Jackie: Yes, Will Ledbetter is mentioned in the book. From "I'll Die Before I'll Run," by C.L. Sonnichsen (it is two n's; I doublechecked) Chapter: The Feud of the Pious Assassins from pages 217 and 218 "Some four miles north of San Saba town was peculiar outcropping in the level plain known as China Knob -- a steep hill about 300 yards long and 125 high with shiny vitreous outcropings which gave it a name. Not far away was a rural schoolhouse which served as a church and social center for the country round about, and there in August of 1893 the Reverend Mr. Mathias began a series of revival meetings. Everybody went, of course. A protracted meeting was a great social occasion there, as in other parts of the South and West, but in this case society was by no means the chief attraction. Elders and deacons were the backbone of the Mob, and there were pious people on the other side as well. The China Knob revival was well and enthusiastically attended. "More than once in Texas, however, a religious meeting has given a feuding faction the chance it needed to even a score with its enemies. The one who was to suffer in this case was a young man named Jim Brown -- a son of the Ase Brown who had been hanged by Mob sympathizers in 1888. Jim was a noisy fellow who was probably not as bad as he wished to be considered, but he had convinced the leaders of the Mob that he was up to no good (they thought he was tampering with other people's cows), and they determined to get rid of him. The China Knob meeting gave them their opportunity. "By an ironic chance Jim had practically married the Mob. His wife was a McCarty, the daughter of a man who was supposed to be one of the inner circle, and his sister had married Bill Ogle, a jovial Irishman who had become a pliant tool in the hands of the leaders. The McCarty relationship helps to explain some arrangments that were made on the night of August 24, 1893. "The meeting was over. The preacher had shaken hands with everybody. The women had torn themselves reluctantly from the last morsels of neighborhood gossip. The horses had been brought up, and it was time to ride. Jim McCarty, Jim Brown's brother-in-law, took particular pains about arranging his little party. He and his sister rode off first, leaving Brown and Will Ledbetter to bring up the rear. What happened was described by the [San Saba] News editor the following week: 'On crossing a little ravine about three-quarters of a mile beyond China, Brown was fired upon from ambush. The weapon used was a shotgun loaded with buckshot. About fifteen shot entered his right side, one or two passing out on the left side, the others lodging about the heart and lungs. When he was shot, he clinched his horse and dashed up beside his wife who, with her companion, was at that time a short distance in front. Then a second shot was fired. This shot missed Brown, but some two or three shots hit Mrs. Brown, inflicting painful wounds. About this time Brown fell from his horse, the distance from where he was shot to where fell was about 75 steps. There is as yet no clue as to the guilty parties.' " Notes of Lisa Mitchell: Jim Brown was married to the daughter of Miles Daniel "Jeff" McCARTY (possibly Mary). William (Bill) Ogle was married to Georgia Ann McCORMICK, not a BROWN. Georgia Ann McCORMICK's mother was half-sister to Jeff McCARTY, making Mrs. Ogle and Mrs. Brown first cousins. The murder of Jim Brown happened in 1893. When the Texas Rangers arrived in San Saba in 1897 to attempt to disband the Mob (after the murder of Mr. JAMES), they investigated the Jim BROWN murder. The information about how the murder was plotted was provided to the Texas Rangers by Josh McCORMICK, brother to Georgia McCORMICK Ogle. Bill Ogle was arrested, and in 1899 he was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. In 1909, he was pardoned by the Governor of Texas, largely through the efforts of the prosecuting attorney, Walter Linden. The trial at which Will Ledbetter gave testimony was undoubtedly that of my ancestor Bill Ogle (the above mentioned "pliant tool," who was not Irish at all). A list of 66 witnesses was provided to the bailiff (so he could issue summons), but the list is not included in the court records. The only specific witnesses mentioned were those who had refused to testify, and it was noted in the records that they had ignored the summons. Ledbetter is not on that list. Ultimately, the trial was moved to Llano County from San Saba, as it was believed that the San Saba judge and sherriff were members of/sympathetic to the Mob and that a fair trial could not be had without change of venue. I think it's safe to say that Will Ledbetter was not one of the Mob, or he would not have been riding near the man to be shot... especially since the murder weapon was a shot gun. Hope this helps you, Lisa Mitchell

