Always being curious about the Brackenridge name as it relates to Austin and San Antonio, I decided to try to decipher it. Here goes:

The Austin and San Antonio Brackenridge’s were brothers, each prominent citizens.

Brackenridge Hospital – Austin Texas

Austin’s Brackenridge Hospital was named after Dr. Robert John Brackenridge, a community leader and leading doctor at the hospital, in 1929. Dr. Brackenridge was instrumental in building a new hospital on the premises.

Robert John Breckenridge is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, as is his mother and several siblings.

Brackenridge High School – San Antonio Texas

San Antonio’s Brackenridge High School is named after George W. Brackenridge, who funded the construction of the school and the school library. Brackenridge was the first president of the San Antonio school board, elected in

1899. Although he didn’t specify that a building or gift should be named after him, the city honored his donation by naming the school after him.

The school was founded in 1917 on the city’s south side along the San Antonio River near the King William neighborhood. It was named for George Washington Brackenridge. The original three-story brick structure was demolished and replaced with today’s shorter, more sprawling structure in 1974. That year, the school was renamed in honor of Phillis Wheatley, the first published African-American poet, a woman taken in childhood from West Africa, enslaved and taken to Boston, and eventually freed. In 1988, bowing to some alumni concerns, the school’s original name was restored.

Brackenridge Park – San Antonio Texas

A 343.7-acre  public park (139.1 ha) in San Antonio, Texas, United States, on the city’s Broadway Corridor just north of downtown San Antonio.

It was created in 1899 from land donated to the city by George Washington Brackenridge.

George Washington Brackenridge (January 14, 1832 – December 28, 1920) was a philanthropist and the longest-serving Regent for the University of Texas. His donations of time, land holdings and wealth expanded the university and provided educational opportunities for women and other minorities. He was an advocate of women’s suffrage and women’s educational opportunities. He was also a business man who made his initial wealth as a profiteer during the Civil War. Brackenridge organized two banking institutions in San Antonio and served as their president. He was president of the San Antonio Water Works Company. Alamo Heights in Bexar County was once his residence and was named by him. His mansion Fernridge is now part of University of the Incarnate Word campus. Brackenridge Park, San Antonio Japanese Tea Garden and Mahncke Park in San Antonio were made possible through his donations of land holdings.

George Washington Brackenridge is buried down in Edna, Texas as is his father and some sibling.

It would appear that the Bracken Community of Comal County just north of San Antonio is not connected to the Brackenridge Families or Austin and San Antonio.

Bracken Community, Texas

Bracken is an unincorporated communityin Comal County, Texas, United States.^[1]According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 76 in 2000. It is included in the Greater San Antonio area.

William Bracken, who bought land in the region in 1849, is the reason behind the name Bracken. In honor of James G. Davenport, who settled there in 1868, the townsite on the new railroad was given the name Davenport. Residents petitioned for a post office as the community grew and a gin and stores were built. Since there was already a Davenport post office in the state, the name was changed from Davenport to Bracken in 1883. The population was listed as 50 in 1940 when the post office was closed. In the 1970s, Bracken’s population leveled down to roughly 75. It was still 75 in 1990 and 76 in 2000.^[2]

William Bracken purchased 1,114 acres (4.51 km²) of land after receiving a grant from Governor Peter Hansborough Bell. Following the completion of the railroad in 1890, a depot was built as well as a ticket stand. Soon, saloons lined the town’s seven blocks, which expanded to thirteen near the turn of the century. Stores and other businesses including a blacksmith, cotton gin, and lumberyard sprung up as well, contributing to the booming railroad economy. A dance hall, notorious for fights, was the center of entertainment until 1915 when a bowling alley was opened. After the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitutionimplementing Prohibition, the town suffered a steep decline. Businesses left town and the general store burned to the ground.^[3]

The Town of Breckenridge in Stephens County Texas does not appear to be connected to the Austin and San Antonio Brackenridge Family.

