George W. Brackenridge: Maverick Philanthropist 9780292781146

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George W. Brackenridge

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1 Examiner's Report, 14 December 1894, U.S., Comptroller of the Currency, NA, RG 101, Records, First National Bank of Austin, Texas. A slightly different version of this chapter appeared in Southwestern Historical Quarterly 74 (April 1971) : 478506.

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charter in 1873 just before the panic of that year sent hundreds of banks floundering toward bankruptcy; the following year it lost $1,000 in gold when stagecoach robbers held up its president; the collapse of the cattle boom in the mid-1880*5 found it with a dangerous amount of its capital tied up in livestock loans; and about the same time a bookkeeper, a connection of the Brackenridge family, embezzled thousands of dollars. It suffered from gross mismanagement under George's honest but incompetent brothers, Tom and Robert, and when the bank finally went into receivership a few years after Brackenridge sold out, its chief claim to distinction was that William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry, had been convicted of embezzling from it. Brackenridge's initial interest in establishing a bank in Austin stemmed from the uncertainties that surrounded railroad building during the period. At the beginning of the Civil War there were some 450 miles of railroad in Texas, all of them in the more settled eastern portions of the state and most of them radiating from Houston. The war not only halted railroad construction but brought ruin to those roads already in operation, so that the years after the war were ones of much building and rebuilding, all of it complicated by the economic and political problems of Reconstruction. Brackenridge, like other knowledgeable men of the era, was keenly aware of the potential of the railroad. Wherever the roads went, they made changes. Thriving communities bypassed by the railroad became ghost towns, while new towns sprang into being along the routes. Even as Brackenridge profited from the Long Drive, he realized that the westward push of the rails would bring changes in the marketing of Texas cattle; and even as he established himself in San Antonio, he suffered misgivings about its future in relation to the railroads. Austin was some eighty miles north and east of San Antonio. Obviously, the railroad would reach there first. Possibly Austin, in addition to being the state capital, would become the rail center, and hence the commercial hub, of western Texas.2 With this possibility in mind Brackenridge began negotiating with 2 George W. Brackenridge to J. J. Knox, 2 April 1875, U.S., Comptroller of the Currency, NA, RG 101, Records, San Antonio National Bank.

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the comptroller of the currency as early as the spring of 1869 for a charter for the First National Bank of Austin.3 He did not complete the negotiations, however, and in 1872, the year after the railroad reached Austin, he still had not obtained a charter. That year a group of Austin citizens, headed by former Governor Elisha M. Pease, became impatient for national banking facilities and urged him to proceed. Brackenridge met with Pease and agreed to take from fifty to sixty thousand dollars of bank stock if the Pease group would take a similar amount. They laid tentative plans to open the bank in September of 1872, but by the following summer Brackenridge still had not obtained the charter.4 At that time the Pease group became impatient and turned from Brackenridge to another man, Howard M. Holden, president of the First National Bank of Kansas City, for assistance. Holden, like Brackenridge, had profited from the cattle drives to Kansas and foresaw the possibilities of Austin in relation to the railroads. Thus, on 25 June 1873, he met with the Austinites and organized the bank without help from Brackenridge. Holden was elected president, and he, Pease, Eugene Bremond, George Hancock, and George B. Zim-pelman were made directors.5 They laid plans to open the bank on 1 October, but in September the panic hit. Holden suffered severe losses and became preoccupied with his own affairs. Hence, Pease replaced him as president and postponed the bank's opening because of the "unsettled conditions of affairs in the east."6 Early in 1874 when it became obvious that Holden could give no further assistance, Pease again turned to Brackenridge. After contacting the comptroller of the currency, Brackenridge agreed to assume responsibility if the local men would agree "to run the Bank as a bank should be conducted—that is, in the interest of no man or set of men 3 M. D. O'Connell to H. R. Hurlburd, 19 April 1869, U.S., Comptroller of the Currency, NA, RG 101, Records, First National Bank of Austin. 4 George W. Brackenridge to E. M. Pease, 8 June 1872, R. Niles Graham-E. M. Pease Papers, Austin-Travis County Collection, Public Library, Austin, Texas. 5 H. M. Holden to J. J. Knox, 26 July 1874, U.S., Comptroller of the Currency, NA, RG 101, Records, First National Bank of Austin. 6 W. W. Bissell to J. J. Knox, 2 October 1873, ibid.

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or political party." If they would not agree to that, he proposed to discontinue it without a week's delay. "The bank shall be either a credit to the department and system or shall not be at all," he promised the comptroller.7 The Austin group agreed to Brackenridge's terms, and Pease relinquished the title of president to Brackenridge and became the vicepresident. The First National Bank finally opened its doors on 11 April 1874s—but not before it suffered one other misadventure. As Brackenridge was en route to Austin carrying $1,000 in gold to stock the bank's vaults, robbers (believed in some circles to be the Younger brothers) held up his stagecoach and took his money.9 Nor did the problems of the bank cease once it opened its doors. One of the first concerns of the officers was to obtain suitable quarters. Pease negotiated with Abner Cook, a prominent local builder who constructed the governor's mansion and a number of other distinctive buildings in Austin, for a handsome three-story building to be erected at the corner of Congress and Pecan (later Sixth). Cook began the building, but costs exceeded all estimates, and time and again he called on the bank for additional advances. The financial depression lingered on, bringing attendant hardships to the smaller stockholders, and as the building costs mounted, they grew irate. By early 1875 they were demanding that Pease and Brackenridge either buy all the stock or liquidate the bank.10 At that time Austin already had one railroad and good prospects for another, and Brackenridge was still considering the possibility that it would become the rail center of western Texas.11 But he knew the problems surrounding the building of the second road and was unwilling to take all the bank stock until he was certain that Austin would get it. "If the International railroad proposes to build to Austin, I will willingly take all the stock and run the bank as part of this 7

George W. Brackenridge to J. J. Knox, 31 March 1874., ibid. George W. Brackenridge to J. J. Knox, 15 April 1875, ibid. 9 Examiner's Report, 29 May 1874, ibid.; and Austin Daily Statesman, 9 April 1874, PP. 2, 3. 10 George W. Brackenridge to E. M. Pease, 20 March 1875, Graham-Pease Papers. 11 George W. Brackenridge to H. R. Hurlburd, 2 April 1875, U.S., Comptroller of the Currency, NA, RG 101, Records, San Antonio National Bank. 8

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institution," he told Pease, "but should the road go in the hands of a receiver, I would prefer closing the bank to purchasing more stock/'12 The stockholders continued their agitations, and finally Brackenridge, convinced of the potential of the Austin bank but in obvious irritation with the malcontents, bought their stock. He advanced funds for the completion of the Cook building and expressed full confidence in Pease's ability to see that the task was done.13 The, bank moved into its handsome new quarters early in 1876 and for the next few years enjoyed the only placid and relatively prosperous era in its existence.14 Until 1894 George W. Brackenridge remained the majority stockholder of the First National Bank of Austin. Other members of his family also acquired stock in it, and it, no less than the San Antonio National, became known as a Brackenridge family bank. At one point in the mid-1880's, Tom Brackenridge was its president; George, its vice-president; Bob, its cashier; James, its assistant cashier; and George's mother, sisters, and sisters-in-law held stock in it.15 Like the San Antonio National, the Austin bank was a livestock bank, but except for the nature of its business and its ownership, there was a vast difference in the two businesses. George personally managed the San Antonio bank, but he paid scant attention to the one in Austin, leaving its management first to Elisha M. Pease and then to Tom and Bob Brackenridge. Under Pease's direction during the late seventies and early eighties, the fat years of the cattle industry, it achieved a measure of prosperity, but Pease died in the summer of 1883, and thereafter the bank's history was a glum one. From 1884 until Brackenridge rid himself of it a decade later it not only paid no dividends, but on at least two occasions levied calls on the stockholders.16 Pease's death came in the waning years of the cattle boom and just before the disastrous collapse of the industry. Thus, general economic 12

Brackenridge to Pease, 20 March 1875, Graham-Pease Papers. Brackenridge to Pease, 11 November 1875, ibid. 14: Austin Daily Statesman, 18 January 1876, p. 3. 15 Examiner's Report, 20 July 1895, U.S., Comptroller of the Currency, NA, RG 101, Records, First National Bank of Austin. 16 Examiner's Report, 19 March 1892, and 15 November 1893, ibid. 13

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conditions account in part for the latter-day miseries of the bank. But poor management on the part of Tom Brackenridge as president and Bob Brackenridge as cashier also played a major role. On paper both men qualified as seasoned bankers. Tom had served as cashier, vicepresident, and director of the San Antonio National, and Bob had become cashier of the First National early in its history. By all rights, they should have been competent bankers, but this was far from the case. A parade of bank examiners testified to their unfitness for the jobs they held. They were "honest/' the examiners reported; there was "not the slightest suggestion of criminality"; they enjoyed a "good reputation" in Austin. But there was little else of a complimentary nature that could be said of them except that they did business in a handsome building at a convenient location. They were "thoroughly incompetent"; they used "very poor business methods"; their bank suffered "continued and sustained losses"; the only banker in the family was brother George in San Antonio, and he paid little heed to the Austin operation. "Why they are continued in charge is beyond me," commented one examiner, while several expressed the opinion that George maintained the bank chiefly to give his brothers employment.17 George had launched the Austin bank because of his uncertainties about railroad routes in Texas, and as the examiners surmised, he had continued it to keep his brothers occupied. Yet despite his strong sense of family responsibility, he and his brothers—especially he and Tom —were most congenial when distance separated them. Tom was at the same time George's favorite brother and his most provoking. The two were of entirely different temperaments. Where George scorned public opinion, Tom delighted in popular approval; where George was reserved, practical, and selective in his associates, Tom was expansive, impulsive, and gregarious. On public issues, too, they were often at odds, George being a Republican under normal circumstances, and Tom being a staunch Democrat. As the Lost Cause won the battle of public opinion in Texas, that, too, strained their brotherly love. Tom, who had been a popular Confederate officer, took an active part in 17

Examiner's Report, 19 March, 12 August 1892; 15 November 1893; 31 July 1894, ibid.

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promoting veteran causes, while George became more Unionist after the war than he had been during it. Tom proudly bore the title of major that he had earned during the war, while George detested that of colonel that, in accordance with the custom of the time, was bestowed on him in recognition of his wealth. As the years passed the brothers grew less tolerant of one another's foibles, and although they looked forward to fishing trips together and jaunts on the Navidad, a houseboat they owned jointly, any lengthy togetherness was likely to end in raised voices and stormy scenes.18 It could only have been with relief that George saw Tom established in Austin. George was also content to leave Bob in Austin. A gentle, mildmannered man, the youngest of the Brackenridge brothers had inherited the family penchant toward Calvinistic piety, and he and George chronically disagreed on matters of theology. In all respects except one—his first marriage—Bob Brackenridge's life was overshadowed by his more aggressive brothers. After completing medical school, Bob returned to Texana to open practice and there startled the county by marrying Laura Wells Owen, the widow of Clark L. Owen. Laura was a woman of legendary charm and beauty, but she was thirteen years older than her new husband and some five years previously her daughter Martha Owen had married his brother Jim. Despite the comment and curious family relationships that it created, the marriage proved an exceptionally happy one. When Laura died in 1874, Bob went into deep mourning and emerged determined to begin life anew in a different profession.19 He thus moved to Austin and accepted the position of cashier at the First National. But even then he was slow to forget Laura. So that he might visit her grave regularly, he had her remains reinterred at Austin, and only some eleven years after her death did he remarry. Both Tom and Bob Brackenridge played an active role in local affairs in Austin. Bob not only took the lead in the Presbyterian 18 M. Eleanor Brackenridge to J. T. Brackenridge, 6 July 1904; and George W. Brackenridge to J. T. Brackenridge, 31 July 1903, John Thomas Brackenridge Papers, University of Texas Archives, Austin. 19 Jackson County, Marriage Records, vol. C, pp. 34, 101; and Jackson County, Probate Records, vol. D, p. 164, Edna, Texas.

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church, but also served for years as treasurer of the Austin Bible Society. In addition, he worked so diligently for the improvement of medical facilities in the city that eventually the city hospital was named for him. Tom Brackenridge devoted his energies to the building of the Confederate veterans' home and, becoming politically ambitious, ran for governor in 1886.20 Both men invested in real estate and a variety of business enterprises. Bob, for example, started the telegraph company in Austin, and Tom an ice company. These varied activities left little time for banking affairs, and the profits of the bank reflected the lack of attention. On one occasion George pointedly reminded Tom of the days when "we both stayed in our bank and worked to keep things in order and thoroughly understood our business/' but generally he adopted a hand-off policy toward Austin affairs. Preoccupied with other interests and inclined to clash with his brothers about other matters when he saw them, he preferred to leave the bank in their hands.21 Possibly if the cattle boom had continued, the Austin bank could have succeeded, but unfortunately the fat years ended in the midi88o's. Early in the decade barbed wire and homesteaders heralded the end of the Long Drive. More and more, the drovers turned their herds in a westerly direction to avoid trespassing. The high profits of the early days lured investment money into the industry and brought overstocking of the range. With profits already declining, the weather struck the final blow. A series of dry summers and hard winters was climaxed by the terrible blizzard of January 1887, a blizzard long remembered in the annals of the industry. In the days before barbed wire, cattle turned tail and drifted south with such storms, but wire strung across the plains prevented drifting, and thousands of cattle piled up and died at fence lines that winter. When the thaw came, their bones marked the end of one era and the beginning of another for the livestock industry. The debacle brought ruin to many cattlemen and retrenchment to 20

Robert J. Brackenridge, Biographical File, Austin-Travis County Collection, Public Library, Austin, Texas. 21 George W. Brackenridge to J. T. Brackenridge, 7 March 1888, John Thomas Brackenridge Papers, University of Texas Archives.

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others; and the bankers dependent on the cattlemen suffered along with them. George W. Brackenridge had broadened the foundations of the San Antonio National during the prosperous years and was able to weather the storm, but the Austin bank was hard hit. Possibly even then it could have survived except for another of the misadventures that marked its existence. In going over the books, Tom Brackenridge discovered that his bookkeeper, J. M. Thornton, a connection of the family, had ''borrowed" (the examiners called it embezzled) the bank's funds and was unable to repay.22 The discovery brought a crisis both to the bank and in the relationship of Tom and George. Not wishing to file charges against the young man, Tom proposed to make good the losses, but his own investments were also hit by the hard times, and he was forced to appeal to George for assistance. The crisis came at a time when George himself was hard pressed, but he responded with the cool practicality that characterized his business activities. "There is no earthly reason why we all should go down at once," he wrote. "If any must go under, financially, or even two of us, the other should be out and safe to protect the family." Passing over the matter of "how" the trouble came about ("The only question is how to get out") he proposed a course that removed Tom from both the San Antonio and Austin banks and charged the Austin disaster to Tom's account. Listing Tom's liabilities and assets, he proposed to assume both, provided he could obtain a loan from the National Gty Bank and provided further that Tom agree to lend his assistance without pay for one year to the settlement of the bad debts of the First National. The help offered was not the kind Tom customarily received from George and probably not what he had hoped for, but it made George's position clear. "I hope you will not consider this an illiberal offer or 22 Examiner's Report, 19 March 1892, U.S., Comptroller of the Currency, NA, RG 101, Records, First National Bank of Austin; and F. B. Gray to comptroller of the currency, 13 July 1895, U.S., Department of Justice, NA, RG 60, General Records, File 7243-91.

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a desire to get rid of you," he concluded, "but it is necessary to do something to relieve you and brother Robert and save the Bank.23 As matters turned out, Tom handled the affair without resorting to measures as detrimental to his own interests as George proposed. The bank levied an assessment on its stockholders and managed to survive, but the crisis nevertheless convinced George of the necessity of selling the bank. Explaining that he had less control over the First National than over any other of his enterprises, he informed Tom of his decision.2* George began negotiating for the sale of the First National in 1889, but it wasfiveyears later before he divested himself of it. In the meantime, William Sydney Porter—to his misfortune and the misfortune of the bank—joined the First National as teller. Born and reared in North Carolina, Porter had come to Texas as a sickly, nineteen-yearold boy to work as a cowboy. Moving to Austin in 1884, he took a job as draftsman in the Texas Land Office and married a local girl. A change in administration forced him out of the Land Office early in 1891 and brought him to the First National Bank.25 Porter was not fitted for a bank job by either training or temperament, but being fitted for the job had never been one of the requirements for employment at the First National. Indeed, in a negative way, Porter fit well into things as they really were there. At the time he joined the bank, George W. Brackenridge was marking time until he could negotiate its sale; Tom and Bob Brackenridge were also marking time. Knowing full well their brother's intentions, they devoted most of their attention to their other interests—business, social, and philanthropic—and gave only passing notice to affairs of the ailing bank. Porter, like the owner and officers, 23 George W. Brackenridge to Tom Brackenridge, 18 August 1888, LaPrelleBrackenridge Papers, Austin-Travis County Collection, Public Library, Austin, Texas. 24 George W. Brackenridge to J. T. Brackenridge, 15 June 1889, John Thomas Brackenridge Papers, University of Texas Archives. 25 For biographies of Porter, see Robert H. Davis and Arthur B. Maurice, The Caliph of Bagdad-, C. Alphonso Smith, O. Henry Biography; E. Hudson Long, O. Henry, the Man and His Work.

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was only marking time there. His real interest lay in journalism or writing, and he considered his bank job a temporary one until he could enter a field more to his liking. From Porter's partisans come stories, entirely plausible, of the informal methods of doing business at the First National. The officers and directors of the bank formed a "kind of club" and freely helped themselves to bank funds, leaving only a memorandum in exchange— and sometimes not that. Porter's wife told how he once spent two days hunting for a shortage of one hundred dollars only to be told by one of the officers, "Oh, yes, I took out a hundred the other day when I went to San Antonio and forgot to file a slip for it." According to Mrs. Porter, her husband would hardly take his lunch hour away from the bank because of the careless way the funds were handled while he was away.26 But there are other stories that suggest that Porter accommodated himself easily to the ways of the First National. For example, Jasper Wooldridge, son of A. P. Wooldridge, president of the City National Bank of Austin, told of being sent by his father's cashier to get ten dollars worth of nickels in change for Porter. The boy carried a gold piece to exchange for the nickels in a canvas bag, and when he returned with the nickels, the cashier discovered that the gold piece was still in the bag. The cashier sent Jasper back to the First National with the coin, but Porter refused to accept it, saying that he did not make mistakes. Porter sent the coin back to the man "who really made the mistake," the cashier of the City National, who eventually gave it to the boy for a new suit.27 That George W. Brackenridge tolerated conditions as they were in the First National for so long can only be attributed to his preoccupation with other matters and his desire to keep his brothers in business. At last in 1893 he called a halt. In that year another of the periodic depressions that characterized the early economic history of the United States descended, wreaking havoc on many of the nation's banks. Brackenridge had foreseen the debacle and taken steps that brought record profits to the San Antonio National and won him a reputation 26 27

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Frances G. Maltby, The Dimity Sweetheart, pp. 56, 58. Ruth Ann Overbeck, Alexander Penn Wooldridge, p. 35.

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as a financial wizard, and, possibly, an offer of the presidency of the mighty National City Bank of New York. But the First National of Austin kept him humble. Mentally, he had already charged the bank to his profit and loss column, and he determined to rid himself once and for all of the nuisance. After extending the bank's charter for another twenty years and reducing its capital stock, he arranged late in the year for its sale at a price below par value and largely on credit to Frank Hamilton and James R. Johnson of the private banking house of James H. Raymond and Company. When the arrangements were finally completed, George was completely out of the bank, though he held much of its stock as collateral for the purchasers' notes; Hamilton and Johnson owned the majority of the stock; and Tom and Bob retained token amounts. Hamilton replaced George as vice-president, but Tom and Bob remained in their old positions for the transitional period.28 The sale brought relief to George Brackenridge but grief to the young man in the teller's cage. The change in ownership obviously foretold changes in personnel, and Porter, characteristically inept in the handling of his personal finances, could ill afford to lose his job. His wife was in failing health, and he had no savings to cushion him. Indeed, throughout Porter's married life his wife's stepfather, G. P. Roach, provided the element of financial stability in the family. About the same time that the bank changed hands, W. C. Brann, editor of a humor sheet, The Iconoclast, decided to leave Austin and offered his press for sale. This circumstance seemed an opportunity for Porter to get into the field of his real interest and at the same time relieve his immediate financial need. He thus began casting about for money to buy the press. Late in 1893 he appealed to Mrs. Elisha M. Pease for a loan, explaining that "although nothing has been definitely stated, I rather apprehend a change in affairs that may compel me to look out for other occupation."29 When Mrs. Pease did not respond favorably, he appealed to her daughter Julia and then to other 28

Examiner's Report, 14 December 1894, U.S., Comptroller of the Currency, NA, RG 101, Records, First National Bank of Austin. 29 W. S. Porter to Mrs. L. C. Pease, 16 December 1893, Graham-Pease Papers. He wrote Mrs. Pease a second letter on 27 December 1893.

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acquaintances.30 Eventually, two friends went on his note and in March 1894, while still holding his position at the bank, he acquired the Iconoclast plant and began the publication of his newspaper. The venture compounded his problems instead of solving them. Porter did most of the writing, drawing, and production work himself, but despite his best efforts the paper was not a financial success.81 Moreover, the drain on his energies did not increase his efficiency at the bank. While he was preoccupied with the paper, events that foretold a worse fate than the loss of his job were taking place at the bank. Brackenridge's sale involved a thorough examination of the bank's affairs—and at a time when the Treasury Department was tightening its regulations and enforcing them more strictly. In the panic of 1893 a number of banks had closed their doors, revealing weaknesses that bank examiners had either covered up or overlooked. As a result, the examiners were under fire for having been lax, and the comptroller of the currency was putting pressure on them. 32 Under these circumstances, the examiner arrived to inspect the First National of Austin in the fall of 1894 and discovered "exactly fifty instances" where the teller, Porter, had "unquestionably embezzled" the bank's funds in the total amount of $5,654.20. 33 After Porter was released from prison, he wrote a short story entitled "Friends at San Rosario" that was based on his banking experiences. The most obvious feature of the story is the surprise ending, somewhat contrived, that became O. Henry's hallmark, but a disturbing amount of truth is interlaced with the fiction. The setting, the characters, even the names are derived from reality. If the incident did not actually happen, the story nevertheless catches the spirit of banking on the western frontier. Austinites who read the story easily identified San Rosario as their own town and felt 30

W. S. Porter to Miss Julia Pease, 27 January 1893, ibid. Long, O. Henry, pp. 68-76. 32 John J. Cannon to James H. Echels, 4 May 1893, U.S., Comptroller of the Currency, NA, RG 101, Records, First National Bank of Austin. 33 F. B. Gray to comptroller of the currency, 13 July 1895, U.S., Department of Justice, NA, RG 60, General Records, File 7243-91. 31

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a flash of recognition for the two banks. The main character is obviously a composite of Tom Brackenridge and George W. Littlefield,. the presidents of the First National and American National, respectively, during Porter's banking days, with Brackenridge contributing most to the name and Littlefield most to the characteristics of the fictional man. Indeed, if either man read the story, he would have felt the strange sensation of having glimpsed himself unexpectedly in a distant looking glass. Certainly, if bank examiner F. B. Gray read it, he would have gained new insight into some of his perhaps puzzling experiences with frontier banks.35 The story concerns two bank presidents in a western town who conspired to outwit a bank examiner. O. Henry did not go far afield from the First National to choose names. One of the fictional presidents is Major Thomas B. Kingman, "known to everyone as 'Major Tom' "—as was Tom Brackenridge; the other is Bob Buckley.36 When the examiner, a new one who "looked to be a man who would never make nor overlook an error," arrived unexpectedly in San Rosario, he went first to Major Tom's bank, which promptly sent an alert across the street to Bob's bank. It so happened that Bob had just made a short-term livestock loan that brought his cash reserve far below legal requirements, and the examiner's arrival placed him in a dangerous position. He thus wired a friendly banker in a town to the west to send the needed cash on the next train and dispatched an urgent note to Major Tom. "Tom, you hold that examiner," said the note. "Hold him. Hold him if you have to rope him and sit on his head. Watch our front window after the narrow-gauge gets in, and when we've got the cash inside we'll pull down the shade for a signal. Don't turn him loose till then." Most of the story revolves around Major Tom's ingenuity in holding the examiner while listening for the train from the west and watching for the signal.37 Both Tom Brackenridge and Littlefield answered the description 34 Trueman O'Quinn, "O. Henry in Austin," Southwestern Historical 43 (October 1939): 143-157. 35 The story is printed in O. Henry, Roads of Destiny, pp. 155-170. 36 Ibid., p. 158. 37 Ibid., p. 170.

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Quarterly

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of the fictional Major Tom—"a man sixty years of age, rugged and hale, with a rough, grizzled beard, a mass of gray hair"—but in other respects Littlefield is more nearly the story-book character. Like Littlefield, the fictional hero was a man of varied background— "muledriver, cowboy, ranger, soldier, sheriff, prospector, and cattleman"—turned bank president, in whom "his old comrades from the prairies, of the saddle, tent, and trail found no change"; like Littlefield, O. Henry's character had a "largeness of heart and sometimes unwise generosity toward his old friends"; like the real man, the fictional one decorated his office with mementos of his past—"the mounted head of a Texas steer with horns five feet from tip to tip" and his "old cavalry saber that he had carried at Shiloh and Fort Pillow"; like Littlefield—-certainly not like Tom Brackenridge—the fictional man presided over a bank that had stood well the "depression" in the cattle business. Even the fictional hero's wife, like the real Mrs. Littlefield, was named Alice.38 There is so much of reality in the setting and characters of the story that the question naturally arises: How much truth is there in the plot? Undoubtedly, something similar happened, for there is a ring of truth about the details—the sounding of the alert to the neighbor bank upon the examiner's arrival, the pulling of the shade as a signal that all was well, the livestock loan that reduced the cash reserve below legal limits. And for the First National of Austin, the train from the west—that is, from George W. Brackenridge's bastion in San Antonio—unquestionably brought salvation on occasion. The story also reflects accurately the general attitude of western bankers of the period toward banking regulations. The regulations, formulated in the east, rarely took into account the peculiar requirements of the livestock industry, and the Texas banks of the postbellum period who could notfinancethe livestock industry had little business. As a rule, the banker placed his faith in the character of the man asking for the loan rather than in regulations, and the very inflexibility of the laws caused them to be evaded. In one other respect reality also coincided with fiction. In O. Hen38

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Ibid., pp. 160, 165.

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ry's story there is a bank examiner who was "astounded perplexed, nettled, at sea," and felt that in some way he did not understand he had been victimized.39 In real life there was an examiner who suffered the same feelings—but with an important difference. The fictional examiner suffered those feelings upon departing from the bank without discovering an error; the real one suffered them after a meeting of the grand jury failed to indict Porter for embezzlement. After examining the First National of Austin in 1894, F. B. Gray departed confident that he had found "exactly fifty instances" where Porter had "unquestionably embezzled" funds. Porter resigned from the bank shortly after Gray's visit, and the following July charges against him were presented to the grand jury with Gray as the chief witness.40 To Gray's amazement, the jury not only failed to indict Porter, but interests that had bought out George W. Brackenridge, testified on Porter's behalf, saying that Porter had intended no wrong but had merely made a series of mistakes. Moreover, the foreman of the grand jury was none other than J. M. Thornton, who was known to have embezzled from the First National at an earlier date and escaped the consequences! After mulling over the situation and piecing together the details, Gray wrote his own story to the comptroller of the currency, a clear, lucid story that has the solid sound of nonfiction. Gray aimed his first barbs at District Attorney Robert Upton Culberson, brother of then Governor Qiarles Culberson. In Gray's opinion, the district attorney was "either incompetent or very indolent" or "corrupt." As an illustration Gray told of how in preferring charges against Porter, he had given Culberson a list of witnesses to subpoena. Later Gray heard disturbing rumors about Culberson's negligence and visited him to remind him again to call the witnesses. Culberson assured Gray that he would do so. Yet to Gray's surprise, when he arrived at court "not a single witness had been served with 39 Ibid., p. 169. 40 F. B. Gray to comptroller of the currency, 13 July 1895, U.S., Justice Department, NA, RG 60, General Records, File 7243-91.

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subpoena... and of course none were on hand." Gray quickly made up another list and those witnesses available were brought in. After the grand jury was impaneled, Gray received another jolt. An officer of the court, a friend of his, called his attention to the foreman of the jury, J. M. Thornton. "I am afraid that one will spoil the whole jury," said the friend. Gray then heard of Thornton's past and the reasons why he could be expected to be lenient toward an accused embezzler. "Certain it is that Thornton interested himself a great deal with those who were working in the interest of Porter," said Gray. "I am confident that he used his influence with the jury in his (Porter's) behalf and to him mainly is chargeable the failure to indict the thief." As Gray pieced the story together, Frank Hamilton had called on Porter's surety company to make good the losses and been refused unless Hamilton could prove beyond any doubt that Porter took the money. "This to my mind would not have been a hard thing to do," commented Gray, "but since Dr. Brackenridge, the Cashier, attended the window while Porter was at dinner it looked a little formidable to Hamilton and he saw at once that he had a law suit on his hands with the possibility of losing the case." Gray theorized that Hamilton then called on Porter and G. P. Roach, Porter's bondsman and father-in-law, and asked them to make good the loss. Roach, the surety company, and Hamilton then arrived at a compromise settlement, Gray believed, by which Roach agreed to pay $1,500 of the total provided the bonding company pay an equal amount and the bank lose the remainder, and provided further that both Hamilton and the bonding company use their influence to squelch charges against Porter.41 By the time the case reached the grand jury the money had been replaced without loss to bank depositors, and insofar as precedent and public opinion were concerned in Texas, that settled the issue. Someone had paid the price; the public had not been hurt; no further action was required. But unfortunately for Porter the affair blew up simultaneously with the dawning of a new day in Texas banking. For 41Ibid.

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too long the comptroller had tolerated the easy evasion of the banking regulations in the west; too many national banks had gone under in 1893; there were too many cases similar to Porter's; and on the record of the First National of Austin, there was already the case of J. M. Thornton, who had flaunted the law and escaped judgment. Gray's letter had the effect he intended in Washington. District Attorney Culberson was called on the carpet to explain his conduct. He defended himself vigorously, charging that Examiner Gray's letter had been prompted by hurt pride at the failure to indict.42 Nevertheless, at the next meeting of the grand jury, Culberson applied himself more diligently to his task with the result that William Sydney Porter was indicted for embezzlement. In the meantime Porter's other affairs had not improved. His wife's health continued to decline, and his newspaper proved unsuccessful, the last issue being published in April 1895. After several months of unemployment, he moved to Houston in October to work as a columnist on the Houston Post. He was still working there when the grand jury indicted him in February 1896 and when his trial was set for July in Austin. When the trial was called, Porter borrowed money for train fare from his employer and boarded the train for Austin, but he switched trains, and instead of going to Austin, he took flight, going first to New Orleans and then to Honduras. After several months in hiding, Porter received news that his wife was in the final stages of tuberculosis. He promptly returned to Austin and, after renewing his bond, remained at liberty until her death in July 1897. When his case at last came to trial the following February, he made little defense, and if there were those who believed an innocent man was being unjustly punished, they did not speak. He was convicted of embezzlement, the conviction was later confirmed by the court of appeals, and he entered prison in the spring of 1898. But for William Sydney Porter, the story had an O. Henry ending. While in prison he perfected the style that made him famous and for the first time began selling his short stories with some regularity. He 42

R. U. Culberson to attorney general, 29, 30 July 1895, U.S., Department of Justice, NA, RG 60, General Records, File 7243-91.

