Submitted by: George Borden
Note: There are many descendants of Isaac and Sarah Borden in the South Bend/Mishawaka area. The article was in my deceased
grandmother's possessions and there is no newspaper name or date on it, although it must have been published in February of 1871
Parts of the article are illegible and my surmises are in parentheses.
Obituary of Isaac Lawrence Borden (1830-1871)
DIED
At his late residence, Hudson township, Laporte county, on Saturday,
February 11, 1871, of congestion of the lungs, Isaac Lawrence Borden, in the 41st
year of his age.
Death, at all times terrible is never more so than is the case of a husband and father.
True, the loss of a kind and affectionate mother is incalculable, but when the husband
and father dies, the family is, as it were, deprived at once of protection and support,
and the years that follow are often those of bitterness and tears. If a wife and children,
left with hunger staring them in the face, by the demise of him, who, though at times
unmindful of his responsibility, was yet their only stay in life, deserve to be commiserated
in what must be thought of dear ones deprived of a parent, whose devotion to their interests
de??? (dealt?) less aggravated his disease which hurried his soul to death’s port. None but
those, we opine, who have undergone the affliction, can then surmise. Here is one good,
kind – in fact possessing all the noblest qualities which should adorn his sex, an exemplary
citizen, and a man of more than ordinary intelligence, at an age when the world most requires
the presence of such persons, and when he was just preparing to enjoy the fruits of his toils,
carried to the grave, amid the lamentations of his household, and the regret of all by whom
he was known, or who had even heard of his virtues through his friends and admirers. The
pen is impotent to do justice to his worth. This man performing his humble duties, making
glad all by whom he was surrounded, in his capacity of son, brother, husband, father, and
citizen, is as much deserving of our admiration and respect as any wearing the robes and
enjoying the emoluments of office, or wielding the scepter of power; for these frequently
go astray, but this man could not. We speak thus positively, because we entertain an earnest
belief in the stability of the well balanced human mind. Perhaps he did not experience the
temptations which other men are fated to encounter, but certain it is he possessed an even
temper, did not seek to evade a single duty of life, was always charitable towards the fruits
of others, and, without wearing the christian’s garb, possessed all his virtues, while being
guiltless of many of the christian’s faults.
To the writer he was always a friend indeed, and an acquaintance with him of years
ended only to increase our admiration for his manly qualities. His home became our
home, and he was at once employer and instructor, being as watchful of our welfare
as an elder brother would be. We shall never forget his little kindnesses roll the years
by ever so swiftly.
Mr. Borden was born in Springwater, Livingston county, N.Y. In the fall of 1838 he
moved with his parents to Michigan, settling at Antwerp, Van Buren county, from which place
he moved to Hamilton, this county, (St. Joseph) in the spring of 1845, thus having long been
a resident of Indiana, and though at the time of his decease Mr. Borden was comparatively
a young man, he was really an early settler of this county. Married at a youthful age, he
experienced the satisfaction of seeing a family of children grow up around him, the care
of whom on his death-bed he entrusted to a loving mother and dutiful wife, and he seemed
to know and feel that the holy trust would be sacredly regarded.
For a long time his friends entertained (missing part probably said entertained that he might
have a full) recovery, but though all that human skill or devotion could devise was done for
him he at last succumbed. He bore up under his sufferings with the greatest fortitude, not a
groan escaping from his lips thro’out his entire illness, nor did he by word betray the agony
he endured. Such courage, displayed under circumstances so trying, could not be surpassed
upon the field of battle.
The funeral services were preached at Hamilton on Wednesday by Mr. Pidge, the clergyman
who officiated at Mr. Borden’s marriage, and, notwithstanding the long distance from the
house to the church, the funeral concourse was very large. The discourse, very affecting at
times, caused many an eye to become moistened, and made all hearts beat in sympathy for
the widow and orphans. Thus passes away a good man.
Parenthetic comments are my own where portions of the article are not legible.
Isaac Borden and wife Sarah Francis Barnes Borden are buried at the New Carlisle Cemetery
on County Line Road. They resided in Olive township St. Joseph county until moving to
Hudson township, La Porte county shortly before 1860. Their farm was on the south side
of Hwy 20 at the county line between St. Joseph and La Porte county.