Gail Borden (1801 - 1874)

Born 9 Nov 1801 in Norwich, Chenango, New York, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Penelope (Mercer) Borden — married 18 Mar 1828 in Amite, Mississippi

Husband of Augusta J (Stearns) Borden — married 15 Feb 1845 in Galveston, Galveston County, Texas, USA

Husband of Emeline Eunice (Eno) Borden — married 16 Aug 1860 in Winsted, Litchfield, Connecticut

Descendants

Died 11 Jan 1874 at age 72 in Borden, Colorado, Texas, United States

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Biography

Gail Borden is Notable.

Gail Borden was born on November 9, 1801 in Norwich, New York, USA, the son of Gail Borden and Philadelphia (Wheeler) Borden.^[1] Although he had only a little more than one year of formal schooling, he had a strong desire to find ways to improve daily life.

Gail married Penelope Mercer on March 18, 1828 in Amite, Mississippi. ^[2] Penelope and Gail had seven children in 15 years. They were:

1. Mary Borden (1829-1833)
2. Henry Lee Borden (1832-1902)
3. Morton Quinn Borden (1834-1846)
4. Philadelphia Wheeler Borden Johnson (1837-1880)
5. Stephen F Austin Borden (1839-1844)
6. Mary Jane Borden Munsill (1841-1912)
7. John Gail Borden (1844-1891)

Penelope died as a young mother on September 5, 1844, in Galveston, Texas, at the age of 32. She and her her four year old son, Stephen F Austin, both died of yellow fever. They were buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, Bronx County, New York, USA.^[3]

Gail remarried in Galveston on 15 February 1845 to Augusta Stearns.^[4] On 16 August 1860 he married Emeline Eunice (Mrs. Hiram Church, nee Eno) in Connecticut.^[5][6]

Gail started off his career in print. He created Texas' first permanent newspaper in October 1835, the "Telegraph and Texas Register". His paper was the first to report the fall of the Alamo on March 17, 1836.

Gail held many jobs during his lifetime. He was a teacher, a soldier, a surveyor, a tax collector, and a missionary. He considered himself mostly an inventor. As an inventor, Gail was not immediately successful. He was thought of as a wacky inventor. He made a machine that was part wagon and part sailboat. He called it the "terraqueous machine." He also designed a giant refrigerator that he hoped would help people recover from yellow fever. In addition, removed the water from 100 pounds (45 kg) of beef and mixed it with flour to make meat biscuits.

In 1829 Borden moved to Texas and settled on Galveston Island. There he built one of his first inventions, the "locomotive bathhouse." This movable bathhouse allowed women who wanted to take baths in the Gulf of Mexico to do so in private.

Borden witnessed children die aboard a steamship for lack of fresh milk and was determined to find a way to keep milk from spoiling. Borden applied for a patent on his most important invention in 1853. He had developed a way to condense, or thicken, milk by heating it in a vacuum pan. At the time, it was difficult to keep milk fresh for more than a few days. With Borden's invention, milk could now be stored for long periods of time without being refrigerated. Unlike fresh milk, condensed milk could be shipped across the United States and to other countries.

Gail opened two factories but failed until he obtained financial backing from a wealthy investor, He invention was finally made in 1856 after receiving his patents from America and Britain. This then led to the establishment of the company known as Borden, Inc. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the United States government began to buy condensed milk for its troops. This contributed to rapid success and production could not keep up with demand despite his three factories in Connecticut, New York, and Illinois.

Gail died in 1874 in Borden, Colorado County, Texas. The company continued into the 20th and 21st century. In 1938, Elsie the Borden Cow became an advertising icon for the company. Borden's Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk is still sold today. It has been on the market for more than 145 years!

Improvement in Concentration of Milk Patent No. 15,553

Inducted 2006 Gail Borden, Jr.’s process for condensing milk offered the first way to preserve milk without refrigeration, and improved the diet of nineteenth century Americans. Condensed milk helped to change the dairy business from a local farmer-to-consumer business into a major industry.

