Letters to Alice: Birth of the Kleberg-King Ranch Dynasty

Title Page, Copyright

Letters to Alice Number TweNTy-Two: Gulf Coast Books Sponsored by Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi John W. Tunnell Jr., General Editor A list of all titles in this series is available at the end of the book. An artist’s rendering of Robert and Alice Kleberg from a photograph thought to have been taken at the time of their wedding on June 17, 1886. Illustration by Barbara Mathews Whitehead. Letters to Alice  Birth of the Kleberg-King Ranch Dynasty ediTed aNd aNNoTaTed by Jane Clements Monday and Frances Brannen Vick With a Foreword by Thomas H. Kreneck Texas A&M University Press College Station Copyright © 2012 by Jane Clements Monday and Frances Brannen Vick Manufactured in the United States of America All rights reserved FirsT ediTioN This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). Binding materials have been chosen for durability. ♾ The front jacket illustration and frontispiece are from Barbara Mathews Whitehead’s rendering of Robert and Alice Kleberg from a photograph thought to have been taken at the time of their wedding on June 17, 1886. Courtesy Barbara Mathews Whitehead. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kleberg, Robert Justus, 1853–1932. Letters to Alice : birth of the Kleberg-King Ranch dynasty / edited and annotated by Jane Clements Monday and Frances Brannen Vick ; with a foreword by Thomas H. Kreneck. — 1st ed. p. cm. — (Gulf Coast books ; no. 22) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-60344-471-2 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-60344-471-8 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-1-60344-331-9 (e-book) ISBN-10: 1-60344-331-2 (e-book) 1. Kleberg, Robert Justus, 1853–1932—Correspondence. 2. Kleberg, Alice Gertrudis King, 1862–1944—Correspondence. 3. Kleberg, Robert Justus, 1853–1932. 4. Kleberg, Alice Gertrudis King, 1862–1944. 5. Ranchers— Texas—Biography. 6. Lawyers—Texas—Biography. 7. Ranchers’ spouses—Texas—Biography. 8. King Ranch (Tex.)—History. I. Monday, Jane Clements, 1941– II. Vick, Frances Brannen, 1935– III. Kleberg, Alice Gertrudis King, 1862–1944. IV. Title. V. Series: Gulf Coast books ; no. 22. F391.K63A4 2012 976.4′113—dc23 2011047715  To my family, whose support is outstanding: my wonderful husband Charles, our children and their spouses Kimberly, Lauren, Julie, Buddie, Jennifer, and Adam, and our grandchildren Jack, Ellie, Sarah, Ben, Sam, Annie, Caroline, and Charlie. I give you all my deepest love and appreciation. To our Leadership Texas Class of 1990, who have become our sisters and supporters through the years: I join with Fran in our appreciation of the true meaning of friendship. —Jane Monday  To the women who made all the difference in my life: Bess, who was first, then Marilyn, and the ones who came later—Ellen, Jane, Mary Etta, Gayla, Joyce, Laura, Judy, Liz, Phyllis, Sharon, Jane M., Diane, Carla, Jerry, and the Leadership Texas Class of 1990. —Fran Vick ...