Birthplace of J. Frank Dobie

Birthplace of J. Frank Dobie. . Noted folklorist James Frank Dobie was born at the old Dobie Ranch near Lagarto in Live Oak County on September 26, 1888. Dobie was the eldest of six children born to Richard J. and Ella (Byler) Dobie and a descendant of ranchers and cattlemen. At age 16, he moved to Alice, where he lived with his grandparents and finished high school. In 1906 he moved to Georgetown, Williamson County, where he attended Southwestern University and met Bertha McKee of Velasco., Dobie graduated in 1910 and began his career as an educator and journalist. In 1913 he moved to New York to earn a Master's Degree at Columbia University, and in 1914 he joined the University of Texas English faculty and the Texas Folklore Society. Dobie wed longtime sweetheart Bertha McKee in 1916, two years before she completed her Master's Degree in English at the University of Texas. He considered Bertha his best literary critic. Dobie served in the army for two years during World War I before returning to Austin in 1919. The next year he moved to South Texas to manage his uncle's ranch, Rancho de los Olmos, in La Salle County. There, steeped in the stories and traditions of the Mexican Vaqueros, he decided to collect and publish southwestern folklore. Returning to Austin in 1921, he resumed teaching and published his first book in 1929. He became a full professor at the University of Texas in 1933, but also taught in several other places during his career, completing many additional books., J. Frank Dobie died on September 18, 1964, just four days after receiving the National Medal of Freedom from his friend President Lyndon B. Johnson. Dobie was laid to rest in the Texas State Cemetery. He is still remembered for his efforts to preserve the stories of Texas through the history and experiences of its people. , (1970, 2003)