Today we remember the 90th wedding anniversary of Lyndon Baines Johnson and Claudia Alta Taylor, who we all fondly remember as Lady Bird.
Photo: A young LBJ….Goodreads
Photo: Claudia Taylor ( Lady Bird ) aged 17….Traces of Texas
It was November 17th, 1934, and after a whirlwind courtship of 10 weeks, 26 year old Congressional aide Lyndon Johnson, and 21 year old Claudia Taylor, who had graduated with Honors in History and a Bachelors degree in Journalism, walked down the aisle at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio.
Photo: St Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio…..Wikipedia
Photo: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church marker…..Historic Marker Database
According to Lewis Fisher in the book “St. Mark’s Episcopal Church…150 Years of Ministry in Downtown San Antonio 1858 – 2008” the Rector of the church, the Rev. Arthur McKinstry, who later would become the Bishop of Delaware, picked up the phone at the church one morning and on the other end was the San Antonio Postmaster, Dan Quill. He was told by Postmaster Quill that a young man, who was working as the secretary to the Congressman Richard Kleberg in Washington, had made the request to be married in the historic church. As The Rev. McKinstry reached for his diary to look for the preferred date for the wedding, he was astonished when Mr. Quill told him that the young couple wanted to be married that day at 6pm.
The Reverend, once he had recovered from the request, told Mr. Quill that this was quite out of the ordinary because, according to the Reverend McKinstry in his autobiography, All I Have Seen, The McKinstry Memoirs, “I explained that holy matrimony was a very serious and important matter. I needed time to talk to the young couple before I was prepared to perform the ceremony”.
According to the Reverend McKinsey, Postmaster Quill made “an impassioned plea” explaining that the groom had to return to Washington post haste, and that there was no reason why they could not be legally married that day. He went on to promise the minister that he would never make such a request of him again, but it was imperative that the couple marry that day at 6pm.
Because he had received that promise from the Postmaster, Reverend McKinstry agreed to meet the couple that evening and perform the wedding ceremony. He wrote in his memoir that there were no flowers on the altar, no music, only the young bride and groom, their witnesses and two or three others, including Mr Quill. Also in attendance was a lawyer, Harry Herztberg, who later achieved fame for himself by opening the Hertzberg Circus Museum in San Antonio, where the Briscoe Western Art Museum now stands, on the banks of the Riverwalk.
Not all things go to plan, and when he was asked if he had purchased a wedding ring, according to the Reverend McKinstry’s book, Lyndon Johnson sheepishly admitted that “Gee…plumb forgot the ring”
After receiving a “dirty look” from the minister, Postmaster Quill raced out of the church and rapidly made his way to the only store still open in town that sold wedding rings…Sears Roebuck in the Tower Life Building. Of course, he had no idea what size ring to buy, so he came back to the church with ten $1.50 rings in assorted sizes…just to be sure.
Photo: Sears Roebucks San Antonio C 1934….Facebook
Reverend McKinstry proceeded with the wedding, but recalled that as all the post-wedding congratulations were taking place, he whispered to Dan Quill, “I doubt that this marriage will ever last” However, the marriage did last, until 1973 when L.B.J. passed away at his ranch near Fredericksburg, TX.
There are no known photos of the wedding 90 years ago, however it is known that the newly-betrothed couple went to the St. Anthony Hotel across Travis Park from the church, and there, with their friends…and Postmaster Quill, they enjoyed a dinner before spending their wedding night at the Plaza Hotel. The happy couple then took a short honeymoon in Mexico.
Photo: LBJ and Lady Bird on their honeymoon at Xochimilco, Mexico….LBJ Library
ADDITIONAL STORY:
- Lyndon Baines Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson had two daughters…Lynda Bird and Luci Baines. They all shared the initials “L.B.J” The family also had a dog named Little Beagle Johnson….yep….”L.B.J”
Sources:
“St. Mark’s Episcopal Church…150 Years of Ministry in Downtown San Antonio 1858 – 2008″…..Lewis Fisher
Wikipedia
LBJ Library
Follow My Blog
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
Memories of San Antonio 