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emerged from prison in 1901, went to New York, and before his death in 191 o had won his place in American letters. O. Henry was always sensitive about the prison chapter of his life, preferring not to talk about it. His friends and biographers were equally embarrassed by it. Thus, rumors circulated during his lifetime and appeared in print after his death that he had been the "victim of circumstances," that there had been "a miscarriage of justice," that the government had made "an example of him." The exact nature of the injustice was not spelled out, but it was implied that he either had been framed or had taken punishment for someone else.43 After O. Henry's death and after his stories began to appear in textbooks to delight young readers, school teachers found O. Henry's prison career as embarrassing as he had. The story of his wronged innocence thus found ready acceptance among them, and it soon became an article of faith that he had been unjustly convicted.44 Unhappily, all the evidence points to the contrary. Examiner Gray was a competent man whose testimony cannot be discounted; Porter's flight on its face is an admission of guilt; despite the claims of his early biographers, there were no irregularities in the trial. Indeed, the irregularities came at the meeting of the grand jury that failed to indict him—that is, when the district attorney neglected to call the witnesses, when Frank Hamilton testified in Porter's behalf, and when the foreman of the jury happened to be J. M. Thornton. Porter was given further advantage because some of the charges against him were consolidated while others were invalidated by the statute of limitations due to the delays caused by his flight and his wife's illness. The court of appeals confirmed the verdict, and there is no evidence that he did not receive a fair trial. 45 Porter's nature and the informal practices of the First National Bank also make his defection believable. He was by no means of a criminal character, but his best friends admitted to his utter irresponsi43

Davis and Maurice, Caliph of Bagdad, pp. 111-118. Luther W. Courtney, "O. Henry's Case Reconsidered," American Literature 14 (January 1945) : 361-371; Mary Starr Barkley, History of Travis County and Austin, 1839-1899, p. 310. 45 Courtney, "O. Henry's Case Reconsidered," pp. 363-370; and Long, O. Henry, pp. 89-99. 44

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bility in financial matters. Even after he achieved fame and was selling stories regularly, he was in constant embarrassment where money was concerned.46 The equally irresponsible methods of the First National Bank invited "borrowing,'' and his wife's illness and his efforts to finance his newspaper made his money needs acute during his Austin days. Even the attitude of Austin toward Porter is not exactly as his most ardent partisans interpreted it. Underlying any consideration of the case in Austin were three other factors: The innate hostility of nineteenth-century Texans toward banks; a similar resentment of interference by outsiders, especially the federal government; and, above allr the Thornton affair. The constitution by which Texas entered the Union forbade the chartering of banks by the state, and the popular distrust of them lingered until the early twentieth century. Taking money from banks then was one of the things that Texans viewed calmly, if they did not secretly condone. It did not fall in the same category, for example, as stealing a horse or robbing a widow, and, if the money had been returned, the prosecution of the delinquent seemed entirely unnecessary. Moreover, Porter was one of Austin's own, and the memory of the Civil War was still green. The town was inclined to unite against the outsider as represented by the federal government. The biggest factor in the attitude of the town toward Porter, however, was the matter of Thornton. In a small town such as Austin im the 1890's the affair was something of an open secret. Undoubtedly, there were those who heard only fragments of the story and believed, honestly but erroneously, that the two cases were connected and that Porter suffered punishment for Thornton's shortcomings. For those who knew the truth the two cases afforded further embarrassment because of the unequal application of justice. Why should one man go to prison for an indiscretion while another who had done the same thing go free? Porter's conviction was in fact a milestone in banking in Texas. Just as the blizzard of 1887 marked the end of the open range, his case marked the end of the old, easy-going, cowboy days in Texas banking. 46

Davis and Maurice, Caliph of Bagdad, p. 207; and John A. Lomax, "Harrys Steger and O. Henry," Southwest Review 24 (April 1939): 311-312.

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He himself seemed to recognize his unfortunate position in the scheme of things. In "Friends in San Rosario,, the bank examiner and western banker—"men of very different types" meet. "One was a finished product of the world of straight lines, conventional methods, and formal affairs. The other was something freer, wider and nearer to nature." It was Porter's misfortune to be caught between the two. His attitude toward them possibly sheds further light on his own case. Neither of thefictionalcharacters is a villain. The cattleman-banker is willing to bend the law for the sake of a friend; the bank examiner is a businesslike man who neither makes nor overlooks errors.47 If the real O. Henry felt himself unjustly treated by either, the bitterness does not appear in the story. George W. Brackenridge sold the First National Bank before Porter's indictment and conviction, and there is no record of his sentiments in the case. But a subtle change in his business methods in the 1890*5 indicates his awareness of the new era in banking. In 1892 he organized the San Antonio Loan and Trust Company to handle his "best business," the big loans to cattlemen that the San Antonio National Bank could not handle in strict conformity with the letter of national law. Throughout the decade he advised his stockholders to invest in the newer institution, and from the same period, the directors of the San Antonio National Bank met regularly in formal meetings. Brackenridge continued to bend the law on occasion, but the amenities required by the comptroller of the currency were more strictly observed. Only one slender thread links Brackenridge with O. Henry after the latter's rise to fame. A young man named Harry Peyton Steger went from the University of Texas to New York and made his mark in the publishing world there. Steger became O. Henry's staunch friend and, after the writer's death in 1910, the executor of his estate and literary efforts. Steger also published for Brackenridge an account written by his niece of a round-the-world trip made by Brackenridge and a party of relatives and friends.48 On one of Brackenridge's frequent visits to New York, he met Steger and made a pleasant impres47 48

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O. Henry, "Friends in San Rosario," p. 160. The book was Isabella H. Mathews, Spring Days in Two Hemispheres.

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sion. "He is a very charming old fellow," Steger wrote a friend in Texas.49 If there had been animosity between the banker and his former employee, it is doubtful that Steger would have expressed himself so favorably. Brackenridge no doubt followed with interest to the end the careers both of his former teller and of his former bank. But for the First National Bank of Austin there was no O. Henry ending. It disappeared in much the manner one would expect from its record. The new owner, James R. Johnson, was stricken by serious illness before he effected the reorganization he planned; in 1901 the bank went into receivership, and shortly thereafter its assets were absorbed by the Capitol Bank and Trust Company. The Capitol in turn was absorbed by the Central Bank and Trust Company, which quietly closed its doors sometime before Brackenridge's death in 1920. Every vestige of the ill-fated First National Bank thus disappeared, and its record was so dismal that the comptroller of the currency retired its name forever so that some three-quarters of a century after its disappearance, Austin remained one of the few American cities that did not have a bank named the First National.60 49

Harry Peyton Steger, The Letters of Harry Peyton Steger, 1899-1912, p. 308. Gerald Boerner, "Banks and Banking History" (manuscript), Austin-Travis County Collection, Public Library, Austin, Texas. The comptroller of the currency customarily retires the names of unsuccessful banks, and most cities that do not have a First National have a defunct one by that name in their history. 50

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The First National Bank building of Austin, built by Abner Cook in 1876. (Courtesy AustinTravis County Collection, Austin Public Library)

An interior view of the First National Bank of Austin, showing O. Henry in the teller's cage and Robert J. Brackenridge at right. (Courtesy Austin-Travis County Collection, Austin Public Library)

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1 Brackenridge and Fannie Pinney Spooner aboard the Navidad, about 1907. (Courtesy Claire B. Cramer, Los Altos, California)

Aboard the Navidad. (Courtesy Claire B. Cramer, Los Altos, California)

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Alexander W. Terrell, shown here aboard the Navidad about 1910, was a favorite fishing companion of Brackenridge. (Courtesy Claire B. Cramer, Los Altos, California)

Brackenridge aboard the Navidad about 1907. (Courtesy Claire B. Cramer, Los Altos, California)

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Georgina Brackenridge Spooner, center, and Isabella Mathews, left, aboard the W aimer, as members of a party Brackenridge took to Africa in 1908. (Courtesy Claire B. Cramer, Los Altos, California)

George W. Littlefield. (Courtesy Barker Texas History Center, The University of Texas at Austin)

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Judge Leroy G. Denman. (Photo by Patteson; courtesy Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., San Antonio, Texas)

Dr. Ferdinand B. Herff, friend and business associate of Brackenridge. (Copyright © Express Publishing Company, San Antonio, Texas)

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x^. The San Antonio Loan & Trust Company building, left, and the San Antonio National Bank. (Photo by Patteson; courtesy Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., San Antonio, Texas)

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Brackenridge's last home, built about 1910. (Courtesy Johnowene Brackenridge Crutcher Menger, San Antonio, Texas)

A corner of the gateless fence around the Brackenridge cemetery in 1969. The monument and most of the fence are hidden by a half century's growth.

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The original of this photo carries the note "Taken by Georgie, 1920. In the Conservatory. George W. Brackenridge, Eleanor Brackenridge." (Courtesy Claire B. Cramer, Los Altos, California)

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*47

played his "vouchers," that is, scalps, from Indians he had slain; and a shopkeeper who had been captured during the Mexican invasion of 1842 and suffered imprisonment in Perote Castle.4 Visitors of the early twentieth century re-echoed the opinions of Sidney Lanier, for the village grew into a city without losing its individuality. It remained a place of many faces. It was at the same time a Mexican town, a Spanish town, a German town, an American western town, an army town, a cowboy town, a good-time town. It was the commercial hub of southwestern Texas and the Mecca of Texas history. "San Antonio is not well-ordered, not wholly beautiful, not wholly anything," says a popular twentieth-century guide. "It is, and has been always, a meeting place, on the verge, between France and Spain, between Spain and England, between the Indian and the white, between the South and the West, the old and the new."5 Lanier's people of "odd histories, odd natures, or odd appearances" were replaced by others of similar distinction. When the sculptor Pompeo Coppini arrived early in the century, he found a colorful array of chili queens; men of "Western type," wearing large pistols at their waists; professional gamblers in gaudy vests and ten gallon hats; prostitutes, "mostly very young," sitting in the doors of filthy cribs. Coppini was reminded of Dante's Hell as he passed through the notorious red-light district, but he was enchanted by other aspects of the city: the folk music of the Mexican quarter; the slur of different accents; the easy-going ways of the people; the brilliant blue sky, tropical plants, and old houses. He felt that he had at last discovered the America of which he had dreamed.6 Brackenridge more than any other single individual presided over the technical transformation of San Antonio during the half century of his residence. He furnished capital for the cattle industry, the railroads, and the other enterprises associated with the economic development of the city and region. Often he underwrote the financial 4

Ibid., pp. 92-93. Ramsdell, San Antonio, p. 3. 6 Pompeo Coppini, From Dawn to Sunset, pp. 72, 75. For other twentieth-century views of the city, see Green Peyton, City in the Sun, and Albert Curtis, Fabulous San Antonio. 5

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needs of the municipal government. He was publisher of the city's most durable newspaper, a charter member of the San Antonio Country Club, and president of the local school board. He reorganized the San Antonio Gas Company that brought the town modern lighting. He gave the city running water and one of the most beautiful municipal parks in the nation. For more than fifty years his destiny and that of the city were interwoven to the benefit of both. Yet their relationship was rarely harmonious, and he was never in tune with the spirit of San Antonio. He was a practical man in a romantic city, the offspring of stern Calvinists in a Roman Catholic setting, a man weighted with a sense of responsibility in a town renowned for its lightheartedness. Never afraid of unpopular positions, Brackenridge was often the focus of civic controversy. For example, he outraged the hard-drinking citizenry by his stand on prohibition and affronted the puritan element by giving the Salvation Army a home for "frail women" in a prominent location on Broadway. For years he extended loans to the municipal government, a circumstance that brought him disapprobation rather than appreciation, for as the city's most prominent creditor and most powerful citizen, he made a convenient scapegoat when the city encountered financial difficulties, as it often did. The city fathers came regularly, hat in hand, to request loans, but lapsed into surliness when the loans fell due; and the persistent indebtedness of the city to him brought just as persistent carping in some quarters that he wielded undue influence in city hall. When Brackenridge had resided in San Antonio less than a year, an encounter with the local government set the general pattern for his long association with the city. The council asked him for a loan based on city scrip of questionable value and almost simultaneously levied an exorbitant tax against his business. Brackenridge refused the one and protested the other and, after considerable dickering, reached a satisfactory agreement on both.7 At the root of Brackenridge's problems with the city lay their creditor-debtor relationship, but their battles customarily centered on the water supply. The city's purchase of the headwaters in 1872, the 7 San Antonio National Bank, Minutes, vol. I, p. 9, Archives, First National Bank of San Antonio, Texas.

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revelation of Brackenridge's potential profit from the transaction, and the city's subsequent repudiation of the purchase projected an image of Brackenridge as a profiteer that persisted for a generation. When he fell into possession of the waterworks in 1878, partly because of his ownership of riverfront property and partly because of his loans to LaCoste, unwelcome public attention focused on the water system. The city as usual was having difficulties in paying its creditors, chief of which was Brackenridge's San Antonio National Bank, so Brackenridge as president of the water company made a convenient target. The councilmen seized on the issue of fire hydrants as their point of attack. When the city granted LaCoste his exclusive twentyfive-year contract to furnish municipal water, the protection from fire had been a key factor. The city had ordered 100 fire hydrants and agreed to pay the company $100 annually for each; it had agreed further to pay a decreasing amount for each additional hydrant.8 This sum guaranteed the young company an income during its first years, but the pipe had no more been laid and the hydrants installed than the city fathers decided that the annual rate was too high. Moreover, it was charged, the company had installed hydrants indiscriminately without regard for need, and some of the hydrants were not even connected with water. Nor was the company without its complaints. A further provision of its original contract had given the city permission to open the fire hydrants when necessary to flush the city streets of mud and dust. Brackenridge charged that this privilege had been used too freely, thus wasting precious water and depleting the supply in event it was needed to quench a fire. Amid charges that certain officials had shown undue favoritism to Brackenridge and hints of collusion between the company and former councilmen, the city fathers in February 1880 repealed the privileges granted the company and halted the payment of funds to it. The mayor appointed a committee to investigate the firm to determine if any city official, past or present, had a financial connection with it. The committee found no evidence of bribery, but reported that the 8 Water Works Contract, 30 May 1877, between J. B. LaCoste and City of San Antonio, copy in Ronald Jager Collection, San Marcos, Texas.

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waterworks was a monopoly (the code word for devil in that era) and that the previous council had overstepped its authority in entering the water contract. Moreover, decreed the committee, the company had violated its contract; thus, that contract, even if it had been legal in the beginning, was invalidated. Brackenridge filed a suit against the city to collect $5,000 due the company as rental on hydrants. Of all his battles with the city and consequent threats and counterthreats of lawsuits, this is the only one that reached court. It resulted in a judgment in his favor, which the city meekly paid. Then both city and company, deciding that neither could get along without the other, settled their differences. The original contract of 1877 was amended in 1881 to reduce the annual rental per fire hydrant to fifty dollars, and it was agreed that thereafter the city would designate the locations of the hydrants. It was further agreed that the city would use the hydrants to flush gutters only in extreme cases and that the city would relinquish rental fees on city property leased to the company.9 The amended contract brought fresh criticism and additional complaints that a "monopolist" held control of the city's water supply. Brackenridge, as was his custom, loftily declined to answer these criticisms, but he, too, had cause for complaint. The city, despite its agreements, continued to use water freely to flush gutters, and if Brackenridge disdained to answer criticisms, he was not above showing his temper on these occasions. Once, for example, when the city sanitary inspector opened a hydrant, Brackenridge descended on him with raised cane, demanding that the water be turned off immediately. The inspector in turn raised a heavy wrench to protect himself while a crowd gathered to watch the show.10 Brackenridge's irritation was no doubt exacerbated by the failure of the company to yield immediate returns. In its early years, the citizens only slowly took advantage of the service, and after they be9 Bobbie Whitten Morgan, "George W. Brackenridge and His Control of San Antonio's Water Supply, 1869-1905" (Master's Thesis, Trinity University, San Antonio, 1961), pp. 45-46. 10 Ibid, p. 14.

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*5*

came accustomed to running water, their number increased so rapidly as the city grew that most of the profits went into the laying of more pipe and the building of additional facilities. After the slow return on the investment caused LaCoste and his associates to sell their remaining interest to Brackenridge in 1883, the banker transferred the bulk of his riverfront property to the company. The company, like the San Antonio National, then became a closely held organization with Brackenridge holding a big majority of the stock, and a few carefully chosen relatives and friends holding the remainder. 11 The election of Bryan Callaghan as mayor of San Antonio in 1885 introduced a new personality into affairs between city and water company. A colorful personality, half Mexican and half Irish, Callaghan belonged peculiarly to the spirit of the city. For a quarter of a century he and his associates would dominate local politics. In the opinion of some, King Callaghan, as both his friends and enemies called him, was more of an asset to the city than the Alamo, while others considered him the ally of the gamblers, riffraff, and crooks in the city.12 Whatever his other attributes, Callaghan recognized that the most pressing need of the city in the mid-i88o's was a sewer system, and upon taking office he began agitating the question. Although the citizenry was gradually accepting piped water, sanitary facilities were still of a primitive nature and the river still served as an open sewer. The once beautiful San Antonio River looked as though it had escaped from a laundry, observed Alexander Sweet when he visited during the eighties, while the old Spanish irrigation ditches had become garbage dumps. 13 As the population of the city approached forty thousand, the dangers of contamination from outhouses or refuse tossed into the river became obvious. When Europe suffered a fresh epidemic of cholera in the late eighties, Callaghan as well as Dr. Ferdinand Herff and 11 Ibid., p. 49; and Bert J. MacLean, The Romance of San Antonio's Water Supply and Distribution, pp. 21-22. 12 Curtis, Fabulous San Antonio, p. 282. 13 Alexander E. Sweet and J. Armoy Knox, On a Mexican Mustang: Through Texas from the Gulf to the Rio Grande, pp. 309, 328.

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other enlightened citizens recognized the urgency of the problem, and as water and sewerage systems were obviously related, the Callaghan administration proposed that the city purchase the waterworks. As early as 1882 Brackenridge had proposed a sewer system. At the time his proposal had been regarded as but another way to increase business for his water company, and then Major James H. French had termed the idea a "little far-fetched."14 Brackenridge thus looked with favor on Callaghan's proposition and opened negotiations with the city to sell the waterworks. But it became clear at once that he and the city differed vastly in their evaluation of the waterworks. The councilmen suggested a figure of less than half a million, using as a basis the assessed value of the property for tax purposes. Brackenridge, for his part, mentioned a figure several times that amount, using as a basis his investment of money, time, and effort.15 The discrepancy in valuations was too great for compromise, and when this became obvious, Alderman Nelson Mackey opened fire on Brackenridge from another direction. By reference to surveyor's field notes, deeds, and old maps, Mackey called into question Brackenridge's ownership of the river banks. The land had been illegally fenced, it was claimed, and the city in fact had never parted with its river frontage. Mackey's charge called attention to himself and agitated the question without being taken seriously even by the San Antonio Daily Light, which under James Pearson Newcomb, kept up a running criticism of Brackenridge.16 The city attorney conceded Brackenridge's right to the land, and a law firm hired by the city later confirmed that even had the city not originally sold the property, the statute of limitations gave the land to Brackenridge.17 The agitation aroused the public and irritated Brackenridge, so that, 14:

San Antonio Daily Express, 26 February 1882; and San Antonio Evening Light, 25 January 1882. 15 Morgan, "Brackenridge and His Control of San Antonio's Water Supply," pp. 52-53. 16 San Antonio Daily Light, 8 June, 29 September 1886. 17 Ibid., 15 June 1886; and S. G. Newton, Water Works Contract, Opinion of the City Attorney.

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after his title was confirmed, neither he nor the council was willing to compromise on the evaluation of the waterworks. The matter thus hung fire until Callaghan reopened it in 1890 with a statement that in the third quarter of the twentieth century still sounded contemporary: "The disposition of the garbage and sewerage of cities is a problem which today is being studied by the brightest minds of the world." 18 At that time Callaghan tied the need for sewers to that for improved streets, and the need for both was obvious. The streets of San Antonio, observed Alexander Sweet, had been laid out by the Spanish and had been regarded ever since as sacred relics, so sacred that some of them had never been repaired. Commerce Street was "quite crooked, and very narrow An ox-team cannot turn on it. When one vehicle passes another, there is hardly room for the dog to escape/ ' Moreover, on Commerce "nearly opposite the National Bank" there was a hole in the pavement, "as it is humorously called,—a hole in which, on an average, five persons sprain their ankles daily."19 The streets obviously needed improvement, but as thoughtful citizens pointed out, there was no point in making improvements if within a few years the city installed a sewer system that required tearing up the streets again. Brackenridge and Callaghan concurred that the installation of sewers should precede the building of streets and that as the sewer system was necessarily connected with the water, the city should own its waterworks. Accepting these points, in 1890 they tried once more to reach an agreement for the city's acquisition of the works. Brackenridge mentioned $3 million as his price, but he threw in about six hundred acres of river property, including his recently completed mansion at the headwaters. Even the prospect of acquiring this property for a city park did not make the price acceptable to the councilmen. They began talking of condemning the waterworks or erecting their own in competition with Brackenridge. It was admitted that a rival company would have hard going since Brackenridge already had the customers, plant, and 18 19

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Bryan Callaghan, Annual Message, 1890, p. 79. Sweet and Knox, On a Mexican Mustang, pp. 301-302, 304-305.

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experience, but the mere threat of such a company or of condemnation inspired Brackenridge to lower his price by one-third. The councilmen found $2 million acceptable and set an election for 30 September 1890 to let the citizens decide whether to accept the offer.20 As on previous occasions, the proposed sale aroused heated debate. Those favoring it maintained that the price was reasonable because of the investment and Brackenridge's efforts through the years and, further, because of the parkland that went with the waterworks. The opposition held, on the contrary, that the price was exorbitant and that the purchase would increase taxes. Moreover, a new generation of voters had come of age or moved into the city. Why, it was asked, should they purchase the waterworks when they already had running water at a reasonable rate? Could not the present company furnish water for the sewer system?21 The election showed the latter group to be by far the majority. Despite the controversy in the local papers, there was little interest on the part of the grassroot voters. Only 1,875 of 5,601 qualijfied voters cast a ballot, and those showed themselves opposed to the city's purchase of the waterworks by a majority of 1,216 to 65c;.22 Brackenridge broke his customary silence during the course of the controversy. "The stockholders, after sowing for thirteen years with the hope of ultimately harvesting, think it a little hard that their large expenditure of patience and money should be met by public clamor," he said. "I can say truly, so far, they have received less interest on their investment than any citizen in San Antonio would be willing to accept."23 After the voters had spoken, he expressed himself satisfied with the results. "My friends [in] the opposition are entitled to my thanks," he said. "While the city lost a fine opportunity to acquire a property worth at least a third more of its money, they doubtless 20 William Corner, San Antonio de Bexar, p. 56; San Antonio Express, 23 August 1890; and San Antonio City Council, Journal and Minutes, vol. I, p. 230, City Clerk's Office, San Antonio, Texas. 21 Morgan, "Brackenridge and His Control of San Antonio's Water Supply," pp. 61-62; and San Antonio Express, 12, 14, 15, 19, 21 September 1890. 22 San Antonio Express, 1 October 1890. 23 Corner, San Antonio de Bexar, pp. 56-57.

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thought it worth less to the city than the sum stated in my proposition and did me a favor by conscientiously voting as their judgment dictated."24 If Brackenridge was not as satisfied with the defeat of the proposition as he professed to be, he no doubt anticipated it, for in the course of this negotiation with the city, as with others, he never ceased to improve the waterworks nor to fret over their operation. In 1885 when his very title to the river property was questioned, he had doubled the size of the water plant; in 1890 when the city's purchase seemed imminent, he was in the process of developing a new source of water. As the city's water consumption increased and as the droughts of the late 1880's took their toll on the river, Brackenridge worried about the supply of water. Nor did his friend, Dr. Herff, a shareholder in both the San Antonio National Bank and the waterworks, let him forget the dangers of epidemic inherent in the use of river water. A contaminated water supply could wreak havoc in the city, and the thought of such a disaster weighed on Brackenridge's mind. Even as he dickered with the city in 1890, he was experimenting with a new source of water. The Crystal Ice Company had drilled an artesian well that proved successful. Was this the answer to his problems? He drilled one unsuccessful well, and then in 1891 brought in one of such pressure that it blew out pieces of rock "as large as a man's head" andflowedwater from a pipe fifteen or twenty feet high. It produced daily three million gallons of water of extremely fine quality.25 After this spectacular success, Brackenridge drilled other artesian wells. By 1895 the waterworks depended on wells rather than the river for water. Therefore, Head-of-the-River and Brackenridge's river property had outlived their significance as far as the water company was concerned. Still by 1893 the city did not have a sewer system, and the need was growing acute. Even more acute in that year, however, was the city's financial condition. The panic of the early 1890's pushed the 24

San Antonio Express, 2 October 1890. Morgan, "Brackenridge and His Control of San Antonio's Water Supply," pp63-64; and MacLean, Romance of San Antonio's Water, p. 9. 25

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municipal government to the very edge of bankruptcy. The city owed nearly $500,000, most of it to the San Antonio National Bank, and it had no means of paying this debt, much less of installing sewers. Taxes could not be collected; there was talk of repudiating the city's debt; and at the height of the crisis, 5 December 1892, Mayor Callaghan resigned.26 He was replaced by George Paschal, who promptly issued a startling report on the financial affairs of the city. No entries had been made on the records of the auditor for almost a year, from 31 May 1892 to 1 March 1893; moreover, during the years of Callaghan's administration, from 1885 through 1892, the city had spent almost $1 million more than appropriations made in the annual budgets.27 Like earlier officials in search of a scapegoat, Paschal turned his guns on Brackenridge. He dated the city's problems from 3 October 1892, when $40,000 was taken out of the sinking fund and transferred to the San Antonio National Bank to obtain more money for general fund expenditures. In addition, the city in the preceding five years had paid the bank a large sum in interest at the same time it had large deposits there on which it received no interest.28 In a letter to Brackenridge, Paschal took a more conciliatory line. The city had no idea of repudiating its debt, he assured Brackenridge, but other creditors were clamoring and the city government would come to a standstill if it had to use all its funds to pay the bank. If only Brackenridge would grant time, the city could arrange by a bond election to pay the debt at the rate of $60,000 a year.29 Possibly because he had little choice, Brackenridge granted the time. In an election held 1 August 1893, the voters approved the issuing of $240,000 in bonds for the payment of the debt.30 Once the bank debt was settled, Mayor Paschal took aim at the water company. The company, he declared, had been exempt illegally 26

San Antonio City Council, Journal Ibid., p. 426; and George Paschal, with Proposition of Settlement with the 2 » Ibid., p. 8. 29 Ibid., pp. 10-12. 30 San Antonio City Council, Journal 27

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and Minutes, vol. J, p. 326. Financial Condition of City of San Antonio San Antonio National Bank, pp. 1-8.

and Minutes, vol. K, pp. 9, 35.

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from taxes for fifteen years; if collected, back taxes would have amounted to $41,162.50, counting interest. Charging further that the company failed to abide by the terms of its contract, Paschal nullified that contract and stopped payments to the company.31 Brackenridge, having shown himself reasonable in the matter of the bank debt, was outraged when the water company was drawn into the dispute. ' 'Corrupt city authorities" were attacking his water company and electric light bonds, he fumed to Alexander W. Terrell.32 Brackenridge filed a suit against the city for the amount due his company, but as in the matter of the bank debt, he showed himself willing to compromise—especially after Paschal, whom he considered his prime antagonist, died on 6 September 1894. Brackenridge and the city settled the suit out of court, and on 20 November 1894, they entered into a new water contract that abrogated the contracts of 1877 and 1881 and extended to 1 August 1903.33 This contract ushered in an era of relative peace between Brackenridge and the city government, during which he enhanced his public image by giving his riverfront land as a city park and promoting local education. As the contract period neared an end, however, the two old opponents again took up their cudgels. The city began agitating the matter well over a year before the contract expired and, while showing little inclination to purchase the company, made demands for improved services and reduced rates. After tedious negotiations, Brackenridge and the city signed another contract, their last, on 2 June 1902, but it left both parties dissatisfied. The long negotiations had fanned old resentments of private ownership of a public utility, and Brackenridge, now seventy years old, was tired of the responsibility of the water supply and the continual haggling over contracts that it involved. When the city fathers, as was their custom, called on the San Antonio National Bank that year for an advance, they were coolly 31

Ibid., p. 395; and George Paschal, Message of the Honorable George Paschal, Mayor of the City of San Antonio, Delivered before the City Council, June 8, 1893, on Sewers and Waterworks', pp. 6-15. 32 George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 29 October 1894, Alexander W. Terrell Papers, University of Texas Archives, Austin. 33 Morgan, "Brackenridge and His Control of San Antonio's Water Supply," p. 68; and San Antonio City Council, Journals and Minutes, vol. K, pp. 482-492.

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received. Brackenridge was out of town, they were told, and he had left no instructions for financing them; they would have to await his return. 34 The following year when city hall still grumbled over the water question, Brackenridge could not conceal his irritation. "You have doubtless observed that it is a tendency to agitate the Water Works question in the city," he warned the directors of the San Antonio National. "We may be confronted with similar conditions to those which we experienced in 1893 under the administration of Mr. Paschal." 35 But Brackenridge, as the chief source of city financing, was not without leverage. "If this agitation is not either withdrawn or evidence of its harmlessness beyond a reasonable doubt," he told the directors, "I would suggest the propriety of advising the city authorities of our desire to cancel engagements entered into looking to the advance of half of the funds to cover current expenses."36 When two years later the city found another source of financing, Brackenridge expressed himself relieved. "The City has found means of dispensing with the services of the San Antonio National Bank so really we are in better condition than we have been for some years," he told his directors.37 By 1905 with the city still showing no inclination to purchase the water company, he offered it to an associate who turned it down for lack of funds. Brackenridge then opened negotiations with George J. Kobusch of Saint Louis, who bought the company in 1906. Eventually, in 1925 the city purchased the waterworks from the Saint Louis company for $7 million.38 One story says that Brackenridge almost backed out when it finally came time for him to part with the company.39 Possibly, he did feel 3

* San Antonio National Bank, Minutes, vol. I, p. 266. Ibid., p. 303. 36 Ibid., p. 303 37 Ibid., p. 392. 38 Morgan, "Brackenridge and His Control of San Antonio's Water Supply," pp. 77-78; MacLean, Romance of San Antonio's Water, pp. 11-12. 39 Ibid., p. 12. 35

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some misgivings, for he had nursed it from feeble infancy into robust adulthood. But for a quarter of a century he had endured public criticism, lain awake nights worrying about sources of water and the possibility of epidemics, and all the while fought a running battle with the city government over the water system. To his brother he spoke not of his reluctance to sell but of his yearning to * 'unload' * the responsibility.40 Certainly, no detail of the operation had been too minute to command his attention. When he sold, the engineers testified to his painstaking efforts. The pipelines were of the best quality; the plant in excellent condition; if the facilities had to be replaced, "not a line of mains or location of a plant could be changed to give better service."41 In his last years of ownership he had even turned his attention to the design of public water fountains. He proposed to give a dozen to the city, these to be constructed so that water from the drinking fountains fell into a trough for use by dogs and horses. Undoubtedly, the practical aspects of the design appealed to him, for he was ever interested in conserving his precious water, but a suggestion of young sculptor Pompeo Coppini caught his fancy. Coppini, recently arrived in town and eager to make his reputation, urged that the fountains be made works of art to beautify the city, and, at his behest, Brackenridge commissioned him to make a sample for $300. Coppini applied himself to his task as diligently as Brackenridge had to the development of the company. He carved a granite dolphin that spouted water from its mouth for human beings, the waste water then falling into a lower basin for animals. The dolphin cost Coppini $50 more in materials than the contracted price, with his labor not considered at all. He delivered the fountain, at the same time informing Brackenridge of the cost and explaining that he would not make any others for $300. Brackenridge laughed heartily at this, whereupon the sculptor departed in a huff. By common agreement no other dolphins were carved. The single one (which Coppini personally disliked) spouted 40

George W . Brackenridge to John Thomas Brackenridge, 20 September 1905, John Thomas Brackenridge Papers, University of Texas Archives, Austin. 41 MacLean, Romance of San Antonio's Water, p. 7.

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water from its mouth near his studio, a constant reminder of his bad bargain, until the plumbing failed and the city removed it.42 Coppini, more temperamental and far more articulate than Brackenridge, promised himself he would have nothing further to do with the banker, but he did have one other encounter, and that one more infuriating than the first. After he had established himself in San Antonio and modeled a bust of Dr. Herff that graced the public library, the Woman's Club at the instigation of Mrs. Stribling and Mrs. Hertzberg commissioned him to do a bust of Brackenridge, also to stand in the library. They specified that the bust be made without Brackenridge's knowledge so that it would be a surprise. Coppini thus obtained photos and modeled a likeness, but feeling that one sitting from life would improve his art, he approached Brackenridge to ask for a sitting. He found Brackenridge in an "ugly mood, extremely discourteous, unreasonable, and ungenerous.,, Not only would Brackenridge not sit for the bust but he promised that it would never be placed in the library. "But Colonel/' protested Coppini, "do you know that you will be depriving me of a commission, from which I expect to make my living expenses, as well as my reputation?" "What do I care for you or your reputation? I do not want to have my bust in the public library/' snapped Brackenridge. Coppini again departed in a huff, this time slamming the door, and upon returning to his studio, he destroyed the bust. But his frustrations in regard to a Brackenridge statue were not yet ended. After Brackenridge's death, Coppini modeled a figure of him to be erected in Brackenridge Park. Coppini was disappointed in his efforts to raise funds for the completion of the project, however, and it was only years after he, too, was dead that the statue was at last erected under the supervision of his protege, Dr. Waldine Tauch. In his memoirs Coppini took revenge on Brackenridge for all the frustrations surrounding both bust and statue. Brackenridge, he declared, appreciated only shrewd businessmen and cared nothing whatever for fine arts, except for useful architecture.43 Perhaps as the sculptor charged, Brackenridge did lack appreciation 42 43

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Coppini, From Dawn to Sunset, p. 98. Ibid., pp. 118-119.

