# Robert Runyon > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Runyon > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Runyon.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Runyon > Source revision: 1342897248 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American politician}} {{Infobox person | name = Robert Runyon | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Robert Runyon | birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|07|28}} | birth_place = [Boyd County, Kentucky](/source/Boyd_County%2C_Kentucky) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1968|03|09|1881|07|28}} | death_place = [Brownsville, Texas](/source/Brownsville%2C_Texas) | known_for = | occupation = Photographer, botanist, politician | spouse = {{plainlist | *{{marriage|Nora Young|1901|1908}} *{{marriage|Amelia Lenor Medrano|1913|1968}}{{cite web |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fru37 |first=Joe |last=Ideker |author2=Kendall Curlee |title=RUNYON, ROBERT |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |accessdate=2012-01-12}}}} | children =6 }} '''Robert Runyon''' (July 28, 1881 – March 9, 1968) was an American photographer, botanist, and politician who served as the mayor of [Brownsville, Texas](/source/Brownsville%2C_Texas) from 1941 to 1943. ==Biography== ===Early life=== Runyon was born on a farm near [Catlettsburg, Kentucky](/source/Catlettsburg%2C_Kentucky), to Floyd and Elizabeth Runyon. He received a limited formal education and was largely self-taught. He married Nora Young in 1901 and worked as an insurance salesman in [Ashland, Kentucky](/source/Ashland%2C_Kentucky). Nora's death in 1908 led him to travel to [New Orleans](/source/New_Orleans) and [Houston](/source/Houston) in search of employment. The Gulf Coast News and Hotel Company hired him to sell fruit, candy, sandwiches, and cigarettes to [St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway](/source/St._Louis%2C_Brownsville_and_Mexico_Railway) passengers in early 1909. Several months later, he was promoted to manager of Gulf Coast's lunchroom and curio shop in the Brownsville train station. ===Photography=== Runyon opened a commercial photography studio in 1910. He initially photographed urban life Brownsville and [Matamoros, Tamaulipas](/source/Matamoros%2C_Tamaulipas), and the surrounding terrain of the [Rio Grande Valley](/source/Lower_Rio_Grande_Valley). In 1913, Runyon began recording the events of the [Mexican Revolution](/source/Mexican_Revolution), starting with the takeover of the Matamoros garrison by the [Constitutional Army](/source/Constitutional_Army) under General [Lucio Blanco](/source/Lucio_Blanco) on June 3. He traveled with Blanco's forces to [Ciudad Victoria](/source/Ciudad_Victoria) and later [Monterrey](/source/Monterrey).{{cite web |url=http://runyon.lib.utexas.edu/bio.html |title=Robert Runyon: Border Photographer |work=Photographs from the Robert Runyon Collection |date=September 2000 |publisher=University of Texas at Austin |accessdate=2012-01-12 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} In 1915, Runyon was the only professional to photograph two skirmishes by [Mexican bandits](/source/Bandit_War) on American soil, the [Norias Ranch Raid](/source/Norias_Ranch_Raid) and a train derailment near [Olmito, Texas](/source/Olmito%2C_Texas). He took more than 2,000 pictures of [Fort Brown](/source/Fort_Brown), which captured troop buildup and mechanization in preparation for [World War I](/source/World_War_I). Runyon returned to more traditional subjects in the border region, as well as portraits and postcards, following the end of the war. ===Merchant=== He closed the studio in 1926 to become a partner in a Matamoros curio shop alongside his brother-in-law, José Medrano, whom he bought out three years later. He ran this store until 1938 and also operated a similar one in Brownsville. ===Botany=== Beginning in the late 1920s, Runyon became a successful amateur botanist, discovering several new species and accumulating a massive private herbarium. He wrote ''Texas Cacti: A Popular and Scientific Account of the Cacti Native of Texas'' with [Ellen Schulz Quillin](/source/Ellen_Schulz_Quillin) (1930) and ''Vernacular Names of Plants Indigenous to the Lower Rio Grande Valley'' (1947). A third book, ''An Annotated List of the Flora of the Lower Rio Grande Valley'', went unpublished due to his death. Runyon was a charter member of the [Cactus and Succulent Society of America](/source/Cactus_and_Succulent_Society_of_America) and served as its regional vice president in 1942 and fellow in 1945. He was also involved in the [Texas Academy of Science](/source/Texas_Academy_of_Science), the [Botanical Society of America](/source/Botanical_Society_of_America), the [Torrey Botanical Club](/source/Torrey_Botanical_Society), the [American Society of Plant Taxonomists](/source/American_Society_of_Plant_Taxonomists), the [International Association for Plant Taxonomy](/source/International_Association_for_Plant_Taxonomy), and the [Phi Sigma](/source/Phi_Sigma) chapter at the [University of Texas at Austin](/source/University_of_Texas_at_Austin). ===Politics=== Runyon became active as