Daniel Baker College

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now settle in, because this is the kind of story that starts with a name, builds into something real, and ends in a way you might not expect. The college we're talking about is Daniel Baker College, right there in Brownwood, Brown County, Texas.

Named for the early Texas circuit-riding minister Daniel Baker, who lived from 1791 to 1857, the school was founded in 1888 by the Reverend Brainard Taylor McClelland, born in 1845, gone in 1901. Two names you want to hold onto. McClelland was the kind of man who planted things.

He had already helped found Brownwood's First Presbyterian Church back in 1876, and now here he was, staking out a college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, on land donated, and this is a detail worth savoring, by two brothers. Samuel R. and Modie J. Coggin gave the ground the campus would sit on.

That's the kind of generosity that doesn't ask for a lot of fanfare, but it holds up everything that comes after. The college was officially chartered on April 5, 1889, and McClelland served as its first president. He didn't run it alone, though.

His wife, Susan Mary Smith McClelland, was on the faculty. And when McClelland died, she didn't step aside. She stepped up, assuming a leadership role for two years following her husband's death.

Now, the first graduating class came along in May 1895, eight students, eight diplomas. You could fit them around a decent-sized dinner table, but they were the first. The college wasn't all books and sermons, either.

There were football teams, baseball teams, track, basketball. This was a living, moving institution. But here's where the story gets complicated, the way so many Texas stories do.

Financial problems followed Daniel Baker College like a shadow follows a fence post. They were there throughout the college's history, and in reaching for solutions, the school briefly affiliated with the Methodist and Episcopal denominations, a Presbyterian-founded college trying on different coats just to stay warm. Finally, in 1953, the decision was made.

Daniel Baker College was consolidated with Howard Payne College, a Baptist school, also in Brownwood. Same town, different roots, one future. Eight graduates in 1895, and a whole long road between that May morning and 1953.

The name Daniel Baker carried a lot of Texas with it, and now you know the shape of what it carried.

What the marker says

Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and named for early Texas circuit-riding minister Daniel Baker (1791-1857), this institution was founded in 1888 by the Rev. Brainard Taylor McClelland (1845-1901). The college officially was chartered on April 5, 1889. McClelland, under whose leadership Brownwood's First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1876, served as the college's first president. His wife, Susan Mary Smith McClelland, was a member of the college faculty and assumed a leadership role for two years following her husband's death. Land for the college campus was donated by brothers Samuel R. and Modie J. Coggin. The first class of Daniel Baker graduates, consisting of eight students, received diplomas in May 1895. In addition to academic instruction, the college also featured an active sports program, with football, baseball, track, and basketball teams. Plagued with financial problems throughout its history, the college was briefly affiliated with the Methodist and Episcopal denominations. Finally, in 1953, it was consolidated with Howard Payne College, a Baptist school also located in Brownwood. (1992)