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of the fine arts, but he compensated for this by his devotion to the beauties of nature. After the water company turned to artesian wells for its supply, and after he had sold Head-of-the-River, he directed his attention to the preservation of the remainder of his riverlands in their natural state. In this connection he talked with Alderman Ludwig Mahncke, who had a similar appreciation of nature, and at last concluded in 1899 t 0 g*ve ^ e bulk of his riverland to the city as a park. As he had previously transferred title to the property to the water company, the gift was made in the name of the company, but as he was major stockholder in the company, the gift for all practical purposes was from him. The city council recognized the gift by naming the park for him, but some of his townspeople jocularly dubbed it "Prohibition Park" because of a restriction in the deed. The restriction, imposed with Eleanor Brackenridge's blessing if not at her suggestion, forbade the sale or drinking of beer or intoxicating liquor on the park premises and provided that if the restriction were not honored, the property would revert to the University of Texas.44 Brackenridge's stand on prohibition was somewhat ambiguous. While he steadfastly supported the prohibition movement, he himself maintained a fine wine cellar and on occasion enjoyed good whiskey. It was his belief, however, that ordinary individuals were not strong enough to handle liquor and that they needed to be protected from their own weaknesses. Further, he wished to reserve the park for the enjoyment of women and children and felt that alcoholic beverages would turn it into a disreputable place.45 Brackenridge tied other strings to his gift of the park. He stipulated that the land could never be used except as a park and retained for his company all water rights, stipulating that the city could not drill a well, erect a dam, or use water from the river. 44

Bexar County, Deed Records, vol. 185, pp. 183-188; and Raymond Edwards, San Antonio's Parks, p. 8. 45 George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 29 July, 9 September 1911; 11 January 1912, Terrell Papers; and George W. Brackenridge to John Thomas Brackenridge, 2 June 1903, John Thomas Brackenridge Papers, Archives, Texas State Library, Austin.

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Nor did he place all his faith in the deed restriction. Displaying his abiding distrust of the city government, he retained for the company a fringe of land completely surrounding the park. He kept all River Avenue (later Broadway) frontage of more than a mile in length and 250 feet in depth and a strip 25 feet wide around the remainder of the park, thus completely surrounding it.46 Under Brackenridge's watchful eye, Ludwig Mahncke, newly appointed as park commissioner, began the development of the park, planning it as "a driving park more than a picnic place/' Mahncke laid out a drive that skirted the river and for which Brackenridge furnished an entrance and exit over his fringe. Brackenridge then built a sturdy fence all the way around the park except at the two entrances—the fence again on his fringe. His fellow townsmen did not miss the significance of his fence and controlled access. Yet, when the park opened in 1902, even his old gadfly James Pearson Newcomb waxed poetic about its "primeval forest land/' The drive wound "with the sinuosity of the river channel, curving and dipping with the natural lay of the land, care being taken not to disturb the throne of a single monarch of the forest," effused Newcomb. "What splendid old trees, with their crowns high in the sunshine and their trunks in the shade. At every turn there is a delightful surprise; now you are descending seemingly into a darker, more secluded portion of the forest, to rise again into an open."47 Some half a century after Brackenridge's death the park was one of the prides of the city and the most tangible evidence of his life and benevolences. Indeed, many people who had never heard of the man, knew the park as one of the most beautiful in the nation. He had once called the San Antonio River his child, so it was fitting that the riverside park thus carried on his name. But Brackenridge's association with the city had never been placid, and even his gift of the park aroused the carping of his critics. His retention of the water rights inspired grumbling that the gift was in fact a tax dodge by which he rid himself of taxable property and gave the city the responsibility of maintaining it while he continued to reap 46 47

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Bexar County, Deed Records, vol. 185, pp. 183-188. San Antonio Express, 28 September 1902.

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the same benefits. The prohibition restriction stirred resentment in other quarters, the brewing interests of the city in particular taking it as an affront. And the brewers had their rebuttal. Some years later, Otto Koehler, a prominent local beer baron, died, and his widow, desirous of an appropriate memorial, acquired a tract adjoining Brackenridge Park. This she deeded to the city as Koehler Park, with the provision that malt liquors could be sold and consumed there.48 The fringe of land around the park furnished the most justifiable complaints about Brackenridge's gift. When he sold the water company in 1906, he included in the sale all the water rights and the fringe without providing for entrances to the park. The new company, inspired by no philanthropic sentiments, showed reluctance to provide access over its property. The city brought a condemnation suit that resulted in its purchasing six entrances and additional property where Witte Memorial Museum, Pioneer Hall, and the Alligator Garden were later built.49 James Pearson Newcomb II, son of the earlier newsman, expressed puzzlement that Brackenridge did not provide for entrances to the park, for he continued to be interested in it and later gave additional land to it and contributed land for Mahncke Park.50 When Brackenridge's earlier tilts with the city government are considered, the logic of the act emerges. For more than a quarter of a century Brackenridge had shouldered the responsibility of the city water; time and again he had offered the property to the city, the last time at a price so low that it scarcely amounted to the sum the city government paid annually as rent on its fire hydrants.51 The city had not only declined to buy but also had subjected him to continual haggling over contracts and petty slanders on his integrity. There was some malice aforethought, one suspects, when he sold the park fringe knowing full well that in doing 48 Bexar County, Deed Records, vol. 471, pp. 416-417; and James Pearson Newcomb II, "Some Notes on Brackenridge Park, Prepared in May, 1962," p. 11, unpublished manuscript in Ronald B. Jager Collection. 49 Newcomb, "Some Notes," p. 10. 50 Ibid. 51 Morgan, "Brackenridge and His Control of San Antonio's Water Supply," p. 74-

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so he set the stage for a sparring match between his old opponent and the new company, a match that he could enjoy from the spectator's bench. Certainly, Bryan Callaghan, once again mayor in 1911, credited Brackenridge with malice in the affair. Piqued by difficulties with the new company, Callaghan recognized the old antagonist of city hall, not the newcomer, as the real culprit and acted accordingly. "Gentlemen, this park was donated to the city by the Water Works Company/' he told his councilmen. "At the time of the gift the city named it Brackenridge Park. This leaves the impression on the minds of the public that it was donated by Brackenridge.'' Then amid "huge merriment" (the words of the Express) mayor and council acted to disabuse the public mind. They changed the name to Water Works Park and ordered the signs changed accordingly.52 Brackenridge in all of his beneficences had shown himself to be remarkably free of personal glorification. He greeted the change of name with aloof amusement: "This little incident of Bryan and his pals . . . has not disturbed me even for a moment/' he assured a, friend. "Whether the park bears my name or not, it will meet the purposes and wishes of the donors fully as well under any other name/'53 As it happened, Brackenridge could afford to be generous. By the second decade of the twentieth century he had become an institution in the city. He had outlived most of his rivals, and a new generation only dimly remembered the past controversies and knew him best as the donor of the park lands, patron of the public schools, and distinguished regent of the University of Texas. The public rushed to his defense, no doubt a novel experience for him. Although the city government did indeed haul down the old park signs and put up new ones, the public continued to call it Brackenridge Park. King Callaghan, one of the last relicts of the earlier age, died in 1912, and shortly thereafter another city council changed the name back to Brackenridge Park.54 52 53 54

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San Antonio Express, 23 May 1911. George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 7 June 1911, Terrell Papers. Newcomb, "Some Notes," p. 10.

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nominated for president of the San Antonio Independent School District in 1899, there was apprehension among the citizenry that his business responsibilities would prevent his accepting. He immediately settled the question. "An American citizen... has no right to refuse a demand such as this.... If I am elected I shall serve to the best of my ability." In a further statement he set forth one of his most profound beliefs, that the key to improvement of mankind was education. "The most important duty that a citizen has to perform is to protect education, free it from political or sectarian influences; to protect the best interests of the rising generation by qualifying them to appreciate the true value of free institutions and give them ability to maintain these institutions. The future of a republican government can be guaranteed only by universal education, for universal education and freedom are inseparable."1 1

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San Antonio Express, 29 April 1899.

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By the time Brackenridge made this pronouncement, he had already paid far more than lip service to the cause, concentrating his efforts in those areas he deemed most needy—black education and female education—and gaining renown as a regent for the University of Texas. He turned his attention first to black education, because, his friend Alexander W. Terrell explained, he wanted to make retribution for his family's ownership of slaves in the prewar years.2 As soon as Brackenridge arrived in San Antonio after the Civil War he applied his energies to providing school facilities for freedmen. Appointed one of three members of the Freedmen's Bureau in the city, he supervised the demolition of a Confederate armory and the building of a Negro school from the stones. The school, named the Douglass School after Frederick Douglass, the Negro abolitionist, was the first black school in the city. It was transferred to the public school system after that came into existence and continued in use until 1909. In 1914 when Brackenridge was the sole surviving trustee of the property, he signed a release permitting the district to sell the property on the condition that the proceeds of the sale be put into another Negro school.3 By then he had given two schools for blacks to the city in his own right. On 19 June 1901, the thirty-sixth anniversary of the emancipation of slaves in Texas, he made $10,000 available for the building of a "School house for the colored school children" on Centre Street. At the behest of black citizens, this was named the Brackenridge School, and a marble plaque noting his contribution was placed on the interior wall shortly after its dedication.4 2 Alexander W . Terrell, "Address of Judge A. W . Terrell, of Austin, Presenting the Portrait of Colonel Brackenridge," Alcalde 1 (April 1913): 106. Brackenridge's father owned two slaves and his brother John Thomas half interest in one when the i860 census was taken (see United States, Census of Jackson County, Texas, i860, Slave Schedule, p. 7 ) . 3 San Antonio Board of Education for the San Antonio Independent School District, Minutes, vol. II, p. 272, and vol. Ill, p. 45, Office of the Board, San Antonio, Texas; and Basil Young Neal, "George W . Brackenridge: Citizen and Philanthropist" (Master's Thesis, University of Texas, 1939), pp. 77-78. 4 George W . Brackenridge to Louis Oge, and to cashier, San Antonio National Bank, 19 June 1901, in San Antonio Board of Education, Minutes, vol. C, pp. 41-42.

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Four years later in 1905 he and his brother Tom contributed property for the erection of another school for black children. After Tom's death the following year, Brackenridge gave money for the building, which was named the J. T. Brackenridge Memorial School in memory of the former Confederate major.5 He took particular interest in this school named for the brother he had loved but with whom he had often quarreled. He had a fence built around it, made repairs when necessary, and upon visiting the school a few years before his death stopped to read a plaque commemorating his brother. "It is a good deal better to have built a school for my brother's memory than to have built a tombstone in the graveyard," he commented.6 Brackenridge contributed generously not only to common schools but also to institutions of higher education for blacks. He gave encouragement to Prairie View Normal, an agricultural and mechanical college for Negro citizens located in Waller County, and became a major supporter of Guadalupe Colored College at Seguin. Founded in 1884 by the Guadalupe Baptist Association, a black organization, the Seguin college expanded and moved to a new location under the guidance of Dr. W. B. Ball and with Brackenridge's backing. Ball, one of the original trustees who also served as president of the college for eight years, had served during the Civil War, marching through Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, West Virginia, "all afoot." He had then spent three years fighting in the Indian wars in Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico before arriving in Seguin by way of El Paso and San Antonio. It was through him that Brackenridge had been attracted to the college. After Ball's retirement to the position of president emeritus in 1906, he continued to live near the campus in a house owned by Brackenridge, and until Brackenridge's death, visits to the college and Ball were among his most enjoyable outings.7 5

George W. Brackenridge to John Thomas Brackenridge, 12 May 1905, John Thomas Brackenridge Papers, University of Texas Archives, Austin; and San Antonio Board of Education, Minutes, vol. I, pp. 185, 206. 6 San Antonio Express\ 29 December 1921. 7 Walter P. Webb, ed., Handbook of Texas, I, 742; Dr. W. B. Ball to George W. Brackenridge, 18 September 1919, in files of Gilbert Denman, Jr., San Antonio, Texas; and George W. Brackenridge to Georgina Brackenridge (Spooner) Burke,

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Guadalupe Colored College fell on hard times after the deaths of Ball and Brackenridge. In 1937 it suffered a major fire that caused it to close its doors. It reopened in 1948, but by 1970, only the shell of a red brick building and a caretaker's cottage marked its location. Brackenridge's most substantial contributions to education and other causes for blacks came in an era when nationwide there was little interest in the Negro. His gifts aroused grumbling among whites who felt neglected. "He was frequently spoken of derisively as a negro lover," said his friend and business associate, Thomas H. Franklin. After Brackenridge's death, Franklin felt called upon to explain his position in regard to race. "As a matter of fact, I never knew any man who was more pronounced a believer in the supremacy of the AngloSaxon race," said Franklin, who went on to explain that Brackenridge believed "the only practical solution" to the race question was "to educate the negro up to the highest citizenship he was capacitated to reach; to protect him from the corruption of liquor, bad politics, and immorality."8 Brackenridge's views (or Franklin's interpretation of them) sound archaic in the latter third of the twentieth century, but for his time they were advanced. And in all fairness, it must be pointed out that his view of the human race, of whatever color, was Olympian. He was a man of high intellect and many talents who had made a fortune in an era when success was measured in simple dollars and cents. He was inclined to look down on lesser mankind at the same time he held out a hand to uplift it. To white as well as to black education, Brackenridge made his contributions. When the venerable German-English School in San Antonio, a renowned institution founded in the 1850's for the education of German children, went out of existence at the turn of the century, Brackenridge and his fellow banker Franz Groos acquired the property. Brackenridge then gave his half interest to the public school 29 March 1920, Pinney-Spooner Papers, made available by Mrs. Claire B. Cramer, Los Altos, Calif. 8 Thomas H. Franklin, "George W. Brackenridge," Alcalde 8 (March 1921): 408-409.

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system. The board purchased Groos's half and reopened the school as the Brackenridge Grammar School. The property later housed San Antonio Junior College, and still later became the central office of the school district.9 In 1916 Brackenridge gave $40,000 for the erection of a new high school, which was named in his honor.10 He gave of himself, however, as well as his means. Elected president of the school board in 1899, he served only briefly before resigning with the explanation that his business caused him to be out of town much of the time and he was thus planning to move his residence.11 He did not move but was reelected to the board in 1903, again serving as president and remaining in office until 1906. While on the school board, he gave special attention to the development of a manual training program. When a bond issue for the purchase of vocational training equipment for the schools failed to pass in 1905, he insisted that the program go forward and underwrote the cost himself. "Our duty is to the children," he said. "Let the work begin."12 Another of his pet projects was school libraries. He gave $5,000 to the library at Brackenridge High School and, according to Harry Yandell Benedict, purchased about fifty libraries of some two or three hundred standard volumes, which he distributed to various high schools in south Texas. "I knew when I did it that most of these libraries would collect dust until the books rotted before any boy read in any of them," he was quoted as saying. "I knew that in other cases the books would be read but little and by few boys. I thought, however, that probably one boy in one school, before all these books perished, would read some of them, and be set afire intellectually. And 9 Webb, ed., Handbook of Texas, I, 684; San Antonio School Board, Minutes, vol. D, pp. 162, 168, 173; and Neal, "George W. Brackenridge," pp. 61-64. 10 San Antonio Express, 29 December 1921. 11 George W. Brackenridge to the Honorable Board of Trustees, 9 September 1899, in San Antonio School Board, Minutes, vol. A, p. 56; and Neal, "George W. Brackenridge," pp. 53-54. 12 San Antonio School Board, Minutes, vol. I, p. 59.

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is not a few thousand dollars a cheap price to pay for the illumination of one boy?" 13 In his patronage of education, Brackenridge was joined by his sister Eleanor, who showed special interest in the development of home economics courses in public schools. The San Antonio board of education named a school for her in recognition of her efforts, so that at the time of Brackenridge's death in 1920 four public schools in San Antonio bore his family name. Before he earned his reputation as a friend of local schools he had already won a statewide reputation as regent of the University of Texas. He received an appointment as regent in 1886, the same year that he completed his mansion at Head-of-the-River and moved the San Antonio National Bank into its new building on Commerce Street. The appointment gave him the title he valued above all others and placed him in the field of his greatest service, but why Governor John Ireland appointed him is unclear. The appointment came at a time when Republicans and Unionists were in eclipse throughout the South, and when, commented one observer, a man who had not stood by the South from 1861 to 1865 could no more have been elected governor of Texas "than a sinner could enter heaven without pardon." 14 The infant university reflected the prevailing sentiment of the state. In 1881 when the first Board of Regents was chosen, Elisha M. Pease, Brackenridge's banking associate, was appointed to the board, but the appointment was withdrawn because of a storm of public protest. Pease had opposed secession and gone into retirement during the war years, emerging in 1867 to serve as Reconstruction governor. This record was enough to make him unacceptable as a regent. "Pease had betrayed, mangled, and outraged the spirit of his friends of former years, in a manner amounting to a crime," said one observer.15 13

Harry Yandell Benedict, "Pereginusings," Alcalde 8 (February 1921): 316-

317.

14 Norman G. Kittrell, Governors Who Have Been, and Other Public Men of Texas, p. 50. 15 James T. DeShields, They Sat in High Places, p. 204. See also, Harry Yandell Benedict, "History of the University of Texas," vol. II, pt. 1, p. 222, University of Texas Archives; and John J. Lane, History of the University of Texas, p. 199.

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When the university opened its doors in 1883, the choice of faculty further testified to the importance attached to good Confederate credentials. John William Mallet, the first chairman of the faculty, had fought at Seven Pines and then distinguished himself in the Confederate ordinance department; 16 Leslie Waggener, the first English professor, had been wounded at Shiloh and again at Chickamauga and had retreated with Johnston before Atlanta; Robert L. Dabney, the first professor of philosophy, appointed shortly after the school opened, had been chief of staff and biographer of Stonewall Jackson; Robert S. Gould, one of the first law professors, had raised a battalion for the Confederacy and been wounded at Jenkins' Ferry; and Oran M. Roberts, the other law professor, had presided over the convention that led Texas out of the Union. 17 Oran M. Roberts's appointment told something else about the university, for he had been governor of Texas when the law creating the institution was passed. He had appointed the first board of regents and in turn, upon his retirement from the executive's office, had received the appointment from them to the university faculty.18 The appointment was popular, but it bespoke a connection between politics and school that lingered long. The Confederate stamp of the university as well as the rebuff to his friend Pease undoubtedly caused Brackenridge to covet a position on the Board of Regents, and no doubt there is an interesting story, now lost, as to how he received the appointment. Possibly, it was connected with his brother Tom's candidacy for governor in 1886; possibly, it was connected with his personal friendship with Governor Ireland, a friendship that dated back to their antebellum days in Seguin and perhaps continued when both operated along the Texas coast during the early days of the war; or possibly, the appointment came because it really was not a choice one in the first place. Ireland reputedly was cool toward the university and more favorably 16 Frank E. Vandiver, "John William Mallet and the University of Texas," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 53 (April 1950): 422-442. 17 William H. Wilson, "Recollections of Dr. R. L. Dabney," Alcalde 2 (March 1914): 415-417; Milton W. Humphries, "The Genesis of the University of Texas," ibid., 1 (April 1913): 5-14; and Lane, History of the University, pp. 153, 268-270. !8 DeShields, They Sat in High Places, p. 314.

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inclined to support common schools and the Agricultural and Mechanical College.19 Whatever his reasons, he waited until the end of his administration to make the appointment so it could not hurt him politically, and he could have had no inkling that Brackenridge would set a record for both duration and quality of service on the board. Brackenridge served continuously during the quarter of a century between 1886 and 1911, being vice-chairman from 1900 until his resignation, except for a period between February 1903 and June 1904 when he served as chairman. He served again from 1917 to 1919, and was appointed again only weeks before his death in 1920. His record for length of service had not been matched by 1970; and the very fact that a Republican could sit on the board at all during those years indicates the quality of his service. When he retired in 1911, Alexander W. Terrell, a prominent Democrat, pointed out that Brackenridge had served under six governors, all of them Democrats, and that during his tenure he was the only Republican appointed to state office by a governor.20 In 1917 another Democratic governor, William P. Hobby, appointed Brackenridge, and the political climate in Texas was such that until the appointment of Orville Bullington in 1941, Brackenridge stood as the only Republican to serve on the Board of Regents of the University of Texas. From the first, Brackenridge took pride in the office. "It is the only office in your gift, or in the gift of the people of the State, that I would accept," he told Ireland in accepting the appointment;21 and after he had served almost twenty-five years he wrote Terrell that "There is certainly not a more honourable or important place."22 Initially, however, the position was not a particularly choice one. At the time the university had less than 250 students, only one building and that not completed, and was beset on all sides by problems. Some citizens felt that the university had been opened prematurely and that efforts and money could more profitably be expended at the 19

Lane, History of the University, p. 13. 20 Terrell, "Address," p. 104. 21 Lane, History of the University, p. 286. 22 George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 1 October 1910, Terrell Papers.

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lower levels of education. One legislator, for example, created a furor by observing, not too incorrectly, that the standard of education of the matriculants was generally so low and the curriculum hence of necessity so elementary that professors of worldwide reputation were not necessary there.23 Other critics opposed the idea of state universities altogether on the grounds that they were for "rich men's sons," and were "hot beds of immorality, profligacy, and licentiousness."24 Even many who supported higher education took a dim view of the university. Denominational institutions, especially venerable Baylor University, looked upon it as a rival sustained by public funds, while the Agricultural and Mechanical College near Bryan saw it as a potential cannibal. The college had opened in 1876 under a charter designating it a "branch of the future state University," but by the time the university came into being, the famed Aggie spirit already ran rampant through the state. Fervent supporters were determined on the one hand to maintain the independence of the Agricultural and Mechanical College against all comers and, on the other, to obtain a portion of the university land endowment. By the time Brackenridge took his seat on the Board of Regents, the lines were drawn and the battle raged. Moreover, the two institutions had come to represent in the popular mind two seemingly opposed philosophies of education. The university represented cultural education and the college, practical education, and underlying the squabbles over lands and revenues was the issue of whether a young Texan should study Latin verbs or contour plowing.25 As the economy of Texas was still based on agriculture, contour plowing had the edge, and the state legislature, reflecting the sentiments of its constituents, only begrudgingly appropriated funds to the university. Its most impressive resource, its vast land endowment, was valued at the time at possibly fifty cents an acre and leased at a proportionate rate. The land, observed an early historian of the school, was "about as productive of revenue as if selected from the ^Benedict, "History of the University," vol. Ill, pt. 2, p. 11. Frederick Eby, The Development of Education in Texas, p. 288. 25 Benedict, "History of the University," vol. Ill, pt. 2, p. 11; and Lane, History of the University, pp. 6-12. 24

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arid wastes of Sahara." As a result, the young university suffered chronic financial problems. Despite the problems, Brackenridge delighted in the regent's office, and if the reasons for his initial appointment are obscure, those for his reappointment time and again are abundantly evident. He gave unselfishly of both his means and himself. On the one hand, he gave money where it was most needed, usually without fanfare and always without thought of self-aggrandizement. On the other, he defended the intellectual integrity of the institution, becoming the hero of what Governor Ferguson, the university's most implacable foe, called "the University crowd," that is, faculty, students, and alumni. Brackenridge was "the Patron Saint of the University of Texas," said Roy Bedichek,27 an encomium that no doubt amused Brackenridge, who never pretended to be a saint and who never was really sure that there were either saints or a heaven to house them. Throughout his years as regent, Brackenridge accepted only the best where the university was concerned. Demanding "no narrowness in its conduct, no bigotry in its teachings, no penuriousness in its support," 28 he held steadfastly to three policies: first, no political interference; second, the best faculty available regardless of political belief, religious creed, or place of birth; and third, complete equality for women.29 Fending off political interference proved a continuing struggle, for, from the time Roberts went straight from the governor's chair to the university faculty, politicians tended to look upon the university with a proprietary eye. The legislature had created the institution and doled out funds to sustain it, and its very proximity to the state capitol seemed to invite interference. In the unending struggle with the spoilsmen, Brackenridge's Republican affiliation proved his greatest strength. As his party did not expect to win state elections, he could speak and act without thought for political reprisal. Eventually, even 26

Lane, History of the University, p. 10. Roy Bedichek, "The Patron Saint of the University of Texas," Alcalde 5 (April 1917): 480-486. ^Franklin, "George W. Brackenridge," p. 412. 29 Bedichek, "Patron Saint," p. 482. 27

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the Democrats came to appreciate his stand, for, often split among themselves, they could trust him to keep rivals of their own party from gaining unseemly lodgment in the university. "There was something eminently non-political in Mr. Brackenridge's presence on the board of regents," observed Bedichek,30 who along with other members of the "University crowd" looked upon the doughty Republican as the first line of defense against capitol hill. Bedichek told with relish of Brackenridge's rebuffs to various governors who sought to pay political debts at the expense of the university. When one of "the really great Governors of Texas" approached Brackenridge, suggesting the appointment of two of his friends to the university faculty, Brackenridge replied expressing satisfaction in the governor's interest, but noting that it was unusual for such a busy man as the chief executive of Texas to take time to investigate thoroughly the qualifications of potential faculty members. "He went on quite incidentally to detail the qualifications that such men should possess," said Bedichek, "and wound up by intimating that the regents would take it for granted that the Governor had assured himself upon all the points so outlined, and that the regents would give, therefore, the Governor's recommendations the most serious consideration." The governor got the point. By return mail he wrote that he had not investigated the qualifications of the men, but that they were good friends of his. He showed "evident anxiety to get out from under the responsibility" placed on him; the appointments were not made; and there was no further pressure from the executive office. When another governor, identified by Bedichek as "an even greater personality," approached Brackenridge with the idea of placing a partisan on the university's payroll, Brackenridge made no answer. "He just laughed," said Bedichek. "Further insistence brought another chuckle, and a subsequent request more chuckles," until the governor dropped the matter.31 Interwoven with the problem of political interference was the principle of academic freedom, a principle Brackenridge supported long before the term came into general use. As the first faculty bore evi30 ibid., p. 485. Ibid., pp. 483-484.

31

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dence, Confederate credentials were initially a major consideration, but many Texans felt more loyalty to their state than to the defunct Southern republic. Believing that Texans should teach Texans, they insisted that the faculty be drawn from within the state. In some quarters the religious orthodoxy of the faculty also came under scrutiny, especially as Darwin's theory of evolution gained currency. In all instances, Brackenridge insisted that only training, ability, and character be considered in making appointments or promotions. If religion, politics, or place of origin entered into the consideration, he called an abrupt halt. "He stood like Gibraltar in favor of considering merit only," said H. Y. Benedict, who was the first student to reside in B Hall and later became president of the university. "If, for example, a candidate for a professorship in Mathematics was referred to as the son of a Confederate general, Mr. Brackenridge would always ask, 'What the has that to do with his mathematics?' " Benedict believed that appointments to the faculty were on a higher plane because of Brackenridge, and that Brackenridge rendered his greatest service in that respect.32 Certainly, Brackenridge's use of a word that Benedict felt too strong to print indicates the depth of the banker's feeling, for as a rule he took pride in never using words that (Terrell said) "a lady would blush to hear."33 After bimetallism became an article of faith to a majority of Texans in the mid-1890's, that too became an issue at the university. When a young professor, David Franklin Houston, presented arguments in favor of the gold standard to his classes, he was brought before the regents on the charge that he had "used unpleasant epithets . . . as to doctrines held by the 'Silver Free Coinage Party.' "3* He denied the charge, saying that he had merely presented both sides of the issue. Brackenridge vigorously defended the right of Houston, who later became president of the university and still later secretary of agriculture under Woodrow Wilson, to present both sides. To keep the record straight, however, it must be noted that Brackenridge, as usual, 32

Benedict, "Pereginusings," p. 317. Terrell, "Address," p. 104. 3 * University of Texas, Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. B, pp. 62-63, Office of the Secretary to the Board, Austin. 33

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stood in opposition to the majority of his fellow Texans and considered the silver dollar an "infamous fraud." 35 The regents let Houston off with a warning about using "epithets" in the classroom, but the case attracted attention in political circles. Houston's dissertation, a study of nullification in South Carolina, came under scrutiny, and eventually the state legislature launched an investigation, charging that the university faculty was circulating and teaching "political heresies" that were not "in sympathy with the traditions of the South." 36 As Bedichek heard the story, Brackenridge emerged as the hero of the legislative investigation. The charges were duly brought, the thesis was produced in evidence, and the incriminating passage was read. The unsoundness of the views expressed were soundly rated and things begun to look black for the young economist. It is said that when things quieted down a little Mr. Brackenridge mildly pointed out that the passage under consideration was not given as the professor's belief, but was, in fact, a quoted passage, duly enclosed between quotation marks, and upon further scrutiny a footnote disclosed that the author of this offensive passage was none other than the great Thomas Jefferson himself.37 As an outgrowth of the case, the legislature requested the regents in the future to choose for the faculty only those who were "known to be in sympathy with the Southern political institutions and to cancel contracts with those not in sympathy." The regents replied with a dignified statement, showing the imprint of Brackenridge's hand. No partisan or sectarian test was made in the selection of the faculty, they said. All other factors being equal, they gave preference to Texas men and then to Southern men. But the university was in the business of making students not politicians, of teaching methods of study rather than conclusions.38 Brackenridge defended not only academic freedom but the right of women to the same consideration as men at the university. In this re85

San Antonio Daily Light, 28 September 1886. Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. B, pp. 62-63, 163. 37 Bedichek, "Patron Saint," p. 485. 38 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. B, pp. 163-166. 36

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spect, more than in any other, he was possibly most farsighted. He maintained that every field of honorable employment open to men should be open to women on the same terms. As few women were qualified by training to hold professorships, he concentrated his efforts in the area of education, especially medical education. The medical branch of the university opened in Galveston in 1891 and, like the main university, was open to women. Still, there was considerable prejudice in Texas against women in the medical profession. Few women attempted to enter the medical school, and those who did often became discouraged. In response to Brackenridge's inquiries as to the paucity of women in the school, officials explained that there were no living quarters available to them. Brackenridge remedied this lack by giving $41,000 for the building of a women's residence, which was completed in 1898. This was his largest single monetary gift to the university and the one that yielded the fewest returns on his investment. The lower floor of the hall was designed as a dining hall for the medical student body, while the second and third floors contained twenty-nine rooms for women.39 Rent was from five to eight dollars a month and board only twelve, but in spite of these reasonably priced facilities, few women entered the medical school. In 1899 there were only seven, and by 1907 the number was *'still distressingly small" and most of the rooms vacant.40 As a result, the cost of maintaining the hall habitually exceeded the income. In 1907, for example, the cost was $2,160 and the revenue only $560. Until Brackenridge retired from the board in 1911, he annually made up the difference between the cost and income of the residence. In addition, he contributed money for repairs to the building after the Galveston storm of 1900 and from time to time gave money for other repairs or improvements.41 Brackenridge never gave up in his efforts to lure women into the medical profession. He set up generous scholarships for them, so that 39 Ibid., p. 210; and Harriet Brooke Smith, "University Hall, Galveston," University Record 6 (December 1898): 36-38. 40 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. C, p. 344. 41 Helen Hargrave, comp., List of Gifts, 1883-1932, to the University of Texas, pp. 20-21.

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virtually every woman who entered the medical school in the early twentieth century was his beneficiary. Believing in part correctly that the prejudice of male students and staff discouraged women medical students, he prevailed upon his niece, Roberta Brackenridge Peeler, to enter the school. Mrs. Peeler, a brilliant young woman who had already distinguished herself as a musician, had a husband and two children at the time, and she had no desire for a medical career. Nevertheless, she complied with Brackenridge's wish. "They won't dare be rude to my niece," he told her, "and you will blaze the trail for other women." Mrs. Peeler completed the training, not without a few memorable experiences, but when the time came for the final examination her husband's business called him to take up residence in Mexico. Torn between her desire to complete the training and her family responsibilities, Mrs. Peeler chose her family, thus making clear one of the major reasons why Brackenridge had so many vacancies in his hall for women medical students.42 In some instances Brackenridge's efforts met with better success, one of the most noteworthy of the success stories being that of Mary Cleveland Harper. Miss Harper, Brackenridge's secretary for several years early in the century, so impressed him with her abilities that he offered her a position as officer in his bank. She had little inclination for banking but after considering the matter somewhat hesitantly told him that she had always wanted to be a doctor. Would he be willing to substitute a scholarship in medical school for the banking position? He readily agreed, and Mary Harper, forty years old, entered medical school. For her, as for Roberta Brackenridge Peeler, the years of medical training were not easy ones. According to her family, she had a few gray hairs when she entered but was completely white-haired when she left. Nevertheless, Mary Harper finished her medical degree and went on to specialize in pediatrics in New York's Children's Hospital. She then returned to San Antonio to practice for thirty years.43 Brackenridge gave his best efforts to opening the medical profes42

Mrs. Johnowene B. Crutcher Menger, Mrs. Peeler's granddaughter, to M. M. S., interview, 20 July 1969. 43 Miss Carol King, Dr. Harper's niece, to M. M. S., interview, 20 July 1969.

