Barbara Jean McDuffie

Barbara Jean McDuffie was born in 1934, the daughter of Margaret Alline Morris Craig and E. S. McDuffie. Through her mother, she was granddaughter of James Walter Morris and Ethel Arrine Thompson — connected to the deep East Texas heritage of the Morris, Thompson, and McAdams families stretching back to the Texas Revolution.²

Marriage

On August 27, 1955, in Austin, Texas, Barbara married William Burl Ledbetter, second son of Col. John Jackson Ledbetter Jr. and Loraine Leonora Lackey. The marriage united two deep Texas family lines: the Ledbetter heritage of Missouri, Arkansas, and West Texas with the Morris-Thompson-McAdams heritage of East Texas and the Carolinas.¹

Children

Barbara and Bill had four children:¹

• William Burl Ledbetter Jr. — born June 13, 1957, Austin. Married Donna Glenn on August 20, 1978, in College Station. They had five children: Micah, Hannah, Leah, Josiah, and Noah.
• Craig Alan Ledbetter — born February 20, 1963, Austin. Married Juanita Mae Dicken on May 24, 1985, in Springfield, Missouri. They had five children, including Sarah Grace, born in Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland.
• Kathleen Elaine Ledbetter — born January 15, 1965, Bryan, Texas.
• Paul Marney Ledbetter — born November 5, 1967, Bryan, Texas. Married Margaret Rose Hanrahan on November 19, 1994, in New Orleans.

Through these children, Barbara became grandmother to a large and far-flung family — from College Station to Springfield, Missouri, to Ballincollig, Ireland.¹