W.W. Borden

            PROF. W.W. BORDEN was born at New Providence, Clark county, Ind., August 18, 1823. His father was John Borden, who was born at Portsmouth, R.I., in November, 1785, and came to Indiana in 1818, settling in Clark county, and laying off the town of New Providence, where he died November 7, 1824. He was the superintendent of the first cotton mill at Fall River, Mass. After coming to Indiana he followed the occupations of farming and mercantile business. Prof. Borden’s mother was Lydia Bellows, born in town of Preston, new London county, Conn. She was a women of marked individuality, and she was mentally fitted to become, as she died, one of the pioneer mothers of Indiana, -managing a farm and keeping an inn, thus educating her sons, William and John. Prof. Borden was reared at New Providence. After enjoying such advantages as the schools of his native town afforded, he entered an academy at Salem, Ind., taught by John L. Morrison, a noted teacher of the times. He next entered the State University at Bloomington, where he remained some time. After leaving college he returned to his home, where for thirty years he engaged in farming, owning one among the finest farms in Southern Indiana, at New Providence.

            Prof. Borden’s superior acquirements in geology and the other sciences, which were self-taught while at work on the farm, gave him honorable rank among the scientific men of Indiana, and State Geologist Cox called him to his assistance in making the geological survey of the state in 1873. In this capacity Prof. Borden made an exhaustive and invaluable survey of a number of the counties of Southern Indiana, which are embodied in the report of State Geologist Cox and are standard authority in the geology of the State.

            In July, 1878, he went to Leadville, Co., and engaged in mining and mining engineering. He was among the first of those who went to Leadville, and was a leading spirit in the discovery and development of the rich mines of that famous locality. He made an independent fortune by his operations and the sale of his mining interests within the period of one and one half years.

            On his return home he determined to carry out a noble object he long had at heart, -the founding of an educational establishment for his native town, that should take rank among the leading colleges of the West, a practical and thorough school for young men and young women, including a thorough business course. This laudable and noble ambition has been realized in Borden Institute. The corner stone of this new institution of learning was laid with imposing ceremonies, at New Providence, on September 6, 1884, and the fine building was dedicated to the purposes for which it was erected, on July 4, 1885. The dedicatory addresses were delivered by Prof. W.H. Venable, of the Chickering Institute, Cincinnati, and Gov. Will Cumback, of Greensburg, Ind., both speakers being noted men in scientific and literary circles.

            The main building, 55 x 56 feet, and three stories high, built of brick, is an elegant one in architectural design and finish. Attached to the Institute is a commodious dormitory for boarding students.

            The founder has supplied every department of Borden Institute with apparatus of the finest and most expensive character; has furnished a geological cabinet not excelled in the State; has collected a library containing the best standard works in all departments of literature, science, history and art; has erected a building and beautified it, which is a model of excellence and convenience. All these facilities he ahs secured regardless of expense, and he has provided the Institute with a faculty of the ablest and best educators, including the best teachers in music, piano, organ, and voice culture.

            The curriculum of Borden Institute embraces all the branches of higher education taught in the best colleges, including also the normal school for teachers and the business college for young men and women.

            Prof. Borden has made the library of Borden Institute one among the best in the West.

            This Institute is only one of Prof. Borden’s many charities. He has given most liberally in aid of churches, other educational institutions, moral movements and other enterprises having in view the bettering of the mental, moral, physical and material conditions of his fellow-men.

            At New Providence, Prof. Borden owns a magnificent farm of nearly 2,000 acres, upon which he passes a large portion of his time when not traveling. In New Albany he owns and occupies one of the most elegant homes in that city of beautiful residences. He is also a large owner of real estate in Washington Territory and elsewhere in the rapidly developing portions of the Great West and on the Pacific Slope.

            He comes from English and Quaker ancestors, and inherits the sterling integrity that is a characteristic of the Friends. He is, withal, a man of great public spirit, of generous liberality to the worthy poor and afflicted, and has loved to bless those among whom his home is located.

            Prof. Borden was married in November, 1884, to Miss Emma Dunbar, of New Albany, Ind., a lady of rare accomplishments. They have no children.

            He is a member of the Baptist Church, and takes a great interest in the work of the church and Sunday-school. He is famed as a geologist and scientist, and his geological, mineralogical, and natural history cabinets and his private library are among the largest and best in Indiana.

            He is a liberal contributor to the current literature and science of the times.

Source: Biographical and Historical Souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott and Washington, Indiana by John M. Gresham & Company, 1889. Part 2, page 69, 70, 71.