Sarah Anthony Borden is known around the globe as the birth mother of alleged hatchet murderess Lizzie Borden. Lizzie was tried in court for the murder of her stepmother, Abby Borden, and father, Andrew Borden.
Sarah Anthony Borden’s Family
Sarah Anthony Borden is known to the wider audience as the birth mother of the tried and acquitted murderer, Lizzie Borden. Let’s look at Sarah’s simple life story.
Sarah was born on 19 September 1823 to Anthony Morse and Rhoda Morrison in Somerset, Bristol, Massachusetts. She was the sister of Hannah Morrison Morse, Frederick Augustus Morse, William Bradford Morse, Mary Louisa Morse, John Vinnicum Morse, Orin Fowler Morse, Selecta Richmond (Morse) Shaw, Fernando Whitwell Morse, Sarah M Morse, Arabella F. (Morse) Davidson [half] and Alvarado Kermit Morse [half]. Sarah married Andrew Jackson Borden on 25 December 1846 in Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts.
On 1 March 1851, Sarah gave birth to her first daughter, Emma Leonora Borden, and so the couple began their family after four years of marriage. Her second daughter, Alice Esther Borden, was born on May 3, 1856, but she died on March 10, 1858, due to some brain disease. On July 19, 1860, her third daughter, Lizzie Andrew Borden was born. Sarah died of uterine congestion and spinal disease on 26 Mar 1863 at age 39. In June of 1865, Andrew Borden married Abby Durfee Gray. The daughters, Emma & Lizzie had a tumultuous relationship with their father and stepmother and had regular arguments over property inheritance.
On August 4, 1892, Andrew Borden and his second wife, Abby Borden were found brutally murdered at their home in Fall River and the sisters became prime suspects. Lizzie was tried and acquitted by the court. Even after the jury declared them innocent, they were treated as an outcast by their neighbors and society. They never married and lived an isolated life. Lizzie died of pneumonia on June 1, 1927. The day Lizzie died, Emma had an accident and broke her hip. She died due to chronic nephritis, 9 days later, on June 10, 1927.
Sarah Anthony Borden’s Net Worth
Sarah Anthony Borden’s husband, Andrew Borden eventually prospered in the manufacture and sale of furniture and caskets and then became a successful property developer. He was a director of several textile mills and owned considerable commercial property. He was also president of the Union Savings Bank and a director of the Durfee Safe Deposit and Trust Co. At his death, his estate was valued at $300,000 ($10 million approx. in 2023).
When Sarah’s daughter, Lizzie was accused of the murders, Sarah’s eldest daughter, Emma, became the sole inheritor of the Borden fortune. She spent the fortune to prove Lizzie’s innocence. This unsolved case and its long-dead suspect continue to interest people all over the world. The brutal murder of Lizzie’s parents was the subject of the 1975 ‘ABC’ TV film ‘The Legend of Lizzie Borden.’