Breckenridge, Texas

The town of Breckenridge originated in 1854 as Picketville, either named after the structure of its early homes or after rancher Bill Pickett, who lived in the area at the time. In 1876, Stephens County was established, and its territory included Picketville. The town was renamed “Breckenridge” after former U.S. Vice President and Confederate Army General John C. Breckinridge, though with an altered spelling.^[7]

Breckenridge was a major oil producer in the early 1920s. The population jumped from around 1000 to 5000 in under five years. Briefly, it was the home of legendary figure of the Old West, John “Doc” Holliday. Breckenridge’s boomtown era was well documented by the hundreds of photographs of pioneer photographer Basil Clemons.

It does not appear that the Colorado Breckenridge has at least a close connection to the Texas Family of the same name, whether spelled Breckenridge or Breckinridge. Much more research would need to be done on this subject.

Breckenridge, Colorado

How did Breckenridge get its name?  Historians have debated this for decades.  Researchers have studied documents looking for the truth.  Two stories emerge–both have elements of truth.  Some think that John Cabell Breckinridge, who served as vice-president under James Buchanan before retiring to the U.S. Senate representing Kentucky after his term as vice-president ended, is the namesake.  Others say the name came from Thomas E. Breckenridge, a member of the 1845 and 1848 Fremont expeditions.  Bill Fountain studied the documents and put the pieces of the puzzle together.

The story begins in 1845 when John C. Fremont and 60 men, including Kit Carson, left Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas River, in Kansas Territory, on a topographical expedition.   Thomas E. Breckenridge, age 20, joined the group at St. Louis in May, 1845.   By the end of August, the expedition entered South Park; by September 4, they had scaled the Snowy Range and made camp before descending into Middle Park.  At that point Breckenridge noticed that one of his pack animals had disappeared.  Each member of the expedition had received three burros; one to ride and two to carry supplies.  Breckenridge thought it would take only a few hours to find the wayward animal and return to the party.  After two days Breckenridge had not returned.  Fremont sent Kit Carson and another man to find him.   When they finally returned unharmed, a much-relieved Fremont scolded Breckenridge.  Because of the incident, Fremont named the pass Breckenridge Pass in “honor” of Thomas and the lost burro.  (Thanks to the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad, Breckenridge Pass became Boreas Pass when the railroad constructed its Boreas Station there.  Look for that story elsewhere.)

The memoirs of Thomas E. Breckenridge cover the Fremont expeditions of 1845 and 1848.  In addition to relating the story of the naming of the pass, Breckenridge stated that the town of Breckenridge had been named for him.  Born March, 15, 1825, in St. Louis County, Missouri, Thomas died on April 23, 1897, in Hannibal, Missouri.  His obituary also stated that Breckenridge had been named for him.

Therefore from the beginning, it appears that the town’s name was spelled Breckenridge.  Newspaper accounts through approximately June, 1860, and a map drawn as early as 1859 spelled the name with an “e.”  But the spelling changed after that.    Why?

According to Fountain:  At the end of August, 1859, after hearing of the gold discovery in the Blue River Country (Breckenridge), George E. Spencer, backed by Denver capitalists, led a party to the area to plot a town with the intention of selling lots.  Spencer named the town for the nearby pass where Breckenridge had spent two days retrieving his lost burro in 1845.  When Spencer wanted to assure that the new town would be granted its much-desired post office,  he wrote on the application “Breckinridge” (spelled with an “i”) to honor Vice-President John Cabell Breckinridge.  The fact that government officials granted the post office on January 18, 1860, indicates that Spencer had well-developed political ties.  (He would go on to serve as a senator from Alabama in the Reconstruction Period.)  George Spencer became the first post master in Breckenridge.  When the town’s residences learned that Breckinridge had offered his services to the Confederacy in September, 1861; had accepted an appointment as brigadier general in the Army of the confederacy in October, 1861; and then was officially expelled from the Senate on December 4, 1861, they changed the spelling from Breckinridge to the original Breckenridge.  The population, generally from northern non-slave states, wanted to voice their displeasure at this avowed believer in slavery.

An interesting footnote to this story involves James Buchanan, the president under whom John C. Breckinridge served.  Neither Buchanan nor Breckinridge knew the other until becoming president and vice-president.  After the election, they did not get along very well.  Who was Buchanan’s opponent for the presidency on the Republican ticket?  None other than John C. Fremont, who led the 1845 expedition that Thomas E. Breckenridge joined.

John Cabell Brackenridge and Brackinridge was a very common name in the 17th – 19th centuries.