Billy Ray Brunson was born in Chico, Texas in 1924. During World War II, Brunson served in the United States Army. Later he attended Texas Tech University where he received a Ph. D. after completing his dissertation The Texas Land and Development Company in 1960. Billy Ray taught history at Texas Tech University from 1956-1960 and 1963-1964. He left in 1965 to begin teaching at Southwest Texas State University (Texas State University) where he continued until his death in 1988. His publications include The Texas Land and Development Company: A Panhandle Promotion, 1912-1956 (1970), Fragile Empires: The Texas Correspondence of Samuel Swartwout and James Morgan 1836-1856 (1978 with co-editor Feris A. Bass, Jr.), and The Adventures of Samuel Swartwout in the Ages of Jefferson and Jackson (1989).
From the guide to the Billy Ray Brunson Papers, S126. 1., 1806-1989 and undated, (Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University)
