George W. Brackenridge: Maverick Philanthropist (review)

178civil war history despairing years as a Methodist bishop assigned in 1872 to the South and based in Atlanta. Not only is this the first major study of Gilbert Haven, it is a first rate one. Gravely's knowledge of nineteenth century American religious history is almost always in evidence, and his interweaving of manuscript with published sources is handled carefully. The one flaw is that Haven's breakdown in the mid-1860's is presented as intimately related to his major life concerns yet we are left hanging as to the precise meaning of the breakdown within the context of the Civil War experience and its impact upon Haven's life and work. But this is minor compared to the overall achievement—a study that should be read by all Middle Period historians for the light it casts upon religion and race in the Civil War era. William J. Gilmore Stockton State College, New Jersey George W. Brackenridge: Maverick Philanthropist. By Marilyn McAdams Sibley. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1973. Pp. xiii, 280. $8.50.) Professor Marilyn McAdams Sibley of Houston Baptist University has produced an interesting biography about a little known Texas philanthropist , George Washington Brackenridge. The work is an admirable one, although some periods of Brackenridge's life are not covered as well as others and occasionally adequate explanations are lacking for certain of the subject's actions. However, these shortcomings are not the fault of Professor Sibley. Before his death in 1920 Brackenridge destroyed a number of his personal papers, especially those concerned with his Civil War years, while others disappeared after his death. Brackenridge was born in Indiana in 1832 and migrated to Texas with his father and the rest of his family in the early 1850's. They settled in Texana (now extinct) on the Navidad River in Jackson County. Never being the favorite offspring of his prosperous father, he inherited from him nothing except some notes of indebtedness. Although not able to report a single dollar to the census reporter in 1860, he, in 1866, with little help, established the San Antonio National Bank and had assets of at least $100,000. This sudden rise to wealth resulted from his wartime adventures with Charles Stillman, a northerner who had amassed a fortune in the shipping industry operating in the lower Rio Grande River. Although the records are sketchy, Brackenridge evidently supplied large amounts of cotton to Stillman, who shipped it from Mexico. Many southerners did not approve of his wartime activities or his Union sentiment, and after the war, not being welcome back in Texana, he chose San Antonio as his home. Always identifying himself as a Republican, Brackenridge was treated well by the Reconstruction government in Texas. After the es- BOOK REVIEWS179 tablishment of the bank in San Antonio, his wealth grew rapidly, but because of his philanthropic activities, it is impossible to determine his financial worth at any given time as many of his gifts were anonymous. Much of his wealth went to the University of Texas, and a large sum was left for the creation of the George W. Brackenridge Foundation which is still in operation. This mysterious philanthropist, who today lies in an unkept cemetery in Jackson County, surrounded by a gateless cement fence four feet high and two feet thick, was a difficult subject for his biographer. He was a Unionist during the war, referred to as a "Damn Scalawag" during Reconstruction, and by different people at different times labeled : "a Robber Baron, a Progressive Banker, a Generous Philanthropist , a Black Republican, a Far-Sighted Educator, a Brilliant Intellectual , a Civic-Minded Builder, an Unscrupulous Opportunist, a Prohibitionist, a Woman's Suffragist, a Negro Lover" (p. 6). However, Professor Sibley has risen to the occasion, meeting the challenge of a complicated subject and produced an excellent biography about a man who was many things to many people. Billy D. Ledbetter Cooke County Junior College The Diary of James A. Garfield. Volume III, 1875-1877. Edited by Harry James Brown and Frederick D. Williams (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1973. Pp. 599. $22.50. ) Very likely Garfield would not have appreciated this handsome annotated edition of his private...