Lizzie Andrew Borden was born in Fall River Massachusetts, on July 19 1860. She was born to her father Andrew and mother Sarah Borden. Sarah died in 1862, a few years after Lizzie was born. Andrew soon married Abby Durfee Gray. This caused a rift in the family, Emma, Lizzie's older sister and Lizzie did not accept her new stepmother. They often referred to her disrespectfully as Abby or Mrs.Borden. Andrew Borden was very successful and very rich, he worked in banking, cotton, and real estate. The family was very welloff with money and extremely involved in the community. Lizzie and Emma lived with their parents until adulthood and never married. Lizzie graduated from high school in Fall River and got involved with many organizations …show more content…
She was also involved with the Women's Christian Temperance Union and a Flower League. The community saw the Borden family as a working, a giving, and a happy family. Lizzie as a member of this family was a young woman devoted to good works and giving to others. Although on the inside of the house it was very different, the family steadily worsened and more animosity emerged. Andrew Borden, who owned many real estate properties, transferred the real estate he owned to Abby. Emma and Lizzie thought they should receive items of equal value. Andrew complied and gave each daughter a $1,500 house. This would just be a bandaid for the situation. For Lizzie, these items given to Abby, were her own inheritance. For the Borden sisters their stepmother was the enemy. Lizzie and Emma called Abby “Mrs. Borden” or just by her first name, also they refused to have family dinners—the house staff had to lay out two sets of place settings for each meal. In 1891 items such as jewelry and cash disappeared from Andrew and Abby Borden's bedroom; it was clear that Lizzie had taken the items. After this incident tensions increased to the breaking point. “To supplement the key locks, there were bolts, hooks, chains, and padlocks.” quoted from Florence King in the