Born in a log house on Congress Avenue in Austin, E. B. Raymond was the son of Republic of Texas lawyer and newspaperman N. C. Raymond and his wife Lucinda Riggs. He came on horseback to South Texas in 1870, herded cattle uptrail to Kansas, and about 1874 was hired by Richard King to open El Sauz Ranch, later managing King-Kenedy interests for 37 years. He also developed a ranch of his own, married Juanita Rodrigurez, and was the father of two sons, Fred N. and Edward Charles. When El Sauz Post Office was created in 1893, he became postmaster. He was a school official and served from 1898 to 1910 as a commissioner of Cameron County. Along with other ranchers, he deeded right of way for the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway and donated a station site near his Las Majadas Ranch, where railway officials named the station in his honor. In 1904, the year rail service was formally inaugurated on the fourth of July, he organized Raymond Town and Improvement Co.; in 1907, he became president of the town's first bank, set up a telephone exchange, and built a cotton gin. After his death, Raymondville became the seat of government for the new county of Willacy, created in 1921.