Brann’s Revenge

by S. Smith

  After the war, Big Brother Carroll entered Baylor University at Independence at the behest of Doc Burleson. He devoted the rest of his life to the ministry and to his Baptist denomination as he rose up through the ranks to surpass even Doc Burleson. He was the beloved pastor of the First Baptist church of Waco for about 28 years. He founded Southwestern Seminary in Waco, which moved to Fort Worth in 1908. He wrote 33 volumes of religious material and was famous throughout the nation as a great theologian. Yes, Big Brother Carroll was undoubtedly the leader of the Baptist group when Mr. Brann came to town. He was all about taking care of business. I never saw him smile much, as he was such a busy man. If I saw him on the street, he would say hello, but he seemed to have too many other things going on to pay any mind to a young kid like me. I don’t think he ever knew my name.

  Cranny would also visit Doc Burleson’s place. J.B. Cranfill, or Cranny as I teasingly called him, definitely knew my name. He was a Big Brother Carroll understudy. He was from the local Central Texas area and had a town named after his family, Cranfill’s Gap, which is right next to Pancake, Texas. I’ve never been to either one, but I always wondered if they really served pancakes there. They must be really tasty if the town is named after them.

  Cranny was always smiling and cutting up with people and was completely different from the serious and stoic Carroll. But boy could he tell some whoopers! I never could tell how much of what Cranny said was the truth. If he’d done half of everything he said he’d done, he’d be a thousand years old. I always liked Cranny, but occasionally I would see a different side to Mr. Cranfill. When he lost his temper he became meaner than a beaten dog. I always avoided him when he would get into one of those moods.

  The thing about Cranny is that he would never shut up about himself. He’d tell you his whole life story if he thought he could keep your attention for the next twenty hours. As he told it, he started out writing for a newspaper in Turnersville, which is also next to Pancake. He then went to Gatesville to gather more readers, then to Waco. Later I realized that Cranny was an opportunist. He followed power and opportunity like a hound dog follows the scent of a raccoon. But this seemed to work for him.

  One of Cranny’s favorite subjects, besides himself, was alcohol. He was an unrelenting Prohibitionist. He never shut up about having been on the National Prohibition Ticket in 1892 as the Vice Presidential candidate. I think that ticket came in a distant twelfth in the Presidential race. He’d also talk about the evils of devil beer and he was quite proud that he had authored the Texas Baptist Convention stance on alcohol as stated below:

  “Nor do we believe that any church should retain in its fellowship any member who drinks intoxicating liquors as a beverage, or visits saloons or drinking places for the purpose of such indulgence.”

  This would basically excommunicate anyone who drank any alcoholic beverage. That was the entire Baptist religion except for about ten people. Antonia and I always laughed at Cranny as we found him funny, extreme, and completely unbelievable. But he was entertaining.

  Yes, the Burleson’s place was always interesting and busy. It had two really great things that caused me to spend a whole lot of time there, Antonia and food. I was quite fond of both.

  One person I never saw cast a shadow at the Burleson’s threshold was Mr. Brann. I got to know Mr. Brann through delivering packages for him and through his daughter, Inez. Mr. Brann had a prodigious vocabulary and could use it to write beautiful prose but he also used it to excoriate those he considered hypocrites. He was a moral man, meaning he didn’t partake in the excesses of Waco such as visiting the Reservation or gambling. He wasn’t a teetotaler as publicly as the Baptists, but he wasn’t a lush either. He tended to drink only socially or for his stomach, as per Timothy. Mr. Brann had plenty of faults that even his daughter pointed out.

  In looking back on Mr. Brann and reading many of the Iconoclast newspapers, the monthly newspaper that he published, I came to an understanding. He was a sensationalist so that he could sell his newspapers. He was also a blatant racist, demeaning the colored race frequently in his writings. Was it a sign of the times? Was it because he was trying to sell newspapers? No one knows but Mr. Brann.

  I never knew Mr. Brann to be a bigot in person. Whenever I was around him, he treated the poor colored kids the same as he treated any white kid. He would talk to them, give them a nickel if they needed it, and was generally well liked by all of the kids. He’d talk to anyone of any race that would engage him in polite conversation. Inez always said that he was racist in his Iconoclast because he wanted to sell newspapers and that’s what people who bought newspapers expected.

