Gail Borden
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Gail Borden, Jr ( 9 November 1801 - 11 January 1874 ) was the U.S. inventor of condensed milk 1856.
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[edit] Early years
Gail Borden, Jr. was born in Norwich, New York in 1801. He later moved at an early age to New London, Indiana. In 1828 he moved to Amite County, Mississippi, where he married Penelope Mercer, daughter of Eli Mercer. Subsequently, he and the Mercers moved to Texas. As a surveyor, he platted the towns of Houston and Galveston. As a newspaper owner and editor, he penned the headline, "Remember the Alamo!"
[edit] Career
Sam Houston appointed Borden as Collector of Customs at Galveston in June 1837. He was very well liked and performed his job well, raising half of the government income during this period through his collection on importations. Houston's successor to the presidency, Mirabeau B. Lamar, removed Borden from office in December 1838 and replaced Borden with a lifelong friend from Mobile, Alabama, the honorable Dr. Willis Roberts, a new arrival to the Republic. Roberts' son later was appointed Secretary of State of the Republic. Lamar was said to have known Roberts for 25 years. However, Borden had been so well liked that the newcomer was resented. The Galveston newspaper frequently criticized the new regime about malfeasance.
When a shortage of funds came to light, Roberts offered to put up several personal houses and nine slaves as collateral until the matter could be settled. It was later determined that two resentful desk clerks had been embezzling funds, but this came too late for the hapless doctor, who lasted in the job only until December 1839. Any hopes Borden had of reinstatement were dashed when Lamar appointed someone else. Houston later re-appointed Borden to the post and he served December 1841 to April 1843, resigning over a dispute with President Houston. Borden had since turned his attention to real estate matters.
[edit] Inventor
Borden turned to inventing in the 1840s. He spent years perfecting his "meat biscuit" and working on an idea to condense milk. The stress of losing $100,000 on his inventions taxed his marriages (he was married three times), and it was not until the Civil War when troops needed milk products that did not spoil, that he was successful in promoting his condensed milk. He moved to New York to secure patents for his inventions, and there a financier, Jeremiah Milbank, helped bankroll him in the venture of condensed milk, where he was ultimately successful. The invention led to the establishment of the company known as Borden Milk Products.
[edit] Later years
With his profits from the condensed milk venture, he returned to Texas, opened new business ventures, and supported many charities and institutions.
Borden died in 1874 in Borden, Colorado County, Texas. Borden County, which he never set foot in, was named for him posthumously, as was its county seat, Gail. He was buried in White Plains, New York.
In 1892 Samuel and Alfred Church, stepsons of Borden and residents of Elgin, Illinois purchased and donated the Scofield Mansion at 50 N. Spring Street to house a new library for the residents of Elgin. Samuel and Alfred’s only request was that the library be forever and always known and called the Gail Borden Public Library.
[edit] References
- Gail Borden: Dairyman to a Nation, by Joe B. Frantz
- Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "BORDEN, GAIL, JR," (accessed November 27, 2005).
- Brief biography of Borden
- Longer biographical account of Borden
- Gail Borden Public Library : History of the library (or: "Gail Borden : A condensed history")
[edit] External links
- Today in Science History - a collection of Borden's patents and nineteenth-century articles and book excerpts on his life and products.
- Gail Borden Public Library, its official website
- Gail Borden Public Library catalog