Invention Impact

Anticipating the work of Louis Pasteur, Borden believed that protecting milk from airborne impurities would keep it from spoiling. He used a vacuum pan with a heating coil to vaporize the water from the milk without burning or souring it. Unequaled in purity at the time, the resulting condensed milk could be stored and shipped over long distances. During the Civil War, the Union Army ordered more of the milk than Borden’s factory could produce. Word of its advantages quickly spread to the public and the milk industry flourished.

Legacy

Borden County, Texas is named in his honor. The hybrid tea rose, Gail Borden, is also named in his honor.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia Gail Borden, (accessed February 5, 2016).
2. ↑ Mississippi Marriages, 1800-1911,database, FamilySearch (accessed 17 March 2016), Gail Borden and Penelope Mercer, 18 Mar 1828; citing Amite,Mississippi; FHL microfilm 864,487.
3. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/130771662/penelope-borden: accessed 11 July 2023), memorial page for Penelope Mercer Borden (10 Dec 1811–5 Sep 1844), Find A Grave: Memorial #130771662, citing Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, Bronx County, New York, USA; Maintained by Ray Gurganus (contributor 47340841).
4. ↑ FamilySearch.org, "Texas Marriages, 1837-1973", 11 February 2018, G. Borden Jr. and A. J. Stearns, 15 Feb 1845; citing , Galveston, Texas, , reference ; FHL microfilm 1,008,865.
   Indexed Information
   Name: G. Borden Jr.
   Spouse's Name: A. J. Stearns
   Event Date: 15 Feb 1845
   Event Place: Galveston, Texas
   
5. ↑ FamilySearch.org, Connecticut Marriages, 1630-1997, 17 March 2018. Gail Borden Jr. and [Mrs.] Hiram Church, 1860.
   Indexed Information
   Name: Gail Borden Jr.
   Event Type: Marriage
   Event Date: 16 Aug 1860
   Event Place: , Winsted, Connecticut, United States
   Gender: Male
   Marital Status: Married
   Spouse's Name: [Mrs.] Hiram Church
   Spouse's Gender: Female
   
6. ↑ Joe B. Frantz, Gail Borden: Dairyman to a Nation (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1951). Hattie Borden Weld, Historical and Genealogical Record of the Borden Family (Los Angeles, 1899?). Clarence R. Wharton, Gail Borden, Pioneer (San Antonio: Naylor, 1941).

See also:

• Gail Borden, Pioneer by Clarence R. Wharton., excerpts

• Joe B. Frantz, Gail Borden: Dairyman to a Nation (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1951). Hattie Borden Weld, Historical and Genealogical Record of the Borden Family (Los Angeles, 1899?). Clarence R. Wharton, Gail Borden, Pioneer (San Antonio: Naylor, 1941).

• Handbook of Texas Online Joe B. Frantz, "Borden, Gail, Jr.," accessed March 17, 2016, contains an excellent biography
• A Rose by Any Name By Douglas Brenner, Stephen Scanniello, page 1929, a creamy pink rose bred to celebrate the centennial of Elsie the Cow's parent company.
• https://books.google.com/books?id=gMEOs4na_yAC&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=penelope+mercer+borden&source=bl&
• Gail Borden Memorial, "Find A Grave Index"
  Indexed information
  Name: Gail Borden
  Event Type: Burial
  Event Date: 1874
  Event Place: Bronx, Bronx, New York, United States of America
  Photograph Included: Yes
  Birth Date: 09 Nov 1801
  Death Date: 11 Jan 1874
  Affiliate Record Identifier: 6854411
  Cemetery: Woodlawn Cemetery
  Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6854411/gail-borden: accessed 11 July 2023), memorial page for Gail Borden Jr. (9 Nov 1801–11 Jan 1874), Find A Grave: Memorial #6854411, citing Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, Bronx County, New York, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.
• This WikiTree profile is referenced from Wikidata: Item Q938794, en:Wikipedia