Brownson's Bank

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some stories start with a man walking into town with nothing but nerve and a notion. John Milton Brownson was born in 1836, grew up over in DeWitt County, fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War, and then in 1866 he packed up and moved to Victoria.

He opened a grocery store. Reasonable enough start for a man finding his footing after the war. But Brownson wasn't a man who stopped at groceries.

In 1867, just one year after arriving, he founded Brownson's Bank. The first banking establishment in Victoria. One year.

That's the kind of pace that makes historians sit up straight. The bank took up space in a frame building on the west side of Main Street, sitting right between Constitution and Santa Rosa Streets. By 1876 it had grown into something called Brownson and Company.

Then in 1882, Brownson brought in a partner, Eugene Sibley, and the outfit became Brownson and Sibley. Now here's where the story really stretches its legs. In December of 1889, Brownson and Sibley didn't just grow the bank.

They gathered twenty-two additional investors around them and organized something altogether new: the First National Bank of Victoria. Brownson himself served as its first president. The bank opened with a capital stock of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

That is not a small number for Victoria in 1889. The institution was reorganized in 1913 as the Victoria National Bank, and the following year it relocated to the Welder Building, right here on this very site. Then in 1963 it became the First Victoria National Bank.

John Milton Brownson lived from 1836 to 1906, and he never saw that last name change. But the institution he planted on the west side of Main Street in 1867 just kept on growing, kept on reorganizing, kept on moving, and kept on serving. Some roots go deep enough that no amount of renaming can pull them up.

What the marker says

John Milton Brownson (1836-1906), a Confederate veteran of the Civil War who grew up in nearby DeWitt County, moved to Victoria in 1866 and opened a grocery store. In 1867 he founded Brownson's Bank, the first banking establishment in Victoria. Located in a frame building on the west side of Main Street between Constitution and Santa Rosa Streets, it became known as Brownson and Company in 1876. Brownson entered into a partnership with Eugene Sibley in 1882 to form Brownson and Sibley. In December 1889 they joined with 22 additional investors and organized the First National Bank of Victoria. Brownson served as first president of the new bank, which opened with a capital stock of $150,000. It was reorganized in 1913 as the Victoria National Bank. The following year, the institution relocated to the Welder Building at this site. The institution became the First Victoria National Bank in 1963. An important element of Victoria's business and economic history, this bank has included among its directors, officers and staff some of the area's most influential citizens. It continues to serve its customers and support numerous civic and charitable endeavors in the community. (1992)