  I’m reminded of what Mr. Brann once said in his paper, “How small we are, how ephemeral, how helpless in God’s great hand! Is it not strange that we do not cling, each to the others, like shipwrecked mariners riding the stormy waters on some frail raft and looking with dilating eyes into the black abyss?–that we waste our little lives in wild wars and civic strife?–that all our souls are concentrated in that one word, selfishness?–that we have time to hate?” I don’t think Mr. Brann hated anyone. He didn’t have time to hate; he was too busy writing about truth and trying to sell his paper.

  Not only could Mr. Brann write, he was very sharp with his tongue and could debate with anyone on any topic. He often went on lecture tours around the area and demonstrated his prowess at oration. Having such a quick wit and sharp tongue enabled him to dominate many of the debates that he had. As mentioned before, he was an ardent anti-prohibitionist so he was particularly fierce when discussing Prohibition, totally the opposite of Cranny.

  Waco, Texas had never experienced anyone so vocal of Mr. Brann’s intellectual caliber. They didn’t know what to do with him. They tried to shut him up, run him out of town, brutalize him, and even publicly whip him. But Mr. Brann was very stubborn and refused to leave, even when threatened. His biggest flaw was his inability to see people’s threshold of pain and to stay beneath it. When he was riled, he tended to go for the jugular. Mr. Brann, due to his sensationalism or his tough-guy image, or his general oblivion, couldn’t see how his writing affected people who came to despise him.

  I remember when he first came to town and the first time I saw Inez. Mr. Brann was having a Dr. Pepper with his family at the Old Corner Drug Store.

  By the way, the soda water Dr. Pepper was invented by Mr. Charles Alderton in 1885 at the Old Corner Drug Store. He named it Dr. Pepper to impress the father of the girl that he loved, Dr. Pepper. Love does make one do odd things doesn’t it? I know that I’m certainly guilty of it.

  Anyway, Mr. and Mrs. Brann, Billy, Gracie, and Inez were sitting at a small table getting to know some of the folks around town. When someone would come through the door, Mr. Brann would stand up, extend his right hand and introduce himself as “Mr. William Cowper Brann, the new editor of the Waco Herald Newspaper.” He even introduced himself to the kids who came in, including me.

  At first it seemed a bit silly, a grown up, well-spoken man introducing himself to these kids, but he didn’t care. He wanted to get acquainted with everyone. Since Mr. Brann had used his full name, I used my full name as well, introducing myself as Mr. Patrick O’Neal Delaney. Mr. Brann shook my hand and said, “A pleasure to know you, Mr. Delaney.” He said, “You have an impressive head of red hair there,” as he immediately ran his hand through it.

  I said, “Yes, I know, that’s where I got my nickname Red.”

  Mr. Brann said, in his always formal manner, “Well Mr. Delaney, how should I address you on the public square as we greet each other?” as he took a short bow.

  I said, “Please call me anything you’d like, but most folks just call me Red.”

  “Sir, I shall address you as Patrick, as he was a fine patron saint from the mother country,” he replied. I had no idea what he meant at the time, but true to his word, he called me Patrick from that day on.

  I started shaking hands with the other members of the family. As I reached out to ta
ke the hand of his daughter, Inez, time suddenly went into slow motion for me. I glanced down at her delicate untanned hand with her nails finely trimmed and with not even one callous. Her hair was a light brown but closer to blonde than brown. It was curled in loose ringlets around her face and her eyes were green with spots of brown within them. She had a small, fine, perfectly symmetrical nose. Her shoes were polished without a speck of dust, unlike everyone else’s. I figured her angel wings must have carried her there as they would not let her feet touch the ground. As she smiled, she showed perfectly white and straight teeth. She said, “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Delaney.” At which I mumbled something about an angel that I later hoped was unintelligible to her. When she smiled, I completely melted onto the dark wooden floor.

