James W. Borden

James Wallace Borden (1810–1882) was an American jurist in Indiana and diplomat.

Life

James Wallace Borden was born near Beaufort, North Carolina on February 5, 1810.^[1] His father was Joseph Borden (1769–1825) and mother Esther Wallace (1771–1853).^[2] He was educated at Fairfeld Academy in Herkimer, New York and at Windsor, Connecticut. He read for and passed his bar exam in 1831. In 1835 he moved to Richmond, Indiana, and in 1839 to Fort Wayne, Indiana. He ran the federal land office in Fort Wayne, and was elected as judge of the 12th district of Indianain 1841. In 1850 he was a member of the Indiana state constitutional convention. He ran as a Democrat for the US Congress House of Representatives in 1851, but lost the general election. In 1852 he was elected again as judge.^[1]

Borden was appointed U.S. Commissioner to the Kingdom of Hawaii by James Buchanan on January 11, 1858.^[3] He presented his credentials on May 21, 1858 to King Kamehameha IV. The king made a welcoming speech,^[4] but the situation was a tense peace between Scottish-born Hawaii foreign minister Robert Crichton Wyllie and US Secretary of State Lewis Cass. There was a minor territorial dispute over the remote Johnston Atoll.^[5] A highlight was the visit on March 5, 1860 of the USS Powhatan which included Japanese ambassadors on a visit to the United States.^[6] President Abraham Lincoln appointed Thomas J. Dryer to be the new Commissioner to Hawaii, and Borden was recalled on June 8, 1861.^[3]

Borden took a tour of Asia and Europe before returning to Indiana. he was elected again as judge in 1864 and 1867 moved to the criminal court, and held that post until his death. He died in 1882. He was buried in Lindenwood Cemetery in Fort Wayne. He married Emeline Griswold in 1832 had seven children, and after her death married Jane Conklin on August 15, 1848, having one additional son, David Henry Borden in May 1863.^[1]

His brother, physician Joseph Borden (1806–1875) and his family moved to California and named the town of Borden, California.^[2][7]

His son George Pennington Borden (1844–1925) enlisted in the American Civil War, graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1864, and retired as a brigadier general in 1907. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.^[8]

References

1. George Derby; James Terry White (1904). The National cyclopedia of American biography 12. J. T. White. pp. 292–293.
2. Hattie Borden Weld (1899). Historical and genealogical record of the descendants as far as known of Richard and Joan Borden, who settled in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, May, 1638: with historical and biographical sketches of some of their descendant. pp. 152–153.
3. "James Wallace Borden (1810-)". Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
4. Kamehameha IV (May 25, 1858). "Replies by His Majesty to the Hon. D. L. gregg, Commissioner of the United States, and to the Hon. James W. Borden, his Successor". Speeches of His Majesty Kamehameha IV: to the Hawaiian Legislature. Printed at the Government Press. pp. 31–33.
5. Rhoda E. A. Hackler (2008). ""Earnest Persuasion but Not Peremptory Demand:" United States Government Policy toward the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, 1820–1863". Hawaiian Journal of History (Hawaiian Historical Society) 42: 49–67. hdl:10524/342.
6. David W. Forbes (2001). Hawaiian national bibliography, 1780-1900. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 272–274. ISBN 978-0-8248-2503-4.
7. Lewis Publishing Company (1892). The Bay of San Francisco: the metropolis of the Pacific Coast and its suburban cities: a history 2. Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 225–226.
8. "George Pennington Borden: Brigadier General, United States Army". Arlington National Cemetery web site. Retrieved February 28, 2011.