Subject: Allens in the Alamo
Date: April 20, 1998
From: Nick Duerksen
I'm looking for more information on Allens who may have fought at the Alamo. I have two great-grandfathers who were named Sam Houston Allen and one great-grandfather named John Henry Allen. All of these were originally from Tennessee. Family lore has it that an Allen fought under Houston and so named his son or grandson as such. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Nick Duerksen
According to the New Handbook of Texas, there were three individuals named James Allen who fought in the Texas Revolution. There seems to be a lot of confusion about who is whom, but at least one Allen was at the Alamo, at least for a short time.
Author/Historian, Bill Groneman provides this essay:
ALLEN, JAMES L (1815-1901). James L. Allen, the last messenger from the Alamo, son of Samuel and Mary (Lamme) Allen, was born in Kentucky on January 2, 1815, the eldest of seven children. His father, a veteran of the Indian wars, had served under Gen. William Henry Harrison. Allen was a student at Marion College, Missouri, when he joined other students to volunteer for military service in Texas. He left the Alamo on courier duty on March 5,1836, the night before the battle of the Alamo took place. He served at San Jacinto as a scout under Erastus (Deaf) Smith and helped burn bridges behind Mexican lines to cut off their retreat. After the victory at San Jacinto, he returned to the United States, where he stayed for two years. He then settled in Texas, became a Texas Ranger, and served in the companies of Captain Ward and later Capt. Peter H. Bell. In July 1844, Allen took part in an Indian battle at Corpus Christi. In 1849 he settled in Indianola, where he dealt in the stock business and also served for a time as mayor and justice of the peace. In 1849 he married Federica M. Manchan; they raised seven children. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Allen was serving as tax assessor-collector of Calhoun County. He refused to take the oath of allegiance when Union soldiers took Indianola and was placed under guard on Saluria Island, from which he escaped by swimming to the mainland and going to Port Lavaca. In 1865 he moved to Hochheim, where he owned a farm of 260 acres. He was a Baptist and Mason. He died at his home, five miles west of Yoakum, on April 5,1901.There was a James B. Allen at the siege of Bexar, and in June 1836, James C. Allen of Kentucky arrived in Texas as captain and commanding officer of the Buckeye Rangers. Another James C. Allen, born in Kentucky, came to Texas from New York and participated in the Texas Revolution. Historians have confused James L. Allen with the James C. Allen and perhaps also with James B. Allen.
©Texas State Historical Association
Subject: Alamo Forum
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998
From: "Wallace McKeehan"
A last letter to family from DeWitt Colonist and Gonzales Ranger Isaac Milsaps, who died in the Alamo, is generally referred to as a fake in current circles. How conclusive is the evidence that the letter is a fake, what is the evidence and what are the theories as to its origin?
Wallace L. McKeehan
Sons of DeWitt Colony Texas:
http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/dewitt.html
Considering the recent trend to denounce any document that one does
not agree with as a fake or a forgery, the case of the Milsap's letter
pre-dates all of the current discussions. The best look at the document
is Gregory Curtis' article in Texas Monthly, March, 1989 "Forgery Texas
Style." If you want to look at the larger picture of fake Texas imprint
documents, read Tom Taylor's excellent book, Texfake (W. Thomas Taylor,
Austin 1991). After doing so, anyone will understand why most special
collections/archives have a no browse policy.
See Also:Isaac Milsap's Letter
Subject: Travis' Ring
Date: 04 May 98
From: George Mabry GAMabry@ix.netcom.com
I've noticed that the book "Tall Men with Long Rifles" by James DeShields was cited as a reference in earlier Alamo works but doesn't seem to be used in latter studies. Has the book been discredited? Can you tell me anything about how DeShields obtained the information in the book?
And one last question. What do you know about the story behind Travis giving his ring to Angeline Dickenson? Is this accepted fact or does the ring belong on display along with the Millsaps letter? I've seen the newpaper article on this subject in the San Antonio Light dated May 1955. It appears that the ring changed hands several times eventually ending up in the hands of a Douglas McGregor who donated it to DRT. Is there anything that corroborates his account of how he came into possession of the ring? Do you know if anyone had ever heard of the ring or the account of Travis passing the ring to the Dickenson child prior to McGregor coming forward with it? Muchas Gracias for any help you can give me. You're doing a great job with this web-site.