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sion to women, but he also encouraged them in other professions. He was one of the prime movers in the founding of the school of domestic science at the university at Austin and contributed to the erection of the Woman's Building there. To further encourage women to enter the professions, he established the Brackenridge Loan Fund for Women in Architecture, Law, and Medicine.44 Brackenridge was able to impress his advanced ideas on the university largely because of his beneficences and his willingness to give money or aid quietly where it was most needed. Upon taking his seat on the board, the records pertaining to the university's land attracted his immediate attention. The university held title to more than two million acres, but there was much confusion about the land growing out of state action regarding it. The Republic of Texas allocated fifty leagues as an endowment of two universities or colleges, but nothing further was done in that regard until 1858 when the Texas legislature at the prodding of Governor Elisha M. Pease provided that, in addition to the fifty leagues, the institution would receive one section of land from every ten reserved to the state in grants made to railroads. The sectional crisis intervened before the school was founded, and in the course of the Civil War funds from the sale of its original grant were borrowed by the state for other purposes. The Agricultural and Mechanical College was founded in 1871 as a branch of the future university, but by 1876 when the Agricultural and Mechanical College opened, the university was still only a dream. The constitution of that year repealed the gift of railroad lands, giving as a substitute one million acres of land in the western part of the state.45 In 1883 the legislature added another million acres, but all the land was in the more arid frontier areas of the state. When Brackenridge took his seat on the Board of Regents, the university lands were under the control of the state land commissioner; they produced a mere pittance of income, and much confusion 44

Hargrave, comp., List of Gifts, p. 21. Lane, History of the University, pp. 75-78, 81; and W. J. Battle, "A Concise History of the University of Texas, 1883-1950," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 54 (April 1951): 39I-4II. 45

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prevailed about them. They had not been surveyed, so there was even some question as to exactly where they were. Moreover, leases had been made to ranchers on such general terms that a man leasing two sections might be grazing a hundred; and even that lease money often went uncollected. With the experienced eye of an old land speculator, Brackenridge turned his attention to the problem. Recognizing the potential value, he had made at his own expense an abstract showing the condition and past history of the endowment lands.46 He and other friends of the university then began agitating to have management of the lands transferred to the regents. Brackenridge expressed the belief that the university could realize $80,000 a year from the lands under proper management and offered at his own expense to employ a competent land man to locate the lands.47 Finally, in 1895 the legislature transferred management to the Board of Regents, who promptly dumped the problem on Brackenridge, the prime agitator for the transfer. Brackenridge rose to the occasion. He invited the board to go in a body to personally inspect the property, consult with ranchers in the vicinity about its character, and thus gain first-hand knowledge of its potential. "I propose to take you in my special car as my guests," he told his fellow regents. "I have no money to throw away, but I do not know where I could put it to better advantage."48 The board declined his invitation because of the press of other affairs, but it created a standing land committee with Brackenridge as chairman. Brackenridge immediately encountered obstacles. There were no satisfactory maps of the lands, and the governor vetoed an appropriation providing for a permanent land agent. These things he reported to the board at its next meeting, whereupon one discouraged regent suggested they hand the land back to the land commissioners. Brackenridge would have none of that. He again invited the regents to go on an inspection tour of the lands, which they again declined. He then hired a land agent at his own expense, grumbling that 46 47 48

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the "politicians had kept the control of the lands" while cattle were high and now that prices had dropped, they gave it to the regents. The regents placed the matter entirely in his hands, giving him full authority to make leases at his discretion and "employ such agencies'' as he deemed necessary. Until he resigned in 1911, he retained that responsibility and remained chairman of the land committee. The first vote of thanks Brackenridge received from the regents was for his preparation of the abstract of university lands, and his actions in that regard are possibly the most far-reaching of his contributions to the university. A few years after his death, oil was discovered on the lands, and the struggling university was transformed into a major institution.49 He also served long and faithfully on the finance committee of the board, but during his lifetime it was neither that service nor his land stewardship that won his reputation as a benefactor of the university. Rather it was his gift of the men's dining hall and residence popularly known as B Hall. Early in 1890 he gave $10,000 toward the building of the hall, and later he contributed about $8,000 more. He stipulated at first that the gift be anonymous, but before the building opened, he agreed for his name to be known in the hope that the act would inspire other donors. As this was the first major gift to the university from an individual, it was widely heralded and, as he had hoped, called attention to the need.50 The name of the residence was always somewhat in doubt. At first called Brackenridge Club House, it was at Brackenridge's request officially named University Hall, but the young men who lived there insisted on naming it Brackenridge Hall and customarily called it B Hall. Under the latter name it became an institution in its own right on the campus, so much so that eventually letters addressed simply to B Hall, Texas, were known to reach their destination. Like Brackenridge's other gifts, B Hall was given in response to *9 Ibid., pp. 43, 5i, 54, 64. 50 Ibid., vol. A, p. 244; Lane, History of the Universityr, pp. 284-286, 296; and Hargrave, comp., List of Gifts, p. 20.

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an obvious need. By law, money from general revenues could not be used for construction of university buildings. As a result, the institution was chronically short of building funds during its early years, and the students depended entirely on off-campus housing facilities. Brackenridge gave the hall to answer the need for low-priced facilities for boys of limited means, and thus, to an extent, silence the perennial complaint of the taxpayers that the institution was for "rich men's sons." The hall when completed stood four stories high, with a dining room on the lower floor and accommodations for forty-eight students on the upper floors. Meals were served at actual cost; rent was at first five dollars per month; and the residents furnished their own bedsy chairs, desks, and other furniture. B Hall was considered one of the most comfortable college dormitories in the Southwest when it opened, and it was an immediate success, so successful that in 1900 two wings were added, giving accommodation for an additional fifty-two boys. It was after the enlargement was made that B Hall became either a "citadel of Democracy," "the outpost of pioneer youth," or "one of the continually acute problems of the University," depending on who was telling the story.51 In its early years about half of the out-of-town men students resided in the hall and about 80 percent took their meals there. As the university grew and other dormitories were built, B Hall continued to be the largest single residence and "the B Hall gang" came to dominate the campus. The hall was reserved for upperclassmen, usually of the high-aptitude, self-supporting variety ("the rugged sons of pioneers with the fine sturdy qualities of the individual inbred in their very souls," in the words of one ardent B Haller).52 It became the stronghold of nonfraternity men, yet, recalled Carlisle G. Raht, writer, historian, and one of the individuals 51

For opposing viewpoints, see Nugent E. Brown, B Hall, Texas, pp. 1-5; W . M. W . Splawn, "History of the University of Texas to 1928," I, 90-124, University of Texas Archives, Austin; and Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D, pp. 164165, 278, 314. See also, Walter Long, "B Hall of Texas," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 62 (April 1959): 418-441. 52 Brown, B Hall, p. 2.

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who once lived there, it was "more binding and more distinctive'' than most college fraternities.53 In its thirty-six years as a dormitory, B Hall housed an estimated five thousand men, among them many who later made their mark on the world. For example, there were Tom Connally, Morris Shepherd, and Ralph Yarborough, who became United States senators; Roy Bedichek, who became one of the big three in contemporary Texas letters; Percy Foreman, who gained renown as a criminal lawyer; and others such as Chris Emmett, Lynn Landrum, M. E. Foster, and Spurgeon Bell whose names became familiar to their fellow Texans.5* But the place of B Hall at the university is best indicated by the fact that Harry Yandell Benedict, long-time dean and later president of the institution, was its first resident, and John Lang Sinclair wrote 'The Eyes of Texas" while living there. The hall eventually flew its own flag—a pirate red flag with B Hall emblazoned in black, which came into being when B Hallers spearheaded a famous anti-Ferguson parade down Congress Avenue in 1917. "The laws of Texas stop at the doors of B Hall," commented Farmer Jim Ferguson, for once making an observation on which he and the university administration could agree.55 The Ferguson fight was in fact one of the few times that B Hall and the administration found themselves in complete accord. About the time the two wings were added, B Hallers began clamouring for self-government and the right of electing a committee to operate the hall and dining room. The regents granted the request after residents pledged themselves not to play cards or use intoxicating drinks in the hall, and after recommending further that uniform furniture replace the miscellaneous collection that had accumulated over the years.56 The hall thus entered what its proponents called its "golden age," but what a series of administrators considered an unfortunate experiment in student self-government. President Mezes complained in 63

Carlisle Graham Raht, Reveries of a Fiddlefoot, p. 11. * For a list of the residents, see Brown, B Hall, appendix. 55 Ibid., p. 211. 66 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. B, p. 314. e

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1911 that the arrangement fostered a "spirit of irresponsibility" at the hall, and President Vinson in 1920 recommended that the hall be converted into an office building. The recommendation brought B Hallers, past and contemporary, to arms. They appealed to Brackenridge, whom, strangely, they considered their defense against the administration as the administration considered him its defense against capitol hill. Brackenridge spoke the magic words that saved the building as a residential hall at that time.57 But six years later, Brackenridge was dead and a freshman raid on the hall made front-page news all over Texas. Nothing could save it then. President W. M. W. Splawn succeeded in turning it into an office building. The deed, said one bitter B Haller, was accomplished by "jealous hearted faculty members and leaders of solidified groups who felt democratic institutions inimical to their progress"58 (that is, the Establishment, in the words of the B Haller's grandsons). The hall was finally demolished in 1952 after serving in various capacities as an office building. Walter Long and Charlton Hall salvaged the brick and a few mementos from the old building, including the door of the room where "The Eyes of Texas" was written.59 Most of Brackenridge's other gifts attracted far less attention than B Hall, but nevertheless they filled a specific need. For example, he gave a collection of rare Texas history books, valued at five hundred dollars, that formed the nucleus of the university's Texana collection; a collection of flint implements and fossils to the school of geology; a collection of Texas mollusca to the biology department, and a telescope for the study of astronomy.60 In addition, he quietly assisted hundreds of students through loans. Believing that outright gifts to students for educational purposes tended to weaken their characters and lessen their self-respect, he ex57

Brown, B Hall, p. 8. 58 Ibid., p. 2. 59 Long, "B Hall of Texas," pp. 437-438. ^Hargrave, comp., List of Gifts, pp. 20-21. This list does not agree in all respects with the gifts noted in the minutes of the Board of Regents. As Brackenridge never kept records of his philanthropies, it is hard to be precise about his contributions.

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tended generous loans, requiring only that the students sign a statement reading "I agree to repay when circumstances permit." 61 It was a credit to the recipients that "circumstances" permitted all but a handful to repay the loans. The story was still current among those handling Brackenridge's estate in 1970, however, of the student who went through medical school on a Brackenridge loan, but who after he began his practice blandly refused to repay and pointed out with glee that the agreement he signed was not legally enforceable. As the range of Brackenridge's gifts suggests, no aspect of the university was too trivial to command his attention. At the same time, he dreamed big dreams for it, both on the intellectual and physical levels. How well it has fulfilled his dreams in an intellectual way is yet to be assessed, but his dream in the physical realm inspired his grandest gift and produced a strange harvest—but not the one he anticipated. Believing that the original forty-acre campus was too small for the university he envisioned, he gave a tract of almost five hundred acres on the Colorado River to the regents in 1910, proposing that the campus be moved there. After his death this proposal led to one of the biggest fights in the university's history—and before his death it acted as a leverage to bring another fortune to the university. Q1

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San Antonio Express, 29 December 1921.

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DREAM for the University of Texas grew out of the need for a larger campus, a need that became obvious early in the twentieth century. The original forty acres had seemed sufficient in 1886 when he first became regent and the student body numbered less than three hundred. But as the enrollment jumped over one thousand and pushed for the two thousand mark after the turn of the century, the regents began considering the problem of expansion.1 Residential property surrounded the university by that time, hemming it in on all sides, so it was clear that enlargement would be an expensive process. It was just as clear that unless more space could be acquired, the growth of the institution would be limited. As the enrollment increased and as Brackenridge considered the 1 University of Texas, Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D , pp. 34, 498, 514, Office of the Secretary to the Board, Austin; and Alcalde 1 (April 1913) : 92.

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problem, he hit upon what seemed to him a logical solution. Some years previously he had acquired between four and five hundred acres of land on both sides of the Colorado River near Austin. At the time, projected railroad development in the vicinity and a dam on the river nearby seemed to foretell commercial development of the general area. But the dam had broken in 1900, doing considerable damage, blighting further commercial plans, and leaving Brackenridge with a tract of land for which he had no use.2 As he considered the problem of the university confined to its small plot of ground and his possession of the superfluous river tract, the obvious solution occurred to him. Why not move the university to the river? The wooded tract with its bluffs overlooking the Colorado recalled to him his happy days as surveyor in Jackson County when he had wandered through the woods, book in hand, and stopped to ponder philosophy in the shade of a tree. In his mind's eye he could see generations of young people strolling along the river, contemplating the beauties of nature while they absorbed the wisdom of the ages. As the idea grew in his mind, his acreage became too small. The area was virtually undeveloped at the time, and adjoining tracts could be acquired for reasonable sums. If he added a few hundred acres and other landowners could be persuaded to make contributions, the university would have a park-like setting large enough to answer its needs for all time to come. Brackenridge pored over the maps, and the plan for a big campus took more definite shape in his mind. Between his tract and the university lay the estate and antebellum mansion of his old friend Elisha M. Pease. The three heirs of the late governor—his daughter Julia and the two children of his deceased daughter—then owned the property. With their cooperation the campus could become a memorial to the man who as governor had given life to the idea of the university in 1858 and who, because of his Unionists sympathies, had been denied the honor of serving on the first Board of Regents. Brackenridge set a draftsman to work on a plan that incorporated 2 George W. Brackenridge to Robert J. Brackenridge, 27 March 1906, LaPrelleBrackenridge Papers, Austin-Travis County Collection, Public Library, Austin, Texas.

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the old campus with the proposed one and made the Pease mansion the focal point of the whole. When completed, the blueprint showed a broad boulevard leading from the original forty acres to the mansion at the entrance of a new campus of some fifteen hundred acres. As Brackenridge envisioned it, the move would be a gradual one, new buildings being added on the river tract as the student body increased and as old buildings became obsolete. In October 1909, after the blueprint was drawn, Brackenridge invited Julia Pease and her nephew, R. Niles Graham, to San Antonio, sending his private railroad car for them. The Pease heirs had noinkling of his intentions, but they sensed that something special was afoot, and Graham in his old age still remembered the excitement of the occasion. Brackenridge's coachman met them at the depot and drove them to the impressive mansion that was Brackenridge's last home. There Brackenridge and Eleanor greeted them and entertained them at a formal dinner at which there were no other guests. Then Brackenridge seated them at a broad-topped table and spread his blueprints. "Even after nearly half a century I marvel at the vision he unfolded before us," Graham recalled when he told the story. "The blueprints he exhibited to us revealed the most wonderful vision of what the University campus could be." Brackenridge explained that he intended to give his river tract and possibly acquire adjoining acreage to add to it. In addition, he intended to leave the bulk of his fortune for the development of the university. Then he pointed out the strategic importance of the Pease property. Would they, he asked, consider giving their mansion and five hundred acres to link the proposed campus with the original one? Graham and his aunt were impressed by the plan and moved by Brackenridge's enthusiasm, but they did not feel they could afford such philanthropy. Graham was contemplating marriage and his sister, the other heir, was engaged to be married. They were not in position to give away their ancestral home and inheritance. When Brackenridge saw their position, he offered to buy their property and give it as a memorial to Elisha M. Pease. He intended his proposal as his clincher in the matter, but he had misjudged them.

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His offer had the opposite effect of what he intended. "That blew it/' recalled Graham in telling the story, "because we were not the kind of people who would sell the land and have Colonel Brackenridge give it as a memorial."3 The refusal of the Pease heirs either to give or sell their property disappointed Brackenridge, without changing his plans. At the December 1909 meeting of the Board of Regents, he offered his river tract as the new campus. He was willing to give the land, he told his fellow regents, but he was not willing for it to be used except as a campus.4 The regents received the proposal favorably, and the following June, Brackenridge had his attorney, Leroy Denman, draw the deed, a curious instrument that told much about the man. Brackenridge intended that his land be used as the university campus, but at the same time he did not believe that a dead hand should forever control the future. Thus, he gave the tract with the stipulation that the university could not dispose of it or use it for other than educational purposes during the lifetimes of six children: Katherine Ramsay, Elizabeth Harcourt, Alexander Erskine, John Adams Brackenridge, Roy James B. Roberts, and Isabella Eleanor Roberts. The children, the offspring of his kinsmen or associates, ranged in age from one to nine years, and he chose them with an eye to the longevity of their forebears and thus their expectations of living to ripe old ages.5 In that way he made sure that his big campus idea would receive due consideration without binding the land in perpetuity. Brackenridge looked to the future in making the deed, but he also gave a backward glance at the past. If the university did not use the land in accordance with the deed restrictions, he provided that it would revert to the school children of Jackson County. It was in writing the reversionary clause of the deed that Leroy Denman was overcome by curiosity. "Are the reasons for this unusual provision secret?" 3

This account is based on Walter Long, For All Time to Come, pp. 21-24. Long tape-recorded Graham's recollections of the occasion. A drawing of Brackenridge's big campus as he explained it to Graham appears in the book. 4 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D, p. 2. 5 Travis County, Deed Records, vol. 244, pp. 77-78, Austin, Texas; and Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D, p. 76.

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he inquired upon handing the document to Brackenridge. "No," replied Brackenridge. He then leaned back in his chair and told Denman how he had escaped the hangman's noose in Jackson County during the Civil War and how he had left the county on a good dark horse.6 Not without reason did Brackenridge think back to the Civil War in the summer of 1910, for his last engagement in that gone but not forgotten war was just beginning. By a quirk of circumstances, it was tied in with his big campus plan. Indeed, the past would be instrumental in spoiling his grandest vision for the university, but at the same time it would bring about indirectly his greatest dollar benevolence to the institution. In the same month that Brackenridge drew the deed giving his river tract to the university the Sidney Johnson Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy offered to the regents a prize of twenty-five dollars, the prize to be given annually to the university student writing the best paper on a subject in the field of Southern history. The hungry university customarily welcomed any and all donations, and, as a matter of course, Regent Greenwood made a motion that Regent Henry seconded to accept the offer. When the matter was put to a routine vote, Brackenridge, usually the most eager for donations, startled his colleagues. He voted a firm "No." Then he explained that he so voted because he preferred that the university not encourage "the keeping alive and discussion of Civil War subjects."7 The motion carried over Brackenridge's negative vote, but it had far-reaching and unexpected consequences. It is not too much to say that by this lost vote on a trifling matter Brackenridge inspired the giving of another fortune to the university and destroyed at the same time his plan for the big campus. His "no" together with its accompanying explanation resounded through the city of Austin, bounced off the surrounding hills, and reached the ears of George Washington Littlefield, where it was transformed into a clear call to battle. Indeed, Brackenridge's "no" rolled 6 7

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Senator Ralph Yarborough to M.M.S., 21 February 1969. Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D, p. 65.

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back the years more than half a century, and for Littlefield it was Fort Sumter again. Much had happened to Littlefield since he came home on crutches from the Confederate army. He had made a fortune trailing cattle to Kansas in the i87o's, invested wisely in lands, and opened a bank in Austin in 1890. A man with no taste for losing propositions, he made certain that the Confederate States of America was his only Lost Cause. In 1910 he ranked as one of the wealthiest men in Texas. A red-turreted mansion on the edge of the University of Texas campus bore witness to his position in Austin; and the Littlefield Building, then under construction, suggested the extent of his cattle, land, and banking empire. A man of action, Littlefield belonged to that class of men "who carve empires out of the wilderness, who make the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose, who push against the horizon/' said Robert E. Vinson, the Presbyterian minister whom Littlefield made university president; he was "the bull-tongued banker in a one-horse town," said Will Hogg, who sat with him on the Board of Regents of the university; he was the staunchest friend and "the most vicious opponent a man could have," said Farmer Jim Ferguson who knew him in both roles. Above all, said his biographer, J. Evetts Haley, "he was an unreconstructed rebel who never forgot that his deepest love was for the South."8 A practical man, Littlefield had indulged in no sentimental nostalgia or futile lament for the Confederacy during his fortune-making days. But the letters C. S. A. were emblazoned on his heart no less indelibly than the letters LFD were branded on the hides of his thousands of cattle. A busy man, he always had time for his old comrades in defeat; and, a close man with the dollar, he nevertheless was an easy touch, some said a sucker, for any veteran of the gray who approached him with a mournful tale.9 The old brand on Littlefield's heart began hurting anew and more 8 Robert E. Vinson, "The University Crosses the Bar," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 43 (January 1940): 284; John A. Lomax, Will Hogg, Texan, p. 47; and J. Evetts Haley, George W. Littlefield, Texan, pp. 3, 222. 9 Haley, George W. Littlefield, p. 257.

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acutely early in the twentieth century as the ranks of his comrades thinned and his Lost Cause receded into the past. Having arrived at the top, Littlefield had more time for reminiscences and fewer old gray soldiers with whom to share them. Moreover, as his war became more and more a matter of written record, he and his friends became increasingly dissatisfied with the history books. The Damn Yankees had not only won The War, but, it was becoming apparent, they also intended to write the history. As the rear guard of the Confederacy gathered annually in Austin to relive the past and take note of its fastdepleting ranks, complaints about textbooks became chronic. Particularly distasteful were books accepting Justice Chase's theory about the Union: that the founding fathers had established an indissoluble Union rather than, as the Confederates believed, a union of sovereign states. Resolutions against erring publishers became a regular feature of veterans' reunions in the first decade of the twentieth century.10 Thus, the writing of history was fresh on Littlefield's mind when Brackenridge voted against accepting the Daughters' prize money for the best paper on a Southern subject. The deed turned the full focus of Littlefield's attention on the University of Texas. Although his home overlooked the campus and he skirted it every day in going to and from his bank, he had until then taken only passing notice of it. When he did turn his attention to it, he was appalled by what he found. An institution that had begun its existence with a faculty of impeccable Confederate credentials had reached the point that a regent could ask what-the-hell difference it made if a candidate for the faculty was the son of a Confederate general! Not only that, but the same regent proposed moving that university to a new campus and dared suggest making that campus a memorial to a Reconstruction governor who had not even been fit to serve as regent of it. Obviously, while Littlefield and his comrades were passing resolutions to publishers, the enemy had infiltrated the university and was about to steal it, ideologically and literally, from under his very nose. Until then Littlefield had paid even less attention to Brackenridge than to the university. As a Texan turned United States treasury agent 10 Ibid., p. 258.

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in 1863, Brackenridge had placed himself socially outside the pale insofar as Littlefield was concerned; and, perhaps strangely, their business affairs had not brought them in contact. Brackenridge's financial interests linked him to Wall Street in the east while Littlefield's lay in lands and cattle in the Texas panhandle and New Mexico; and although both had once simultaneously operated banks in Austin, Brackenridge's struggling First National had posed no real competition to Littlefield's thriving American National. Besides, Brackenridge's Austin bank was operated by the Confederate branch of the family. Littlefield and Brackenridge in fact had little in common except that both were namesakes of the first president of the United States. "Both were strong men, self-reliant, capable. Both grew up with the State of Texas, had far-sighted vision of and confidence in its progress and profited, materially, to an unusual degree from their shrewd judgments of its values," observed President Vinson who, with a masterful hand, used both for the benefit of the university.11 Both were childless, and by the first decade of the twentieth century both were keenly aware of the fact that their time for making their mark on the world was drawing to a close. Otherwise, they were "exact opposites," said Vinson. "One was primarily a man of thought, the other a man of action. One always wanted to know the explanation and meaning of things, the other the best method to do things." 12 On issues they instinctively took opposing sides. Brackenridge was a staunch prohibitionist, who appreciated good whisky; Littlefield, a rabid antiprohibitionist, who rarely drank more than eggnog. Brackenridge actively supported the woman's rights movement, while Littlefield just as actively opposed it; Brackenridge was for the direct election of senators, Littlefield, against. And so it went on all the issues that divided the voters in the early twentieth century. But the basic difference between the two lay in the past. "There was between them a personal antagonism which I can only explain by saying that it had its roots in the Civil War and the period of re11 12

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Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," p. 283. Ibid., pp. 283-284.

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construction that followed/' said Vinson. "Each of them seemed to regard the other as the representative, if not the embodiment of the principles which had once driven the nation asunder. Any yielding of one to the other would have been regarded by both as a surrender of the principles for which they had stood and fought."13 Vinson concluded that "their dislike for each other was profound/' and insofar as Littlefield was concerned, this was correct. Littlefield granted no quarter when he opened fire in his last engagement of the Civil War. Brackenridge, he told his nephew, had made his fortune by taking cotton that belonged to Confederate widows, orphans, and disabled veterans; Brackenridge had taken the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy and then deserted to the Federals; if the Confederates had caught him, they would have hanged him in five minutes.14 Such a man was beneath Littlefield's contempt. Certainly, he should not be allowed to make off with a university belonging to a former Confederate state. It so happened that Brackenridge's fateful vote came when the state was in the throes of a heated political campaign in which the issues were those on which he and Littlefield disagreed. The main issue was prohibition, but closely allied with the prohibition forces were those for woman's rights and other progressive goals of the era. Broadly speaking the antiprohibitionists were also antiprogressives and, in the early decades of the twentieth century, tinged with antiintellectualism. Oscar Branch Colquitt, a man with "the color that got a crowd/' carried the banner for the conservative, wet faction in 1910.15 Educators in general opposed him, and although he paid lip service to the cause of education during the campaign, he undoubtedly expressed his own true sentiments and those of many of his followers in a later pronouncement: "The schools and colleges are filling the heads of the young people with the idea that they must depend on the State for everything—that because the State gives them an education it should ** Ibid., p. 283. 14 Basil Young Neal, "George W. Brackenridge: Citizen and Philanthropist" (Master's Thesis, University of Texas, 1939), p. 12. 15 Dallas Morning News, 11 March 1940.

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likewise provide them with a job—they are being crammed with ideas of socialism and ideas of luxurious living—at the expense of others/'16 Colquitt, with the backing of Littlefield, John H. Kirby, and William P. Hobby, won the election in 1910 and promptly adopted a straightforward Jacksonian policy in regard to spoils. He requested that his appointees make "a clean sweep'' of those who had opposed his election.17 The University of Texas regents to a man fell in that group. At that time they were appointed for terms of only two years, so it became apparent by fall that there would be sweeping changes. In anticipation of these, the regents hastened the dedication of the new library building that had occupied much of their attention during the year, so their names and that of retiring Governor Campbell, Colquitt's archrival, could be inscribed on the cornerstone. If the incoming governor wanted a building with his name on it, observed retiring board chairman Thomas S. Henderson, "he could build one for himself."18 Colquitt's broom fell on the governing board of the Agricultural and Mechanical College as well as that of the university, and for once the two boards found themselves making common cause. They met jointly in December to call attention to the detrimental effect of such abrupt changes on their institutions. Some continuity was desirable on the boards; board membership should not be a means of paying political debts. The two boards recommended longer terms of office for appointees and staggered terms so that never again could a governor make such drastic changes. A constitutional amendment to that effect was added before Colquitt went out of office. He pointed to it proudly when he summed up the accomplishments of his administration—and indeed, he did inspire it.19 Of the old members on the Board of Regents, Colquitt reappointed 16

George Portal Huckaby, "Oscar Branch Colquitt: A Political Biography" (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Texas, 1946), p. 453. 17 Ibid., p. 249. 18 Charles K. Chamberlain, "Alexander Watkins Terrell: Citizen, Statesman" (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Texas, 1956), p. 549. 19 Huckaby, "Oscar Branch Colquitt," p. 345.

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only Brackenridge, and he did that reluctantly, explaining privately that he did not want to make the reappointment but that "the University bunch'' wanted Brackenridge very much.20 The "bunch'' had already arranged for the celebration in January of Brackenridge's twenty-fifth anniversary on the board, and the alumni had asked him for a portrait, which was already painted. Even as Colquitt's broom was making its "clean sweep," Brackenridge had presented his river tract to the university, and it was rumored that he planned to leave his fortune of about $5 million to the university and that his health was breaking. The politician who removed him could well offend not only the "University bunch" but a host of other Texas voters, and Colquitt did not feel like taking the chance. But at least one Texan, not included in the "University bunch" at that time, felt that Colquitt's sweep had not been clean enough. Colquitt appointed George W. Littlefield as one of the new members on the Board of Regents, but the old Confederate at first declined the appointment. He could not, he informed the governor, serve on the same board with Brackenridge. Colquitt reasoned with him, pointing out his potential service in regard to the land endowment (Brackenridge's particular preserve until then), and possibly suggesting that Brackenridge intended to resign after the silver anniversary celebration in January. Littlefield reconsidered and accepted the appointment, but there would be several turns of the wheel and another war before the two relicts of i860 worked together on the Board of Regents.21 Brackenridge, in fact, had begun considering retirement from the board when Colquitt's policies became apparent. He was feeling his years, and the overhaul of the board removed men with whom he had worked in harmony and friendship for many years. For more than a decade he and Thomas S. Henderson had shared responsibilities for university policy, and in 1908 his old friend from antebellum days, Alexander W. Terrell, had accepted appointment as regent. Brackenridge delighted in Terrell's keen mind, and the two had taken particular interest in building the new library for the university. Terrell smarted at the rebuff of not being reappointed to the board, 20 21

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and no doubt this influenced Brackenridge. "What do you say to our resigning together?" Brackenridge asked him as Colquitt's intentions became clear; and after his own reappointment he wrote of his desire to retire. "I do wish I could have seen my way clear to decline reappointment."22 But the celebration of the anniversary was planned, and Brackenridge looked forward to the completion of his quarter century as regent and to the only public honor the university had accorded him. To his credit and that of the retiring members, they extended a gracious welcome to their successors. Before the last meeting of the old board, Brackenridge invited both new and old board members to be his guests at dinner, and the old board invited the new to attend its last meeting.23 On the big day of the anniversary, Brackenridge saw his portrait "ushered in with a most impressive ceremony" in the presence of the student body and the entire faculty, and heard Terrell review his life and laud him for his benevolences to the university.24 Brackenridge later thanked Terrell for a kind appraisal of a "rather uneventful life," and news accounts gave only glowing reports of the occasion.25 Yet sometime either in his encounter with the new board or at the anniversary affair Brackenridge made his decision to resign. He never met with the new board. When it convened for the first time, he was elected vice-president although he was absent, and by the next meeting he had resigned.26 He gave as his official reason his failing health and advancing years, but he confessed privately to "a desire to be relieved from the difficulties" that might be experienced with a new board who might not agree with the policy of the old regents. "For years I fought to get religion and politics out of the Board," he wrote Terrell, "and while 22

George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 28 October and 29 November 1910, Alexander W. Terrell Papers, University of Texas Archives, Austin. 23 George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 7 January 1911, ibid.; and Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D, p. 81. ^ San Antonio Express, 16 January 1911. 25 George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 20 January 1911, Terrell Papers. 26 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D, pp. 97, 98.

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I do not know that either will be the policy of the present Board, yet from the affiliations and political views of the members and also recommendations looking to changes of our employees, I am led to feel at least that I might have all the old trouble over again."27 Brackenridge's resignation brought a flurry of excitement. The rumor spread that he had rescinded an endowment of $5 million to the university; Terrell attributed the resignation to Colquitt's efforts to make places for his political adherents;28 a press account said Brackenridge did not want to serve on the same board with Littlefield. The $5 million was only a figment of the university crowd's imagination, and Brackenridge denied that he felt animosity toward Littlefield. Indeed, Littlefield's dislike for him may have been as "profound" as Vinson believed, but Brackenridge in private as well as in public took a magnanimous attitude. "I somewhat regret the appearance of an article in the Austin Tribune', which states that perhaps my resignation was caused, or I was influenced by a disinclination to associate with Mr. Littlefield and that our relations were not entirely harmonious," he wrote Terrell shortly after resigning. "Those things were not warranted by facts. Mr. Littlefield and I have never been intimately associated either socially or in a business way, but I have no prejudice against him—on the other hand, admire him for his ability which is illustrated by his greatfinancialsuccess."29 And later he expressed satisfaction with Littlefield's initial performance on the board. "I am glad to know that Mr. Littlefield does not belong altogether to any one but is showing some independence. He is a strong, if somewhat rough, character,—not unlike myself, I take it, as far as the roughness is concerned."30 Brackenridge's charitable attitude is all the more remarkable in view of the petty actions of the new board toward him. Control of his river tract was given promptly to Littlefield, a strong opponent of moving the campus; the control of the university fellows fund was 27

George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 27 February 1911, Terrell Papers. 28 Undated memorandum, ibid. 29 George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 4 March 1911, ibid. 30 George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 7 June 1911, ibid.

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transferred from Brackenridge* s San Antonio Loan and Trust Company to Littlefield's American National Bank; Elson's History of the United States, one of the texts Southerners found objectionable, was abandoned by order of the regents; and finally B Hall came in for considerable board attention as "one of the continually acute problems' ' of the university.31 Because of his past gifts and the prospect of future ones, the new regents could not altogether ignore Brackenridge, and from time to time they made some gesture toward him. For example, they invited him to Austin to inspect with them the river tract he had given— possibly, in hopes of persuading him to change his restrictions. He declined the invitation and rather loftily ignored their other actions.32 Then in 1913 he made his beau geste. He gave $25,000 to the university for the establishment of the Brackenridge Loan Fund for Women Students in Architecture, Law, and Medicine.33 The gift was in keeping with his long-standing policy of generosity toward the university, but considering the circumstances of his resignation from the board and the new board's inclination to spitefulness, it was also evidence of largeness of spirit. And it made a point. For all of Littlefield's bluster about not sitting on the board with a Damn Scalawag, not moving the university campus, and not teaching Justice Chase's theory of the Union, he had contributed thus far (except for a portrait of Robert E. Lee) nothing more substantial than wind to the cause. By contrast, Brackenridge over a period of some twenty-five years had made contributions that ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he had done so quietly, asking for no glory and receiving the minimum. Possibly Littlefield had not even realized the extent of these contributions until he sat on the Board of Regents. Major Littlefield had the grace to be embarrassed. He had not arrived at his high estate by displaying lack of respect for the dollar sign. His philanthropies had been confined to his kinsmen and a few 31 32 33

Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D, pp. 97, 117, 151, 164-165. Ibid., p. 151. Helen Hargrave, comp., List of Gifts, 1883-1932, to the University of Texas, p.

