Matthew Borden
Encyclopedia
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...
who, in 1880 reorganized the failed American Print Works into the American Printing Company. In the years that followed, his company would grow to become the largest cloth-printing
Roller printing on textiles
Roller printing, also called cylinder printing or machine printing, on fabrics is a textile printing process patented by Thomas Bell of Scotland in 1783 in an attempt to reduce the cost of the earlier copperplate printing...
company in the world, earning him the nickname "the Calico King". His father was Colonel Richard Borden, who founded the Fall River Iron Works.
Early life
Matthew was born in Fall River, MassachusettsFall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...
on July 18, 1842. He was the son of prominent local businessman Richard Borden
Richard Borden
Colonel Richard Borden was undoubtedly the most influential person in the early history of the city of Fall River, Massachusetts. He co-founded the Fall River Iron Works in 1821, and later built several early cotton mills, as well as the Fall River Line, Fall River Gas Company, the Fall River...
and Abby Durfee Borden.
In 1860, he graduated from Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
in Andover
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...
. He went on to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, obtaining an A.B. degree in 1864, and an A.M. in 1867. At Yale he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
and Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
.
In 1865, he married his relative, Harriet M. Durfee of Fall River, with whom he had seven children, including three sons; Bertram Howard, Matthew Sterling and Howard Seymour.
His business career began in 1864, when he entered one of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's leading dry goods house as a stock boy. By 1867 he had become a partner in a New York commission house, where he represented the American Print Works as a selling agent. Borden had inherited a large share of the print works from his father, who died in 1874. However, in 1879, the print works failed, causing him to lose his job in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. With the help of his older brother, he reorganised the company under the name of The American Printing Company in January 1880. He allied himself with the commission house of J. S. & E. Wright & Co. (later Bliss, Fabyan & Co.) with whom he maintained fruitful relations for many years. One of the partners of Bliss, Fabyan & Co. was Cornelius Newton Bliss
Cornelius Newton Bliss
Cornelius Newton Bliss was an American merchant and politician.Cornelius Bliss was born at Fall River, Massachusetts. He was educated in his native city and in New Orleans, where he early entered his stepfather's counting house...
, who would later become Secretary of the Interior
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
.
Rise of the "Calico King"
In 1887, Borden bought his brother's interest in The American Printing Company. Borden sought to increase profits, and to become independent of the open market. This led him to commence the building of three large cloth mills in Fall River in 1889. By 1892 Borden's business were churning out around 70,000 pieces of print cloth week. Half of the cloth was being supplied by his own mills.In order to raise money for his textile business he regularly turned to his fellow Bonesman and roommate at Yale, John William Sterling
John William Sterling
John William Sterling was a corporate attorney and major benefactor to Yale University.-Biography:John William Sterling was born in Stratford, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1864 and was a member of Skull and Bones. He was admitted to the bar three years later. He...
. Sterling was a well-know New York banker, with access to the Stillman and Rockefeller
Rockefeller family
The Rockefeller family , the Cleveland family of John D. Rockefeller and his brother William Rockefeller , is an American industrial, banking, and political family of German origin that made one of the world's largest private fortunes in the oil business during the late 19th and early 20th...
crowds.
Borden also kept a home in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and integrated himself into the high society of that city. He also had many financial interests in New York, being a director of the Manhattan Company Bank, the Lincoln National Bank, the Astor Place Bank, the Lincoln Safe Deposit Co. and the New York Security & Trust Co. Borden was a Republican in politics. For several years he served as New York City Commissioner of Parks. He was also a trustee and treasurer of The Clinton Hall Association, and governor of the New York Woman's Hospital.
He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
, Down Town Association, Jekyll Island Club
Jekyll Island Club
The Jekyll Island Club was a private club located on Jekyll Island, on the Georgia coastline. It was founded in 1886 when members of an incorporated hunting and recreational club purchased the island for $125,000 from John Eugune du Bignon. The original design of the Jekyll Island Clubhouse, with...
, Merchants Club of New York, Metropolitan Club of New York, New England Society, New York Yacht Club, Players Club of New York, Republican Club of New York, Riding Club of New York, Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club
Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club
The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club is one of the oldest yacht clubs in the Western Hemisphere , located in Oyster Bay, New York, with access to Long Island Sound.-History:...
, Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
, South Side Sportmen's Club, Union League Club of New York
Union League Club of New York
The Union League Club of New York is a private social club in New York City. Its fourth and current clubhouse, which opened on February 2, 1931, is a building designed by Benjamin Wistar Morris, III, located at 38 East 37th Street between Madison and Park Avenue in the Murray Hill section of...
and the Whist Club of New York.
In 1898, Borden's steam yacht named Sovereign was acquired by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and renamed the USS Scorpion
USS Scorpion (PY-3)
The fourth USS Scorpion was a steam yacht in commission in the United States Navy from 1898-1899, 1899-1901, and 1902-1927.-Construction and acquisition:...
, serving the Navy until 1929.
Death and legacy
Matthew died on May 27, 1912 at his summer residence in Oceanic, New JerseyRumson, New Jersey
Rumson is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,122.Rumson was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 15, 1907, from portions of Shrewsbury Township, based on the results of a...
. When word of his death was received, all of his mills were temporarily closed.
He left an estate valued at over $5 million, about half of which was from his shares in the American Printing Company. His will also provide for $250,000 to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
In 1918, the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
acquired another Borden's luxury yacht, also called Sovereign (launched 1911). It was renamed the USS Sovereign
USS Sovereign (SP-170)
The second USS Sovereign was an armed yacht that served in the United States Navy as a patrol vessel from 1918 to 1919.Sovereign was built as a civilian yacht of the same name in 1911 by Charles L. Seabury and Company at Morris Heights in the Bronx, New York, for private use as a pleasure and...
, and served as a patrol boat during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In April 1919, the Sovereign was stricken from the Navy List, and soon after returned to her owner's estate.