William Cowper Brann it is a profile of Brann with a bullet hole in it. In the early 1890s, Brann, who had only three years of formal education, owned and published an Austin, Texas newspaper. He eventually sold the Austin "Iconoclast" to William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry. He repurchased it from Porter to operate it out of Waco, Texas until the time of his assassination. Following the assassination, Brann's wife moved the publication to Chicago, but still covered Texas issues. William Cowper Brann William Cowper Brann (January 4, 1855 – April 1, 1898) was an American journalist known as Brann
William T. Porter literature, especially the "tall tale" form of humor. Porter encouraged Southwestern authors to write and publish their short stories in the "Spirit", and was involved in getting their works published in book form. He was the editor for two of these collections: "The Big Bear of Arkansas", published in 1846, and "A Quarter Race in Kentucky and Other Sketches", published in 1847. Porter was instrumental in encouraging the career of Johnson Hooper. Another writer who contributed to the "Spirit" was Henry William Herbert, who wrote under the pen name "Frank Forester". The Panic of 1837 hurt the "Spirit's" circulation, but