21.

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handouts to Confederate veterans, and the giving away of large sums of money went against his instincts. But in his book a man who footed the bill was entitled to boss the job, and his duty was clear. He must either put his money where his mouth was or abandon the field to a man who would. Priming himself by giving one hundred iron benches for distribution about the campus, he took the big leap. He matched the Brackenridge Loan Fund for Women by giving $25,000 for his pet cause, the collection of Southern history.34 Once the first step was taken, he found philanthropy an exhilarating experience. Before his death six years later he had written a check for $500,000 to buy the John Henry Wrenn Library for the university, contributed $5,000 for the ceiling of the room to house that library, and given more than $30,000 for the purchase of source material in Southern history.35 And all the while he was writing a will with one eye on Brackenridge's big campus dream. University tradition says that Brackenridge and Littlefield tried to outdo one another in giving to the university. There can be no doubt that Brackenridge's benevolences inspired Littlefield's, but the facts do not support the thesis that Brackenridge played the game. Rather the opposite seems true; his gifts ceased when Littlefield's began. He gave only one gift after Littlefield established his fund for Southern history, and that, curiously, was $8,000 toward the printing of a catalog of Littlefield's grand gift, the Wrenn Library.36 The act can only be construed as evidence of Christian spirit in a man who had trouble adjusting himself to orthodox Christianity. The university crowd did indeed try to make Brackenridge play the game of Keep-Up-With-Littlefield. For example, after Littlefield bought the Wrenn Library, President Vinson heard that one of comparable status, the Garcia Library of Latin American history, was for sale.37 He went post haste to San Antonio to inform Brackenridge of this and suggest broadly that Brackenridge counter the Littlefield 34 Ibid., p. 28. Ibid.; and Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," pp. 290-291. But only $225,000 of the half million was needed to purchase the library. 36 Hargrave, comp., List of Gifts, pp. 20-21. 37 San Antonio Express, 26 December 1921. 35

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gift. Brackenridge ignored the bait, and when John Lomax, public relations man for the university, spread it again somewhat later by describing the Wrenn Library in glowing terms, he passed off the discussion with a snort: "Littlefield is just apologizing to the University people for his behavior toward the institution during the Ferguson days."38 Brackenridge in fact retired to the sidelines to watch as Littlefield dispensed his fortune to the university, and the evidence is that he appreciated the spectacle as much as any other member of the university crowd. He had guided his life by the principle that the end justified the means, and to this he remained true. He was willing to be the stalking horse if that would bring more money to the cause, but he felt no need to prove himself. Moreover, his affairs had suffered setbacks in his late years, and his fortune was by no means as boundless as those who had enjoyed his largess believed. Had he so desired, he was hardly in position to match dollars with the fresh Littlefield fortune. 38

John Lomax, "Governor Ferguson and the University of Texas," Southwest Review 27 (Autumn 1942): 28.

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in fact entered i the picture at the University of Texas when Brackenridge was eager to lay down his burdens. He was ten years Littlefield's senior and from early in the new century he had talked of putting his business affairs in order so he could spend his remaining years with his books, fishing trips, travels, and meditations. Brackenridge believed that a man should retire at age seventy and upon reaching that mark in 1902 he determined not only to sell the waterworks but to relieve himself of some of his responsibilities at the bank. "My increasing age admonishes me of the necessity of getting new blood into the bank before it is too late and selecting some young, active business man to connect with our directors and staff of employees/' he informed the stockholders of the San Antonio National. He assured them that he had no intention of retiring from the active management of the business, but rather that he "would like very ITTLEFIELD

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much to secure support from younger and more active business associates."1 Shortly thereafter, Brackenridge made Leroy Gilbert Denman a director of the bank, transferring to him ten shares of stock and by implication choosing him as his business heir.2 Denman, forty-eight years old at the time, already had a distinguished career in law behind him. A native of Guadalupe County, he had received his law degree from the University of Virginia. After practicing law in New Braunfels and San Antonio, he was appointed associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court by Governor James S. Hogg in 1894. He was reelected to that position, remaining on the bench until 1899 ,when he resigned to practice law in San Antonio in partnership with Thomas H. Franklin and Floyd McGown.3 Denman became Brackenridge's lawyer and upon the completion of the San Antonio Loan and Trust Company building adjoining the bank, the law firm leased the second floor. During the next few years Brackenridge continued to talk of broadening the basis of the stockholders, of selling his interest to a young aggressive man, or of consolidating the San Antonio National with another bank.4 But the habits of a lifetime were too strong. He was in robust health for a man his age, and he had held absolute control of his domain too long to relinquish it easily. Even as he talked of retiring, he expanded his holdings in some areas. For example, he purchased property adjoining the bank in 1901 and erected the San Antonio Loan and Trust Company building, giving attention to the minute details of its construction and calling the contractor to task when he failed to meet specifications.5 Four years later he bought another adjoining lot where Ernest Dorsch operated his famous bar. Brackenridge was on splendid terms with Dorsch, but as he explained to his directors, the bar was not an appropriate neighbor for a bank and it did attract mosquitoes.6 l-San Antonio National Bank, Minutes, vol. I, p. 295, Archives, First National Bank of San Antonio, Texas. 2 Ibid., p. 299. 3 Walter P. Webb, ed., The Handbook of Texas, I, 490-491. 4 San Antonio National Bank, Minutes, vol. I, pp. 295, 368, 478. 5 Ibid., pp. 230, 246, 256. 6 Ibid., p. 381.

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In the same years he continued to extend loans to the owner of the San Antonio Express, loans that eventually gave him a controlling interest in the publishing company. In his late years he also became one of the founders and charter members of the San Antonio Country Club and planned and built the last and most pretentious of his homes.7 After selling Head-of-the-River, Brackenridge had taken bachelor quarters in the bank building, while Eleanor made her residence in a simple home on Burr Road. There are hints that the separate residences indicate a brotherly-sisterly rift,8 but, if so, it was mended within a few years. Upon the completion of the San Antonio Loan and Trust Company building in 1903, the two again made their home together. They occupied the upper threefloorsof the new building, using one for their quarters, one for servants quarters, and the other for a grand ballroom. Although they resided there only a few years, citizens and employees alike recalled those years vividly. Brackenridge had steps built from the third floor of the Trust Building to the roof of the bank and had the roof landscaped. Sometimes he retired there alone to enjoy the view of the river; when he entertained, his guests strolled there; Eleanor's friends sometimes played croquet on the roof; and legend has it that a cow was once seen grazing there.9 From his strategic position in the Trust Building, Brackenridge kept a sharp eye on the details of his business on the eve of his retirement. The young men who joined his business at that time recalled him in their own later years as an omnipresent figure. "He was likely to appear at any moment with the demand, 'Let me see your balances/ " 10 said Ben Scholl who retired from the bank as vice-president 7

See San Antonio Country Club [no pagination]. The mansion and 145 acres were valued at $150,000 in the inventory of Brackenridge's estate. After the demolition of the house, the white bricks were used in John Murchison's palatial home, Four Winds, at Port Aransas. O'Neil Ford, architect of Four Winds, recounts that when the masons got ahead of the truckers hauling the bricks to the building site, Murchison flew the bricks down in his airplane (Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., to M. M. S. 20 June 1972). 8 San Antonio Express, 29 December 1921. 9 Roland Springall to M. M. S., interview, 23 January 1969. 10 Ben Scholl to M. M. S., interview, 20 July 1969.

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a generation after Brackenridge's death. And Roland Springall, who still sat at his desk in the San Antonio Loan and Trust Company when he was well into his eighties, remembered Brackenridge's lectures to the effect that banking was a profession ."Instead of getting paid the first few years in the business, you young fellows should be paying me for the experience,,, he told Springall.11 On one occasion he sharply reprimanded an employee for showing "want of courtesy to and patience with" customers, and any decline in deposits caused him to fret.12 As competition grew keener he altered a longstanding policy and urged his directors "in a modest way" to solicit business. "I reluctantly make the innovation and change the rules under which I have worked for a lifetime," he said, "but it seems that business methods and standards have changed and if we expect to continue in business we must meet those changes."13 Brackenridge coped well with the changes in the early years of the new century. In September 1903, in the same season that he spoke of his advancing years and of the need for new blood in the bank, he reported a record net profit for the month of $19,000. At the same time, he warned of less profitable days approaching and of the need to brace for them. Again his phenomenal foresight proved correct. When the national banking crisis of 1907 developed, his bank was in a position to cope with it, and he added luster to his reputation. Harry Landa recalled him as "that grand old man" who saved the Landa bank by lending $50,000 on Landa's personal note alone and who then cooperated with the other local banks in the issuing of clearinghouse certificates, which, although illegal, eased the city through the crisis.14 But the years were passing, and Brackenridge was becoming increasingly conscious of them. "We can hardly hope either of us to be in very good health having violated the Bible injunction not to live more than three score years and ten, and we must take the consequen11

Roland Springall to M. M. S., interview, 23 January 1969. San Antonio National Bank, Minutes, vol. I, p. 359. 13 Ibid. 14 Harry Landa, As I Remember, p. 78.

12

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15

ces," he wrote Tom; and when Terrell playfully suggested a rejuvenating serum, he replied sadly, "The rejuvenating serum... would be of little use to me unless it could be enjoyed by all my old friends. So many of them are dropping off that I am feeling a little lonesome/'16 The deaths of his brothers, James and Tom, within a few months of each other in 1905 and 1906 further brought home to him the passage of time. The deaths interrupted a grand round-the-world trip that he had long planned for himself, Eleanor, and a party of kinsmen and friends. His secretary, Mary Harper, had made the arrangements for the trip, and among those included as his guests were Colonel Almon Libbey Varney, a retired army man whose company Brackenridge enjoyed; Mrs. Varney; Miss Marin Fenwick, a San Antonio journalist; and Isabella Mathews, the daughter of his youngest sister.17 According to plans, the group would travel to San Francisco by Brackenridge's private car and embark for the Orient. As the time for departure approached James Madison Brackenridge, who had long been in declining health, took a turn for the worse. George sent Eleanor and a few other members of the party on their way, but delayed his own departure. James died 29 August 1905, and the loss sent Brackenridge into a depression that letters from the party abroad did not relieve. He declined an invitation to visit Tom in Austin, professing to be "too impatient and nervous to go any place" unless there was a fixed purpose in it. "Visiting is something I am incapable of doing," he said. He then suggested that he and Tom sell the Navidad, the boat that had been the scene of so many of their outings on the coast. "If you should take it in your head to slip off to heaven in advance of me, I would have very little use for the boat," he wrote.18 15

George W. Brackenridge to John Thomas Brackenridge, 29 September 1903, John Thomas Brackenridge Papers, University of Texas Archives, Austin. 16 George W. Brackenridge to Alexander W. Terrell, 7 June 1911, Alexander W. Terrell Papers, University of Texas Archives, Austin. 17 Miss Carol King to M. M. S., interview, 20 July 1969. 18 George W. Brackenridge to John Thomas Brackenridge, 29 August 1905, John Thomas Brackenridge Papers, University of Texas Archives.

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George assisted in the closing of James's estate and then left in company with the Varneys and Isabella Mathews to join Eleanor's party in the Orient. But before their leisurely circumvention of the globe was completed, death again intervened. Tom did indeed "slip off to heaven" in advance of George, dying in the San Antonio Loan and Trust building while visiting there on 3 March 1906. The second death confirmed George in his determination to retire and to enjoy family, friends and travels while there was yet the opportunity. Tom's death reaffirmed George's wish to build a new home, for he had not outgrown his phobia about houses in which members of his family died. Yet the new Fernridge, completed about 191 o, was by no means a simple retirement cottage. Rather, it was a massive brick mansion in the imposing manner of the early twentieth century. Set on a hilly, two-hundred-acre tract to the north of the city, its published cost was $80,000, making it the most expensive in the city.19 The deaths of the brothers also made Brackenridge ponder anew the subject of whether or not there was life after death. He never arrived at the answer, but being a practical man, he took two practical steps to hedge against either eventuality. He began planning the earthly, granite monument for his family, and in extending the charter of the San Antonio National in 1906, he transferred 500 of his 1,160 shares of bank stock to the name of Charles Stillman.20 The 500 shares were conservatively valued at $87,500 and the transfer took the Stillman heirs by surprise. They went searching through old files for some clue as to the reasons for it, but to no avail. In all the family's dealings with Brackenridge, no memorandum, no notation, no account book as much as hinted at a claim of Charles Stillman's estate against him or the San Antonio National Bank. In the generation since Don Carlos's death, his son James had established the family as one of the wealthiest in the nation, and by 1906 James had retired to Europe to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Two of his daughters had further augmented the family's position by marrying into the Rockefeller family. Thus, money that the stock rep19 20

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San Antonio Express, 1 September 1912. San Antonio National Bank, Minutes, vol. I, pp. 420-422.

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resented was of relatively little consequence to the family.21 But the very fact that such an amount could be completely unaccounted for in estate records had an unsettling effect. Certainly, James had not won his position in the financial world by careless handling of his resources. The question was asked: Could the stock possibly belong to Charles, Jr., rather than his father? Charles, the son, denied all knowledge of it, and Brackenridge affirmed without elaboration that the stock did indeed belong to the father. The Stillmans then bombarded Brackenridge with wires, fishing for an explanation and probing for ulterior motives. But none came to the surface. The offer was a bona fide one, but only Brackenridge knew why it was made and he declined to explain.22 The only explanation then as now is the inferred one: that sometime during those Civil War years on the Rio Grande, Charles Stillman and George W. Brackenridge had entered into a gentleman's agreement, and that in 1906 Brackenridge honored that agreement as he put his affairs in order for death. If there was a Great Beyond and if he chanced to meet Don Carlos there, he wanted his books to balance. The act gives an intriguing view of a man whom critics accused of sometimes ignoring the fine points of ethics. Oddly enough, in giving the stock, Brackenridge recommended that the Stillmans sell at least a portion of it in order to obtain a wider basis of ownership for the bank. But once persuaded to accept the stock, the Stillmans showed reluctance to part with it. They offered to sell a portion if he would sell a proportionate share of his stock at the same price. Brackenridge agreed, suggesting a price of $175 a share, but after considerable dickering, the Stillmans refused to sell. Only eight years after his death did they finally sell their interest in the San Antonio National Bank.23 As Brackenridge put his affairs in order, he remembered not only Charles Stillman but Fannie Pinney Spooner and her daughter Geor21 See John K. Winkler, The First Billion: The Stillmans and the National City Bank; and Anna Robeson Burr, The Portrait of a Banker: James Stillman, 1850-1918. 22 San Antonio National Bank, Minutes, vol. I, pp. 475, 476, 478. 23 Ibid., pp. 454, 463, 473.

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gina. In 1903 he had sent Georgina, a brilliant girl then twenty years of age, to Vassar College. Similar help had been given to other bright young women. For example, he sent Zulime Herff, daughter of his old friend Adolph, to Vassar in the same years that Georgina was there; he sent Mary Harper, his niece Roberta Peeler, and any other young woman with the inclination and aptitude to medical school; and he established the loan fund for women students at the University of Texas. But there remains the impression that Fannie and Georgina Spooner held special places in his affections. And from the way Fannie's name cropped up in the contest of his will, it is evident that at least some of his contemporaries thought so too.24 The details of Fannie's life are sketchy after her marriage to Alden Spooner in 1882 and Georgina's birth the following year. Another child, a daughter who lived only two years, was born in 1888; in the 1890^ the Spooners resided in Chicago, where Georgina attended grammar school and high school; and by early in the twentieth century, Fannie, widowed and slightly deaf, was keeping a rooming house in New York.25 It was about then that Brackenridge renewed her acquaintance and became interested in her daughter. Georgina accepted the scholarship to Vassar that Brackenridge offered and after her graduation in 1907, she and Fannie visited San Antonio. Brackenridge planned a cruise along the Texas coast to entertain them, including in the party Eleanor, Zulime and Adolph Herff, and four servants in addition to the ship's crewmen. Fannie kept a journal of the cruise in which she gave glimpses of Brackenridge ("the Commodore,'' she called him), still hale and hearty at seventy-five, enjoying himself at his favorite recreation. One of his major objectives on the cruise was to keep the Navidad from sticking on sand bars, or once stuck, to get it off. Another objective was to keep the motor running on a temperamental electric launch. Brackenridge applied himself as diligently to both tasks as if 24

San Antonio Express, 28 December 1921. H. U. Stough to M. M. S., 14 January 1971; Mrs. Claire B. Cramer to M. M. S., 14 June 1970; Georgina B. Spooner Burke to Miss Garisey, 22 May 1956, Office of the Recorder, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. 25

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there had been no crewmen aboard, getting his hands "in a sad state between sun burn, splinters & blisters/' In addition, he oversaw all other activities aboard the ship. For example, when Zulime and Georgina did some laundry and "had quite a little clothes line full on deck the Commodore came up from his work on the dynamos and ordered that all that unsightliness at once be removed!" The great adventure of the cruise came when Zulime needed to reach Rockport to catch a train so she could return to college. As the Navidad was becalmed in the bay, she, Brackenridge, Georgina, and two sailors set out in the electric launch for shore, only to be stranded when the motor balked once more. After rolling in the trough of the waves for some time, they were rescued by an oyster boat that took them to Rockport. There Zulime caught her train, and the next afternoon the rescuers saw Brackenridge and Georgina back to the Navidad where Fannie and Eleanor waited anxiously. Some years later Fannie wrote a sentimental note on the back of her journal: "A first hand account—1907, Now a reminiscence— 1916." But the journal itself suggests that she found the trip rather tedious. "The life is very quiet and Idle & I am not an acquisition for a trip of this sort. Can't hear & haven't any ideas nor small talk," she wrote in one entry. She took a teasingly tolerant attitude toward Brackenridge's foibles and found some of his views wearisome. "Once again," she wrote near the end of the two-week cruise, "I hear Mr. B's views on Religion & Missionaries."26 Pictures taken on the cruise show her a woman still beautiful and well preserved for her fifty-five years, and years later Georgina explained that her mother was a "pet" of Brackenridge.27 But according to her journal, Fannie spent most of the time aboard the Navidad playing cards or dominoes with Eleanor. It was Georgina who helped Brackenridge steer the boat away from sand bars, or joined him for plunges in the surf or in gathering marine life along the sandy beaches. And it was Georgina who accompanied him, Isabella Mathews, 26 Fannie L. Pinney Spooner, "Dairy of 'Navidad' trip," Pinney-Spooner Papers, made available by Mrs. Claire B. Cramer, Los Altos, Calif. 27 Mrs. Claire B. Cramer to M. M. S., 14 June 1970.

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and Colonel Varney on a tour of Africa the following year, while Fannie stayed home and worried about filling the rooming house with paying guests. "Uncle George and I get on famously/'28 Georgina wrote from Cape Town, and there can be no doubt that they did. Their party went first to England; then, boarding the Waimer Castle, sailed by way of Madeira to South Africa, thence by rail to Kimberley where Brackenridge chartered a railroad car to serve as their quarters as they ventured further into Africa. They went to Victoria Falls and on to the end of the railroad at Broken Hill and then back to Biera on the east coast of Africa. There they boarded the German liner, Feldmarschall and proceeded by way of Zanzibar to Aden, thence through the Red Sea and Suez Canal to Cairo.29 At Madeira Georgina and Brackenridge tobogganed down a mountain road in a basket set on runners and guided by a boy running behind with a guide rope; at Kimberley they inspected the diamond mines; at Victoria Falls they walked from one side of the river to the other, becoming drenched by the mists; and at Cairo they visited the pyramids, "solitary old things at the edge of the desert.,,3° But Fannie was not altogether forgotten. 'Til soon be home to help you fill up the rooms/' Georgina assured her mother in one letter; and in another, "Uncle George wants a great big piece of his love sent to you."31 At Cairo Brackenridge received business wires that prompted him to cut short his part of the tour. Leaving the others to continue to Athens, Constantinople, Vienna, and Paris without him, he departed for London, there to catch the Lusitania for home—and to deliver a letter to Fannie from Georgina.32 Despite his frequently expressed impatience to retire so he could enjoy travels and friends without such interruptions by business, it 28 Georgina Spooner to Fannie L. Spooner, 26 August 1908, Pinney-Spooner Papers. 29 This account is based on letters written during the trip by Georgina B. Spooner to Fannie L. Spooner, 26, 28 August, 1, 9, 19 September, n , 18 October 1908, ibid. 30 Georgina B. Spooner to Fannie L. Spooner, 18 October 1908, ibid. 31 Georgina B. Spooner to Fannie L. Spooner, 18 October and 26 August 1908, ibid. 32 Georgina B. Spooner to Fannie L. Spooner, 18 October 1908, ibid.

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213 was four years later, in 1912, the year after he retired as regent and the year of his eightieth birthday, before he sold his interest in the bank and San Antonio Loan and Trust Company. On the occasion of his eightieth birthday, he departed his custom to give an interview to the San Antonio Express, possibly because by that time he owned a controlling interest in the newspaper. He expounded on a variety of subjects. The secret of his long, active life lay in his "moderation in all things,,, he said. "I have taken a drink when I wanted it, smoked when I wanted to and taken a chew when I felt like it. I have lived a great deal in the open air and used to rough it frequently in the early years of my life in Texas." About criticisms leveled at him: "I have never answered charges or accusations made against me." And about his philosophy of life: "I have endeavored to live so that when I die I will leave the world better for my having lived in it."33 It was about this time that young Dr. Ferdinand Herff of the third generation of Herffs to practice in San Antonio, was called to Fernridge to attend a dozen Negro servants who had fallen sick. He was met and courteously greeted by Brackenridge, "an aristocratic looking man, greatly resembling Robert E. Lee." "Young man, you are the third generation of the Herffs that I am depending upon for medical advice," Brackenridge told him. "Go down and look them over. Take charge, find out what's the matter, and treat them in any way you think necessary—with one exception, don't move them to a hospital. Their quarters here are better than any accommodations available for poor sick Negroes anywhere else in this community." The young doctor went to the servants' quarters near the entrance gate expecting to find "la grippe," an ailment then raging in the city, but instead he found an epidemic of smallpox. The patients were competently cared for by three black nurses, but realizing the delicacy of the situation, he meticulously wrote out instructions. When he emerged from the quarters he found Brackenridge impatiently waiting for him. "What's the matter with them?" 33

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San Antonio Express, 14 January 1912.

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Brackenridge asked. "Every last one of them has got smallpox," Herff replied calmly. "He seemed surprised to find me completely composed," Herff recalled in his memoirs, "for he had known all along the nature of the servants' sickness and had expected me, perhaps slightly sadistically, to have the hell scared out of me." Having proved his nerve in this instance, the new Dr. Ferdinand succeeded his father and grandfather as Brackenridge's personal physician. "He was a difficult patient because he was wilful, but mostly in the end, if diplomatically handled, acquiesced in the prescribed treatment," Herff remembered. "I recall that one afternoon while at work in the San Antonio National Bank, he developed severe unilateral epistaxis. He refused hospitalization, office treatment and rest at home, so I had to do an anterior and posterior nares tamponing at his desk while he was negotiating a $200,000 loan."34 It was a few months after Brackenridge's eightieth birthday that he at last sold his interest in the bank and trust company. In a formal statement to his directors, Brackenridge explained that he had sold to Leroy Denman in exchange for Denman's notes, and that although he was stepping down as president and chairman of the board of directors, he would remain for a time as a member of the board.35 The sale of his banking interests seemingly prepared the way for him to spend his final years among the books in his library in the new Fernridge, cruising along the Texas coast on his houseboat, or traveling to faroff places with a few chosen companions. But unhappily this was not the case. The sale in fact ushered in a troublesome and controversial chapter in his life, a chapter that disturbed his peace of mind in his last years and displayed him at both his worst and best. At the time of Brackenridge's sale to Denman, there were on the books of both the bank and the trust company notes of the Ward Cattle and Pasture Company and various members of the Ward family that ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.36 As had been 34 Dr. Ferdinand Herff, "Memoir," copy made available by Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., San Antonio, Texas. 35 San Antonio National Bank, Minutes, vol. Ill, p. 12. 36

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Ibid., pp. 23, 53, 127, 129, 165, 219.

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Brackenridge's practice through the years, the loans were made more on the character of the debtor than on the collateral. Insofar as character was concerned, the Wards were blameless. Moreover, they owned thousands of acres in Jackson and adjoining counties. His acquaintance with the family dated back to the antebellum days when the family had made purchases from Brackenridge and Bates. In the fat years of the cattle boom that followed the war, Brackenridge had extended loans to members of the Ward clan, and if the loans sometimes exceeded the limits imposed by the comptroller of the currency, they had nevertheless proved good business for the San Antonio National Bank. The Wards were among Brackenridge's old patrons and the type of men on whom the prosperity of the bank had rested.37 But the Wards fell on hard times about the turn of the century. Efforts to recoup their fortunes resulted only in additional losses. Refinancing of their empire only created further entanglements; and reorganizations failed to produce the desired results. Through all their troubles, Brackenridge extended old loans and made new ones, proving a better friend than the principles of good banking justified. By the time he sold out to Denman, the Ward Cattle and Pasture Company was in deep financial trouble and the Ward notes were of doubtful value.38 Unfortunately, Denman was unaware of the risky nature of the Ward paper until after he had purchased Brackenridge's stock. The more Denman learned, the more he became convinced that he had been duped in the purchase. The Ward notes, it developed, were not even primary ones. Another claimant held first mortgage on company assets. Moreover, Brackenridge had first offered the stock to William Herff, who, being more knowledgeable about the Ward affair, refused to buy it. A reserved man who disdained recriminations, Denman set himself to the task of making the best of his bad bargain, but events conspired against him. The outbreak of war in Europe and the consequent brief but sharp economic drop that it brought to the United States, dealt 37

See James Cox, Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry and the Cattlemen of Texas and Adjacent Territory, II, 601-603. 38 Jackson County, District Court Records, Case No. 1250, Edna, Texas.

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the final blow to the Ward Cattle and Pasture Company. The company fell in the hands of receivers, and in the fall of 1915 Denman wrote off $57,880 to loss on the books of the San Antonio National Bank. Other notes were still pending at the bank, and there was also Ward paper of similar proportions held by the trust company.39 Denman was still trying to salvage what he could from the debacle when on 14 September 1916, he died suddenly. He left his indebtedness to his widow, and at his funeral she turned coldly away when Brackenridge offered his condolences. Sue Carpenter Denman, like her husband, was not given to demonstrative recriminations, but Brackenridge would have been lacking in perception had he not realized that both she and her young sons believed that the bank stock had been misrepresented to Leroy Denman and that the unfortunate transaction had shortened his life. Denman's death shook Brackenridge as had few other events in his long career. He had been genuinely fond of the younger man and had intended that Denman be the executor of his estate. Denman had written Brackenridge's will by hand, and although Brackenridge changed his mind many times after Denman's death, he refused for sentimental reasons to have the will rewritten. Instead, he added codicil after codicil to the document in his own handwriting.40 Nor could Brackenridge's conscience have been entirely clear in the matter. It would reflect on his banking ability and belittle his long experience to suggest that he was unaware of the nature of the Ward paper at the time he sold. Moreover, his remarkable talent for playing risky games and getting out at the right moment had been an integral part of hisfinancialsuccess. From the time he abandoned the Confederate cotton trade at the opportune moment until he unloaded the Ward notes on Denman, Brackenridge displayed an uncanny timing in business affairs. The particulars are lacking, but circumstances suggest that there were other transactions in his career that smacked of the Denman-Ward affair. For example, there was the disastrous San 39 San Antonio National Bank, Minutes, vol. Ill, p. 165, 173, 177, 219; and C. Stanley Banks to Ronald Jager, taped interview, 4 February 1967. 40 Bexar County, Probate Minutes, vol. 102, pp. 598-599, San Antonio, Texas.

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Antonio and Gulf Shore Railroad. Brackenridge, one of the organizers of the railroad, emerged from the debacle relatively unscathed, but his old friend John Ireland died in straitened circumstances because of it, and other associates were so bitter they forever after preferred not to talk about it.41 "If one of us must go down or even two, it is well for the other to be out and safe to look after the family/' Brackenridge wrote in dissociating himself from one business disaster, thus giving one of the keys to his business success. If he had been a sea captain, his record makes clear, he would not have gone down with the ship. Rather, he would have grabbed the first liferaft and then busied himself with rescuing as many of the other victims as he could.42 Having displayed the liferaft-grabbing side of his nature before Denman's death, Brackenridge showed the redeeming side immediately thereafter. Widows and orphans always brought out the best in his nature, and never more so than in the case of the Denmans. At age eighty-four he emerged from retirement to become again chairman of the San Antonio National Bank and to guide it through a difficult period. He applied his immense prestige and ability to the task at hand, proving that age had not diminished his astuteness. After a lengthy court procedure, the Ward affair was settled in a manner far less onerous for the bank than had first appeared likely. Then Brackenridge recommended to the directors that all the proceeds received on the Ward paper be applied to Sue Denman's notes, and he retired once more from the bank.43 The entire affair left the Denman family with mixed emotions about Brackenridge that lingered into the third generation. On the one hand, there was resentment over his conduct toward Leroy Denman; on the other, gratitude for his conduct toward Sue Denman and her sons. Brackenridge's own feelings in the matter can be surmised from his 41

S. G. Reed, A History of the Texas Railroads, pp. 255-256. George W. Brackenridge to John Thomas Brackenridge, 18 August 1888, LaPrelle-Brackenridge Papers, Austin-Travis County Collection, Public Library, Austin, 43 San Antonio National Bank, Minutes, vol. Ill, p. 250. 42

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will in Denman's handwriting, which he stubbornly refused to have rewritten, and from the fact that he left his estate in trust to the San Antonio Loan and Trust Company, which he had sold to the Denman family. The sons and then the grandsons of Leroy Denman administered his estate, and, appropriately, it was a grandson of Leroy Denman who conceived the idea of writing a biography of the old banker half a century after his death when he was almost forgotten even in the city that had known him best.

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while Brackenridge was coping with the business crisis precipitated by the Ward loans, a crisis of similar proportions was shaping up at the University of Texas. Circumstances in both his private and public life thus conspired to deny him the final years of peaceful meditation that he desired. Brackenridge's misgivings that politics would enter into the policies of the university after his retirement from the board were more than realized. Indeed, his retirement coincided with a period of trial for both the major state-supported educational institutions in Texas. The big battles raged over control of the University of Texas and the Agricultural and Mechanical College, but an underlying issue was the relative importance of higher and lower education. Interwoven in the controversy was the old question of whether the university and the college constituted independent institutions or the component parts of a single one. ¥j*+j9+jW+j*\^-*+jP+-*+j*+4*+*^4*+-^*&+-*+s*+f*

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Brackenndge observed the skirmishes from the sidelines, but when the climax came in the battle between Governor Ferguson and the University of Texas, he stepped to center stage like the deus ex machina, and once more was appointed a member of the Board of Regents. At the same time that Governor Colquitt began his purge of the Board of Regents that prompted Brackenridge's resignation, he took similar action against the Board of Directors of the Agricultural and Mechanical College. Rumors circulated that he intended to create vacancies in the faculties as well as on the boards of the institutions in order to pay his political debts. "To him offices are only so many jobs with which to pay for political service and with which to fortify himself and his cabal in authority/' charged the Dallas Morning News, which carried the banner for higher education during both Colquitt's and Ferguson's terms of office.1 Possibly because of the unfavorable publicity, Colquitt contented himself during his first administration with a purging of the boards and a few skirmishes with President Robert T. Milner of the Agricultural and Mechanical College. During his second term, however, the anti-intellectualism underlying his election came to the surface. A fierce, three-cornered struggle developed that pitted college and university against each other and both of them against the governor. The struggle divided the state, brought about the resignation of a president at each of the institutions, and foretold the Ferguson-university battle that was to come. President Milner of the College was the first to resign. Milner considered himself a prime target of Colquitt and engaged in a running battle with him from the time the governor took office. The two clashed over the choice of a commandant at the college, over the transfer of livestock feed inspection from the college to another agency, and over the dismissal of certain faculty members. Milner believed that the governor wanted to put his own man at the head of the col1

George Portal Huckaby, "Oscar Branch Colquitt: A Political Biography" (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Texas, 1946), p. 250.

