A. P. (Ace) Borger
Encyclopedia
Asa Phillip Borger (April 12, 1888 – August 31, 1934), the founder of Borger, Texas
, was born to Phillip Borger and the former Minnie Ann West on a family farm near Carthage, Missouri
. His father, a veterinarian
, died when Borger was just six years old. He and his siblings were reared by their mother and grandmothers. Borger attended school in Carthage and graduated from business college. Sometime around 1907 he married classmate Elizabeth Willoughby. They spent their first years in a rented farmhouse near Carthage where Borger opened a lumber
yard. The couple had three children.
Borger began his career as a town promoter at the time of World War I
. In 1915 Borger and his younger brother Lester Andrew, known as Pete Borger, sold land in Picher, Oklahoma
, which was in the center of valuable lead
and zinc
deposits. In 1917 the Borgers, partnered with noted oilman Tom Slick, set up the oil town of Slick near Bristow, Oklahoma
. At each town the Borgers and their associates opened hotel
s, gasoline
stations, lumberyards, sold land, and pushed for the building of railroad lines to their towns. In 1922 they successfully started Cromwell, Oklahoma
, as a boomtown. Though Borger and his family maintained a home for a short time in each of his new towns, he continued to use Carthage as his main base of operations.
Borger soon became interested in the discovery of oil in the Texas Panhandle
. Early in 1926 he purchased 240 acre (0.9712464 km²) in southern Hutchinson County
from rancher John Frank Weatherly at a price of fifty dollars an acre. He then obtained a grant from Secretary of State of Texas
Emma Grigsby Meharg to organize the Borger Townsite Company, with capital of $10,000 divided into 100 shares of $100. In addition to Mr. Borger the company's stockholders included C. C. Horton of the Gulf Oil Company and John R. Miller, an old friend of Borger's from the Oklahoma boom days, who became the new town's first mayor. The Borger Townsite Company laid out the town and opened the sale of lots on March 8, 1926. By the end of the day, the company had grossed between $60,000 and $100,000. Six months later Borger had sold out completely, for the price of more than a million dollars.
Borger established a lumberyard in his namesake town
, and opened its first bank as well. Often he took out full-page advertisements in area newspapers that promoted settlement in Borger and other oil-rich communities throughout West Texas and eastern New Mexico in which he had bought an interest. Mr. Borger also owned several wheat elevators in the area and also 19,000 acres (77 km²) of farmland in Hansford County. In 1927 Ace and Pete Borger, with Albert S. Stinnett, established the towns of Stinnett, Texas
, and Gruver, Texas
, and the group was influential in making the town of Stinnett the Hutchinson county seat
. In 1929 Borger built a spacious two-story brick residence, the first such house in town. From the start he had set aside sites for building churches and schools. Visiting dignitaries were lavishly entertained in the Borger home, which Mrs. Borger decorated with fine antiques.
Borger's overt generosity with friends and acquaintances caused hard feelings among certain folks, particularly county treasurer Arthur Huey. Huey's dislike for Borger intensified after the Borger State Bank (which Borger had established in June 1930 as president and his son Phillip as vice president) failed, causing a minor panic. The elder Borger was later convicted of taking deposits while the bank was insolvent and received a two-year prison term, which he appealed. Meanwhile, Arthur Huey was jailed for embezzlement and reportedly asked Borger to help bail him out. When Borger declined, Huey threatened his life. On August 31, 1934, Borger was getting his mail at the post office when Huey walked in with a Colt .45, cursed and shot him five times. Huey then took Borger's own .44 pistol and fired four more times. Bystander Lloyd Duncan, farm boss for the Magnolia Petroleum Company
, was severely wounded in the attack and died five days later. At Huey's trial, which was held in Canadian, Texas
, Huey claimed that he acted in self-defense, arguing that Borger was instead out to kill him. The jury acquitted him. Three years later, however, Huey was sentenced to the state penitentiary for theft of county funds.
The funeral for Ace Borger was held in Borger, and then his body was shipped back to Missouri for burial in the family plot in Carthage.
Borger, Texas
Borger is the largest city in Hutchinson County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,302 at the 2000 census. Borger is named for businessman Asa Philip "Ace" Borger, who also established the Hutchinson County seat of Stinnett and several other small towns in Texas and Oklahoma.- History...
, was born to Phillip Borger and the former Minnie Ann West on a family farm near Carthage, Missouri
Carthage, Missouri
Carthage is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 14,378 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jasper County and is nicknamed "America's Maple Leaf City."...
. His father, a veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
, died when Borger was just six years old. He and his siblings were reared by their mother and grandmothers. Borger attended school in Carthage and graduated from business college. Sometime around 1907 he married classmate Elizabeth Willoughby. They spent their first years in a rented farmhouse near Carthage where Borger opened a lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
yard. The couple had three children.
Borger began his career as a town promoter at the time of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In 1915 Borger and his younger brother Lester Andrew, known as Pete Borger, sold land in Picher, Oklahoma
Picher, Oklahoma
Picher is a ghost town and former city in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. Formerly a major national center of lead and zinc mining at the heart of the Tri-State Mining District, over a century of unrestricted subsurface excavation dangerously undermined most of Picher's town buildings and...
