Gail Borden, III. (November 9, 1801 – January 11, 1863), was a native New Yorker who settled in Texas in 1829, where he worked as a land surveyor, newspaper publisher, and inventor; he is most known as the developer of
condensed milk in 1853. Borden co-plotted the cities of
Houston and
Galveston in 1836. Having returned to the New York area to market another product, he set up factories for condensed milk in Connecticut, and later in New York and Illinois. Demand was high for his product by the Union Army during the
American Civil War. His New York Condensed Milk Company changed its name to Borden after his death.