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Herbert Borden, was my grandfather. He was born in South Boston as his father, Stephen A Borden had moved to Boston from Fall River to work on the railroad. There SA Borden met and married Frances Wheeler and Herbert was their first born They lived at 83 Emerson St. The family moved back to Fall River about 1882, after the death of Frances' father, Elhanen Constantine Wheeler, in a railroad accident.
At age 42 Herbert married for the first time, Clara Booth. at St Mark's Church, Fall River. They lived in the home of Clara's father, a three family at 15 Marsh St. Clara was born in Ramsbottom England in 1891 and moved to Fall River in 1895. Her father was a mill worker. See the Booth page.
Herbert was a Mason and member of the Knights of Pythias.
He died in 1931 at 53. He worked much of his life at the Bamford Stationary store in the Granite Block, Fall River across from City Hall. He bought the store from the owners when they retired. Then in 1928 the granite block burned down. Before he could recover from that disaster he contracted cancer and died. My father, Jim Borden, was only 5 at the time of his father's death.
Most of my father's working career was spent at the Union Savings Bank, just across the street from where the Granite Block stood. Herbert's grandfather's carriage shop was one block north. If fact, eight generations of my direct Borden ancestors lived and worked within a 1 mile radius of the Fall River center most of their lives.
When Herbert died, Clara was forced to support her two children (Andy and Jim) and nephew (Kenneth Booth). She went to school to learn accounting and book keeping and she worked many years for Nick Fitton Movers in that capacity.