Daniel Bourne, 26, born in 1810
in England, a resident of Gonzales and Private artilleryman in Capt. Carey's
Company. Bourne and two brothers came to America from England and Daniel went
on to the DeWitt Colony. He was in Capt. Parrott's artillery company and remained
in Bexar in service of the company.
George Brown, 35, born 1801
in England, a resident of Gonzales and Private rifleman in the Alamo garrison.
He came to TX from Yazoo, YazooCo, MS.
Jerry C. Day, 20, born 1816 in
Missouri, was a Gonzales resident and Private rifleman in the Alamo garrison.
He was the son of Jeremiah Day, a wagoner for the Texas army between 1836-1838
who signed the Goliad Declaration of Independence 20 Dec 1835. Son Jerry
C. Day is referred to as Jeremiah C. Day in some records. Day participated
in the Siege and Battle of Bexar in Dec 1835, was discharged from the service
on 14 Jan 1836, but re-enlisted and joined the Alamo garrison. Service
bounty of 320 acres was approved for his heirs 15 Oct 1845.
Almaron Dickinson/Dickerson, 26, born in 1810 in TN was a blacksmith, Mason and resident of Gonzales and artilleryman in the Alamo garrison. He and wife Susannah Wilkerson arrived in the DeWitt Colony in 1831 and received a league of land on the east bank of the San Marcos River below the Old Bexar Road in CaldwellCo on Callihan Creek, east of Plum Creek and current Lockhart town. The Dickinsons are thought to have arrived with a party of 54 which included many other prominent DeWitt Colonists including Matthew Caldwell, John E. Gavin, Michael Gillen, John Henry, Joseph P. Lawlor, John Morris, Silas M. Morris, Spencer Morris, John A. Neill and Porter Alexander, several of which received neighboring land grants. Dickinson also acquired property in inner Gonzales town in 1834 where he set up his blacksmith shop and went into partnership with George C. Kimble in a hat factory. Almeron Dickinson was among the 27 Gonzales men under Bart McClure who responded to an attack by Indians on traders at the Castleman place 15 miles west of Gonzales. Dickerson was among the original 18 defenders of the Gonzales cannon and was in charge of the cannon during the confrontation. In a letter of 4 Nov 1835 to Stephen F. Austin, Launcelot Smither describes a disturbing invasion and vandalism of the Dickinson home by volunteer troops in Gonzales preparing for the march to Bexar while Mrs. Susannah Dickinson was present. Dickinson was an aide to General Edward Burleson during the Siege of Bexar in early Dec 1835. After the battle his family joined him in Bexar where they set up residence in the Musquiz house on the southwest corner of Portero Street and the Main Plaza. The association and other records indicate that the Dickinsons were close friends of brothers Ramon and Francisco de Castenada Musquiz early on before they moved to San Antonio, possibly through their common bond as Masons and in actions aimed at obtaining artillery and other defense support for Gonzales and the DeWitt Colony.
Signed business records give insight into Dickinson's affairs in Gonzales and suggest that he was in the town in Dec 1835: "
One day after date I promise to pay John Hudson the sume of Forty three dollars and Eighty seven and one half cents for value received as witness my hand and seale this, the 3rd of August 1829."Another reads
"One day after date I promise to pay J.C. & W. McKean one hundred and four dollars for value received. Witness my hand and sela this 15th day Decr 1834."Another says
"On demand I promise to pay Malkijah Williams Twelve dollars and fifty cents for value received of him this the 10th day of August 1835."Another note read
"One day after date I promise to pay Stephen Smith or bearer forty one Dollars & 30 Cents for value recd. Gonzales December 27 1835."The Dickinsons while in the Musquiz home hospitably entertained guests and boarders, a tradition which Mrs. Dickinson maintained in later years both as a widow and with subsequent spouses. The Musquiz home with the Dickinsons as extended residents was obviously a meeting place for those concerned with the troubles with the central government of Mexico. Dr. John Sutherland, Davy Crockett and David Cummings were boarders at the Musquiz-Dickinson residence. When Mexican troops arrived in San Antonio on 23 Feb 1836, Dickinson moved the family into the Alamo from the Musquiz house. Alamo commander Travis' letter to Gen. Houston of 25 Feb 1836 says
"Lieutenant Simmons of cavalry acting as infantry, and Captains Carey, Dickinson and Blair of the artillery, rendered essential service..."since the Alamo garrison came under siege on the 23rd of Feb. Lt. Dickinson's main role in the defense was thought to be with servicing and firing the 12 pound cannon during the siege. According to his surviving widow Susannah Dickinson who was present during the siege, near the end, Lt. Dickinson rushed into the chapel where she was hiding saying "Great God, Sue! The Mexicans are inside our walls! All is lost! If they spare you, love our child," he kissed Susannah and returned to the battle where he died and his body was burned with the rest of the defenders. Some reports suggest that he left his Masonic apron with Susannah and instructed her to display it appropriately if it would aid her survival.