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lege, but eventually he became convinced that Colquitt wanted to unite the college and university and become president of the larger institution himself upon leaving the executive office. The feud between the two men came to a climax over Senate Joint Resolution No. 18, which Colquitt sponsored and which Milner interpreted as an underhanded measure to abolish the college. The resolution proposed an amendment giving the legislature power to authorize bonds to erect "necessary buildings for the University of Texas including a medical department, an Agricultural and Mechanical College and all departments and activities of a complete university of the first class.,, As both institutions needed buildings badly and were restricted in the use of public funds for them, the amendment on its face seemed a commendable one to friends of higher education, and it won the support of the university. But to President Milner the wording raised again the old specter of a college absorbed by a "university of the first class/' When the amendment was put before the voters in 1913, he took the stump against it, calling it a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" measure that threatened the destruction of his college.2 Before the election, a student strike at the college weakened Milner's position. In the aftermath of a hazing incident, 466 students were suspended, among them the son of a prominent legislator who chose to make political capital of the affair. This circumstance and the Colquitt fight made Milner's position at the college untenable. He therefore resigned in June 1913, a month before the election, and gave his full time to the campaign against the amendment. The electorate endorsed his position by defeating the amendment four to one, but the contest left both Milner and Colquitt with a sense of defeat. Milner had lost his job at the college, and Colquitt was embittered by the defeat of his proposal at the polls and believed that his motives had been misunderstood. He was not a man to suffer quietly. In a fit of pique, he vetoed an appropriation bill for higher 2 Rosalind Langston, The Life of Colonel R. T. Milner (Reprinted from Southwestern Historical Quarterly [April-July 1941]), pp. 75-84.

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education, a bill that included funds for the university as well as for the college.3 The veto thrust adherents of the university—startled and angry— into the fray. In general, they had backed the governor in the Senate Joint Resolution No. 18 fracas and had watched benignly, if they had not actually enjoyed, the Colquitt-Milner fight. Thus they were surprised by the veto. At the time President Sidney E. Mezes of the university was in the eastern United States helping his brother-in-law, Edward M. House, with Woodrow Wilson's campaign for president of the United States. Upon hearing of the veto, Mezes wired Colquitt in stunned disbelief, pointing out that the governor's action would destroy the university. Mezes received an unsympathetic reply, whereupon he issued a circular letter calling the university crowd to the colors.4 If the governor's veto stood, warned President Mezes, the university would have to closd its doors in March 1915. The financial crisis created by the veto resolved itself without the closing of any institutional doors, but Mezes's circular letter infuriated the governor. He protested to the regents that the president had "reflected" on him and once again the state was rocked by a controversy between governor and institution president.5 Having obtained Milner's resignation, Colquitt pressed for Mez-» es's, while rumors circulated anew that the governor wanted a presidential chair for himself. The regents, all Colquitt's appointees, were naturally inclined in his favor, but the Dallas Morning News gave voice to a powerful opposition. Colquitt, declared the Dallas paper, was sacrificing the "whole cause of education on the altar of politics," and that was one of the "consequences of putting small men in big places."6 At the height of the controversy, President Mezes left for Europe. He was there when hostilities of a more serious nature broke out in 3

Huckaby, "Oscar Branch Colquitt," p. 359. Oscar B. Colquitt, Gov. O. B. Colquhfs Reply to President Mezes. 5 University of Texas, Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D , p. 397, Office of the Secretary to the Board, Austin. 6 Huckaby, "Oscar Branch Colquitt," pp. 359-360. 4

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August and was delayed in returning home by the transportation difficulties occasioned by World War I. When he did return, he found that Colquitt's ire had not abated. Realizing his position was untenable, he handed his resignation to the regents. But, as in the ColquittMilner affair, there was no clear-cut victor. After Mezes wrote his resignation, he issued one last pamphlet in which he frankly set forth the problems of the university as he saw them.7 If Colquitt had indeed coveted the presidency, the publicity engendered by the affair changed his mind. He informed the regents that he was not a candidate for the position of university president and asked that they not consider him for the office. The regents took him at his word and appointed William J. Battle, professor of classical languages for almost a quarter of a century, as acting president.8 Colquitt's term of office expired shortly thereafter. Thus, both he and Mezes retired, but the conflict between university president and governor was by no means ended. Insofar as higher education in Texas was concerned, Colquitt's rounds with Milner and Mezes were only the preliminary bouts for what the next governor billed as "the biggest bear fight in Texas."9 In the same summer that Europe went to war and the ColquittMezes controversy raged, James E. Ferguson was elected governor in a campaign that left no doubt that a new star had risen in Texas politics. A political unknown at the beginning of the campaign, Ferguson possessed a rare gift for colorful expression. His style caught the public fancy, and as the campaign progressed, his popularity soared. In general, he appropriated the old conservative, antiprohibition votes and added to them those of the tenant farmers, "the boys from the forks of the creek," he called them. But as events proved, "the forks of the creek" was not necessarily a geographic designation. Colquitt endorsed him, and on a sweltering summer evening when he spoke in Austin, Major George W. Littlefield came down from his red-tur7 Sidney E. Mezes, The Future of the University of Texas. Mezes resigned 11 November 1914. 8 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D., p. 423. 9 See Robert E. Vinson, "The University Crosses the Bar," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 43 (January 1940): 282; and "End of the 'Bear Fight,' " Alcalde 6 (November 1917): 28.

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reted castle on the hill dressed "in a plaid hickory shirt, a red handkerchief around his neck, and a pair of old blue jeans held up by big suspenders" to give the candidate a drink of water from an oak bucket with a gourd dipper. 10 A native of Bell County, Ferguson like Colquitt was an example of how far a man could go in early twentieth-century Texas with only the rudiments of a formal education. His schooling had been cut short at about the fifth grade when the teacher ordered him to bring in a load of wood. He refused and, brushing the dust of the schoolroom from his feet, departed for the Great West. After holding down assorted jobs in assorted places—a lumberjack in Seattle, a miner in Virginia City, and a bellhop in Denver— Ferguson returned to Bell County where he studied for the bar. H e married well, and became a banker, realtor, and citizen of means. Although he spearheaded the antiprohibitionist forces in the county, he had never held public office until his election as governor.11 Having succeeded without an elementary education much less a college degree—and never having felt the lack of either—Ferguson came to the governor's chair with scant sympathy for the cause of education. Moreover, he already was prejudiced against the university. Years earlier, upon learning that the institution had a vacancy for an instructor in botany, he had recommended his brother for the job and had been rebuffed.12 The experience reinforced the prejudice against educational institutions that he had acquired when the teacher sent him for the firewood. Although he granted the need for "common schools," it was his opinion, freely expressed during his second administration, that "too many people had gone hog wild over higher education," and that the government had no more responsibility to educate a man to be a lawyer than to be a blacksmith.13 Ferguson thus picked up Colquitt's tattered banner and with scarcely a break in step continued the war on the University of Texas. 10

J. Evetts Haley, George W. Little field, Texan, pp. 221-222. Record of Proceedings of the High Court on the Trial of Hon. James E. Ferguson, Governor, pp. 491-494. 12 James E. Ferguson to Dr. V. H. Reed, 8 September 1900, Thomas S. Henderson Papers, University of Texas Archives, Austin. 13 Dallas Morning News, 3 June 1917. 11

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His point of departure was the university budget. Due to Mezes's delay in Europe and subsequent resignation, there was admittedly some vagueness about the budget, and Ferguson summoned Acting President Battle to his office to discuss it. Battle had not written the budget and, having been thrust unexpectedly into office, was ill-prepared to defend it. Nor could it be expected that a long-time professor of the classical languages would communicate well with a governor whose language was best understood in the forks of the creek. Ferguson picked over the budget for Battle's enlightenment, giving a steady commentary against the extravagant use of tax money and offering a number of suggestions for improvement. Battle nodded politely, but instead of following the governor's suggestions, he secured an opinion from the attorney general upholding the budget as written. Ferguson was infuriated. He charged Battle with "sharp practice... unbecoming to the rank and station of president of the University," and called publicly for his removal. "I do not hesitate to say that he is unworthy of the position which he holds," he informed the regents.14 Acting President Battle was indeed an unworthy opponent for Jim Ferguson. A cultured gentleman, nurtured in academe and ill-suited to the rough and tumble of politics, Battle disdained answering the governor publicly, but he defended himself vigorously before the regents. Then, hoping to return to the less strenuous world of the classical languages, he asked that the regents not consider him as a candidate for the presidency.15 The regents then began to look for a president, a task that had already occupied much of the time of the various boards. The University of Texas had been organized originally like the University of Virginia, that is, without a president but with a chairman of the faculty. This plan had proved unsatisfactory and in 1895 was changed to provide for the office of president. But presidents at the university had been notoriously lacking in durability. Until 1924 the average tenure 14

See Record of Proceedings, pp. 604-626; and Ex-Students' Association of the Universtiy of Texas, Ferguson's War on the University of Texas: A Chronological Outline, 12 January 1915 to 31 July 1917, pp. 5-6. 15 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D, p. 523.

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was three and one-half years, and the search for a new president had been a more or less perennial occupation of the regents.16 In the winter and spring of 1915-1916 while the regents went about their old task, Governor Ferguson, too, was looking for a president. As he later recalled, his choice was R. L. Batts, but at the time Walter Francis Doughty, state superintendent of public instruction, figured prominently in the considerations.17 The governor was still shopping in April 1916 when the regents announced their choice for the new president: Robert E. Vinson, president of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary next door to the university.18 Ferguson was not consulted in advance of the announcement, and the action was obviously a show of independence on the part of the regents. Although his sturdy backer, George W. Littlefield, and Will Hogg, the competent son of former Governor Hogg, were prominent members of the board, Ferguson made no effort to hide his displeasure. The temerity of the board incensed him, and he considered the action an affront to the dignity of his office. Moreover, as he advised all within earshot, he considered Vinson a "silvertongued, ex-minister" who was "not big enough for the job."19 If, as Ferguson later admitted, his confrontation with the university was the most monumental blunder of his career, then his evaluation of Robert E. Vinson must stand as his most monumental misjudgment of character. Vinson lasted seven years as president, twice the average tenure and a record for duration at the time. Nor since the opening of the university had there been a period so filled with crisis, trial, and change. He recalled later that his administration was "largely characterized by controversy" and "presented more things to fight about, I think, than is usually the case even in the life of a state University." It began with the Ferguson fight—"the struggle to maintain the freedom and integrity of the institution"—and ended with the fight to 16

W . M. W. Splawn, "History of the University of Texas to 1928," I, 304-306, University of Texas Archives, Austin. 17 Haley, George W. Uttlefield, p. 245; and Record of Proceedings, pp. 646, 710. 18 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. D, p. 533. ^Record of Proceedings, pp. 710-711, 744; and Ouida Ferguson Nalle, The Fergusons of Texas, p. 117.

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move the campus to the Brackenridge tract. In between came the gearing of the university to meet the needs of World War I and the acquisition of the Wrenn and Garcia collections that set the university library on its way to distinction. The issues arose so quickly, each of them imperative and "each upon the heels of the other, that decisions had to be made often upon the spur of the moment,"20 Vinson recalled. The quality of his performance matched his durability. In every instance the man Ferguson thought "not big enough for the job" acquitted himself with honors, but possibly the true measure of his achievement was that he seated Littlefield and Brackenridge at the same board table and set them working together for the same cause. Vinson was Littlefield's choice for president. Insofar as Littlefield was inclined toward religion, he was of the Presbyterian persuasion, and for some fifteen years, he had known Vinson favorably as a neighbor, faculty member, and president of the Presbyterian seminary.21 But Vinson took care not to be marked by the Littlefield brand. Shortly after becoming president in 1916, he went at Brackenridge's summons to San Antonio in company with Fred Cook, chairman of the Board of Regents. Brackenridge had resigned from the board, expressing fears of problems with politics and religion. His misgivings about politics had been justified, and it is possible that he saw ia the appointment of the Presbyterian seminarian the fulfillment of his fears regarding religion. If so, he was promptly disabused. In Vinson he found no denominational narrowness, but rather shades of his own Calvinist forebears who had built schools and churches to mark their trek westward across the United States. The two men, the old skeptic and the theologian turned university president, immediately established a rare rapport. They speculated together on cosmogony, pondered the question of infinity, discussed the philosophers, and talked of the very earthly problems of the university. Vinson was invited time and again to Fernridge, becoming a favorite companion of 20 21

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Brackenridge's last years and becoming, too, an ardent advocate of Brackenridge's big-campus plan for the University of Texas.22 But in the spring of 1916 the big-campus battle was still in the future, and the central question was whether Vinson could serve as president of the university. He needed all the support he could muster. After his selection but before his inauguration, he went with Littlefield to call on the governor. The visit gave warning of what lay ahead. Ferguson promptly broached the subject of the faculty members he wanted fired, foremost of whom was the recent acting president, William J. Battle. He then informed Vinson that he, Ferguson, knew how the new president had been elected—he had been elected by the faculty not because they thought he was "a big enough man for the job" but because they thought they could control him.23 If this meeting did not advise Vinson of the way things stood, Ferguson's actions during the next few months did. Vinson gave a dinner after his inauguration to which he invited Ferguson as guest of honor. Ferguson not only failed to appear but did not even answer the invitation.24 A few months later Vinson issued another invitation—an invitation to the governor to prefer charges against the offending faculty members. This time he at least received a reply. "I emphatically deny that I ever indicated... that I wanted to make any charges," the governor snapped. "I told you then and there the names of the members of the faculty whom I thought objectionable, and I have not changed my mind."25 To both Vinson and the regents Ferguson made it clear that he wanted the men fired, but he considered it beneath his dignity to make charges. "I am the governor of Texas," he insisted. "I don't have to give reasons."26 Nevertheless, at a meeting of the Board of Regents called in October "for the purpose of investigating and acting upon charges affecting the status of certain members of the faculty of the University of 22

Walter Long, For All Time to Come, pp. 41-43. Record of Proceedings, p. 191. 2 ± Ibid., p. 191. 25 Ibid., p. 192. 26 Ex-Students' Association, Ferguson's War, p. 7. 23

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Texas," Ferguson deigned to appear and list his grievances. His presence at the board meeting was outside the usual procedure and some of the regents were clearly disgruntled by it. Will Hogg, presiding in the absence of Chairman Fred Cook, "was just as mad as a bull and raising a row about my being there," Ferguson remembered.28 Hogg also did most of the talking for the regents and showed reluctance to grant the governor the floor. "It seems to me," observed Hogg, "that in hearing any charges, one way or the other, that reflect on any man . . . that man ought to be entitled to be present and to be represented." Some of the other regents agreed with him, but after some discussion, they voted unanimously to hear Ferguson.29 He made clear at once that he did not propose "to have any trial" or to "appear in the role of a county attorney." Upon taking the floor he exclaimed, "Now gentlemen, we just as well understand each other and I will tell you now, if you undertake to put these men over me, I am going to exercise my constitutional authority to remove every member of this Board that undertakes to vote to keep them."30 He then proceeded with a listing of the offenders: R. E. Cofer had presided over a convention in Austin that opposed him; Will H. Mayes was connected with a paper in Brownwood that had "skinned him from hell to Hall river"; William J. Battle had misrepresented things to the legislature to get appropriations; and so it went until he had listed six men and demanded that they be fired forthwith.31 "Don't you think a man ought to have a hearing to refute these charges?" inquired Regent David Harrell. "Not necessarily so," Ferguson replied. "You are proceeding on the theory that these professors have got some legal right here. They are tenants at will just like any man that is working for Mr. Sanger or in Major Littlefield's bank."32 After Ferguson's departure, the regents continued the meeting but 27

Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. E, pp. 1-3. Record of Proceedings, p. 632. See also ibid., pp. 534-535. 2 » Ibid., p. 632. 30 Ibid., p. 634. 31 Ibid., pp. 634-635. 32 Ibid., pp. 635-636. 28

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declined to take the action he demanded. Somewhat later they held hearings for the various faculty members and exonerated them. By then the issue was defined. "You keep that man Battle here and you lay a precedent that tells every Governor for forty years that they got no right to do as they want to—that is the issue that is raised," said Ferguson.33 And his opposition retorted, "Whoever said that the Governor did have a right to do as he wanted to in the University matters?" 34 On neither side could there be compromise. Ferguson entered his second term of office determined to remove every member of the board who thwarted his wishes. He retired Will Hogg, David Harrell, and Alex Sanger when their terms expired in January 1917, and he asked for the resignations of Rabbi M. Faber and Dr. S. J. Jones, whom he had appointed during his first administration but who showed disturbing signs of independence. During the following months there was a turnover on the board as he appointed and removed regents at will in an effort to find those who would, as he put it, "stand hitched." 35 In the same months the university crowd marshalled its forces for a formidable opposition. Will Hogg, out as regent, took quarters in the Driskill Hotel and, with John W. Brady and Dudley K. Woodward, organized the central committee of the Ex-Students' Association. Well-financed and ably managed, the committee launched a twopronged offensive, first, to block the confirmation of Ferguson's appointees to the Board of Regents, and, second, to investigate charges against the governor that had been leveled during the 1916 campaign. Ferguson had called certain faculty members "two-bit thieves." The committee now turned the tables and began a close scrutiny of the governor's accounts.36 The committee also sent John Lomax, the university's public relations man and one of those on Ferguson's list, throughout the state 33

Ibid., p. 635. »* Ibid., p. 708. 35 Ibid., pp. 709-711. See also Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. E, pp. 43, 49. 36 Record of Proceedings', p. 710. See also Texas Legislature, House, Proceedings and Charges against Gov. James E. Ferguson, 35th Legis.

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to enlist newspaper support. In this capacity, Lomax called on Brackenridge, then the owner of the San Antonio Express. The university fight developed in the same period that Brackenridge was coping with the crisis in his business created by Denman's death and the Ward notes, and possibly he had not kept abreast of developments. At any rate, he approached the subject with an open mind. For two hours he and his managing editor, J. E. Smith, quizzed Lomax about affairs at the university. Then Brackenridge turned to Smith. "Hop onto the governor," he said. "He's wrong, and well fight him to the end."37 The United States' entrance into World War I in April brought no let-up in the hostilities over control of the university. Nor did the resignation of Dr. Battle in the same month to accept a position in another state bring peace.38 By that time, Vinson's name had replaced Battle's at the top of the governor's list of university enemies. Late in May Ferguson called a meeting of the regents at his office for the purpose of firing Vinson and initiating other changes at the university, among them the abolition of fraternities. On the appointed day, 28 May, six regents, among them, George W. Littlefield, met in the governor's office at the capital to hear him read a prepared communication. "In my opinion the University has not a proper President," it read in part. "He has neither that experience as a teacher nor sufficient education attainments that would qualify him to fill this important place. His management of an institution previous to his promotion to the presidency of the State University was a failure He is also a sectarian preacher and . . . has regularly and often continued to preach under the auspices of his particular religious denomination This in my opinion, disqualifies your president from continuing longer as president of the University."39 The regents did not hear all the communication. The governor was still reading when a commotion—the sounds of singing and a band 37 John A. Lomax, "Governor Ferguson and the University of Texas," Southwest Review 27 (Autumn 1942): 17-18. 38 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. E, pp. 31, 39. 39 Record of "Proceedings, p. 547.

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playing—interrupted. The men adjourned to investigate and found themselves the focal point of a student demonstration. Students, among them the B Hall gang under the newly created flag, swarmed through the capitol, marched down Congress Avenue, and then surged back again to stand beneath the governor's office. There they sang "The Eyes of Texas" and waved banners reading "Kaiserism is a menace abroad; and Kaiserism is a menace at home," and "We are opposed to one-man rule," while Ferguson, outraged, watched from his window. "Ain't this fine? Isn't this a fine insult to the Governor of Texas?" he fumed as Littlefield attempted to quiet him. "Now be calm, Governor, be calm."40 The demonstration confirmed rather that weakened Ferguson's determination. His big stick in the controversy, like Colquitt's before him, was his control of university appropriations. "If there is any power the Governor of Texas possesses that is unquestioned, it is his power of the veto," he said in reference to the appropriation bill for the next biennium that lay on his desk.41 In the course of the week while the regents planned a meeting at Galveston to consider their problem and the central committee of the Ex-Students' Association obtained an injunction to restrain the board from discharging the professors under attack, Ferguson sent an ultimatum to Vinson: unless Vinson resigned, he, Ferguson, would veto the appropriations bill. When Vinson declined to resign, Ferguson, true to his promise, vetoed the bill with a resounding message. But the veto was not final until it was filed with the secretary of state, and Ferguson delayed filing it to give the regents one last chance to resolve the matter.42 On 5 June, the last day that the veto could be filed, regents Wilber P. Allen and George W. Littlefield called on Vinson and found the president in company with John W. Brady and Dudley K. Wood40

Ibid., pp. 169-170; and Haley, George W. Littlefield, p. 237. ^Record of Proceedings, p. 539. 42 Dallas Morning News, 3 June 1917; and Ex-Students' Association, Ferguson's War, p. 22.

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ward of the Ex-Students' Association and John Lomax, one of the men Ferguson wanted fired. Allen was a full-fledged Ferguson supporter, but Littlefield had lost his enthusiasm for the governor and had little taste for the task before him. Vinson had been his choice for the presidency; rumors were circulating that Ferguson wanted R. L. Batts, Littlefield's prime rival in Austin, for the new president; and Ferguson had recently withdrawn a large deposit of state funds from Littlefield's American National Bank and deposited it in his own bank in Temple.*3 Moreover, the war was going on, and Littlefield took his wars seriously. The United States was his nation again, and having been licked in one war, he had no intention of being on the losing side again. With the more important work of winning a war at hand, he found the squabble between the governor and university somewhat petty and a little trying on his patience. Nevertheless, it was Littlefield who acted as spokesman for the regents. Lomax recalled that, "the meeting was cold, stiff, and formal/ ' and the talk between Littlefield and Vinson "became acrimonious" as Littlefield stated the case.4* But, as both Littlefield and Vinson recalled, Littlefield did not urge a course of action. Rather he stated the alternatives. If Vinson resigned, the governor would not file the veto of the appropriation bill; if Vinson remained, then the university faced the prospect of closing its doors for lack of funds. "Major, put yourself in my place and tell me frankly what sort of an answer you would make if faced with the same alternative," Vinson said after hearing Littlefield out. "I would tell him to go to hell," Littlefield responded. "The language is somewhat out of line with my customary form of expression, but you may convey the substance of that statement to the Governor," Vinson remembered replying. But according to Brady, Vinson's answer was a spirited, "Major Littlefield,... the only 43 44

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way that you'll get me out of the presidency of the University is to plant your foot between my coattails and kick me out."*5 Either way, the message was clear. Vinson refused to resign; the meeting was terminated; and within an hour Ferguson had filed the veto. More than twenty years later, Vinson was still unsure of whether his decision was right or wrong. "I only know that it was made under duress," he remembered, and he remembered, too, the loneliness of the following day, which he spent in a "searching of heart and an almost frantic effort to find some way out," and in which no word of either sympathy, disapproval, or approval reached him. By the end of that day he had decided upon two courses of action: first, to search the veto message for a loophole, and, second, to go to San Antonio to see George W. Brackenridge. A reading of the veto message brought hope, for the governor had vetoed the items but failed to veto the recapitulation on the last page. Vinson marked the bill and sent it to the attorney general asking for a ruling. Then in accordance with his second plan, he drove to San Antonio to consult with Brackenridge. Explaining what had happened, he asked Brackenridge to underwrite the expenses of the university for the following two years. It was an amazing request, and the very fact that Vinson would think of asking it illustrates the position of Brackenridge at the university. For a generation he had dispensed his fortune according to the university's needs until, in the popular mind, that fortune seemed as boundless as the state treasury. In this instance, Brackenridge did not fail the institution. He agreed to do as Vinson asked "even to the extent of his entire fortune."46 Vinson departed elated and forever grateful, but without fully appreciating the magnitude of Brackenridge's pledge. Vinson estimated the Brackenridge fortune at between $4 and $5 million, but it was in fact much smaller. Philanthropies and reverses in business had taken their toll. When Brackenridge died three years later, his estate 45

Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," p. 286; and Haley, George W. Littlefield, P. 24346 Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," p. 287.

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was valued at roughly $1.5 million, almost exactly the amount required to operate the university for two years.47 Had he been required to honor his promise to Vinson, he could well have died a poor man. Brackenridge's gesture was indeed a grand one, but along with it he offered President Vinson another suggestion, one tinged with wicked humor. "Major Littlefield is deeply interested in the University/' he observed blandly. "Perhaps he might like to join in this engagement for a part, even as much as half of the amount." Considering Littlefield's determination not to be outdone by Brackenridge in regard to the university, this suggestion can only be interpreted as a thrown gauntlet. Vinson, the solemn, bespectacled, Presbyterian clergyman, recognized it as such. Showing the form that marked his career at the university, he picked up the challenge and conveyed it to Littlefield, who also recognized it for what it was. Littlefield rose to the occasion. "He not only expressed a willingness to match Mr. Brackenridge dollar for dollar in the undertaking, but to take over the entire responsibility, if necessary/' reported Vinson.48 As things developed, neither of the university's benefactors was required to make the sacrifice. The attorney general ruled that because Ferguson had not specifically vetoed the recapitulation of the appropriation, the total amount remained even though he had vetoed the specific items. This technicality acted as the foot that kept the doors of the university open until a called session of the legislature could take further remedial action. The fact that neither Brackenridge nor Littlefield was called upon to fulfill the pledge in no way took away from their generosity in Vinson's thinking. Years later he paid them glowing tribute: In the course of my experience as a university executive I have had many occasions to be grateful for whole-hearted generosity, in some instances for sums larger in fact than the amount involved in this transaction, but among them all this one stands out as the superlative example of its kind. It was particularly valuable because it really defeated itself. It aroused 47 Inventory of Estate of G. W. Brackenridge, copy supplied by Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., San Antonio, Texas. 48 Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," pp. 287-288.

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public opinion. It renewed hopes that had almost disappeared. It had tremendous weight in bringing about the final result of the struggle that left the University both whole and free.... Other men were the founders of the University. These men were, in their hearts, its saviors.49 At the July meeting of the board, the regents fired every man on Ferguson's list—except Vinson. 50 But this was the last thing akin to a victory that Ferguson won in the summer of 1917. In the previous clashes between university presidents and governor, it had been the president who had gone. In this instance, the tables were turned. The special session of the legislature brought impeachment proceedings against Ferguson, removed him from office, elevated William Pettus Hobby from lieutenant governor to governor, and passed a new appropriation bill for the university. Hobby just as speedily reappointed Brackenridge to the Board of Regents. At the September meeting of the board Brackenridge and Littlefield at last sat down together around the regents' table, and Brackenridge had the "grim pleasure" of hearing Littlefield vote for the reinstatement of the faculty members discharged in July and for the inviting of Dr. Battle to return to the university.51 President Vinson happily observed the proceedings. Actually, he was to say later, insofar as the university was concerned, the difference between the two millionaires was only a matter of emphasis: "When Mr. Brackenridge spoke of the University of Texas, he always emphasized the word University. Major Littlefield emphasized the word Texas. One was primarily concerned with the policies of the institution, the other with the people whom it served."52 The United States was at war, and Littlefield, while still cherishing the fallen banner of the Confederacy, was able to accord the same loyalty to the stars and stripes. He underwrote purchases that geared the university to wartime needs for special schools. In the course of the war, he also advanced funds for the purchase of the Wrenn Li4

9 Ibid., p. 288. Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. E, pp. 98-105. 51 Ibid., p. 106; and Lomax, "Governor Ferguson and the University," p. 28. 52 Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," p. 284. 50

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53

brary. Brackenridge made no effort to match Littlefield's gifts, but he showed his approval of the purchase of the Wrenn Library by offering to give $5,000 toward the decoration of the room to house it. Littlefield refused the money, but later when Brackenridge offered $8,000 to help print a catalog of the Wrenn collection, Littlefield graciously permitted him to make the contribution.64 The offer and its acceptance signaled a truce but not a peace in the contest between the two men. Both had long memories and strong wills, and there was still the matter of moving the campus to the Brackenridge tract. At the same time that they sat together in apparent harmony, both were preparing for their grand engagement, an engagement that took place after their deaths. 63 Long, For All Time to Come, pp. 40-41; and Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. E, p. 150. 54 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. E, pp. 151-160; and Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," p. 291.

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LANS FOR THE removal of the university campus to the river tract filled Brackenridge's mind during his last years. The vision he had presented to the Pease family in 1909 grew rather than diminished as the years passed, and after his reappointment to the Board of Regents, in 1917, he talked of little else when he met with Robert Vinson. He told Vinson, as he had told the Peases, that a campus of 500 acres was inadequate for the university of the future. He would purchase or set aside money for the purchase of an additional 300 acres; other adjoining lands could be acquired for a reasonable price; thus, for a moderate outlay the university could obtain a campus as large as 1,500 acres. And for the building of this new campus, he confided to Vinson, he planned to leave the bulk of his fortune.1 Brackenridge's plans fell on receptive ears. The enrollment of the 1 Robert E. Vinson, "The University Crosses the Bar," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 43 (January 1940): 293; and San Antonio Express, 29 December 1921.

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university grew rapidly during the war years, increasing more than 100 percent in the period 1914-1921.2 The growth made acute the problem that had brought forth Brackenridge's vision and troubled other farsighted friends of the university since the turn of the century. The university was outgrowing its original campus, and residential development surrounded it. Given rising property values, enlargment at the original site would be an expensive process; and given the reluctance of the legislature to appropriate funds for university purposes, such enlargement seemed out of the realm of possibility. Yet, unless the physical plant of the university was enlarged, its entire growth would be stunted. To Vinson, as to Brackenridge, the most plausible solution was the removal to the river tract, but during his first years as president World War I and George W. Littlefield prevented his taking action. Once having established his right to the presidential chair, Vinson was caught up in the exigencies of gearing the university to wartime needs. As the nation mobilized, the role of the university changed. Young men who normally would have enrolled, marched off to war, but the government sent more than their number to the campus to be trained for war. Vinson made trip after trip to Washington to negotiate contracts, and the campus overflowed as trainees arrived and temporary buildings went up to accommodate them.3 Backing Vinson every step of the way was Major Littlefield. When red tape threatened to slow down the erection of buildings or the completion of a contract, Littlefield advanced loans permitting Vinson to proceed without waiting for cumbersome governmental channels to be cleared. "Had the Kaiser known that Major Littlefield and Bob Vinson were going to gang up against him, he would perhaps never have invaded Belgium," commented Walter Long of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, who assisted Vinson in fulfilling the contracts.4 Reportedly, Littlefield purchased $500,000 in war bonds and 2 University of Texas, Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. E, p. 424, Office of the Secretary of the Board; and Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," p. 282. 3 Austin Daily Statesman, 20 January 1918; and Walter Long, For All Time to Come, pp. 39-40. 4 Long, For All Time to Come, p. 40.

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contributed $10,000 to the Red Cross during the course of the war. In the same period, his philanthropy to the university reached its peak, as he purchased the Wrenn Library and made additional contributions for the acquisition of Southern historical materials.5 Littlefield gave generously, but implied in his generosity was a condition. He did not want the campus removed. It had been Brackenridge's stand on the writing of Southern history and his proposal of a new campus as a memorial to Elisha M. Pease that had pushed Littlefield into university affairs in the first place, and in his mind these factors were still linked. Although he could back the United States with his resources in World War I as ardently as he had backed the Confederacy with his services in the earlier war, his sense of propriety was still outraged by the suggestion that the University of Texas campus pay homage to a scalawag. There would be no "Pease Campus" or "Brackenridge Campus" if he could prevent it. His mind was made up on the issue, and he let his opinion be known. "Evasiveness was foreign to his nature," editorialized the local paper after his death, "and once having reached a conclusion on any public measure, he was as frank in stating it as he was fearless in standing by it."6 Not only did he let his wishes be known in regard to the campus, but he pondered long over means of insuring that they prevail. As one measure to nail down the location of the university, he envisioned a grand entrance arch and commissioned sculptor Coppini to design it. Whereas Brackenridge's dream campus featured the Pease mansion at the entrance, Littlefield's bristled with his own particular heroes—• Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston, John H. Reagan, Jim Hogg, and Woodrow Wilson.7 Both Brackenridge and Vinson understood that to force the issue of removal would jeopardize the Littlefield beneficences, and neither was willing to take that risk. Brackenridge talked about the new campus to Robert Vinson, but, always the utilitarian, he had no desire to 5

Helen Hargrave, comp., List of Gifts, 1883-1932, to the University of Texas, pp. 48-49. 6 Austin Daily Statesman, 10 November 1920. 7 Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. E, p. 312; Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," pp. 291-292.

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cut off the supply of Littlefield funds. He did not push the matter in the Board of Regents but chose rather to play a waiting game. Major Littlefield's health was declining. If Brackenridge could only outlast the major, then the university could enjoy the Littlefield largess as well as a new campus. In January 1919 when his appointment expired, Brackenridge retired a second time from the board without having forced a decision on his pet project. The year 1918 had brought events that diverted his attention from the University of Texas. His sister Lenora died in January and his brother Robert in June. The deaths invoked the usual depression in him, and although the families of neither Lenora nor Robert chose to bury in the family plot, he was reminded anew of the monument surrounded by its gateless fence that awaited. He himself had not escaped the penalties of old age. He faced a prostate operation and was under the care of several doctors. And he was ten years older than Littlefield. Possibly, he would never see the new campus. Even more disturbing to him than that thought, however, were ugly developments on the home front during the war years. The passions aroused by war incited unreasoning hatred of all things German, resulting in instances of mob action against Germans, those of German ancestry, or even those who voiced German sympathies. Nor did the mobs stop with representatives of the enemy. In June 1917 there was a black-white racial riot in East Saint Louis, Illinois, and this was followed by a series of outrages against Negroes, some of them soldiers in the United States army. The mob spirit was such that President Woodrow Wilson issued a statement on 26 July 1918, denouncing lynch law and reminding Americans that they could not uphold democracy abroad while countenancing lawlessness at home.8 But on the same day that the president's appeal appeared in Texan newspapers, a black man was lynched by a mob in the farming community of Benhur in Limestone County. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sent a telegram to Governor William P. Hobby, pointing out that since June 1917 seventeen blacks had been lynched in Texas and that only one state had a more dis8 See Ray Stannard Baker, ed., Woodrow 289-299.

