity? We may not ever find the answers, but perhaps we can learn more if we visit and simply listen.
Did you know about Eliza Darling Borden and the murders that she committed here? Perhaps a new terrifying respect for the Lizzie Borden House will come out of this, or maybe this just wants to make you go and experience it for yourself. Whatever the case may be, The Lizzie Borden House and Eliza Borden herself created a truly spooky aura here!
Haunted Fall River
Now that you’ve explored the haunted places in Massachusetts, from the infamous Lizzie Borden House to the chilling tale of Eliza Darling Borden, we hope it sparked your interest in the dark history of Fall River. The city’s past is filled with eerie whispers, restless spirits, and unsolved mysteries that still haunt its streets today.
If you crave more spooky stories, check out our blog. Or, for the full immersive experience, book a ghost tour with Boston Ghosts—if you dare. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for even more spine-chilling content!
Sources:
- https://lizziebordenwarpsandwefts.com/the-four-wives-of-lawdwick-borden/
- http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lizzieborden/bordenchrono.html
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lizzie-Borden-American-murder-suspect
- https://www.biography.com/crime/lizzie-borden
- https://www.heraldnews.com/story/news/courts/2022/11/15/robin-murphy-convicted-in-fall-river-cult-murders-denied-parole-satanic-carl-drew/69646239007/
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