a politician starting in the late 1930s and was appointed Brownsville city manager in 1937. On November 4, 1941, he was elected to a two-year term as mayor of the city. Runyon was appointed as the ''aide-de-camp'' of Kentucky Governor [Earle C. Clements](/source/Earle_C._Clements)'s staff in 1949 and received a commission as a [colonel](/source/Kentucky_colonel). He chaired the Cameron County Democratic Executive Committee from 1950 to 1952. Runyon unsuccessfully ran for the [Texas House of Representatives](/source/Texas_House_of_Representatives) in 1952. He served as a member and later chairman of the Brownsville Planning and Zoning Board between 1959 and 1961. ===Later life=== Runyon died at the age of 86 on March 9, 1968, and was buried in Buena Vista Cemetery. ==Personal life== Runyon married Nora Young on September 16, 1901, and had one son with her, William. His second wife, Amelia Lenor Medrano, was the daughter of a respected Matamoros family. They married on July 4, 1913, and had five children together between 1914 and 1926: Lillian, Amali, Virginia, Robert, and Delbert. ==Legacy and namesakes== Following his death, Runyon's herbarium was donated to the [University of Texas at Austin](/source/University_of_Texas_at_Austin), while [Texas A&I University](/source/Texas_A%26M_University%E2%80%93Kingsville) received his botanical library. In 1986, the Barker Texas History Center at UT Austin was given Runyon's photographic collection and business files by his family. The following plant species were named in his honour: {{div col|colwidth=32em}} *''[Allium runyonii](/source/Allium_runyonii)'' OwnbeyKing, p. 24 *[''Coryphantha macromeris'' var. ''runyonii''](/source/Coryphantha_macromeris) (Britt. & Rose) L.Benson{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2n5vusQ1DEC |first=Urs |last=Eggli |author2=Leonard E. Newton |title=Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names |publisher=Springer |year=2004 |isbn=978-3-540-00489-9 |page=207}} *''[Cuscuta](/source/Cuscuta) runyonii'' YunckerKing, p. 204 *''[Esenbeckia runyonii](/source/Esenbeckia_runyonii)'' C.V.Morton{{cite book |url=http://naldr.nal.usda.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/AH041001.XML?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=National%20Agricultural%20Library%20Digital%20Repository&Index=AH%7cAH2%7cAIB%7cBIC%7cBooks%7cERS%7cFVMNR%7cJAR%7cMP%7cROS%7cRural%7cTB%7cUSDA_Div_Bulletin%7cWPC%7cYOA1%7cYOA2&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=&Toc=&Tocentury=&QField=Accession^CAT86859362&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=Accession&IntQFieldOp=1&ExtQFieldOp=1&XmlQuery=&Doc=%3Cdocument%20name%3D%22AH041001.XML%22%20path%3D%22\\NALDR\DIGITAL\ZYFILES\INDEXDATA\ALL2\XML\2006\00000000\%22%20index%3D%22AH%22%2F%3E&File=\\NALDR\DIGITAL\ZYFILES\INDEXDATA\ALL2\XML\2006\00000000\AH041001.XML&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=f%3ATitle&MaximumDocuments=15&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality= |first=Elbert Luther |last=Little |title=Check List of Native and Naturalized Trees of the United States (Including Alaska) |volume=41 |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |year=1953 |page=179}}{{dead link|date=June 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} *''[Echeveria runyonii](/source/Echeveria_runyonii)'' E.Walther{{cite book |first=William Thomas |last=Stearn |title=Botanical Masters: Plant Portraits by Contemporary Artists |publisher=Prentice Hall Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-13-321902-9 |page=72}} *[''Helianthus praecox'' ssp. ''runyonii''](/source/Helianthus_praecox) (Heiser) Heiser *''[Justicia runyonii](/source/Justicia_runyonii)'' SmallKing, p. 51 *[''Ruellia nudiflora'' var. ''runyonii''](/source/Ruellia_nudiflora) (Tharp & F.A.Barkley) B.L.TurnerKing, p. 52 *[''Scutellaria drummondii'' var. ''runyonii''](/source/Scutellaria_drummondii) B.L.TurnerKing, p. 289 {{div col end}} ==See also== * [List of mayors of Brownsville, Texas](/source/List_of_mayors_of_Brownsville%2C_Texas) ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==Further reading== {{commons}} *{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ve-fHY-Dy8wC |title=Plants of Deep South Texas: A Field Guide to the Woody and Flowering Species |first=Alfred |last=Richardson |author2=Ken King |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60344-144-5}} ==External links== *[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/runyon/ Photographs from the Robert Runyon Collection] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Runyon, Robert}} Category:People from Boyd County, Kentucky Category:People from Brownsville, Texas Category:1881 births Category:1968 deaths Category:20th-century American botanists Category:Mayors of places in Texas Category:20th-century American photographers Category:Torrey Botanical Society members Category:20th-century mayors of places in Texas --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robert Runyon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Runyon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Runyon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.