Daniel Baker College was founded April 5, 1889 in

Brownwood, Texas Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,862 as of th2020 census Brownwood is in the Texas Hill Country and is home to Howard Payne University, which was founded in 1889. History ...

, United States. It was named in memory of the Rev. Dr. Daniel Baker, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

circuit-riding minister, who helped organize the first presbytery in Texas in 1840 and

Austin College Austin College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and located in Sherman, Texas.Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

and

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Unio ...

, founded the first Presbyterian church in Brownwood in 1886. As the first president of Daniel Baker College, Dr. McClelland almost singlehandedly kept the college open during its early years, through his own personal determination. The college's mascot was a goat named

Hillbilly ''Hillbilly'' is a term historically used for White people who dwell in rural area, rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, ...

, which complemented their nickname, and its motto was ''Veritas et Humanitas'', meaning "Truth and Humanity." The institution was plagued with financial difficulties and was consolidated with nearby Howard Payne College (now

Howard Payne University Howard Payne University is a Private university, private Baptist university in Brownwood, Texas, United States. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Noah T. Byers and John David Robnett founded Howard Payne College in 18 ...

) in 1952. Its campus was taken over by

and the main building was renovated as the Guy D. Newman Honors Academy.

Notable alumni

* Phil Baxter, songwriter, singer and band leader * Frank Coker, American football player * Novalyne Price Ellis, school teacher and speechwriter whose memoir was adapted into a movie * Umphrey Lee, president of

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

References

Universities and colleges established in 1889 1953 disestablishments in Texas Defunct private universities and colleges in Texas Educational institutions disestablished in 1953 1889 establishments in Texas Universities and colleges in Brown County, Texas {{Texas-university-stub