  Meanwhile, Mrs. Brann was patiently holding out her hand to shake mine, but I didn’t even see her for several moments. Finally, she loudly cleared her voice and said, “Patrick, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” As I was still holding Inez’s hand with my right hand, I clumsily offered Mrs. Brann my left hand, which she smilingly shook. The whole drug store broke out in laughter at the site of this awkward double-armed handshake. I was only slightly embarrassed as I was truly smitten.

  From that day forward, I idolized her. Being several years younger than she was, I didn’t dare let her know my feelings, but I think it was pretty obvious from the way that I acted. Most of the time, I was just a loud, boisterous boy who talked and joked with everyone. Around her, I was shy and quiet and always self-conscious about what I was wearing, whether my hair was combed, and if I had a piece of food stuck in my front teeth. It took me a good year of knowing her before I felt comfortable enough to actually engage her in general conversation.

  After we had the first real talk, where I wasn’t self-conscious, she said she could never shut me up, and she was right. I became something of a show-off in front of her, always trying to crack jokes and do something, usually really stupid, to either impress her or to make her laugh. I remember once when I saw her and Mr. Brann crossing the bridge in a buggy I quickly ran out to the handrail of the bridge, climbed up on top and started hopping on the ledge with only a single foot ever touching the bridge and not using any hands. This went fine until my foot landed in some fresh bird droppings on the bridge rail, I slipped and fell into the water with a splash. Immediately everyone on the bridge stopped, got out of their buggies and looked down at me in the water. There was no harm done as the water was about four feet deep in that place, so I had plenty of a cushion for the fall. I raised my hand and waved to let everyone know that I was OK and again the entire bridge broke out in laughter. Even though I should have been embarrassed, I wasn’t. Not in the least. This was attention! This was fame in front of the girl I adored!

  Inez yelled down at me, “You’re lucky you didn’t hit that rock over there, you crazy idiot,” pointing to a rock that was about five feet away. I looked over at the rock and then looked back at her and meekly said, “Yikes! That would have hurt!” At which she replied, “You know, a simple smile and a ‘hello’ works fine for a greeting too.” I said, “I’ll try to remember that next time.” As I slowly waded to shore, she met me and helped me get out of the river and then gave me a quick peck on the cheek. She said, “I’m glad you’re OK.” Although I was soaked to the bone, at that moment I was the happiest man alive.

  What was I saying about love causing one to act oddly?

  Chapter 4

  DOC BURLESON’S

  ONE BIG MISTAKE

  When Inez came into my life, I started spending less and less time at the Burleson’s house with Antonia. I don’t think Antonia minded as she had plenty of attention from other boys and even grown men in town. No doubt she was a beautiful girl and all the guys around town yearned for her attention. She knew how to garner their attention when she’d play the helpless little maiden or claim that someone was bothering her and she was in desperate need of someone to come to her defense. I fell for this once or twice, but finally wised up to her attention-getting schemes. I’m sure that when she didn’t have a friend around her, she was lonely. The Burlesons were as helpful as they could be, but they were so much older than she was and didn’t really understand her very well.

  Inez didn’t care for Antonia, as she could see through her rather shallow facade. Inez was good at seeing past people’s exteriors, and understanding what their heart was made of, and what drove them. She had all of her father’s intelligence, but she also had something that her father lacked, empathy. Inez somehow could see people’s pain and understand what their motivations were. This is why she would laugh at Cranny. She could tell that Cranny was an opportunist and would change his demeanor as needed to get to that next step. He was a chameleon. She could also tell that Molly’s heart was as pure as gold. Although Molly had a rough exterior, Inez could tell that she would give her last dime to anyone who really needed it.

  But someone Inez could never figure out was Big Brother Carroll. She said that his eyes were so cold gray that she couldn’t see behind them. He exuded all the qualities of a kind and gentle man, but she couldn’t see what drove him. She couldn’t see what his motivations were, what kept him up at night. He was a complete oddity for her. But Antonia was easy. Inez thought she was flirty, which she was, that she would use people to get things, which she did, and that she wouldn’t stay long, which she didn’t.

