About
What later would become J.T. Brackenridge started at the turn-of-the-20th-century as the Kerr Hill School, or School #21, at Bravos and Colima streets. At present location by 1906. Even though it officially was named the John Thomas Brackenridge Memorial School by 1907 (in honor of benefactor George Brackenridge's brother), the campus continued to be called Kerr Hill for some time afterward. The present structure opened in 1978.
John Thomas Brackenridge (1828-1906) Confederate veteran and bank president, was born in Warwick County, Indiana, on September 3, 1828, the son of John Adams and Isabella Helena (McCulloch) Brackenridge. He attended Indiana State University and Bloomington Law School before being admitted to the bar in 1851. He practiced law at Boonville until 1854, when he moved to Texana, Texas, where he was a merchant until 1861. In 1862 he joined the Confederate Army; he served as a captain of cavalry in Texas and Indian Territory until 1863, then was promoted to major in the Thirty-third Cavalry under John B. Magruder for coast picket duty. In 1866 Brackenridge became cashier of the San Antonio National Bank; in 1877 he was president of First National Bank of Austin. His first marriage was to E. R. Smith of Boonville, Indiana; his second, to Mary E. Dupuy of Jackson County, Texas. Brackenridge died in San Antonio on March 3, 1906, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Austin.