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graceful record. "We respectfully ask what steps are being taken by Texas authorities to apprehend the lynchers/' the telegram inquired. Brackenridge resolved to answer on behalf of his state. He himself had felt a mob's noose around his neck, and through the years he had been a staunch defender of Negro rights. His newspaper had taken a strong editorial stand against lynching, but clearly more forceful action was needed. Calling a meeting of the directors of the San Antonio Express, he proposed to post $100,000 to be offered through the paper as reward for the conviction of lynchers or those who agitated a lynching. The directors unanimously accepted his proposal, and the Express announced the reward on 4 August 1918. A reward of $500 was offered to each person who was instrumental in the arrest, conviction, and punishment of any party or parties who aroused a mob or participated in a lynching party when the victim was not a Negro. A reward of $1,000 was offered, if the victim were Negro. "The difference in amounts of reward, as between the lynching of negroes and of others, is due to the fact that a large majority of the crimes of lynching have negroes as their victims," the paper explained., "Therefore, the larger reward and the more stringent measures should be applied to the more prolific phase of this evil."9 The offer applied to all the continental United States, and it had the effect Brackenridge intended. When he died more than two years later, no portion of the reward had been claimed.10 While Brackenridge dealt with the outcropping of wartime bigotry, other wartime problems held priority on Robert E. Vinson's actions. Still neither man forgot the ultimate goal of a larger campus for the university. Vinson no more than Brackenridge desired to cut off the Littlefield beneficences, but even as he worked with Littlefield to meet the university's wartime needs, he considered the problem of the future. In late 1917, when traveling by train from Washington to Austin, he arranged to share a compartment with Walter Long. In the course of the journey, he explained Brackenridge's dream and 9

San Antonio Express, 4 August 1918. Inventory and Appraisal of the Estate of George W. Brackenridge, Deceased, 13 April 1921, copy supplied by Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., San Antonio, Texas. 10

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plan to give his fortune—"some three or four million''—to the project. "Now, it is going to be a year or two before we know what Colonel Brackenridge will do," he confided to Long. "What I want to ask you to do personally is to be kept in the strictest confidence and not even to be discussed with me except in an emergency because this plan must not fail." He then asked Long to stand ready at the proper time to secure options to buy acreage adjacent to the Brackenridge tract, so that the university would have a campus large enough "for all time to come."11 It was after the war ended and some three years after that conversation before Vinson concluded that the time had come for action. Littlefield had stepped down from the Board of Regents in January 1920 because of failing health, and by the end of the summer it was obvious that his days were numbered and that Brackenridge was winning the contest for survival. In the spring of that year Brackenridge felt so strong that he began making plans to build a new home on a six-hundred-acre tract more remote from the city. Neighbors and the army had moved too near the Washington Heights property, he informed Georgina. He intended to move away from them to a place where he could once more hear his old friends the coyotes howl.12 During the summer he took an agreeable company that included Robert Vinson and Dr. Mary Harper on a long trip in his private car Fernridge to the northwestern United States to visit Fannie Spooner and Georgina. During the course of the trip, he and Vinson talked at length of the proposed campus. No doubt, too, they talked of the state of Major Littlefield's health, for it was shortly after their return that Vinson sought out Walter Long and told him that the time had come to obtain the options. This Long did, quietly taking options on about one thousand acres and doing so in the name of the chamber of commerce, so his purpose would be obscured.13 11

Long, For All Time to Come, pp. 42-43. George W. Brackenridge to Georgina B. Spooner Burke, 29 March 1920, Pinney-Spooner Papers, made available by Mrs. Claire B. Cramer, Los Altos, Calif. 13 Long, For All Time to Come, p. 46. 12

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Vinson's timing was accurate. In the early morning hours of 10 November 1920, Major Littlefield died. The local paper reported that he was "prepared for death." He had informed his doctor of his impending departure, "announced to loved ones that he was passing but felt no fear," "bade his wife and friends farewell," and then "passed on with the serenity and fortitude that had marked him a tower of strength amongst his fellowmen."14 On Friday morning Major Littlefield's body lay in state in the Wrenn Library as students, faculty, and townspeople paid their respects. Then with Robert Vinson as one of the honorary pall bearers, he was borne to his last resting place. Littlefield's death was the signal for which Vinson and Brackenridge had waited. Littlefield died on Wednesday, was buried on Friday, and on Monday, in something that approached indecent haste, Brackenridge again took his seat on the Board of Regents. A meeting of the board was promptly scheduled to meet at Brackenridge's home on 5 January, and it was an ill-kept secret that foremost on the agenda was the proposal to move the university to the river tract.15 But Brackenridge and Vinson had reckoned without Major Littlefield. The major had indeed prepared well for death. Obviously anticipating their action after his departure, he had taken effective measures to thwart them. He left over $1 million in assets to the University that either would be lost entirely or reduced in usefulness if the campus were moved. He willed $500,000 for the construction of a main building, "same to be constructed on the campus now used and occupied by the said University, and nowhere else." This gift, moreover, was to be made only on the condition that the Board of Regents pass a resolution "that the location of the University shall not be removed from its present position in the City of Austin, Texas." In addition, he provided for a girls' dormitory, costing as much as $300,000, to be constructed on lots he owned adjoining the campus. The dormitory was to be built and then deeded to the university, "such deed to provide that the property shall revert to my estate if the Main University shall 14 15

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Austin Daily Statesman, 10 November 1921. Ibid., 15 November 1921.

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45 within 21 years after my death be changed from its present location near my home in Austin, Texas." He left $200,000 for the erection of "a massive bronze arch over the south entrance to the campus of the University of Texas," which arch was to give prominence to statues of his particular array of heroes; and only hours before he died he threw in one last incentive to peg down the university on its original site. He gave his mansion adjoining the campus to the university, subject to Mrs. Littlefield's life interest.16 "No document . . . so thoroughly illustrates the measure of Littlefield^ character and mind as his last will and testament," says his biographer Haley. It sets forth in bold relief "his refusal to risk anything of his own, even after he was dead, to the faulty judgement, frailty, perverseness, or cupidity of others."17 Certainly, it made clear in the most forceful way his wishes in regard to the university. The will threw Brackenridge into a quandary, as Littlefield intended, and possibly shortened his life. To carry out his plans would mean to forfeit the larger portion of Littlefield's bequest to the university, something that went against the grain of a practical man. Moreover, if he provoked that forfeiture, it behooved him to replace the loss, something he could not afford to do in late 1920. His fortune, far from being the $3 or $4 million that Vinson estimated, was less than $1.5 million, including his home, personal effects, and household furnishings.18 If he forced the removal and gave all of his assets toward the new buildings, he could do little more than compensate for the loss of the Littlefield gifts; and to give all to the university would mean to neglect kinsmen, dependents, and others who expected to be remembered in his will. Brackenridge wrestled with the problem, adding his assets, reading his will, and worrying a great deal (an attendant recalled later) about money. He grew desperately ill early in December, so ill that Dr. Harper, in alarm, wrote Vinson, asking him to come. Brackenridge FOR ALL TIME TO COME

16

Littlefield's will is printed in "Two Interesting Wills," Alcalde 10 (November

1922): 1513-1517. 17

J. Evetts Haley, George W. Littlefield, Texan, p. 271. Inventory and Appraisal of the Estate of George W. Brackenridge, Deceased, 13 April 1921, copy furnished by Gilbert M. Denman, Jr., San Antonio, Texas. 18

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wanted to go over his will with Vinson, but when Vinson arrived, Brackenridge was too ill to talk to him. Vinson remained at Fernridge for three days—8, 9, and 10 December—and then departed, promising to return when Brackenridge recovered. Brackenridge improved sufficiently by 15 December to summon Vinson again. The two of them went over the will, the original in Denman's handwriting and the eight codicils in Brackenridge's. They talked at length about rewriting it, but when Vinson departed on 18 December, he had seen no evidence of a new one.19 Nor, apparently, had Brackenridge revealed the depleted state of his fortune or his dilemma. Vinson returned to Austin with plans for the Brackenridge campus still swirling in his head and with high expectations for the board's meeting in January. As matters developed, the decision between the Littlefield fortune and the new campus was made for Brackenridge. Three days after Christmas, he visited the office of the Express, one of his favorite haunts during his last years. Then he returned to Fernridge where in the evening hours he quietly crossed from life to death, thus discovering for himself the secret of the hereafter that had troubled his mind for so many years. The following day the Express informed San Antonians that their leading citizen had died. Kinsmen, friends, and associates gathered to pay their last respects. And in due time a special train transported the funeral party to Jackson County where his casket was lifted over the gateless fence and where Robert Vinson gave a eulogy: "It has never been my pleasure to know intimately to so great an extent a more kindly, yet broad and intelligent man."20 Brackenridge vacillated on the last big decision that confronted him. "I am determined to make no change in my will," he told Fred Huntress, a statement that indicates a decision in favor of the Littlefield fortune. But two other witnesses later testified under oath that 19 Robert E. Vinson, "Dr. Vinson's Letter," Alcalde 9 (February 1922): 10471048; and San Antonio Express, 26 December 1921. 20 Austin Daily Statesman, 2 January 1921.

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he wrote a new will in the days preceding his death, and on the day he died he spoke hopefully of the new campus.21 Apparently, he never reached a firm decision. Vinson believed that Brackenridge intended to write a new will, and two courts later ruled that he wrote one. But if he did, and if it provided for the new campus, he did not follow Major Littlefield's example in taking proper measures to insure its execution. The new will was never produced for probate. If there was one, Brackenridge destroyed it, someone else did, or it was in some manner lost forever. Whether by intent, default, or carelessness, Brackenridge spelled the doom of his dream. The Austin paper reported that his death "came as a shock to the administrative staff of the University of Texas," an observation that stands as a gross understatement.22 His death left Vinson to carry on the big-campus fight alone, and, as Vinson undoubtedly realized with the first shock, without proper ammunition. As Vinson stood at the new grave in Jackson County, he knew that the will he had seen less than two weeks before made no provisions for the new campus, indeed, made no bequest whatever to the University of Texas. Unless Brackenridge had written a new one between 18 December and the time of his death, the Brackenridge fortune was lost to the university. It was a thought Vinson found hard to accept. On the funeral train he addressed a few hopeful inquiries to the estate's trustees. Had Colonel Brackenridge, perchance, written a new will? Or had he set aside a trust fund for the purchase of land adjoining the river tract?23 The answers were discouraging, but the man who had fought and beat Jim Ferguson on his own ground did not give up easily. The university needed a bigger campus; the removal to the Brackenridge tract was the logical solution; the campaign to move it had already been planned. Publicly, Vinson admitted that plans for the removal were so much Brackenridge's that it was hard to adjust himself to the 21 22 23

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San Antonio Express, 29 December 1920, and 26, 29 December 1921. Austin Daily Statesman, 29 December 1920. San Antonio Express, 26, 28, 29 December 1921.

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necessity of carrying them out alone, but adjust he did.24 Clinging to hope and keeping his misgivings to himself, he proceeded as scheduled. The campaign was planned to coincide with the convening of the legislature, and already rumors circulated that the removal was among the matters to come before that body. On 4 January 1921, Vinson spoke to the local Rotarians, warning them to prepare for an important announcement from the regents;25 and the next day the regents, meeting at his office instead of at Fernridge, unanimously adopted a memorial proposing the removal of the university to the Brackenridge tract. The regents, among them H. A. Wroe, one of Littlefield's trustees and major beneficiaries, proposed further that the state purchase the old campus for state offices, with the resulting funds going for the new university buildings.26 The following day, the local paper carried blazing headlines: "University Gets Brackenridge Fortune." There followed the story that Brackenridge had left $3 million and possibly more to the university and had added 300 acres to the river tract.27 This story was calculated to stampede public opinion in favor of the new campus, but it was completely erroneous. Undoubtedly, its substance and the timing of its release had been planned before Brackenridge's death as a part of the removal campaign and for the purpose of silencing opposition. That it did. An auxiliary story noted that some $1.25 million of Littlefield's bequest would be annulled automatically if the university were moved, but Brackenridge's alleged bequest outbid Littlefield's actual legacy, and the initial reaction to the regents' proposal was favorable. Within two weeks, however, the truth was out. On 10 January, the Austin Statesman cautioned that the Brackenridge will left less than expected to the university, and there could be no more illusions after the filing on 17 January of the 1913 will in Denman's handwriting with its eight codicils in Brackenridge's. The University of Texas was not mentioned as a beneficiary. Rather, Brackenridge had placed his estate in trust, providing life incomes for certain relatives, dependents, ^Austin Daily Statesman, 29 December 1920. Ibid., 4 January 1921. 26 Ibid., 5 January 1921; and Board of Regents, Minutes, vol. E, pp. 424-427. 27 Austin Daily Statesman, 6 January 1921. 25

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and friends, and specifying that the remainder be used for educational purposes. Circumstances had changed between 1913 when Denman wrote the will and 1918 when Brackenridge added the last codicil. His fortune had diminished; he had changed his mind about some of the beneficiaries; Leroy Denman had died, and his son and successor trustee, Leroy, Jr., had gone off to war. With each change, Brackenridge had written a new codicil, but always without benefit of legal counsel. Thus, there was some question as to his intent at certain points. But one thing was clear: the University of Texas was not named as a beneficiary. Moreover, Brackenridge specifically requested that none of the educational funds be used for buildings.28 With the filing of the will, Vinson faced up to reality, but without breaking step. "We are not going to get the Brackenridge fortune for expansion," he told Walter Long. "Well, Dr. Vinson, what are you going to do now?" Long asked. "I am going straight ahead," was the reply.29 This Vinson did. As planned, Governor William P. Hobby presented the regents' memorial to the legislature with a favorable recommendation, and a bill was introduced for the removal. Even without the Brackenridge millions, Vinson garnered substantial backing. The local papers gave him a sympathetic hearing; the regents stood firmly behind him; Governor Hobby lent sturdy support, as did Will Hogg; and an impressive number of alumni, called upon to voice opinions, opted in favor of the Brackenridge campus.30 But as the mirage of the Brackenridge fortune vanished, a very real opposition took shape. The erroneous headlines that had initially silenced opposition backfired on Vinson, leaving him open to charges of deliberate misrepresentation. Boarding houses, churches, and businesses established to serve the university set up a howl at the prospect of lost investments; sentimental alumni recalled memories of youthful days on the forty acres; businessmen challenged Vinson's figures as to the cost of moving the campus, while attorneys questioned the 28 Bexar County, Probate Minutes, vol. 102, pp. 597-598, no. 11,087, San Antonio, Texas; and "Two Interesting Wills," pp. 1518-1522. 29 Long, For All Time to Come, p. 50. 30 Alcalde 8 (February 1921): 296-308.

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validity of the deed to the Brackenridge tract. And thrift-conscious Texans throughout the state, then in the throes of the depression that followed World War I, asked the most pertinent question: If there was no Brackenridge fortune, why lose the Littlefield one by moving the campus?31 The opposition laid a counterproposal before the legislature. Instead of moving the university, why not enlarge it at its present site, thus saving the Littlefield bequest and making use of its existing facilities? This proposal picked up considerable support, and, as lines formed on the issue of removal versus enlargement, yet another proposal was introduced before the legislature. If the removal of the university were desirable, why keep it in the vicinity of Austin? Let any city that would guarantee a contribution of $10 million and 500 acres for the cause place its name on a ballot, and let the voters of the state decide the location.32 This third proposal shook the city of Austin, united it, and turned it against Robert Vinson, the man who had opened up the Pandora's box. Many old-timers could remember the original fight over the location when Austin had won in a spirited contest with several other contenders. No one in Austin relished the prospect of another such battle, nor the possibility of losing the university altogether. Nor were local misgivings laid to rest when two former governors, neither a particular friend to the university, jumped into the fray. *'Agitation for the removal of the Texas University is unexpedient, unwise and dangerous to the City of Austin,'' observed O. B. Colquitt,33 while Jim Ferguson endorsed the idea. "The idea of moving the university is what I have advocated all along," he wrote in Ferguson's Forum. "I am willing to waive all my prejudice against higher education and withdraw all I ever said about the university if they will move it away from Austin." He then offered 2,500 acres in Bos31 32 33

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Ibid., pp. 291-294. Texas, Legislature, Senate, Journal, 37th Legis., Regular Session, pp. 279-280. Quoted in Long, For All Time to Come, p. 55.

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que County and promised to raise $1 million for new buildings if the university were moved there.34 As the controversy waxed hot, Vinson became the "most disliked,, almost hated man in Austin," Long remembered. Broadsides vilifying him circulated at the capitol; his dream was labeled a "nightmare"; and one legislator rose in the house to ask facetious questions: "Mr. Speaker, just what sort of institution is this for which we are asked to provide a campus? Is it a university or a goat ranch?"35 The fight was in fact lost when Brackenridge failed to rewrite his will to counteract Littlefield's. Vinson undoubtedly knew this, but he stuck to his position until Lee Satterwhite, the leader of the fight in the House of Representatives, told him bluntly that the bill for removal would be defeated. But Satterwhite offered an alternative. If Vinson would take a map of the city of Austin and outline the boundaries of an adequate campus adjacent to the forty acres, possibly a bill providing for the acquisition of the land could be pushed through the legislature.36 Vinson had no choice but to accept. He marked the map, and a compromise bill passed easily. By 1 April, the governor had signed the bill, and arrangements were under way to acquire the additional land. As the dust settled, the Alcalde, the alumni organ, took a bright view of the entire affair, as though Vinson had used the threat of removal as a lever to bring about enlargement. "Had President Vinson or anyone else asked for $250,000 to buy land for the enlargement of the campus it would have been turned down," said the Alcalde. "It took the contest we had to awaken interest of the legislature to the University's needs."37 But Vinson did not subscribe to that view. He had expended all the good will toward him in Austin in the fight and made his position 34

Quoted in Alcalde 8 (February 1921): 308-309. Long, For All Time to Come, p. 58; and Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar,"* p. 294. 36 Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," p. 294. 37 Alcalde 9 (April 1921): 462. 35

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there untenable. In 1923 he turned in his resignation and departed to become president of Western Reserve University in Ohio. Sixteen years later he still had no regrets, nor could he muster enthusiasm for the outcome. "It was a noble fight," he recalled. "It was a compromise, made with regret, the sacrifice of a golden dream, but there it is."38 One supreme irony climaxed the big campus fight. In the same month that Brackenridge's will was filed for probate, the discovery oil well Turney No. 10 was brought in on land adjoining vast stretches of university land in west Texas. The following year, only weeks after Vinson resigned as president, the Santa Rita oil well on university lands blew in, bringing with it a new era of prosperity for the institution.39 These were the seemingly worthless lands that Brackenridge had husbanded so carefully during his first years as regent. At his own expense he had compiled abstracts of the lands and filed them in the regents' office, a contribution that brought him his first official vote of appreciation from his fellow regents. Thus, through foresight and service rather than through direct bequest, he had provided for the new campus. Had he lived a few years longer, had the timing of the fight been different, possibly his dream would have become a reality. As it was, there was no question who won the war for the campus. Littlefield was the clear victor. The main building for which he provided took shape as a soaring tower that became a landmark on a par with the capitol in Austin. The entrance he envisioned took the form of a mall dotted with his heroes and centered by a fountain of mustangs. The Wrenn Library became the nucleus of a rare book collection, and the Littlefield fund provided a collection of Southern history that had few rivals. The spirit of Major Littlefield brooded over the campus as bland brick buildings surrounded, without dominating, his red, turreted castle. By contrast, the tangible signs of Brackenridge's association with the campus disappeared. B Hall gave way to the wrecker's ball; the library moved from the building he and Terrell had dedicated to 38 39

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Vinson, "University Crosses the Bar," p. 294. Austin Daily Statesman, 16 January 1921.

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Littlefield's tower; and his portrait, as if to concede his defeat, moved with the library to become one in a row of portraits outside the regents' office. His name became best known as the label on a low-cost student housing project. Littlefield won the contest, but the passing of time vindicated Brackenridge's position. During the half century after the removal fight, the university remained chronically in the throes of expensive and painful expansion as the enrollment climbed toward forty thousand. The campus burst beyond the Littlefield mall, making it an inner part of the grounds rather than the main entrance; traffic jammed the service streets; parking became a major problem; buildings covered every available space and then stretched upward, some of them grotesquely, as the institution sought to accommodate its numbers. But at the river tract time passed lightly. It remained much as it had been when Brackenridge departed. Where his will had shown indecision, the deed to the land showed only firm intent. For a long generation—as long as one of the children named in the deed survived—the land could be used only for university purposes, this on pain of forfeiture to the public schools of Jackson County. And those children had been chosen for their long-lived ancestors. Succeeding regents handled the property gingerly and kept a discreet eye on the children as the years passed. One board leased a portion of the land for a municipal golf course and another planned an apartment project. This latter brought questions about the land title from the finance agency. Thus, the board pushed laws through the state legislature that resulted in the purchase of Jackson County's reversionary interest in 1966. Even so, fifty years after Brackenridge's death, the tract stood virtually undeveloped, and, if Littlefield's spirit brooded over the original forty acres, Brackenridge's brooded over his river tract, the campus that might have been. The campus fight was not the only contest that grew out of Brackenridge's indecisiveness in his final weeks. In the wake of his death,, Vinson waited hopefully but in vain for a new will to appear that would provide for the university. When none did, he accepted as fact that none had been written.40 But some of Brackenridge's kinsmen ^Vinson, "Letter," Alcalde 9 (February 1922): 1047-1048.

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were less willing to accept the 1913 will as the final one. When it was filed for probate, two of his nieces contested it, claiming that he had written a new one by hand during his last weeks. In the court proceedings that followed, they produced witnesses who testified that they had seen Brackenridge writing the will and had seen his signature on it. According to law, if a new will had been written, it superceded and voided the previous one; and if the new will could not be produced, then Brackenridge had died intestate. Thus, his estate would go to his legal heirs. The contest of the will launched a long legal battle that remained in the courts until after Mary Eleanor's death in 1924. Not until the year after she died did the trustees and heirs settle out of court and the 1913 will go through probate. The trustees then placed the estate in trust to form the George W. Brackenridge Foundation, the first such foundation in Texas, and one of the first in the United States. Indeed, Brackenridge planned his foundation in the same year, 1913, that the Rockefeller Foundation was established, and when there were only a few other similar trusts, the most notable being the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, the Milbank Memorial, and the Russell Sage Foundation.41 Brackenridge's will specified that, after the payment of the personal bequests, the income of his estate be accumulated until the trust equalled the net worth of his estate before the payment of death taxes and other expenses. Thereafter, the income was to be used for "the assistance of deserving young citizens of the United States" in obtaining an education or for "their moral and intellectual advancement."42 During the early decades of the foundation's existence, as it recovered from the long court battle, paid the personal bequests, and weathered the Great Depression, its chief activity was the administration of a revolving student loan program. This program followed the pat41

The Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching and the Milbank Memorial Fund were established in 1905; the Russell Sage Foundation was formed in 1907. Carnegie later established the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1910) and the Carnegie Corporation (1911). For a listing of foundations, their purposes and donors, see Wilmer Shields Rice and Neva R. Deardorff, American Foundations and Their Fields. 42 "Two Interesting Wills," pp. 1521-1522.

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tern set by Brackenridge during his life, with the recipients agreeing to repay "when circumstances permit." Several thousand students benefited from this program. During the lean years of the 1930's, a significant percentage of students in black colleges in Texas and in the University of Texas Medical School at Galveston were able to complete their education only through the loans. During this same period, the foundation also granted funds for scholarships to be administered by the student aid offices of various colleges and universities, among them, the University of Texas, Saint Mary's University, San Antonio College, Saint Philip's College, Trinity University, Our Lady of the Lake, and almost every black college in Texas. Early in the 1960^ the foundation adopted a fresh approach. By then most of the individuals for whom Brackenridge had provided lifetime incomes had died, and a new era of prosperity had enhanced the income of the foundation and at the same time made loans less attractive to college students. Convinced that scholarship aid rather than loan aid would more effectively abet the cause of education, the trustees phased out the loan program. In 1963 they inaugurated in its stead the "Brackenridge Scholarship Program" which provided a four-year scholarship annually for one or more graduates of each public high school in Bexar County. Each Brackenridge Scholar went to the college of his choice, and if the scholarship did not adequately meet his needs, then additional assistance was made available. Seven years after this program began, the trustees pointed with satisfaction at its achievements. More than one hundred undergraduates were enrolled in institutions of higher learning as Brackenridge Scholars, and the first university graduate held a Phi Beta Kappa key, a masters degree in mathematics, and a responsible position in the space program at Houston. As prospective scholars competed only with their own classmates rather than with students from schools of perhaps higher academic standards, some students had received college degrees who otherwise would have lacked the opportunity. Moreover, the competition for the scholarships had stimulated interest in higher education on the part of students who otherwise would have considered it beyond their reach. The trustees also established endowed scholarships at the Univer-

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sity of Texas Medical School at San Antonio and at Trinity University. During the i96o's they funded a number of experimental approaches to educational problems, among them, a program for handicapped children, a study hall project for potential school dropouts, a bilingual experiment for Mexican-American children, various library projects, a safety program in the San Antonio schools, an urban studies program at Trinity University, and a program called "Unlimited Potential" designed to "unlock the child's imagination and enlarge his problem-solving abilities." "The rapid proliferation of distress signals from our moment in history provides the strongest motivation for grant activity on the part of the Foundation," the trustees said of these programs. "The Foundation has not limited itself to the safe and the sane, but continues to seek out the untried, the new, and the more imaginative in educational opportunities."43 This philosophy was in keeping with that of the man who established the foundation and whose deepest yearning was to leave the world a better place for his having lived in it. More than the monument lost in the woods of Jackson County, more than the undeveloped river campus in Austin, even more than the park in San Antonio with its Coppini statue, the students—past, present, and future—for whose education he provided are his memorial. 43 See the George W. Brackenridge Foundation, A Fifty-Year Review and Annual Report for 1970 [no pagination].

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INDEX Alcalde: 251 Algodones, Los: George Brackenridge and, 37; peak period of, 48; profits earned by Brackenridge and Bates during, 50 Allen, Wilber: 232-233 Alligator Garden: 163 American Colonization Society: 133 American National Bank: First National of Austin as competition for, 194; university fellows fund transferred to, 199-200; withdrawal of state funds from, 233; mentioned, 117 Andrew Carnegie Foundation: 16, 254 Aransas Pass, Texas: 44, 57 artesian wells: 155 Austin, Texas: railroads of, 107; attitude of, toward William Sidney Porter, 123; waterworks of, 131; mentioned, 28. SEE ALSO First National Bank of Austin Austin Bible Society: i n Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary: 226 Austin Statesman: 248 Baffin's Bay: 43 Baker, George: 93 Ball, W . B.: 167 banking industry: development of, in United States, 88, 89-90; history of, in Texas, 88-89, 91; federal system of, 90; federal supervision of, 90, 116, 118-119; and railroads, 105; effect of W . S. Porter's embezzlement conviction on, 123-124. SEE ALSO First National Bank of Austin; National City Bank of New York; San Antonio Loan

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and Trust Company; San Antonio National Bank Bank of the United States: 93 Banks, Nathaniel P.: 57-58, 63 Banshee (ship): 82 Barnes, George W.: 128 Barton, Clara: 12, 13-14 Bastrop, Texas: 28 Bates, James H.: journey of, to Texas, 22; mercantile operations of, 23, 4 1 ; romance of, with Eleanor Brackenridge, 26, 38, 59; Civil War cotton dealings of, 41, 50; declining health of, 42; death of, 49, 59; estate of, 4 9 50; control of Brackenridge and Bates shares owned by, 80-81 Bates, Taylor: 41, 50 Baton Rouge, Louisiana: 76 Battle, William J.: as acting president of University of Texas, 223; budgetary discussions of, with Ferguson, 225; attempts of Ferguson to fire, 228, 229; resignation of, from University of Texas, 231; invitation to, to return to University of Texas, 236 Batts, R. L.: 226, 233 Baylor University: 173 Bedichek, Roy: 174, 184 Belden, S. A.: 93 Bell, David: 91 Bell, Spurgeon: 184 Bell County, Texas: 224 Benavides, Santos: 70 Benedict, H. Y.: 169, 176, 184 Benhur, Texas: 241 Bettina, Texas: 8 B Hall: Brackenridge's donation of, to University of Texas, 182; influence of,

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on residents, 183-184; demolition of, 185; regents and, 200 bimetallism: 176 blacks: George Brackenridge on, 10, 88, 166, 242; education of, as philanthropy of George Brackenridge, 134, 166; lynching of, 241-242 blockade: effectiveness of, 38, 43, 44; tightening of, 46-47; evasion of, by George Brackenridge, 80 Blocker, J. R.: 98 Boca del Rio, Mexico: 47 Boy Bill: 41 Brackenridge, Elizabeth Ann: 21, 26-27 Brackenridge, George Washington: family monument erected by, 4, 14, 208; Civil War activities of, 5, 7, 34-3 5> 37, 50, 52-53, 55, 57, 69, 78, 79; contributions of, to University of Texas, 6, 15, 182, 185, 186, 190, 200, 201, 234-235, 237, 252; San Antonio park donated by, 6, 144, 148, 157, 160, 161-164; as regent of University of Texas, 7, 29, 87, 164, 166, 170-178, 182-183, 197, 198, 199, 236, 238, 241, 244; and San Antonio Water Works Company, 9, 130, 131, 132, 148, 151, 154-155, 203; on philanthropy, 9-10, 15, 16; advocacy of women's rights by, 10, 12-13, 88, 101, 144, 194; on prohibition, 10, 88, 148, 161, 194; on black rights, 10, 88, 166, 242; on religion, 11, 12, 27, 134, 142, 148; and Clara Barton, 12, 13-14; family life of, 13, 59, 61, 81, 109, 126; foundation of, 15-16, 254-258; birth of, 19; work of, with Treasury Department, 20, 56, 57, 58-59, 61-64, 66y 69, 72-73, 76-79; education of, 22, 31, 34; business interests of, 23, 28, 29-30, 81, 102, 135-136, 138; romantic interests of, 26, 135, 137; introduction of, to Sam Houston, 28; friendships of, 28, 29, 85-86, 100, 171, 227; as surveyor of Jackson County, 30; on secession, 34-36; cotton trading during Civil War by, 37, 41, 79-80, 81, 83; relationship of, with Charles Stillman, 46, 48, 64, 79-84, 93-94; as executor of James H. Bates's estate, 49; escape of, to Washington,

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INDEX D.C., 55-56; as marshal of eastern Texas, 85; political attitudes of, 8 5 86, 231; and cattle industry, 97, 98, 215; banking philosophy of, 97, 99; and San Antonio Loan and Trust, 100, 124, 199-200, 204, 205, 213, 214; and National City Bank of New York, 102, 115; relationship of, with city of San Antonio, 102, 129, 147-148, 150, 157; service of, on San Antonio School Board, 102, 148, 165, 169; and First National Bank of Austin, 104, 106, 108-112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 124; and William Sidney Porter, 124-125; homes of, 127, 139, 140, 141, 142-143, 152, 208; Lucy Handy raised by, 132-133; support of education by, 134, 157, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 178-180, 185, 200; relationship of, with Georgina Brackenridge Spooner, 138-139; attitude of, toward widows, 139; travels of, 141, 207, 212; and San Antonio Country Club, 148, 205; as newspaper publisher, 148, 205, 213; image of, among San Antonio citizens, 149, 152; and Coppini public water fountains, 159-160; on fine arts, 160-161; as member of Freedmen's Bureau, 166; efforts of, to further education of women, 166, 177178, 180; and school libraries, 169— 170; commitment of, to academic freedom, 175; and political influence at University of Texas, 175, 219; abstract of University of Texas lands financed by, 181; gift of Colorado River tract to University of Texas by, 186, 188, 190, 197, 244; big campus plan of, 187-191, 238-239, 244-250; relationship of, with George W . Littlefield, 193, 194, 199, 241, 245; and San Antonio Express, 205, 213; resemblance of, to Robert E. Lee, 213; will of, 218, 246, 247, 251, 254; death of, 246. SEE ALSO San Antonio National Bank Brackenridge, Isabella Helena McCullough: marriage of, to John Adams Brackenridge, 19; care of orphans by, 126; move to San Antonio by, 126; sale of Jackson County plantation by, 137; death of, 140; mentioned, 17