  So one day when Antonia showed up pregnant Inez wasn’t surprised in the least, but the whole town was. Antonia accused Doc Burleson’s son-in-law’s brother, Steen Morrison, of rape. Inez’s father, Mr. Brann was particularly shocked. By this time, Antonia was sixteen. She had apparently been having an affair with Steen Morrison for quite some time. Most of the town knew about it, except the Burlesons. If they had known about it, they never would have tolerated any such thing from a girl in their care. It was not proper, it was immoral, and it was not beyond reproach, which was the threshold that the Burleson’s always lived up to. Always.

  You can imagine the Burleson house was in an uproar, as was the University, the Baptists, and the city of Waco. How could this have happened to a girl in the Burleson’s care? This was not right. This young innocent girl was supposed to be untarnished and working to become educated. She was to become a beacon of purity when she went back home to her native Brazil so she could lead other lost souls to the Kingdom. Getting pregnant put a halt to that entire strategy. No longer were Baylor, the Baptists, and the Burlesons in the mode of educating this girl, now they were in the mode of damage control. They couldn’t believe that an actual family member was to blame for this atrocity. No, this had to be a mistake. This had to be a sham put on by the girl to protect the real culprit, which was likely one of the colored boys that she had befriended. She liked the power and the influence of being supported by the University and was intentionally maligning Steen Morrison so that she could stay within the umbrella of the Baylor family. If she had a colored baby, she would be immediately tossed from the family. Of course Steen Morrison denied everything and stated that he barely knew the girl, although most people in town knew that was a lie. He said he was being framed.

  Antonia said that she had gone up to Mrs. Burleson on several occasions and told her that Steen Morrison had been bothering her. Mrs. Burleson was well aware of the attention-getting schemes that Antonia had been pulling and she thought this was just another episode. She asked Steen about it and he denied everything. He said he didn’t know what the crazy girl was talking about.

  Things would have ultimately worked themselves out as situations like this always do, except for one small issue, one small problem, one small obsession by a certain person. And this person was Mr. Brann. Yes, Mr. Brann saw this whole sordid mess as a complete failure on Baylor’s part and was not about to be quiet about it. No, he was going to shout this from the highest mountain that he could find. He was taking it upon himself to show others their wicked ways, and to do it in the most visible manner that he could, with the onl
y means that he had, which was the Iconoclast newspaper. And indeed he did it with a vengeance.

  Whilst the poor girl was pregnant and having labor difficulties, Mr. Brann was just writing volumes. In nearly every issue of the Iconoclast he would chastise Baylor for its failure. He would chastise Doc Burleson for his lack of supervision and spout that he was actually using Antonia as a maid servant rather than educating her. Things got really ugly really fast.

  In the meantime, bets were flying all over Waco. There were bets as to when the child would be born. There were bets as to whether it would be a boy or a girl. But by far the biggest bet going around town was whether the baby was going to be colored or white. Although Waco did not have official bookies, they had plenty of unofficial bookies who would take bets. They were getting lots of business, even from some of the faculty. The town was generally betting that the child would be born a white child. Most of Baylor was betting that it was going to be a colored child. So it wasn’t a happy day on campus when the child was born and out came a small delicate boy with light skin and straight light brown hair. Baylor had lost their bet.

  Before the delivery of the child, Dr. and Mrs. Burleson desperately looked for a home that Antonia could escape to while she was in this condition. They wanted to shield her and Baylor from further embarrassment. However, there were none that would take young Antonia as she was seen as too much of a hot potato. Mrs. Burleson, always taking the high road, had Antonia stay at their house and supported her fully during the ordeal. When the baby was born white, Steen Morris was brought up on rape charges. The trial ended with a hung jury of seven for guilty and five for acquittal. This fanned the fires for Mr. Brann, as he was relentless in his accusations and assumptions. Looking back, I have to admit that this was not Mr. Brann’s finest hour. He was going way beyond the pale of what was called for. Yes, Mr. Brann was selling Iconoclast newspapers like crazy, but he was also smearing the good name of Doc Burleson and Baylor University. Inez and I discussed this at length and she agreed that her father’s behavior was not the best, but neither was the reaction of Baylor or the Baptists. There was bad behavior on both sides.