DR. G. F. BORDER
Vol. 5, p. 1904-1905

Dr. G. F. Border, prominent surgeon of Magnum, and mayor of the city, is one of the foremost men of his community. He came here in 1900, and in the same year opened the Border Hospital. It was all inadequate in the beginning to the demands of the place, but today he is the owner and proprietor of one of the finest and best equipped private hospitals to be found anywhere in the country. With accommodations for thirty patients, it is always filled to capacity, though it is exclusively a surgical hospital.

Doctor Border was born in San Augustine, Texas, on December 22, 1873, and is the son of G. F. Border, who was born in England in 1838, and who died in San Augustine, Texas, in 1883. Charles F. Border, grandfather of the subject, was an English emigrant to America, settling in San Augustine, Texas, while others of the same generation came over and settled in Ohio, where their descendants may be found today. G. F. Border, Sr., was a boy when he came to America with his parents, and he was reared in San Augustine, where they settled. While quite young he entered the wholesale hardware business in Galveston, later became the proprietor of a similar establishment, and for many years was thus engaged. He was a major in the Southern army during the Civil war, serving four years in Hood's Brigade. He was severely wounded in the service, and suffered a term of imprisonment. After the war he returned to business pursuits, but he suffered much ill health as a result of his wound, and he finally died from its effects. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and a democrat. He married Elizabeth BROOKS, daughter of Gen. T. G. Brooks, who served in the Civil war and after the war was a merchant in San Augustine. She and her son, Doctor Border, who is one of their five children, briefly mentioned as follows: May married S. M. POLK, a mechanic of Mangum. Mattie is the wife of J. M. BURLESON, a near relative of Postmaster General Burleson, and they live in San Augustine, where he is engaged in the cattle business. Dr. G. F. was the third child. C. L. died at San Augustine, and he was sheriff of the county at the same time of his death. Cora married E. H. ROBERTS, and lives in Dallas. Mr. Roberts is deceased. He was a real estate man of Dallas, and his widow is now the owner of a great deal of land in the state. She has two sons, -- E. H. and Isaac, both of whom are medical students in Baylor University.

G. F. Border had his early education in the public schools of San Augustine, and was a graduate of the Patron High School, class of 1891. He later attended Center Texas College, and was graduated from the Louisville Medical College in 1895 and from the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1900 with the degree of M. D. Doctor Border began practice in the U. S. Marine hospital in Atlanta as assistant surgeon before he had his degree, and he has since taken numerous post-graduate courses, among the courses at the Chicago Polyclinic, the New York Polyclinic and with Mayo Brothers at Rochester, Minnesota. In 1899 he practiced medicine in Holland, Texas, and in 1900 he came to Mangum, in the same year opening the Border hospital. It was a small and unpretentious place then, with a few rooms over the City Drug Store, but the demand for places in the little hospital was so great that in 1907 Doctor Border built his present modern hospital at 224 West Jefferson Street. His is the oldest private hospital in the State of Oklahoma, and it accommodates patients from all over the state, from Texas and from other states. Thirty beds is its capacity, and it is owned and managed exclusively by Doctor Border, whose professional work is confined wholly to the surgical field.

Doctor Border is official surgeon for the Rock Island Railroad and for the M. K. & T. Road. He is health officer for Mangum and has held that office for the past fifteen years.

A democrat, Doctor Border was elected to the office of mayor in 1912, and again in November 1914, for a term of four years. At the last election he had no opposition. He has a good deal of civic pride, and it has been his ambition to make Mangum the cleanest town in the state. In 1914 the city won the state prize for cleanliness as a result of Doctor Border's efforts. Through his efforts, too, were sanitary drinking fountains placed in the public schools.

Doctor Border is a member of Mangum Lodge No. 61, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Mangum Chapter No. 35, Royal Arch Masons, Consistory No. 1, Valley of Guthrie; India Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Oklahoma City; Mangum Lodge No. 1169, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and he is a member of the County, State and American Medical societies. At one time he was a stockholder in a number of insurance companies. Doctor Border is unmarried.

SOURCE: Thoburn, Joseph B., A Standard History of Oklahoma, An Authentic Narrative of its Development, 5 v. (Chicago, New York: The American Historical Society, 1916).

Transcribed by Peg Luce, April 2001.