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INDEX Brackenridge, James Madison: birth of, 21, law studied by, 31; service of, in Confederate Army, 36, 50, 58; and First National Bank of Austin, 108; marriage of, n o ; death of, 207; mentioned, 17, 18 Brackenridge, John: 17-18 Brackenridge, John Adams: epitaph of, 5; Unionist sentiments of, 5, 35; birth of, 19; legal career of, 19; association of, with Abraham Lincoln, 5, 19-21; move of, to Texas, 21-23; and Brackenridge and Bates, 23, 25, 80; home built by, 25; life of, in Texas, 25-27; religious beliefs of, 27; relationship of, with elder sons, 27-28; Civil War cotton dealings of, 41; declining health of, 42; death of, 49; banking activities of, 89; mentioned, 17, 18, 190 Brackenridge, John Thomas ( T o m ) : birth of, 19; journey of, to Texas, 22; mercantile operations of, 23, 31; in Civil War, 36-38, 41, 42, 50, 56-61; and George Brackenridge, 59, 109; gubernatorial candidacy of, 87-88; and San Antonio National Bank, 91, 101; and First National Bank of Austin, 105, 108, 109, 112, 117; school named for, 167; death of, 207, 208; mentioned, 18, 127 Brackenridge, Lenora Helena: 21, 139, 241 Brackenridge, Mary Eleanor: destruction of George Brackenridge's papers by, 7; and San Antonio National Bank, 13, 101; birth of, 21; and James H. Bates, 26, 38, 59; family life of, 26, 81, 138, 210; as heir of Bates's estate, 49; and women's club movement, 126, 133; residence of, 126, 205; friendship of, with Sara Agnes Pinney, 133; travels of, 141; on prohibition, 161; patronage of education by, 170; death of, 254; mentioned, 18 Brackenridge, Robert John: birth of, 21; career plans of, 31; service of, in Confederate Army, 36, 50, 58; as clerk for Brackenridge and Bates, 4 1 ; capture of, by Federal troops, 61; and First National Bank of Austin, 105, 108, 109; marriage of, n o ; civic

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activities of, in Austin, i n ; death of, 241; mentioned, 17 Brackenridge, Thomas Jefferson: 18 Brackenridge and Bates: formation of, 23; prosperity of, 41; profits made by, in Civil War, 48; dissolution of, 50, 81; Jackson County on, 51; wartime accounts of, 80; banking activities of, 89 Brackenridge cemetery: location of, 3 4; monument in, 4-5, 14, 208; burial of Mrs. Brackenridge in, 140; burial of George Brackenridge in, 246 Brackenridge Club House: 182 Brackenridge family: popularity of, in Jackson County, 5; activities of, during Civil War, 5, 32; move to Texas by, 20, 23

Brackenridge Grammar School :i69 Brackenridge High School: 169 Brackenridge Loan Fund for Women in Architecture, Law, and Medicine: 180, 200

Brackenridge Park: donation of, to San Antonio, 15, 102, 144, 148, 157, 161, 164; statue of George Brackenridge in, 160; conditions of donation of, 161; development of, by Ludwig Mahncke, 162; entrances to, 163; renaming of, 164; mentioned, 6, 16 Brackenridge School: 166 Brackenridge Tract: donation of, to University of Texas, 187-191, 197; stipulations in deed of, 190, 253; control of, given to George Littlefield, 199; plans for removal of University of Texas campus to, 238-239, 244-250 Brady, John W . : 230, 232 Brann, W . C : 115 Bremond, Eugene: 106 Brownsville, Texas: and Civil War cotton trade, 43; Banks at, 63; as refuge for Mexican revolutionaries, 63; Andrew Jackson Hamilton at, 64; mentioned, 37, 38 Brownwood, Texas: 229 Bullington, Orville: 172 Burges, W . H.: 54 Callaghan, Bryan: election of, as mayor of San Antonio, 151; and city water

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272 works, 152; resignation of, 156; renaming of Brackenridge Park by, 164 Campbell, Thomas M.: 196 Camp Independence: 23 Capitol Bank and Trust Company: 125 Carloco (ship): 82 Carnegie, Andrew: 16 Caruthers, J. J.: 43 cattle industry: George Brackenridge on, 91, 147; effect of, on Reconstruction economics, 96; San Antonio Na* tional Bank's backing of, 96-97; financial requirements of, 99; and First National Bank of Austin, 108; boom in, i n Central Bank and Trust Company: 125 Chase, Salmon P.: 72, 90 cholera: 130, 151 Chollet, Mother Madeleine: 142-144 Chrysler Anderson and Company: 95 City National Bank of Austin: 114 Civil War: activities of Brackenridge family during, 5, 35, 36, 38, 42, 50, 56-61; George Brackenridge's activities in, 5, 7, 34-35, 37, 50, 52-53, 55, 57, 69, 78, 79; trade problems during, 5, 39-4i, 47, 48, 61, 70; banking in Texas during, 89; influence of, on University of Texas development, 171, 191

Clark, Robert: 93 Cofer, R. E.: 229 College of New Jersey: 19 Colquitt, Oscar Branch: campaign of, for governor, 195-196; appointments of, to University of Texas Board of Regents, 196-197; action of, against A & M Board of Directors, 220; veto of higher education appropriations by, 221; opinion of, on moving University of Texas campus, 250 Commerce Street, San Antonio: 153 Commercial and Agricultural Bank: 89 Confederacy: service of Brackenridges to, 5, 36, 42, 50, 56-61; George Littlefield's service to, 33, 192-193; Sam Houston and, 33; R. E. Lee and, 34; Federal blockade of, 38; and cotton, 40; confiscation of property of, 74 Connally, Tom: 184 Cook, Abner: 107

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INDEX Cook, Fred: 227, 229 Coppini, Pompeo: on San Antonio, 147; design of, for public water fountains, 159-160; bust of Dr. Herff modeled by, 160; statue of George Brackenridge done by, 160; and entrance arch for University of Texas, 240 Corpus Christi, Texas: 43 cotton: sale of, during Civil War, 5, 3941, 70; and Brackenridge family, 37, 41-45; and Confederate foreign policy, 40; price of, during Civil War, 6 1 62; trade of, by Union Army members, 62; availability of, during Civil War, 67; reports of, in Red River area, 71; marketing of, after Civil War, 75; role of, in building Brackenridge fortune, 80-83; sale of, to Charles Stillman, 81 Cotton and Owings: 43 Crystal Ice Company: 155 Culberson, Charles: 119 Culberson, Robert Upton: 119-120, 121 currency: 88-89 Cutler, O. N.: 77 Dabney, Robert: 171 Dallas Morning News: 220, 222 Dana, Charles A.: 62 Dana, N . J. T.: command of Brownsville by, 57; and Treasury agency scandal, 65-66; and Rio Grande expedition, 67, 68, 70; on George Brackenridge's integrity, 79; on Brackenridge-Stillman friendship, 81 Darwin, Charles: n Davis, Edmund J.: kidnapping of, 64; and expedition up Rio Grande, 67, 69, 71; friendship of, with George Brackenridge, 85-86; and establishment of state of West Texas, 86; removal of San Antonio mayor and city council by, 129 Davis, Jefferson: 240 Degener, Edward: 91 Democratic party: 87 Denison, George S.: 72-73, 88 Denman, Leroy : and deed for transfer of Colorado River property, 190; career of, 204; misrepresentation of bank

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273

INDEX stock to, 216; death of, 231, 249; mentioned, 53 Denman, Sue Carpenter: 139, 216 depression of 1893: 114 Dickinson College: 18 Dorsch, Ernest: 204 Doughty, Walter Francis: 226 Douglass School: 166 Durango, Mexico: 37 Eager Building: 95 Eagle Pass, Texas: 38, 68 East St. Louis, Illinois: 241 Edna, Texas: 3, 14, 144 education: George Brackenridge's tributions to, 134, 157, 164, 165, 167, 168, 169, 178-180, 185, Mary Eleanor Brackenridge and, SEE ALSO University of Texas Emmett, Chris: 184 Erskine, Alexander: 190 Ex-Students Association: 230, 233 "Eyes of Texas, The": 184

con166, 200; 170.

Faber, Rabbi M.: 230 Fenwick, Marin: 207 Ferguson, James E.: and University of Texas, 6, 220, 224, 225, 226, 228229, 230, 234; on George Littlefield, 192; election of, as governor of Texas, 223; on education, 224; on prohibition, 224; career of, 224; support for R. L. Batts by, 226; second term of, 230; and University of Texas Ex-Students Association, 230; student demonstration against, 232; attempts of, to obtain resignation of Vinson, 232234; impeachment of, 236; opinion of, on moving University of Texas campus, 250; mentioned, 184 Ferguson's Forum: 250 "Fernridge": 208. SEE ALSO Head-of-theRiver Fessenden, William P.: 74 First National Bank of Austin: confidential report on, to James Stillman, 94; establishment of, 102, 104-105, 106; W . S. Porter's embezzlement of funds from, 102, 105, 112, 113, 116, 119; failure of, 104, 125; George Brackenridge and, 104, 106, 108-112,

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114-115, 116, 124; construction of building for, 107; opening of, 107; livestock loans made by, 108; management of, i n , 114, 122-123; sale of, 113, 115, 124; financial examination of, 116; financial assistance to, by George Brackenridge, 118; as competition for American National Bank, 194; mentioned, 117 First National Bank of Galveston: 88, 95 First National Bank of Houston: 9$ First National Bank of Kansas City: 106 First National Bank of New Orleans: 72, 88 First National Bank of San Antonio. SEE San Antonio National Bank First Presbyterian Church, Washington, D. C : 18 Flanders, Benjamin F.: appointment of George Brackenridge as assistant to, 57; purpose of Rio Grande expedition explained to, 69; and First National Bank of New Orleans, 72; Louisiana gubernatorial campaign of, 72; relationship of, with George Brackenridge, 76; as Treasury agent, 79 Flour Bluff, Texas: 43 Ford, John Salmon: 45 Foreman, Percy: 184 Fort Mason: 33-34 Fort Pillow: 118 Fort Sumter: 32 Foster, M. E.: 184 Franklin, Thomas H.: 10, 53, 168, 204 Freedman's Bureau: 166 Freeman, Walter R.: 131 French, James H.: 152 French Building: 95 "Friends at San Rosario": 116-118 Galvan, Jeremiah: 48, 82 Galveston, Texas: 5, 77, 89 Garcia Library of Latin American History: 201, 227 George, Henry: 8 George W . Brackenridge Foundation: establishment of, 15-16, 254; student loan program of, 254; scholarships given by, 255, 258; funding of experimental education projects by, 256 German-English School: 168

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2

74

Gettysburg: 47, 53 Gonzales County, Texas: 33 Goodnight, Charles: 98 Gould, Robert S.: 171 Graham, R. Niles: 189 Grant, Ulysses S.: 139 Gray, F. B.: 117, 119 Greenwood, Regent: 191 Groos, Franz: 168 Guadalupe Baptist Association: 167 Guadalupe Colored College: 167-168 Guadalupe County, Texas: 204 Haley, J. Evetts: 192 Hall, Charlton: 185 Hamilton, Alexander: 93 Hamilton, Andrew Jackson: friendship of, with George Brackenridge, 28, 85; on secession, 34; plan of, for Civil War invasion of Texas, 56; and Banks expedition, 57; appointment of, as provisional governor of Texas, 57, 77; clash of, with Dana, 63-64; arrival of, at Brownsville, 64 Hamilton, Frank: 115, 120, 122 Hammond, Senator: 40 Hancock, George: 106 Handy, Lucy: 132-133 Hanover College: 22 Harcourt, Elizabeth: 190 Harper, Mary: schooling of, financed by George Brackenridge, 197, 210; travels of, with George Brackenridge, 207, 243 Harrell, David: 229, 230 Harvard Law School: 31, 34 Havana, Cuba: 48 Head-of-the-River: sale of, 102, 1 4 1 144, 205; description of, 127-128, 140; and San Antonio water supply, 128-130; entertaining at, 132-133; Ulysses S. Grant's visit to, 139; fate of, 144; building of, 170, 208; mentioned, 138, 155, 161 Henderson, Thomas S.: 196, 197 Henry, O. SEE Porter, William Sidney Henry, Regent: 191 Herbert, Jasper K.: 65-66 Herff, Adolph: 210 Herff, Ferdinand: and George Brackenridge, 8; and San Antonio National

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INDEX Bank, 101; and San Antonio water system, 130; and San Antonio sewer system, 151; on dangers of epidemic in San Antonio, 155 Herff, Ferdinand, Jr.: 213 Herff, William: 215 Herff, Zulime: 210 Herron, Francis J.: 68 Hertzberg, Mrs.: 160 History of the United States: 200 Hobby, William P.: appointment of George Brackenridge to University of Texas Board of Regents by, 172, 236; support of, for Colquitt, 196; as governor of Texas, 236; action against lynchings by, 241; and bill to move University of Texas campus to Brackenridge Tract, 249 Hogg, James Stephen: association of, with George Brackenridge, 87; appointment of Leroy G. Denman to Texas Supreme Court by, 204; plan for statue of, on University of Texas campus, 240 Hogg, Will: on George Littlefield, 192; and Ferguson, 226, 229, 230; on Board of Regents, 229, 230; formation of central committee of Ex-Students Association by, 230; and removal of University of Texas campus to Brackenridge Tract, 249 Holden, Howard M.: 106 Honduras: 121 Hopley, John: 95 House, Edward M.: 222 Houston, David Franklin: 176, 177 Houston, Sam: George Brackenridge's meeting with, 28; Alexander Terrell's recollections of, 29; attitude of, toward Civil War, 33, 35 Houston Post: 121 Huntress, Fred: 246 Huston, Felix: 23, 51 Huxley, Julian: 143 Huxley, Thomas: n Iconoclast, The: 115 Incarnate Word College: 143, 144 Indiana University: 22 Ingalls and Caruthers: 43 Ireland, John: friendship of, with

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INDEX George Brackenridge, 28, 171; on secession, 34; appointment of George Brackenridge to University of Texas Board of Regents by, 170 Jackson, Mississippi: 73 Jackson County, Texas: location of Brackenridge cemetery in, 4, 246; on George Brackenridge, 5, 50; George Brackenridge as surveyor of, 30; departure of George Brackenridge from, 53; reversion clause benefiting, 54, 190; mentioned, 188 James H. Raymond and Company: 115 J. and N . Smith: 38 Johnson, Andrew: 84 Johnson, James R.: 115, 125 Johnston, Albert Sidney: 23, 51, 240 Jones, S. J.: 230 J. T. Brackenridge Memorial School: 15, 167 Juarez, Benito: 46, 69 Kenedy, Mifflin: property of, confiscated by Union Army, 66; as patron of San Antonio National Bank, 98; mentioned, 37, 81, 93 King, Richard: property of, confiscated by Union Army, 66; as patron of San Antonio National Bank, 98; mentioned, 37, 81 Kirby, John H.: 196 Kobusch, George J.: 158 Koehler, Otto: 6, 163 Koehler Park: 6, 163 LaCoste, Jean Baptiste: 131, 151 Landa, Harry: 100, 206 Landrum, Lynn: 184 Lanier, Sidney: 146 Laredo, Texas: 38 Lavaca Bay: 5 Lee, Robert E.: retreat of, from Gettysburg, 53; portrait of, donated to University of Texas, 200; George Brackenridge's resemblance to, 213; planned statue of, on University of Texas campus, 240; mentioned, 34 Liberia: 133 Liberia College: 133 Lincoln, Abraham: and John Adams Brackenridge, 5, 19-21; assistance of,

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275 to George Brackenridge, 20, 56; presidential campaign of, 31 Littlefield, George Washington: contributions of, to University of Texas, 6, 201, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 244-245; activities of, in Civil War, 33; George Brackenridge on, 52; as character in "Friends at San Rosario," 117, 118; success of, 192; and University of Texas Board of Regents, 192, 197, 243; on prohibition, 194; on women's rights, 194; support of, for Colquitt, 196; control of Brackenridge tract given to, 199; support for Ferguson by, 223-224, 226, 232-233; support for Vinson by, 227; purchase of war bonds by, 239; contributions of, to Red Cross, 240; and entrance arch for University of Texas, 240; opposition of, to moving University of Texas campus, 240; death of, 244; mentioned, 191, 231 Littlefield Building: 192 Lizzie Lake (ship) : 43 Lomax, John: 202, 231, 233 Long, Walter: B Hall mementos saved by, 185; assistance of, to University of Texas, 239; and removal of University of Texas campus to Brackenridge Tract, 242, 243 Louisiana: 136 McCulloch, Hugh: 74, 75 McGown, Floyd: 204 Mackey, Nelson: 152 McManus, T. P.: 68, 70-71 Madarasz, Llona: 135 Magruder, John B.: 58 Mahncke, Ludwig: 161, 162 Mahncke Park: 163 Mallet, John William: 171 Malsch, Brownson: 3-4 Manassas: 36, 39, 46 Matagorda Bay: 36, 44 Matagorda Peninsula: 57 Matamoros, Mexico: 38, 47-48, 63 Mathews, Isabella: 139, 207, 213 Maverick, George W . : 130 Mayes, Will H.: 229 Maximilian, Emperor: 47, 140 Memphis, Tennessee: 62

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2j6 Menefee family: 25 Menger Hotel: 130 Mexican War: 22, 128 Mexico: trade with, during Civil War, 40, 47, 63, 69, 80; revolutionary action in, 46-47; Maximilian as ruler of, 47 Mezes, Sidney E.: on B Hall, 185; and Colquitt's veto of University of Texas appropriations, 222; resignation of, as president of University of Texas, 223 Milbank Memorial Fund: 254 Milmo, Patricio: 68, 70 Milner, Robert T.: 220-221 Mobile, Alabama: 73 Monroe Doctrine: 46 Monterrey, Mexico: 67, 69 Morell, Jose: 48, 82 Morgan, J. P.: 93 Mutual Admiration and Reprovement Society: 133 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People: 241-242 National Bank of Texas: 95 National City Bank of New York: as redeeming agent for San Antonio National Bank, 92; direction of, by James Stillman, 93; offer of presidency of, to George Brackenridge, 102, 115; loan to George Brackenridge made by, 112 National Waterworks Company of New York: 130 Navidad (yacht): n o , 207, 210-211 Navidad River: 3 Nette, August: 91 New Braunfels, Texas: 100, 204 Newcomb, James Pearson: and establishment of state of West Texas, 86; loan to, denied by George Brackenridge, 86; criticism of George Brackenridge by, 87, 152; and San Antonio water works, 129; on Brackenridge Park, 162; mentioned, 163 New Orleans, Louisiana: 57, 121, 137 New York, New York: 137 New York Children's Hospital: 179 New York Colonization Society: 133 Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm: 9 Normandie, William de: 71 Nuevo Laredo, Mexico: 38

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INDEX Nuevo Leon, Mexico: 68 Oliver, Andrew: 37 Our Lady of the Lake College: 255 Owen, Clark L.: and Brackenridge family, 26; antisecession stand of, 35; conversion of, to Confederate cause, 36; at battle of Shiloh, $1; mentioned, 25 Owen, Laura Wells: n o Owen, Martha: n o Paschal, George: 156-157 Paschal, Isaiah H.: 91 Pass Cavallo: 44 Pease, Elisha M.: and George Brackenridge, 86; and First National Bank of Austin, 106, 108; appointment of, to University of Texas Board of Regents, 170; and University of Texas endowment, 180; estate of, 188, 189; mentioned, 101, 240 Pease, Mrs. Elisha M.: 101 Pease, Julia: 115, 188, 189 Peeler, Roberta Brackenridge: 179, 210 Perote Castle: 147 Piedras Negras, Mexico: 38, 68 Pierce, Abel H. (Shanghai): 98 Pierce, Leonard: 65 Pinney, Fannie L.: relationship of, with George Brackenridge, 13, 26, 135, 137-138, 139, 209, 210; friendship of, with Brackenridge family, 133; marriage of, to Alden E. Spooner, 138, 210; trip to visit, taken by George Brackenridge, 243 Pinney, John Brooks: 26, 133 Pinney, Sarah Agnes: 26, 133 Pioneer Hall: 163 Porter, William Sidney: employment of, at First National Bank of Austin, 102, 113; embezzlement of First National Bank of Austin funds by, 105, 116, 119, 121-122; background of, 113114; and Iconoclast, 115-116; and "Friends at San Rosario," 116-119; resignation of, from First National Bank, 119; as columnist for Houston Post, 121; flight of, from trial, 121; literary career of, 121-12 3, 124 Port Lavaca, Texas: 22 Portsmouth (ship): 45-46

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INDEX

277

Prairie View Normal College: 167 Price, E. V.: 64 progressivism: 195 prohibition: George Brackenridge on, 10, 88, 148, 161, 194; Eleanor Brackenridge on, 161; George Littlefield on, 194 "Prohibition Park": 161 public schools: 15, 164, 166, 167, 169 race riots: 241 Raht, Carlisle G.: 183 railroad: and transportation, 9 1 ; George Brackenridge on, 102, 105, 147; building of, during Reconstruction, 105; in San Antonio, 130, 132 Ramsay, Katherine: 190 Reagan, John H.: 240 Reconstruction: George Brackenridge's interest in politics of, 85; effect of, on cattle industry in Texas, 96; railroad building during, 105 Red Cross: 240 Red River: 71, 73 Register of the Treasury: 56 religion: George Brackenridge on, 11, 12, 27, 134, 142, 148; John Adams Brackenridge and, 27; Robert Brackenridge and,

IIO-III

renegados: 55 Republican party: 86 Rio Grande: role of, in blockade running, 38-39; blockade of, 45, 68; trade on, during Civil War, 47, 68; Union interest in, 67-68, 71; mentioned, 34 Roach, G. P.: 115-120 Roberts, Isabella Eleanor: 190 Roberts, Oran M.: 171 Roberts, Ray James B.: 190 Rockefeller Foundation: 254 Rockville Academy: 18 Rogers, George: 37 Roosevelt, Theodore: 88 Russell Sage Foundation: 254 St. Mary's University: 255 St. Philips College: 255 Salado River: 29 Saltillo, Mexico: 69 Salvation Army: 148 San Antonio, Texas: move to, by George

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Brackenridge, 5; park donated to, by George Brackenridge, 6, 144, 148, 157, 160, 161-163, 164; park donated to, by Koehler family, 6, 163; movement of cotton through, in Civil War, 68; as proposed capital of state of West Texas, 86; water supply problems of, 128-130, 155; water works of,

128, 129,

1 3 1 , 132,

1 4 1 , 152,

I54-I55* I57> J 5 8 ; removal of mayor and council of, by governor, 129; railroad reaches, 130, 132; Ulysses S. Grant's visit to, 139; population of, 145; ethnic make-up of, 146; development of, 147-148; financial condition of, 148, 149, 155-156; suit filed against, by George Brackenridge, 150, 157; Bryan Callaghan mayor of, 151, 156, 164; sewer system of, 151, 153, 155; streets in, 153; Denman's law practice in, 204; mentioned, 28 San Antonio College: 255 San Antonio Country Club: 148, 205 San Antonio Daily Light: 87, 152 San Antonio Express: controlling interest in, held by George Brackenridge, 205; interview granted to, by George Brackenridge, 213; opposition of, to Ferguson, 231; editorial stand of, on lynching, 242 San Antonio Gas Company: 148 San Antonio Junior College: 169 San Antonio Loan and Trust Company: establishment of, 100; organization of, 124; university fellows fund transferred from, 199-200; building of, 204, 205; death of Tom Brackenridge in, 208; sale of George Brackenridge's interest in, 213, 214; as trustee of Brackenridge estate, 218; mentioned, 140, 144, 206 San Antonio National Bank: founding of, 7, 80, 81, 84; directors of, 9 1 ; organization of, 9 1 ; value of capital stock of, 91; charter of, 92; redeeming agent for, 92; Charles Stillman's relationship to, 92-93, 208, 209; confidential report on, to James Stillman, 94; and bank examiner, 95, 99-100; success of, 95-96, 104; location ofr 95-96, 170; reputation of, as livestock

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278 bank, 98; Brackenridge family interest in, 101; embezzlement from, 102; stability of, 112; effect of 1893 depression on, 114; business practices of, 124; loans to city of San Antonio by, 149, 156, 157-158; Denman law offices located in, 204; and 1907 national banking crisis, 206; sale of George Brackenridge's interest in, 213, 214; loans made to Ward Cattle and Pasture Company by, 215; George Brackenridge as chairman of, 217; mentioned, 127, 141, 151, 155, 202, 214 San Antonio River: 127, 146, 151 San Antonio School Board: resignation of George Brackenridge from, 102; George Brackenridge as president of, 148, 165, 169 San Antonio Water Works Company: George Brackenridge's ownership of, 9, 87, 131, 132, 148; improvement of, by George Brackenridge, 102, 155; contract offered to National Waterworks Company, 130; design of, 131, 132; purchase of, by city of San Antonio, 141, 154-155, 158; amended contract of, 150; financial status of, 150; source of supply for, 155; nullification of contract of, 156-157; purchase of, by George A. Kobusch, 158; sale of, by George Brackenridge, 203 San Antonio Women's Club: 160 Sanger, Alex: 230 Santa Rita oil well: 252 Satterwhite, Lee: 251 Schleicher, Gustave: 8 Scholl, Ben: 205 school libraries: 169 Scio (brig): 70 secession: 5, 34, 35 Secession Convention: 34 Seguin, Texas: 22, 28, 91 Semmes, Ralph: 47-48 Senate Joint Resolution Number 18: 221 Serna, Jesus de la: 65 sewer system: 151, 153, 155 Shepherd, Morris: 184 Shiloh: 50-51, 118 ^'Silver Free Coinage Party": 176

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INDEX Sinclair, John Lang: 184 Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word: 142

Smith, James T.: as agent for Charles Stillman, 48, 82; investigation of connections of, in Mexico, 82-83; meeting of, with Lomax, 231 Smith and Dunning: 38, 48, 92 South Carolina: 32 Southern history: 201 Southwestern Historical Quarterly. 29 Spencer, Herbert: 11 Spencer County, Illinois: 19 Splawn, W.M.W.: 185 Spooner, Alden E.: 138 Spooner, Fannie Pinney. SEE Pinney, Fannie L. Spooner, Georgina Brackenridge: George Brackenridge's special interest in, 138-139; education of, by George Brackenridge, 210; travels of, with George Brackenridge, 210, 212 Springall, Roland: 206 Starr, Henry D.: 77 Steger, Harry Peyton: 124 Stillman, Charles: and founding of San Antonio National Bank, 7, 84, 92-93; meeting of, with Tom and George Brackenridge, 37; history of, 37-38; trading ventures of, during Civil War, 38, 41, 43, 44; transfer of steamboats to Mexican registry by, 45-46; relationship of, with George Brackenridge, 46, 48, 64, 79-84; property of, confiscated by Union army, 66; management of property for, by George Brackenridge, 81; sale of cotton to, by George Brackenridge, 81; fortune of, 82-83; pardon of, by Andrew Johnson, 84; lawsuit handled for, by George Brackenridge, 93-94; financial dealings of, with George Brackenridge, 94, 208, 209 Stillman, James: relationship of, with George Brackenridge, 93-94, 132; and San Antonio National Bank, 209; mentioned, 208 Stribling, Eleanor: business interests of, tended by George Brackenridge, 12; as director of San Antonio National Bank, 13, 101; relationship of, with

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279

INDEX George Brackenridge, 135, 139; and Brackenridge bust, 160 Stribling, Thomas: 12, 91, 101 Sweet, Alexander: 58, 127 Sweet, James R.: 127, 128 "Sweet Homestead": 127 Tamaulipas, Mexico: 63, 65 Tauch, Waldine: 160 Taylor, Richard: 73 Taylor, Zachary: 37 Terrell, Alexander W.: friendship of, with George Brackenridge, 28, 29; and University of Texas Board of Regents, 29, 197; on secession, 34; mentioned, 10, 52, 55, 98, 157, 166, 172 Terry's Texas Rangers: 33 Texana, Texas: location of Brackenridge cemetery in, 4; abandonment of, 14; planning of, 23; Brackenridges move from, 126; burial of Mrs. Brackenridge near, 140; mentioned, 144 Texana Guards: 36 Texas (Republic): 35 Texas (state): land boom in, 22; Confederate defense of, 58; Treasury special agency for, 75; banking industry in, 89 Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College: rivalry of, with University of Texas, 172, 173; founding of, 180; Board of Regents of, 196; battle for control of, 219 Texas Land Office: 113 Texas Revolution: 89 Texas Supreme Court: 204 Thirty-Third Regiment, Confederate Army: 56, 127 Thornton, J. J.: 22, 91 Thornton, J. M.: embezzlement of First National Bank of Austin funds by, 112, 121; as jury foreman in Porter case, 119, 120, 122 Townshend, Samuel Nugent: 97, 128, 133

trade: problems of, between Union and Confederate states, 61; regulation of, by Treasury Department, 62; between Mexico and Confederacy, 69 Trinity University: 255 Turner, Ezekiel B.: as assistant special

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treasury agent, 58; and Treasury agency scandal, 64-65; transfer of, to New Orleans, 66; leaving of Brownsville by, 71; and Civil War, 78 Tyndall, John: n Union: 36 Union Army: expedition of, on Ria Grande, 67-68; sale of cotton by, 70;, handling of confiscated property by,. 75 Unionists: 68, 70 United Daughters of the Confederacy: 191

United States, Department of the Treasury: George Brackenridge and, 57, 77, 88; and trade regulation, 62; and special agencies, 62-63, 73> 74> 78-79; handling of confiscated property by,, 75; enforcement of banking regulations by, 116; mentioned, 42 University Hall: 182 University of Texas: George Brackenridge's donations to, 6, 15, 182, 185, 186, 190, 200, 201, 234-235 ,237,. 252; donations to, by George Littlefield, 6, 193, 239-240; George Brackenridge as regent of, 7, 29, 87, 164, 166, 170-178, 182-183, 197, I 9 8 , 236, 238, 241, 244; as receiver of reversionary clause in Brackenridge Park deed, 161; creation of, 171; importance of Confederate credentials for faculty of, 171; political influence on, 171, 174-175; financial problems of, 174; control of lands of, 180; school of domestic science at, 180; oil discovered on endowment lands of, 182, 252; shortage of building funds at, 183; expansion of, 187-191, 2 3 8 239, 244-250, 251; Colorado River tract donated to, 186, 188; battle for control of, 219, 220, 224; students of, against Ferguson, 232; effect of World" War I on, 239; and George Brackenridge's will, 248-249; scholarships to y from George W . Brackenridge Foundation, 255; mentioned, 16, 53, 124 — Board of Regents: Alexander W . Terrell on, 29; George Brackenridge on, 29, 182, 198-199, 236, 238, 241,,

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280

243, 244; Elisha M. Pease on, 170; management of University of Texas lands transferred to, 181; George Littlefield on, 192, 197, 243; appearance of Ferguson at meeting of, 229; Will Hogg on, 229, 230; relationship of, with faculty, 230, 232, 236; and removal of University of Texas campus to Brackenridge Tract, 248; purchase of Jackson County's reversionary interest in Brackenridge Tract by, 253; mentioned, 188, 200 — Medical Branch: 178, 255 — Medical School at San Antonio: 255 University of Virginia: 204, 225 USS Ajton: 44 Varney, Colonel Almon Libbey: 207, 212

Vassar College: 139, 210 Vicksburg, Mississippi: 47, 53 Vidaurri, Governor: 68-69 Vinson, Robert E.: on George Brackenridge and business, 9; B Hallers on, 185; relationship of, with George Brackenridge, 192, 227-228; on relationship between George Brackenridge and George Littlefield, 195; character of, 226; as president of University of Texas, 226, 232, 234, 251; and removal of University of Texas campus to Brackenridge Tract, 238, 242, 249; travels of, with George Brackenridge, 243; eulogy for George Brackenridge given by, 246 vocational training: 169 Wallace, Alfred Russell: n Waller County, Texas: 167 Waggener, Leslie: 171 Ward, Ben Q.: 98 Ward, Lafayette: 98 Ward Cattle and Pasture Company: financial transactions of, with San An-

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INDEX tonio National Bank, 214-215; receivership of, 216; mentioned, 25, 231 Warmoth, Henry Clay: 75, 76 Warrick County, Indiana: 17 water fountains: 159 Water Works Park: 164 Wells, Dr. Francis F.: 23 Wells, Laura: 26 Western Reserve University: 251 West Texas: 86 Williams, Samuel May: 89 Wilson, Woodrow: and black rights, 88; plan for statue of, on University of Texas campus, 240; statement of, denouncing lynch law, 241; mentioned, 176, 222

Witte Memorial Museum: 163 Woman's Building: 180 women's clubs: 126, 133 women's rights: George Brackenridge on, 10, 12, 88, 166, 177-178, 194; George Littlefield on, 194; mentioned, 101

Woodward, Dudley K.: 230, 232-233 Woodward and Stillman. SEE Smith and Dunning Wooldridge, A. P.: 114 Wooldridge, Jasper: 114 World War I: United States entry into, 231; effect of, on University of Texas, 239; home front bigotry during, 241; mentioned, 223 Worth, William Jenkins: 128 Worth Springs: 127 Wrenn Library: acquisition of, by University of Texas, 201, 227, 236-237 Wroe, H. A.: 248 Yarborough, Ralph: 54, 184 Young, Stark: 143 Yturia, Francisco: 93 Yturria, Santiago: 48 Zimpelman, George B.: 106 Zork, Louis: 91

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