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Eagle Lake Remembers
Each day after school in Eagle Lake I couldn’t wait to open the refrigerator door. I reached upward, and pulled down a cold, refreshing glass of Borden’s milk. And, yes, there she was, the famous Elsie the Cow, smiling back at me, as if to say, “job well done!”
I always wondered who invented Borden’s milk, since everyone drank it. Aside from local dairy bottles, it was the only milk we knew. It was known not only in Texas, but in many parts of the United States. We Texans of course, claimed it.
It wasn’t until much later when we learned that the famous inventor from Colorado County actually began Borden’s milk. He also invented condensed milk, which became a worldwide phenomenon saving many children’s lives.
Right here in Colorado County Gail Borden, Jr., (1801-1874) settled at the former Harvey’s Creek settlement just after the Civil War. He had followed his brother John to Texas. John was one of Stephen F. Austin’s first 300 settlers. Gail came to Texas in 1829, five years after brother John.
John Borden became the founding postmaster in Borden, Texas. The mail operated until 1905, when it was sent to Weimar. Gail Borden, Jr. established both the white school and a Freedman’s school for black children in Borden. The brothers provided jobs through the meat preserving company. Cotton, cane, grain, and beef were produced around the Colorado County town of Borden. The railroad transported their products and created jobs.
The Borden brothers were exceptionally talented. They produced Texas’ first most recognized newspaper, the Telegraph and Texas Register. Their press was burned by Santa Anna when his men came storming through San Felipe. They did land-surveying, and provided multiple important inventions by Gail Borden, including beef biscuits, condensed Eagle Brand milk, and canned beef. Gail was also the tax collector for the provisional government of Texas.
The brothers surveyed and laid out the town of Houston, in 1836. John was elected a county judge of Fort Bend County in 1846 and was elected chief justice for the county. He established the boys Academy, Ingleside Seminary, which ran until 1873. Like his brother Gail, John also lived in Borden in the mid-1870s, and died there in 1891.
In 1837, Gail Borden, Jr. was a Justice of the peace in the newly formed Colorado County. He had been a surveyor for the Austin colony, was in the printing business in Galveston, and sold more than 2500 lots in the Galveston area. Gail Borden, Jr. died in his town of Borden, Texas. He was buried in his native New York.
Gail’s brother John Borden (1812-1891) also worked closely with Stephen F. Austin. Both lived and died in Colorado County’s Borden, Texas, near Columbus and Weimar.
John Borden took a law degree and entered practice at Richmond, Texas. He was judge of Fort Bend County, and in 1846 was elected Chief Justice. He founded and operated the Ingleside seminary, a boys Academy until 1873. In the mid-1800s he moved to our neighbor Borden, Texas along with his brother Gail and died there in 1891.
Fewer men were more known and valuable than Gail and John Borden. A county in north Texas is named Borden County, with its county seat carrying the name of Gail.
Borden, Texas was important especially to Gail Borden, Jr. as he built his meat preservation and canning establishment, the schools, and the community.
So when you lift your next cold glass of Borden’s Milk, make a toast to founder Gail Borden Jr., to his brother John; to the famous smiling Elsie the Cow; and to Texas’ beloved Colorado County.