Thanks a lot. This adds to my documentation and I will enjoy reading the book when I get it. I had forgotten where I read about Captain Ledbetter testifying so I dug aroung and found it in: Old Timers Of Wallace Creek by Jym A. Sloan, Published in 1958 can be found in your library or on library loan. Captain W. H. Ledbetter is mentioned on pages 47; 84; 85; 94-101; 108 and 136. His daughter, Callie Zenith, contributed to the article. A quote from it says: "After living at Spring Creek less than a year the W. H. Ledbetter family were in need of meat, and the Captain having a good calf out on the range, decided to go get it and butcher it for home use. After a diligent search on the hills and finding no beef he decided it had gone to water, so he rode towards Buzzards' Water Hole about one mile from his home, and as he rode down a steep hill near a dense thicket, a voice from it said "Go round." Mr. Ledbetter rode on a ways and met a man whom Mr. Ledbetter knew slightly, and was from the community. He was known as a model cowman, yet this man came to attention and presented his Winchester in a threatening manner, and nearby, but unseen, someone said "Go round." Captain Ledbetter continued on his way towards the water hole; shortly afterwards a man of good reputation rode up to the Captain, and with pointed gun demanded that he "Go round." By this time he was near enough to Buzzards' Water Hole to see that there was a bunch of men collected there. He recognized about thirty of them, and this looked like a knockout, however, they released him, and he went home, but with no beef" On page 108 of the book Callie Zenith stated: He, the Captain, told the Judge how many they had on the jury of mob leaning, "but however I can testify to what little I know," so that was the first time he "had opened his mouth." I believe people belonged to it that didn't know what they were doing till they were involved and then they were afraid, and some actually persuaded themselves that they were in the right. Someone has said that we can't know the human heart, but I believe that most of them were glad it was ended...... They tried to get Father to move, but he told them it was his country, and that he had never moved from outlaws..... It brings me to tears to read about those times and the struggles they all went through and how some of them chose to take what they wanted without concern for others and lived either on the edge or outside what law existed at the time (I have this inheritance also). Then I read about those with integrity and their bravery in fighting for what they believed in, and I smile with pride that it is a part of my ancestry and it makes me love Texas even more. Like most of us now, Texans in that age had some things to be ashamed of but so much more to be proud of. Since I have outlaws and Texas Rangers in my ancestry, I can speak freely. We are seeing the same situations in our times today in a way - some are afraid, with good reason, to go out on the streets at night because of crime, gang fights (mobs), racial tension, etc. and most of us are armed in some manner for protection. Thieves and those with little or no concience not only prey on the helpless, the young and the elderly, but beat, rape and mame them after they strip them of their possessions and leave them in terror (a group of strong young men recently robbed a dozen or more elderly women, ripping their wedding rings off and beating them beyond recognition, then leaving them laying and taking their cars. They stalked them in the malls and followed them home.). But, there are still those among us who are striving for integrity and honor to prevail. I pray our President is one of them, as he appears to be, and that he has chosen men of integrity who will teach our country what it is to be free to walk our streets and sleep and drive with our windows open again. God save America. When I was a child we had no keys to our doors, we slept with the windows and sometimes the doors open and only occasionally latched the screen door! We never locked our cars, we could drink the water right out of the facet, most of our food was not frozen, it was fresh, and we cooked it in either on or inside the stove in what was called a pan or an oven - sometimes hours! Our meat didn't taste like chemicals and was not tough like leather. Chicken tasted good with just a little salt on it! We ate fruit, vegetables and meat without harmones, chemicals and wax "protecting" them and they tasted like what they were named. Television was a baby and the commericals sold clothes to go over your underwear, not your underwear. We blushed when they started advertising toilet paper! We blushed a lot in those days! I miss that! There's something really refreshing about a blush outside a plastic container. Plastic - things came in paper boxes that you could open without pliars and scissors! Some of you will probably try to make me remember the bad stuff about those days but I prefer to remember the good stuff and I have a good delete button on this newfangled typin thing! Be blessed.... Jackie Midkiff ----- Original Message ----- From: <BSlick7819@aol.com> To: <silvertexz@mindspring.com>; <TXSSABA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2001 8:16 PM Subject: Re: [TXSSABA] Mob - Will Ledbetter > Jackie: > Yes, Will Ledbetter is mentioned in the book. From "I'll Die Before I'll > Run," by C.L. Sonnichsen (it is two n's; I doublechecked) > Chapter: The Feud of the Pious Assassins > > from pages 217 and 218 > I deleted the rest to save space on the list.... See the email described above.