New photos surface of former Lizzie Borden maid after murders

Bridget Sullivan is a known figure in the Borden murder case, but she’s also unknown in many ways.

Called “Maggie” by the Bordens, Sullivan was employed as a maid when Andrew and Abby Borden were murdered in 1892. Where she went or what she did afterward is a mystery.

Where she ended up is not.

New photos of Bridget Sullivan, taken when she was in her 70s and living in Anaconda, Mont., have emerged. Copies of the photographs were given to Lee Ann Wilber, manager of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, by Bridget’s grandniece, Dianna Porter.

Sullivan, the Irish-born maid, one day found herself washing windows for a prominent family and later testifying in a courtroom. She worked for the Bordens for more than two years at their home at 92 Second St.

On the morning of Aug. 4, 1892, Sullivan found Abby Borden lying on the floor in a pool of blood in an upstairs bedroom. Andrew Borden had been found by his daughter, Lizzie Borden, earlier that day, also bloodied and dead, on the sitting-room couch downstairs.

Both had been bludgeoned with a hatchet. The only suspect was Lizzie Borden.

During Sullivan’s testimony, she said nothing incriminating about Lizzie Borden and nothing of note about her employers. She even said she didn’t mind being called “Maggie” when asked by an attorney if she found it derogatory.

Until now, the only photo seen publicly of Sullivan was taken around the time of the murder case.

Porter, of Butte, Mont., said she’d always heard stories about her great-aunt having known Lizzie Borden.

“It was always one of those things that was talked about,” Porter said. “My mother grew up never allowed to talk about it, but of course they did.”

Porter said Sullivan is her great-aunt by marriage.

“She looks pretty formidable in the photos,” Porter said.

Porter said Sullivan had some relations in Montana at the time of the murders. But family legend says she went back to Ireland after Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murders in 1893.

Where Bridget was, what she did, and how she might have afforded to travel back to Ireland are all unknown. Porter said she wondered if Lizzie Borden may have funded her trip.

“The family speculated,” Porter said.

Porter said family members that remember Sullivan said she was stern and even mean. She was said to have “no sense of humor.” Porter said she was remembered for wearing a dust cap on her head all the time.

Porter said Bridget married John Sullivan, of no relation, in Montana in 1905. She was 35, and he was 37.

Porter said that, at that time, Butte and Anaconda had a large male population because of the mining and copper industry, so it was probably easy for a single woman to find a husband.

Sullivan lived out her life in Anaconda, a mountainous region in southwestern Montana. The couple had no children. Sullivan died on March 25, 1948 — having outlived all of the Bordens.

“There’s a gap of about a dozen years,” Porter said.

Sullivan is buried in Anaconda.

Wilber at the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast said she was happy to learn more about Bridget Sullivan and have photographs of her in her later years.

“I’ll display them in her bedroom on the third floor,” Wilber said. “There are many questions of where Bridget went (after the acquittal). Hopefully, some more details will come out.”

Porter plans to visit the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast for the first time this summer.

Email Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com.