George Mabry
Dallas, Texas
DeShields appears to be an equally credible writer to other Texas historians of the period so probability is low that he synthesized the accounts himself. It is unclear of how close he was personally to Creed Taylor and the actual mechanics by which he obtained the accounts, e.g. direct interview, from Creed's notes or indirectly from second hand sources that took them from Creed first hand or so. According to Creed's own description in the book, he obtained his knowledge of the Alamo first hand in part from Mexican sources, namely prisoners at Buena Vista in the War with Mexico. I believe that Creed Taylor himself was a very credible storyteller and moved freely between Anglo, Tejano and Mexican societies making it easy to obtain his knowledge from both sides. His father Josiah Taylor participated in the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition and his family were some of the earliest Anglo-Mexican DeWitt Colonists. I take great stock in his accounts of early events in Texas, particularly those that he participated in. From recent communications with descendants, there is a family story that it was a Mr. Joy, a son-in-law, that extracted and compiled the stories from Creed that were the basis for the DeShields publication and that some family members resented the fact that it was used without their input or knowledge. See Sons of DeWitt Colony for Creed Taylor's biography.
On the issue of Travis' ring given to Angelina Dickinson in the Alamo, perhaps we will never know for sure if the story is true and if so, if the ring was his and from a wife or sweetheart. The following footnote from the book Susannah Dickinson by C. Richard King seems a reasonable analysis:
Now on display in the Alamo, the ring has brought some discussion. T. H. McGregor of Austin wrote Ed Kilman, Houston columnist, the following explanation: Prior to the Civil War she (Angelina Dickinson) lived in Galveston and was friendly with Jim Britton who at that time was connected with the operation of a train. She gave the ring to Britton. Britton had been raised at Lebanon, Tennessee, and had been an associate and close friend of Paul F. Anderson, a brother of my Mother and the late Mrs. S. S. Ashe of Houston. On the breaking out of the War Anderson and Britton returned to Lebanon where Anderson became a Captain and Britton a Lieutenant of the "Cedar Shakes," a company in Baxter Smith's Fourth Tennessee Regiment which was brigaded with the Texas Rangers. Anderson afterwards became a Colonel and Britton a Captain in the Confederate Army. Anderson had a younger brother who was a junior Lieutenant under Britton, DeWitt Anderson. Britton gave the Travis ring to DeWitt Anderson who wore it until his death in 1902 at Maríanna, Arkansas, at which time the ring came into my possession.(Letter, T. H. McGregor to Ed Kilman, Jan. 21, 1942, in L. W. Kemp Papers, The University of Texas Archives.) T. H. McGregor gave the ring to his son Douglas McGregor, Houston attorney, who presented it to the Alamo museum. (Letter, E. A. B., Houston, Oct. 11, 1961, in Barker Library, The University of Texas, Dickinson file). SeeSons of DeWitt Colony.
Subject: Isaac Ryan, Alamo Defender
Date: 07 May 1998
From: Isaac Ryan IRYAN@lasc.org
I must say that I enjoyed visiting your Alamo website. It was chock full of good information and discourse about the siege. The reason I was there was because I was looking for information on one of the defenders, Isaac Ryan (La.).
By some kind of cosmic coincidence, I have the same name as this man, and I heve even been to the Alamo monument to inspect the name there. I also took a crayon rubbing which I placed on the wall of my office. It's a pretty unusual name, too. In fact, it is the only other Isaac Ryan I've ever encountered. Stranger still, we are both from Louisiana.
I have relatives who lived in Texas in the early 1800's, and even some who knew Sam Houston, (My great-great grandmother didn't care for him too much, since he always had a bunch of rough men with him.) Still, I don't think I'm related to Mr. Ryan. Most of the Texans are on my mother's side of the family. The Ryan side of my family is from central Illinois. Can you tell me anything about Isaac Ryan (La.) the defender?
