John Gordon Dial Jr. (1921 - bef. 1988)

Born 29 Nov 1921 in Breckenridge, Stephens, Texas, United States

Died before 19 May 1988 before age 66 in Caldwell, Texas

Space:New London, Texas, School Explosion

Biography

Parents: John Gordon Dial Sr.(1892-1968) & Myrtle Odessa Crisman Dial(1899-1961). John's birth certificate says "Joseph".

John survived the New London school explosion, but his little brother Travis was killed. John's wife Marilla lost 3 siblings in the disaster.

John was in Mr Butler's shop class, making a cabinet, when the explosion happened. He had been standing next to the machine and said, ‘It was like being in the middle of a flash of lightning.’

The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion, destroying the London School of New London, Texas, a community in Rusk County previously known as "London". The disaster killed more than 295 students and teachers. As of 2017, the event is the third deadliest disaster in the history of Texas, after the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the 1947 Texas City disaster.

London School did not publish a yearbook in 1937, instead substituting a memorial book that recognized all of the students and teachers who had died during the disaster.

Sources

• https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=665867160182103&story_fbid=1865147186920755

• https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/oh-my-god-its-our-children/

• 1930, 1940 US census

• Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1932

• U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

• U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014

• Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_London_School_explosion

• http://nlsd.net/Cenotaph.htm

• https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/discover/artifacts/1936-london-school-yearbook

• https://www.usdeadlyevents.com/1937-march-18-natural-gas-explosion-consolidated-school-new-london-tx-311-319/

• https://www.texasranger.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/History-Texas-Rangers-and-the-New-London-School-Disaster.pdf