Beauford H. Jester

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Beauford Halbert Jester (January 12, 1893–July 11, 1949) was a U.S. political figure, the son of George Taylor Jester and his second wife, Frances Gordon Jester. He served as the Governor of Texas from 1947 until 1949, when he died of a heart attack. He is the only Texas governor ever to have died in office. He won the governorship in the Democratic primary in 1946 by defeating Homer Rainey, who had been discharged by the regents as the president of the University of Texas at Austin in 1944 in a dispute over academic freedom.

Jester was born in Corsicana, the seat of Navarro County in east Texas, attended UT, and studied law at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His studies were interrupted by the First World War. In 1919, he resumed his law studies at the University of Texas, from which he received his LL.B a year later. He returned to Corsicana to practice law, and was president of the Navarro County Bar Association for many years. Jester also served as director of the state bar association from 1940-1941.

For many years, Jester was a member of the University of Texas Board of Regents, and from 1933-1935 was the youngest man to ever serve as president of that body. In honor of his service, the Jester Center on the University of Texas campus was named after him in 1968. This contains Jester Dormitory, the largest residential facility on campus, housing just under 3,000 students, as well as classroom and faculty space. Also, a Texas Department of Corrections prison pre-release center in Sugar Land, Texas was named after Jester--featured in the 1974 movie, The Sugarland Express.

In 1964, Jester Park was dedicated by the City of Corsicana in memory of Beauford Jester. The 24 acre park is home to the Lefty Frizzell Memorial and the Pioneer Village, which recreates the lives of the city's pioneers with replicas of historic buildings.

Jester is interred in Oakwood Cemetery in Corsicana.

[edit] Resources

• Entry for Beauford Jester from the Handbook of Texas Online.
• Photos of Beauford H. Jester, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
• Jester Park
• Beauford Jester on Find-A-Grave

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