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William Cowper Brann, born January 4, 1855, in Humboldt, Illinois, was
an author, lecturer, and newspaper editor. Following his mother's death in
1857, he was placed by his father, Noble Brann, a Presbyterian minister, with
William and Nancy Hawkins. At thirteen years of age Brann left his foster home
to began working at a series of jobs that included bellboy, printer,
professional baseball pitcher, opera company manager, and, eventually,
newspaper reporter. After settling in Rochelle Illinois, he married Carrie
Belle Martin in 1877. They had three children: Inez, Grace Gertrude, and
William Carlyle. |
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As a self-educated man, opinionated columnist, and successful editor,
Brann worked during the years 1877-1890 for the
St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Houston Post, and
The Galveston Daily News. While in
Galveston, around 1889, he wrote three plays that, although are now unknown,
gained some degree of popularity and notoriety at the time. All three plays
were copyrighted, but only
That American Woman (1889) was later
published in 1941 by the University of Texas Press.
Cleon (1889) is a historical drama, while
Retribution (1889) is a melodrama, and
That American Woman (1889), a"modern" society play. Of these plays, only
Retribution (1889) was probably performed.
Twice revised, this play was presented at the San Antonio Grand Opera House in
1893. |
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Brann's caustic and vitriolic journalistic style made enemies that
prompted frequent changes in his employment. In 1891 following disagreements
with the editor-in-chief of the
Houston Post, and the death and probable
suicide of his first daughter Inez (age 13), he moved to Austin, Texas, where
he launched his own publication, the
Austin Iconoclast. Although renamed the
Texas Iconoclast in 1892, neither volume was
successful. In that same year Brann became editor of the
San Antonio Express. In 1893, following
other freelance editorships, Brann sold the Austin publication to William
Sydney Porter ("O. Henry") who rechristened it
The Rolling Stone. |
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In 1894 Brann moved to Waco, Texas, to work for the
Daily News. He resumed publishing the
Iconoclast in February, 1895, as a monthly
journal. This publication was successful from the start and immediately gained
a large readership. Expounding his views on a variety of social, political, and
religious subjects, Brann continued to write and lecture in a typical caustic,
vitriolic, and "yellow" journalistic style. Brann's
repeated attacks on religious hypocrisy and intolerance, especially those aimed
at Baylor University and the Baptists, sparked a bitter dispute leading to his
abduction in 1897 by a "mob" of Baylor students. On
April 1, 1898, most likely as a result of his growing notoriety and continuing
assaults on the local political and religious elite, Brann was shot by Captain
Tom. E. Davis. The following day both men died from the wounds received in the
gun battle. |
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Brann remains best known for the
Iconoclast, which at its height had an
international circulation of 90,000. Most of his articles, speeches, and
editorials were published in collections after his death in 1898. A collections
of his writings,
The Writings of Brann the Iconoclast, was
later reissued in 1938. |