George Washington Brackenridge died 100 years ago today, at 88 years old. He was born in Indiana, and the family moved to Texana in Texas to establish a mercantile business in 1853. Before he settled in San Antonio, he was appointed for a time as a Treasury Agent by Abraham Lincoln.
Here in San Antonio, he was a prominent banker and philanthropist who was responsible for expanding educational opportunities for minorities and women. An initial financial backer, he later became President of the San Antonio Water Works Company. He also headed up The Express Publishing Company, The San Antonio Gas Light Company, The San Antonio Loan and Trust Company, the San Antonio Public School Board, and The First National Bank of Austin. In 1885, He donated over half of the funds needed to construct River Avenue…now known as Broadway. He was also a staunch supporter of the Texas Suffrage Society.
In 1899, he donated 343 acres of land adjoining the San Antonio River to the city of San Antonio in 1899….today known as Brackenridge Park. A statue of George Brackenridge, sculpted by Pompeo Coppini ( who was also responsible for the Alamo Cenotaph ) and at a cost of $25,000, stands at the Broadway entrance to the park. It took until 1970 for the statue to be placed there.
Because of his support to education, not only in San Antonio, but also in Galveston, Seguin and to the University of Texas in Austin, the sculpture bears the inscription “a great friend of lower and higher and external education.”
The park has picnic areas, playgrounds, bike and walking trails, The Japanese Tea Gardens, The San Antonio Zoo, The Sunken Gardens outdoor theater, a golf course, and a miniature railroad that circles the park on a 2 mile track.
He later donated another adjoining 25 acres for the creation of both Mahnke Park and Funston Park.
Brackenridge also donated thousands of dollars for scholarships for women studying Medicine at Columbia University, and he especially built the Carr Hill School on San Antonio’s west side for the benefit of Mexican-American students. In the late 1860’s, he was credited with the financial guidance and inspiration behind the Rincon School, a public school on Rincon Street ( now known as St Mary’s Street ) which was built to serve African American students.
In 1917, Brackenridge High School was established to honor his legacy to education.
Because of his practice of making anonymous contributions, no one can accurately put a correct figure on the amount of money that George Brackenridge donated to education and schooling in San Antonio; however, it has been conservatively estimated to be well over $2 million dollars. This would be the equivalent of over $70 million today!
On June 11th, 1893, a story in The San Antonio Express reported that Brackenridge had installed a telephone line between his home in the park, and his bank office downtown in the early 1870’s…which would have made it the first phone line in the country.
Being the most powerful citizen in San Antonio, many sought his leadership, and in the 1902 Mayoral election, the other three candidates agreed to withdraw if he ran for the office, but he declined the offer because he felt that he would face widespread criticism due to his position with the San Antonio Water Works Company. At this time, San Antonio was the largest city in Texas.
He died while quietly sitting in a wheelchair and reading his Bible at home, on the evening of December 28th 1920. It has been reported that throughout his life, Brackenridge read a chapter of The Bible daily….a promise that he had made to his father. A service was held celebrating the life of George Brackenridge, at the Madison Square Presbyterian Church on Camden Street in San Antonio, and he was buried in the Brackenridge Cemetery at Edna in Jackson County, near Texana, Texas, where his family had earlier owned a business.
A little piece of George Brackenridge trivia: According to the San Antonio Daily Express newspaper, dated April 9th 1874, he was once a passenger on a stagecoach headed towards Austin that was stopped and robbed by a gang. Later, it was speculated that the gang was headed up by notorious outlaw Jesse James who reportedly was hiding out in the Austin area at the time.
Sources: “San Antonio 365” David Martin Davies & Yvette D. Benavides
“San Antonio Uncovered” Mark Louis Rybczyk
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