Nathaniel Briggs Borden (April 15, 1801 – April 10, 1865) was a businessman and politician from

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

. He served as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from Massachusetts's 10th congressional district from 1835 to 1839 and again from 1841 to 1843. He later served as a member of the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from th ...

, first as a state Senator, and later a state representative. He also served as the third mayor of Fall River. His business career included interests textile mills, banking and railroads. He was the younger brother of noted

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is c ...

Simeon Borden.

Early life and education

Nathaniel Briggs Borden was born to Simeon Borden and Amey (Briggs) Borden in the part of

Freetown, Massachusetts Freetown is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,206 at the 2020 census. Freetown is one of the oldest communities in the United States, having been settled by the Pilgrims and their descendants in the la ...

which became

Fall River Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

in 1803. His father died in 1811. His mother Amey, was one of the original incorporators of the Troy Cotton & Woolen Manufactory, the second cotton mill to be established in Fall River, in 1813, which was built on her property. Amey Borden died in 1817, leaving five children, including sixteen-year-old Nathaniel. Much of Borden's youth was spent in

Tiverton, Rhode Island Tiverton is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 16,359 at the 2020 census. Geography Tiverton is located on the eastern shore of Narragansett Bay, across the Sakonnet River from Aquidneck Island (also know ...

. He attended the district school and Plainfield (Connecticut) Academy, but left when his mother died. Borden acquired an interest in government at a young age. In 1821, when he was just twenty years old, Borden and several associates organized the Pocasset Manufacturing Company, in

. He served as the company's first clerk and treasurer. Borden was married four times. His first marriage was to Sarah Gray on March 16, 1820. The couple had five children before Sarah died on May 22, 1840. Their eldest son, Simeon served as clerk of the courts of Bristol County, Massachusetts for thirty-two years. Borden's second marriage was to Sarah's sister Louisa Gray on December 10, 1840. She died on June 4, 1842. Borden's third marriage was to Sarah Gould Buffum on February 12, 1843. She was the daughter of Arnold Buffum, and sister of

Elizabeth Buffum Chace Elizabeth Buffum Chace (December 9, 1806 – December 12, 1899) was an American activist in the anti-slavery, women's rights, and prison reform movements of the mid-to-late 19th century. She was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of ...

. She died on September 10, 1854, from Asiatic cholera, one day after their daughter died from the same disease. This marriage also produced a son, Nathaniel Briggs, born in 1844. Nathaniel Briggs Borden, Jr. would later follow his father's footsteps with a career business and banking, including the

Valley Falls Company The Valley Falls Company was founded in 1839 by Oliver Chace, in Valley Falls, Rhode Island, a historic mill village on both sides of the Blackstone River, within the modern-day town of Cumberland and city of Central Falls, Rhode Island. The Vall ...

, run by his uncle Samuel B. Chace, and later the Barnard Mills in Fall River, which he helped organize. Borden's last marriage was to Lydia A. Slade on March 14, 1855.History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, J. W. Lewis & Co., 1883
/ref>

Political career

He served as member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1831 and 1834 and again in 1851 and in 1864. Borden was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-fourth Congress and reelected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Twenty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1839), winning both times as the candidate of a coalition that included his district's Anti-Masonic Party. He was an unsuccessful Whig candidate for reelection to the Twenty-sixth Congress in 1838. Borden was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843). He later served as member of the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

from 1845 to 1848. In 1856, Borden was elected Mayor of Fall River, and reelected in 1857.

Business career

Borden engaged in banking and served as president of the Fall River Savings Bank and of the Fall River Union Bank. He was also president of the Fall River Railroad, from 1847 to 1854, when it merged with the

Old Colony Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall Ri ...

Death and legacy

Borden died in

, April 10, 1865, just a few days before his sixty-fourth birthday. He was interred in Oak Grove Cemetery. In 1867, the City of Fall River dedicated the N. B. Borden School on Morgan Street in his honor. In 1876, the Academy of Music Building was dedicated in his honor by his widow Lydia, and his surviving adult children.

References

Notes