I'd appreciate any help.
Isaac Ryan
Isaac Ryan is another of those enigmatic Alamo defenders for which little is known. According to the New Handbook of Texas, Ryan was born on March 1, 1805 in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana to Jacob and Marie (née Hargrove). He participated in the Siege at Bexar and served in the Alamo garrison under Captain Robert White. He died in the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.
You can often discover the descendants (or at least the lawyers or associates)of Texians killed in battle through a study of bounty land warrants to heirs in the Texas Land Archives.
Isaac Ryan's heirs received
the following for service at the Alamo:
- Warrant 718 for 1920 acres in 1850 in Palo Pinto City, patented to heirs in 1851. Pat 37, Abst 742, GLO file 642.
- Donation certificate 232 for 640 acres in 1850 also in Palo Pinto City. Heirs claimed in 1851. Pat 373, vol. 1, Abstr. 387, GLO File Military Donations 653.
Subject: Isaac Ryan, Response
Date: 05/10/98
From: George Mabry GAMabry@ix.netcom.com
The DRT pamplet "The Alamo Heroes and Their Revolutionary Ancestors" lists Isaac Ryan's parents as Jacob Ryan (Rayan) born in Georgia and married 6 Jan. 1793 in St. Landry Parish, La., to Marie Hartgrove of Mississippi River. His grandparents on his father's side were Daniel Ryan and Marguereta Burkley (Barkley). Hope this is of some help to you.
George Mabry
Subject: What's a Scraper?
Date: 05/17/98
From: Don A. McEachern DMCEACH408@aol.com
On March 3, 1836, W.B. Travis wrote a letter to Jesse Gimes. Toward the end of the first paragraph he writes "on the night of the 25th they made another attempt to charge us in the rear of the fort, but we received them gallantly by a discharge of grape shot and musquertry, and they took to their scrapers immediately". I take that to mean that they charged from the east. I do not know what the word "scrapers" mean. Can you clarify that to me?
Thanks,
Don A. McEachern
Subject: Re: What's a Scraper
Date: 06/17/98
From: John Bryant
Could the term scraper maybe be a try at saying escopeta? Maybe Travis heard it as scraper on hearing escopeta filtered through all the different accents and slangs.
John Bryant
Subject: Re: What's a Scraper
Date: 06/25/98
From: Wallace L. McKeehan
Since the statement "....they took to their scapers immediately." is followed by "They are now encamped in entrenchments on all sides of us," a scraper could be some sort of tool used to dig or "scrape" out entrenchments.
Wallace L. McKeehan
I think what Travis is talking about ("scrapers") is SCRAPES,part of a military earthwork. I think he is saying the Mexicans retreated to their field fortifications, which of course, they did have.
Wallace O. Chariton, in his 100 Days in Texas, pulled his version from a printed source (I think it was from a SWHQ article). I checked Jenkins, Papers of the Texas Revolution. He cited the Telegraph and Texas Register and that Yoakum identified the addressee. This means there may be no original in Travis' handwriting out there to check and see if someone made a transcription error(presumably the editors of the Telegraph and Texas Register in 1836).
Kevin R. Young
Subject: Alamo artillery
Date: 06/06/98
From: Simon Haines, Manchester, England (simon5890@aol.com)
Can anyone please tell me the correct amount of artillery and its size i.e., (12 pounders,4 pounders) etc. and also where it was placed? I have various accounts which seem to contradict themselves.
Simon Haines
Subject: Alamo Diorama
Date: 5/10/98
From: Scott A. Tackett Sr.
Your website is truly Awesome, my compliments.
Please See this Page: http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/4601/Page2A.html [Editor's Note: Link no longer available]
The pictures were taken at West Point during the "USMA War Gaming Club's
Annual Tournament", held at Eisenhower Hall the weekend of April 17th-19th,
1998. This amazing scale model diorama of the Alamo Battle includes over
3,500 fully detailed hand-painted figuures. It is exact in every detail,
as the mission appeared during the battle back in March of 1836.
Scott A. Tackett Sr. (US Army Med/Retired)
