Howard Payne University

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Howard Payne University, right there in Brown County. Now, every institution worth its salt has got a beginning, and this one starts not with a building or a president, but with a gathering. September 1876, representatives of Baptist congregations across this part of Texas came together and formed the Pecan Valley Baptist Association.

That name right there tells you something about the country they were meeting in. For more than a decade, that association did what associations do. Then, in June of 1889, they met at Indian Creek, and somebody put a resolution before the executive committee.

The idea was straightforward and ambitious in equal measure: create a Baptist college within the association's boundaries. The resolution carried. Brownwood was chosen as the site.

Now somebody had to go out and actually raise the money to build the thing. That task fell to the Reverend John David Robnett, the first president of the college Board of Trustees. He traveled extensively, hat in hand, making the case for a school that didn't exist yet.

And somewhere along the way, he got a very important yes. His brother-in-law, a man named Edward Howard Payne, made a large contribution to the school. The institution was then named in his honor.

Howard Payne College. September 16, 1890. Mark that date.

Howard Payne College opened its doors, and on that very same day, they laid the cornerstone for the main school building. The first classes were held in Robnett Hall, a building John Robnett himself had built, with plans to provide boarding facilities at the college. And presiding over the whole enterprise, the school's first president, Dr.

A. J. Emerson.

Over the years, the college grew. Enrollment increased. Then came 1953, and something remarkable: Daniel Baker College, a Presbyterian school that had actually opened in Brownwood days before Howard Payne, was incorporated into the Baptist college.

Two institutions, different traditions, folded into one. In 1974, the school was raised to university standing. Howard Payne University.

And then, 1984. The old main building burned. Sometimes the marker doesn't editorialize, and neither will I.

That building had stood since the cornerstone went down on opening day in 1890. It burned in 1984. The university it anchored is still standing.

That's the story, and that's how it lands.

What the marker says

The Pecan Valley Baptist Association was formed by representatives of Baptist congregations in this area in September 1876. Meeting at Indian Creek in June 1889, the association acted on an executive committee resolution calling for the creation of a Baptist college within the organization's boundaries. Brownwood was chosen as the site of the school. The Rev. John David Robnett, first president of the college Board of Trustees, traveled extensively to raise funds for the institution. His brother-in-law, Edward Howard Payne, made a large contribution to the school, which was then named in his honor. Howard Payne College opened its doors on September 16, 1890, the same day the cornerstone was laid for the main school building. Classes were held in Robnett Hall, a building John Robnett had built with plans to provide boarding facilities at the college. Dr. A.J. Emerson served as the school's first president. Over the years the college grew and enrollment increased. Daniel Baker College, a Presbyterian school which opened in Brownwood days before Howard Payne, was incorporated into the Baptist College in 1953. The school was raised to university standing in 1974. The old main building burned in 1984. (1989)