Henry B. Sanborn

Henry Bradley Sanborn was born on September 10, 1845, in St. Lawrence County, New York.[1] His father was Edmund Sanborn and his mother, Harriet White.[1]

Sanborn started his career by working for Joseph Glidden's Barb Fence Company in DeKalb, Illinois, in 1864.[1][2] By 1872, he began purchasing horses on the East Coast to sell them in Denver, Colorado, with his colleague, Judson P. Warner.[1] By 1875, they were hired by Glidden and Isaac L. Ellwood to sell barbed wire in the West for his Barb Fence Company,[1][2] later renamed the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company.[3] They established their headquarters in Houston,[3] and sold barbed wire in Sherman, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio.[1] By 1876, they made a profit of US$1 million.[1]

Sanborn took up ranching to promote the use of barbed wire.[1] He purchased a 2,000-acre ranch west of Sherman in Grayson County in 1876.[3] Over the years, this ranch grew to be 10,300 acres.[3] By 1881, working for Glidden alongside William Henry Bush,[4] Sanborn established the Frying Pan Ranch near Bushland, Texas, spanning acres of land in Potter County and Randall County.[1] Furthermore, Sanborn acquired 17,000 acres in Clay County, followed by 40,000 acres in Hall County.[1] Additionally, Sanborn acquired the Bravo Ranch, spanning 120,000 acres in Hartley County.[1]

Besides promoting barbed wire, Sanborn also used his ranches to breed horses.[1] He bred Percheron and French Coach Horses.[3] He crossed Thoroughbreds and Spanish Mustangs to produce ranch horses.[1] Additionally, he organized an annual horse show in Dallas.[1]

Sanborn was the founder of Amarillo, Texas,[5] which lay on his Frying Pan Ranch.[1] When the Fort Worth and Denver Railway built a stop in the town, he established the Panhandle Loan Association and built the Amarillo Hotel for US$50,000.[1][6] Three years later, he acquired the Hutchins House and redeveloped it into a hotel in 1892.[1] Subsequently, Sanborn became known as the "Father of Amarillo."[1][3]

Sanborn donated acres of land to the city of Amarillo for the establishment of Ellwood Park, in honor of his son.[1] He also donated land for the establishment of St. Anthony's Hospital.[1]

The Henry B. and Ellen M. Sanborn House in Amarillo, Texas.

Sanborn married Ellen M. Wheeler, the niece of Joseph F. Glidden, on February 20, 1868.[1] They had a son, Ellwood, who died at the age of twenty-one.[1] The Sanborns lived in a Kansas City, Missouri, mansion from 1892 to 1902, when they moved to Amarillo and built a large estate near the modern-day Amarillo Civic Center.[1]

Sanborn died on May 19, 1912, in Battle Creek, Michigan.[1] He was buried at the Forest Hills Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.[1] His widow donated land to the city of Amarillo for the establishment of Sanborn Park in 1916.[1][7] Six years later, the Sanborn Elementary School, also in Amarillo, was named in his honor.[6] Meanwhile, his widow sold the Bravo Ranch to Cornelius T. Herring and Patrick H. Landergin.[1] Additionally, their house was later moved to 1311 Madison Street.[1] It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since August 14, 1992.[8]

• Henry B. Sanborn at Find a Grave