The Ledbetter Diaries
Col. John Jackson Ledbetter Jr. kept personal diaries from 1928 through 1961. His son William Burl Ledbetter transcribed them in December 2008. What follows are year-by-year entries from this remarkable first-person record of Depression-era Texas, wartime service, and mid-century family life.
For excerpts organized by theme, see The Ledbetter Diaries in Stories.
1928–1938: San Antonio, Dallas, El Paso
- 1928
1928
San Antonio, then DallasThe diary begins. JJL loses his job in San Antonio and relocates to Dallas, tracking every penny.
- 1929
1929
Dallas, then El PasoA philosophical essay on the purpose of life. A new job as City Engineer in El Paso. The first signs of stomach trouble.
- 1931
1931
San Benito, TexasJJL takes the oath of office at the International Boundary Commission. A year of work and little else.
- 1932
1932
El PasoThe bank fails. Military reserve duty at Camp Bullis. Stomach trouble worsens.
- 1934
1934
El PasoThe birth of William Burl Ledbetter. A promotion at the IBC. Studying for the bar.
- 1935
1935
El PasoLicensed to practice law in Texas. A flute, a Mickey Mouse watch, and life with two small boys.
- 1936
1936
El PasoThe murder of Margaret Ledbetter Dewey. A drive through ice and snow to Arkansas. The long pursuit of justice.
- 1937
1937
El Paso (and temporarily San Antonio)The winter of 1937. Nearly every family member sick for three months. Pneumonia, measles, croup.
- 1938
1938
El PasoRegistered Professional Engineer. Bill's first picture show. Childhood injuries and nursery school.
1939–1944: Military service. No surviving diary transcriptions for these years.
1945–1961: Ann Arbor, San Antonio, Austin
- 1945
1945
Charlottesville, Ann Arbor, El Paso, San AntonioJapan surrenders. JJL graduates from Civil Affairs Training School but is too ill for deployment. Retired from the Army with a duodenal ulcer.
- 1946
1946
San Antonio, Dallas, AustinLaw school at SMU on the GI Bill. A new house in Dallas. Then a career offer from TSPE and the move to Austin.
- 1947
1947
AustinJack Wallace wins appointment to Annapolis from Lyndon B. Johnson. Leonora's gall bladder surgery. The visit to Washington.
- 1948
1948
AustinThe death of Lucy A. Ledbetter. A trip to Blytheville, Arkansas. Ulcer flare-ups and a Sunbeam Mixmaster.
- 1949
1949
AustinA bleak year dominated by illness. Active duodenal ulcer crater confirmed. A new Buick.
- 1951
1951
Austin (and Brooke Army Hospital, San Antonio)Eighty to ninety percent of his stomach removed. Jack Wallace graduates from Annapolis. Gen. George C. Marshall speaks.
- 1954
1954
AustinA grandson born in Norfolk. Fishing on Lake Austin. Leonora's breast biopsy — no malignancy.
- 1957
1957
AustinGrandson William Burl Ledbetter Jr. born. Divorce proceedings begin. A hotel room office and an Interstate Compact appointment.
- 1958
1958
AustinThe divorce is granted. Music by Guy Lombardo. Bill and family arrive in Austin.
- 1959
1959
AustinMarriage to Neva Clifton Moore in Reynosa, Mexico. Hospitalization at Brackenridge. The death of Mrs. L. W. Lackey.
- 1960
1960
AustinProstate and hernia surgery. Multiple hospitalizations. The first AA meeting. Grandson Robert Gordon Ledbetter born.
- 1961
1961
AustinThe last diary. Sobriety, relapses, and AA meetings almost every night. Japanese classes at UT. Bill's Ford Foundation PhD scholarship.