In September, 1855, the town of Franklin, Tennessee, was shaken by one of the most horrifying acts of cruelty ever recorded. A woman named Ellen Bordon, driven by jealousy over her husband’s attention to an enslaved Black woman in their household, subjected the woman to nearly two days of unrelenting torture, before eventually killing her. The case, widely reported at the time, revealed the depths of inhumanity tolerated within the system of slavery.
According to newspaper reports, Bordon became enraged on Sunday after witnessing interactions between her husband and the enslaved woman. The next day, she took out her fury on the woman, beginning a prolonged assault that escalated to unspeakable levels of violence. The enslaved woman was first tied up and whipped. Then, boiling water was poured over her abdomen and legs, causing her skin to peel away and exposing raw tissue.
This sadistic torment was followed by yet another act of cruelty: the enslaved woman was locked overnight inside a smokehouse, deprived of light, fresh air, and comfort in her already severe condition.
As the torture continued, Bordon inflicted further injuries on Tuesday that proved fatal. The final acts of torture involved hanging the woman from a joist in the smokehouse and striking her temple with a sharp object, fracturing her skull. A post-mortem examination later revealed that the victim’s neck was broken, her head was severely bruised, and her back was scalded from additional burns.
When news of the woman’s death spread, local authorities conducted a coroner’s inquest and issued a warrant for Bordon’s arrest. A preliminary trial was held, and testimonies confirmed the extent of the horrific abuse. However, despite the severity of the crime, there are no known records detailing the outcome of the case or what became of Ellen Bordon.
Given that enslaved Africans were legally considered property rather than human beings, the chances that true justice was served are slim. In the antebellum South, enslavers could torture and kill without serious consequences, as the law was designed to protect the rights of the enslaver, not the enslaved. Even in cases where extreme violence was publicly exposed, white perpetrators—especially women—were rarely held accountable.
The fact that Bordon displayed “perfect indifference” toward the murder, as the newspaper described, further illustrates the dehumanisation of Africans under slavery.
Source:
Buffalo Courier Express, 29 September 1855, Page 2. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/buffalo-courier-express-horrible-murder/77832162/)
https://utc.iath.virginia.edu/notices/noar05ait.html