Andrew Duvalt/Duvault, 32,
born 1804 in Ireland, was a resident of Gonzales and Private rifleman in
Capt. White's infantry company. He came to TX from Missouri, joined the
service on 28 Oct 1835, participated in the Siege
of Bexar and became an infantryman in the Bexar Guards. He was in Gonzales
after 2 Feb 1836 and enrolled during the muster of the Gonzales Rangers
in Feb 1836. Whether he returned to the Alamo prior to entry of the Gonzales
relief force or accompanied them to the Alamo is uncertain. Duvalt is not
listed on the Gonzales memorial among the immortal 32, but as a Gonzales
resident who died there. In 1854 his heirs received 320 acres bounty land
for service.
John Harris, 23, born 1813
in KY, a resident of Gonzales and Private rifleman in the Gonzales Rangers.
John participated in the Siege
of Bexar, received 640 acre bounty for the service and was a member
of the Bexar Guards. He was at home in Gonzales when the Alamo was surrounded
and was mustered into the Rangers on 23 Feb 1836. Similar to Duvalt, it
is unclear whether he entered the Alamo with the Gonzales relief force
or returned to the Alamo separately. He is listed in Citizens of the Republic
of Texas as born 1813 in TN and the son of Sidon J. Harris. In Alamo Legacy,
author Ron Jackson relates a family legend from a descendant of Siden B.
Harris that says that Sideon B. Harris was an uncle of Alamo Defender John
Harris. In this account, Harris was a cousin of Davy Crockett who came
to Texas with him as a member of the Tennessee Mounted Volunteers.
William J. Lightfoot, 25,
born 1811 in VA, a resident of Gonzales and 3rd Corporal in Capt. Carey's
artillery. He participated in the Siege
of Bexar in the same unit. A Lightfoot was listed as 3rd Corporal on
the roster of the Alamo garrison under Lt. Col. James Clinton Neill before
he left the Alamo command on 14 Feb 1836. Some sources erroneously suggest
that Lightfoot was the son of Elijah and Rebecca Ligon Lightfoot. According
to Joe Lee, HCR 62, Box 14, Evant, TX 76525,
Elijah Lightfoot was born 28 Oct 1810, married Rebecca Ligon on 11 Oct
1831 and died in Pittsburg,Tex on 12 July 1891. Lightfoot researchers suspect
that William J. Lightfoot and John William Lightfoot are the same person
and a brother of brothers William Webster, Wilson T. and Henry L. Lightfoot
who served in the Texas Revolution. Wilson T. Lightfoot was the executor
of Alamo Defender William Lightfoot's estate. Brothers John William and
Wilson T. Lightfoot were in Austins second colony in current Bastrop County
in 1830 while their brother Elijah came to Texas much later..
James McGee, born in Ireland
and a Private rifleman in Capt. Blazeby's Company of the Alamo garrison
is claimed as a resident of Gonzales in some records. He came to TX from
New Orleans as a part of the New Orleans Greys. He took part in the Siege
of Bexar under Capt. Blazeby where he was wounded.
Amos
Pollard, 32, born 29 Oct 1803 in Ashburnham, WorcesterCo, MA, was regimental
surgeon for the Alamo garrison and commanded medical staff comprised of Dr.
John W. Thompson, Dr. Edward F. Mitchison, Dr. William D. Howell, Dr. John
Purdy Reynolds and medical student William Depriest Sutherland. Pollard was
son of Jonas and Martha Martin Westminster Pollard. He received early schooling
in Surrey, CheshireCo, NH and received his medical training at the Vermont
Academy in Castletown, VT in 1825. He lived and practiced in Greenbush, NY
and practiced 1828-1834 in Manhattan. He married Fanny Oeela and they had
a daughter. He came to TX about 1834 and made a home in Gonzales. He was appointed
Surgeon of the Texas Army by Stephen F. Austin on 23 Oct 1835. He was at the
Siege of
Bexar caring for sick and wounded and was surgeon on the staff of Col.
Neill thereafter. He is claimed in Gonzales histories as a resident and listed
on the 1936 memorial to Alamo heroes in Gonzales. Some histories list him
among the Gonzales relief force which entered the besieged Alamo.
Marcus E. Sewell, 31, born
in England in 1805, a shoemaker, resident of Gonzales and Private rifleman
in the Gonzales Rangers. It is believed he entered the Alamo on 1 Mar 1836
as part of the relief force. Sewell is not listed among the original immortal
32 on the memorial to the Gonzales relief force, but is listed among Gonzales
residents who died in the Alamo.
William DePriest Sutherland, 17, was born
10 Aug 1818 in Alabama. He was a private in the Alamo garrison and died there.
Although a resident of the Navidad River in current JacksonCo and not within
the DeWitt Colony per se, because of proximity he and the Sutherland family
interacted more with DeWitt Colonists and its main settlement Gonzales than
the Austin Colony settlements at San Felipe and near the coast.William was
the son of George and Frances Menefree Sutherland and nephew of John
Sutherland, who was a courier and surgeon for the Alamo garrison. William
Sutherland is thought to have joined his relatives in Texas around 1835 after
attending LaGrange College in Tuscumbia, AL. He and his father attended the
meeting at Millican's
Gin on 17 Jul 1835 which called for resistance to the dictatorship of
Santa Anna. William Sutherland's mother, Frances Menefee Sutherland, expressed
her grief over sons death in a letter
of 5 Jun 1836 to her sister Sarah Norment in Tennessee.
Courtesy SONS
OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS
© 1997-2005, Wallace L. McKeehan, All Rights Reserved