Gail Borden

Gail Borden Jr. was born in Norwich, New York, on November 9, 1801, to Gail Borden Sr. (1777–1863), and Philadelphia (née Wheeler) Borden (1780–1828). The family moved to Kennedy's Ferry, Kentucky (renamed as Covington in 1814). There, he learned the art of surveying while aiding his father in the surveying of what would become Covington. Borden also moved to New London, Indiana, in 1816. Borden received his only formal schooling in Indiana during 1816 and 1817.

In 1822, Borden and his brother Thomas left home and settled in Amite County, Mississippi. Borden stayed in Liberty for seven years, working as the county surveyor and as a schoolteacher in Bates and Zion Hill.

His mother died at age 48 from yellow fever in Nashville, Tennessee, perhaps while visiting a grown child and family.

In 1828, Borden married Penelope Mercer of Amite County, Mississippi. The couple had five children during their 16-year marriage. Penelope Borden contracted yellow fever and died in Galveston in 1844. On February 15, 1845, he married A. [Augusta or Azalea] F. Stearns in Galveston. She died in 1857. In 1860, he married Emeline E. (Eno) Church in Connecticut.

Borden was a delegate at the Convention of 1833, where he assisted in writing early drafts of a Republic of Texas constitution. He also shared administrative duties with Samuel May Williams during 1833 and 1834 when Stephen F. Austin was away in Mexico.

President Sam Houston appointed Borden as the Republic of Texas Collector of Customs at Galveston in June 1837. He was popular 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, replacing him in the patronage position with a lifelong friend from Mobile, Alabama, Dr. Willis Roberts, newly arrived in Texas. 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, the newcomer was resented. The Galveston News 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. Two resentful desk clerks were later determined to have been embezzling funds. Roberts was replaced in December 1839, when Lamar appointed another man.

After Houston was re-elected to the presidency, he reappointed Borden to the post. The publisher served December 1841 to April 1843. He finally resigned after a dispute with Houston.

Borden assisted in the original survey of Galveston. Working for the Galveston City Company, the surveying team laid out the east end of the island in a gridiron pattern, similar to major cities on the east coast of the US. Streets running the length of the island, from west to east, were named as avenues, according to the alphabet and in ascending order. Avenue A was the first avenue on the bay side, and this sequence continued through Avenue Q, running parallel to the Gulf of Mexico. Intersecting the avenues were numbered streets, starting with Eighth Street and continuing through Fifty-Eighth Street, which formed the western edge of the property owned by the Galveston City Company. In addition to surveying, he also he served the Galveston Town Company for 12 years as a secretary and agent. During that period, he helped sell 2,500 lots of land, for a total of $1,500,000.

In the 1840s, he began to experiment with disease cures and mechanics. His wife Penelope died of yellow fever on September 5, 1844. Frequent epidemics had swept through the nation, and the disease had a high rate of fatalities during the 19th century. Borden began experimenting with finding a cure to the disease via refrigeration. No one understood how it was transmitted. He also experimented with an amphibious vehicle that he called a "terraqueous machine". This was a sail-powered wagon designed to travel over land and sea, but designed more specifically for the western prairies. He abandoned the invention after a test run resulted in ejecting its riders into the Gulf of Mexico.