Ken Bridges/Columnist
Success is never a straight line. Gail Borden’s story is how an Indiana farmboy with almost no formal schooling went from being a Texas revolutionary and editor to a celebrated inventor and wildly successful New York factory owner. The calm and curious man nurtured not only revolution in Texas but a revolution in the food industry.
Gail Borden II was born in Norwich, a remote farming community in southern New York in 1801. As did many farmers and pioneers of the time, the family set out often in pursuit of greener pastures a number of times. The family settled for a short time in Kentucky before moving to Indiana. He had little formal education save for a few courses in 1816 and 1817 to learn surveying. Many details of his youth are incomplete, but it is apparent that he was very intelligent and very principled.
He and his brother served in the Indiana Militia for a time. In 1822, he was part of a group that saved a freed slave from being lynched. Afterward, with little formal education, Borden was able to land a job as a school teacher in Mississippi. He later also became county surveyor and a deputy federal surveyor. By 1828, he married and started a family.
By 1829, his brother, Thomas Borden, also a surveyor, had moved to Texas and enticed his brother and his family to try their luck in the new land. Borden accepted the challenge and arrived in Galveston on Christmas Eve. He began farming in what is now the Fort Bend County area. Within a few months, Borden was hired by Stephen F. Austin as a surveyor for his growing colony, on the recommendation of his brother.
Things changed quickly in Texas as a great wave of change swept the land. American colonists who had come to Texas grew uneasy at the increasing depredations of an increasingly unstable Mexican government. In 1832, Borden became part of the committee of correspondence at San Felipe, communicating concerns about Mexico with other Texas communities. He served as a delegate to the Convention of 1833, which included future Texas presidents Sam Houston and David G. Burnet, which called for separate statehood for Texas from the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas in order for Texans to more directly address their own affairs.
In 1835, Borden began working with his brother Thomas and Joseph Baker, a Maine native and school teacher, to start a newspaper. The Telegraph and Texas Register saw its first edition on October 10. It rose in prominence, essentially becoming the newspaper of record during the days of the Texas Revolution and the Texas Republic. Its editorials rallied the people of Texas during the revolution and called for aid from the United States. In 1836, the paper printed the Texas Declaration of Independence and one of the first copies of the new constitution for the Texas Republic.
After the end of the revolution in 1836, he worked with local officials to plan the layout for the City of Houston. He and his brother sold their stakes in the newspaper in 1837. Borden became the official port collector for Galveston that year. Starting in 1839, he served as an alderman in Galveston and began selling real estate.
He initially tinkered with primitive refrigeration systems, to no avail. Despite efforts by men like Borden and others, modern refrigeration simply did not exist in the 1840s. This made it very difficult to preserve food for long periods. This led him to create a dehydrated meat biscuit by 1849, one designed to stay edible even after long-term storage. Though his invention won praise by fellow inventors, the meat biscuit was not popular with consumers.
He continued inventing, and in 1853, created condensed milk through a vacuum process. This allowed milk to be stored for extended periods, vital for remote areas. Borden’s condensed milk was patented in 1856. That year, Borden attempted to produce it in a factory he bought in Connecticut. His effort faltered quickly. In 1857, he reorganized and founded “Gail Borden, Jr. and Co.” to produce condensed milk. The company still struggled. In 1858, entrepreneur Jeremiah Milbank gained a 50% partnership in the company, giving it the funds needed. The company was renamed the New York Condensed Milk Company.
The new company slowly started finding customers. When the Civil War began in 1861, the New York Condensed Milk Company began working with the U. S. Army to sell Borden’s condensed milk. Condensed milk allowed troops to store milk without fear of spoiling while maintaining high standards for nutrition.
Though Borden had long since moved to New York and amassed a fortune, Texas was never far from his thoughts. In 1872, the small town of Borden in Colorado County was organized and named for him. Borden donated money to build two schools in the area. Though segregated schools were the law at the time, Borden built a white school and an African-American school to provide for the children of both races. He continued to support these and other schools. He donated money to build five churches in the area and gave extensively to other charities. He died in January 1874 at the age of 72. Afterward, the state legislature created Borden County, south of Lubbock, in 1876, named in his honor. The county seat, Gail, also named for Borden, was founded in 1890.
Dr. Ken Bridges is a proud father, professor, native Texan, and author of seven books. His columns appear in 85 newspapers. He can be contacted by e-mail at drkenbridges@gmail.com.