The first school in the county opened in 1860, when Judge Greenleaf Fisk, a large landowner, volunteered to teach the children. By the 1874-75 school term a number of communities maintained schools on a regular basis. Altogether, 514 pupils in the county were enrolled for the four-month term. Brownwood established its own school system in 1876, and other communities soon followed suit. By 1885 the county had 2,000 students and sixty-four teachers in small rural schools and community school systems. In 1888 the Presbyterians established Daniel Baker College, the county's first center of higher learning, and in 1890 a group of Baptists established Howard Payne College. Daniel Baker struggled financially until 1894, when it passed to the Southern Synod of the Presbyterian Church. Howard Payne granted degrees until 1897, then operated as a junior college until 1913, when it was again upgraded to senior college status. In 1953 the two schools were combined under the name of Howard Payne College (now Howard Payne University). from Brown County, Handbook of Texas Online

Brown County Records

High School, Brownwood

Daniel Baker College  

Daniel Baker College, in Brownwood, was founded in 1888 as a Presbyterian college. The Coggin brothers, local residents, donated land for the campus in 1889, and in 1890 the college began to hold classes.  Read the history of Daniel Baker College from the Handbook of Texas Online

Howard Payne College (University)