Who Lizzie Borden’s sister Emma was and if they were close, because Monster gets it all wrong

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story briefly introduces us to her sister in the second episode, but it doesn’t give many details about who she actually is. We get the sense that they’re not close at all and live completely different lives, so here’s a deep dive into the real-life Emma Borden, because Monster gets her all wrong. 

Credit: Netflix

Who was Lizzie Borden’s sister, Emma?

Emma was born on 1st March 1851 to Andrew and Sarah Borden, and was the oldest of three daughters. The third sister, Alice, passed away in 1860 aged two. Emma was nine years older than Lizzie and cared for her after their mother died suddenly in 1863, reportedly making a promise to their mother on her deathbed that she’d take care of Lizzie, who was only two at the time. 

She actually lived with the Borden family 

In Monster, it’s made out like Emma is visiting the family in episode two when she sits down for dinner with them. However, they actually lived in the same home right up to adulthood and were living together at the time of the murders. On the day that Andrew and Abby were killed, Emma said she was visiting friends in Fairhaven around 15 miles away, which became her alibi and she was never treated as a suspect.

Credit: Newspaper sketch of Emma Borden in The Boston Post, 1913

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Emma Borden never married in real life

Lizzie questions Emma about where she has been in Monster, and she reveals that she has been out looking for a husband and has found a suitor called Bard Wainwright. Their father seems happy, replying: “Good family.” But in real life, Emma never married, and this whole storyline is completely made up. There are no records of Emma ever having any lovers throughout her life. 

Were the Borden sisters close?

While it doesn’t seem it at the start of the series, the sisters were close throughout their whole lives, and Emma stood by and defended Lizzie during the trial and for years after. They bought a house together called Maplecroft after Lizzie was acquitted and lived there together for 12 years before having a major falling out in 1905 and are believed to have never spoken again after that. 

“The happenings at the French Street house that caused me to leave I must refuse to talk about. I did not go until conditions became absolutely unbearable,” she told the Boston Sunday Herald in 1913.

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