Paul Bremond

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Paul Bremond, up in Robertson County. Now settle in, because this one starts in a hat shop in New York and ends with a Texas city carrying a man's name. Paul Bremond was born in 1810, and before he ever set eyes on Texas, he was apprenticing in the hat trade up in New York.

The hat trade. You'd be forgiven for thinking that's an unlikely beginning for one of the state's leading businessmen, but that's exactly what the marker calls him. A leading businessman of his day.

He came to Texas in 1839, and whatever hat-making ambitions he might have carried across the Sabine, they gave way to something considerably larger. Railroads. Paul Bremond eventually joined other investors in a railroad that grew into the Houston and Texas Central.

And with Bremond himself as president, that line pushed north from Houston all the way to Dallas, and then beyond. Every mile of track meant new towns springing up along the route, and one of those towns, incorporated in 1870, bore his name. Bremond, Texas.

Right there in Robertson County. But the man wasn't finished. He was also instrumental in the development of the Houston, East and West Texas Railroad, pushing things farther east.

Now here's a detail the marker slips in quiet-like: Paul Bremond was a spiritualist, married three times, and was recognized widely as one of the state's leading businessmen. He died in 1885. The hat apprentice from New York left a railroad, a town, and a name on the Texas map.

Not bad for a man who started out measuring hat brims.

What the marker says

The city of Bremond is named for the noted financier and railroad builder Paul Bremond (1810-85). A native of New York, where he apprenticed in the hat trade, Bremond came to Texas in 1839 and eventually joined other investors in a railroad that became the Houston and Texas Central. With Bremond as president, it built a line from Houston to Dallas and beyond. Among the new towns established along the route was Bremond, incorporated in 1870. Paul Bremond was also instrumental in the development of the Houston, East and West Texas Railroad farther east. A spiritualist who was married three times, Bremond was recognized widely as one of the state's leading businessmen of his day. (2005)