, which was in the center of valuable lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
deposits. In 1917 the Borgers, partnered with noted oilman Tom Slick, set up the oil town of Slick near Bristow, Oklahoma
Bristow, Oklahoma
Bristow is a city in Creek County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,325 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bristow is located at ....
. At each town the Borgers and their associates opened hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s, gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
stations, lumberyards, sold land, and pushed for the building of railroad lines to their towns. In 1922 they successfully started Cromwell, Oklahoma
Cromwell, Oklahoma
Cromwell is a town in Seminole County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 265 at the 2000 census.-History:Cromwell was a wild and wooly town in the early 1920s. The town was said to be full of saloons, brothels and outlaws...
, as a boomtown. Though Borger and his family maintained a home for a short time in each of his new towns, he continued to use Carthage as his main base of operations.
Borger soon became interested in the discovery of oil in the Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
. Early in 1926 he purchased 240 acre (0.9712464 km²) in southern Hutchinson County
Hutchinson County, Texas
Hutchinson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas in the northern portion of the Texas Panhandle. In 2000, its population was 23,857. Its seat is Stinnett . Hutchinson County is named for Andrew Hutchinson, an early Texas attorney....
from rancher John Frank Weatherly at a price of fifty dollars an acre. He then obtained a grant from Secretary of State of Texas
Secretary of State of Texas
The Secretary of State of Texas is one of six state officials designated by the Texas Constitution to form the executive department of that U.S. state...
Emma Grigsby Meharg to organize the Borger Townsite Company, with capital of $10,000 divided into 100 shares of $100. In addition to Mr. Borger the company's stockholders included C. C. Horton of the Gulf Oil Company and John R. Miller, an old friend of Borger's from the Oklahoma boom days, who became the new town's first mayor. The Borger Townsite Company laid out the town and opened the sale of lots on March 8, 1926. By the end of the day, the company had grossed between $60,000 and $100,000. Six months later Borger had sold out completely, for the price of more than a million dollars.
Borger established a lumberyard in his namesake town
Borger, Texas
Borger is the largest city in Hutchinson County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,302 at the 2000 census. Borger is named for businessman Asa Philip "Ace" Borger, who also established the Hutchinson County seat of Stinnett and several other small towns in Texas and Oklahoma.- History...
, and opened its first bank as well. Often he took out full-page advertisements in area newspapers that promoted settlement in Borger and other oil-rich communities throughout West Texas and eastern New Mexico in which he had bought an interest. Mr. Borger also owned several wheat elevators in the area and also 19,000 acres (77 km²) of farmland in Hansford County. In 1927 Ace and Pete Borger, with Albert S. Stinnett, established the towns of Stinnett, Texas
Stinnett, Texas
Stinnett is a small city in Hutchinson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 1,936. Located in the northern Texas Panhandle, Stinnett is the county seat of Hutchinson County.-History:...
, and Gruver, Texas
Gruver, Texas
Gruver is a city in Hansford County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,162 at the 2000 census. Farwell, in the center of Hansford County about three miles east of what later became Gruver, was established in 1880 by the Canott family of Illinois and was the first town in the county...
, and the group was influential in making the town of Stinnett the Hutchinson county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
. In 1929 Borger built a spacious two-story brick residence, the first such house in town. From the start he had set aside sites for building churches and schools. Visiting dignitaries were lavishly entertained in the Borger home, which Mrs. Borger decorated with fine antiques.
Borger's overt generosity with friends and acquaintances caused hard feelings among certain folks, particularly county treasurer Arthur Huey. Huey's dislike for Borger intensified after the Borger State Bank (which Borger had established in June 1930 as president and his son Phillip as vice president) failed, causing a minor panic. The elder Borger was later convicted of taking deposits while the bank was insolvent and received a two-year prison term, which he appealed. Meanwhile, Arthur Huey was jailed for embezzlement and reportedly asked Borger to help bail him out. When Borger declined, Huey threatened his life. On August 31, 1934, Borger was getting his mail at the post office when Huey walked in with a Colt .45, cursed and shot him five times. Huey then took Borger's own .44 pistol and fired four more times. Bystander Lloyd Duncan, farm boss for the Magnolia Petroleum Company
Magnolia Petroleum Company
The Magnolia Petroleum Company was an early twentieth century petroleum company in Texas and was founded on April 24, 1911 as a consolidation of several earlier companies. Standard Oil of New York exchanged its stock for all of the Magnolia stock in December 1925 though it continued to operate as...
, was severely wounded in the attack and died five days later. At Huey's trial, which was held in Canadian, Texas
Canadian, Texas
Canadian is the county seat of Hemphill County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,233 at the 2000 census. It is named for the Canadian River, a tributary of the nearby Arkansas River. Canadian is sometimes called "the oasis of the Texas Panhandle."-History:The trails along the river are...
, Huey claimed that he acted in self-defense, arguing that Borger was instead out to kill him. The jury acquitted him. Three years later, however, Huey was sentenced to the state penitentiary for theft of county funds.
The funeral for Ace Borger was held in Borger, and then his body was shipped back to Missouri for burial in the family plot in Carthage.