STAGECOACH TRAVEL

 By Caroline Clemmons

In the Eastern United States, riding a coach meant travel from one stage stop to the next, stopping at a tavern or inn for a meal and perhaps spending the night. In the West and Southwest, there were not enough established towns. Western travelers had to be made of grit and determination!

In 1858, John Butterfield undertook an overland stage line connecting St. Louis and San Francisco by way of El Paso, Texas. The route also ran through Tucson and Los Angeles, both of which were only villages of a few hundred residents. A federal contract paid the stage company $600,000 a year to carry U. S. mail across the continent. That sum helped subsidize way stations at regular intervals. The company spent nearly a year getting everything into place to support semi-weekly stagecoach service.

When Butterfield’s Overland Mail Line opened for business on 16 September 1858, the journey between St. Louis and San Francisco required three weeks of hard traveling—if the weather was good. Coaches moved all day and all night except for brief intervals at way stations. The fare did not include the cost of meals, which cost an average of a dollar each three times a day. Passengers had to sleep aboard the coach. These mail lines were guaranteed to be rugged but they got the mail through.

At this time, most coaches set on springs which provided a bumpy, jostling ride. If passengers were fortunate, the route included riding in a Concord stagecoach. The first Concord stagecoach was built in 1827 in Concord, New Hampshire. Abbot Downing Company employed leather strap braces under their stagecoaches which gave a swinging motion instead of the jolting up and down motion of spring suspension. They were known to be built so solidly they didn’t break, they just wore out.

Concord stage in Wells Fargo colors

Over 700 Concord stagecoaches were built by the original Abbot Downing Company before it disbanded in 1847. However, the company was still building coaches, wagons, and carriages according to their business card of 1898. The coach was noted for its ability to keep passengers dry while floating across streams and rivers. The swaying motion caused some passengers to become “seasick”.

In his 1861 book ROUGHING IT, Mark Twain described the Concord stage’s ride as like “a cradle on wheels”. Hmm, guess it's a matter of perspective.

Not all stagecoaches were of one of these types. Celerity or mud wagons were much lighter and cheaper to build. They had no springs so they offered a much rougher ride. They were primarily used on lines where passenger and express traffic was too light to justify the expense of Concord coaches. Instead of having a heavy wooden top, the celerity had a light frame structure with thick duck or canvas covering, greatly reducing the vehicle’s weight. Wheels were set further apart and were protected by wide steel rims that helped keep the coach from tipping over or the wheels from sinking in soft sands.

Celerity or Mud Wagon

Note canvas roof, open sides

While not as comfortable for daytime travelers, they were designed for passenger travel at night. Waterman L. Ormsby, special correspondent to the New York Herald, described the sleeping accommodations. “As for sleeping, most of the wagons are arranged so that the backs of the seats let down and form the length of the vehicle. When the stage is full, passengers must take turns sleeping. Perhaps the jolting will be found disagreeable at first, but a few nights without sleeping will obviate that difficulty, and soon the jolting will be as little of a disturbance as the rocking of a cradle to a sucking babe. For my part, I found no difficulty sleeping over the roughest roads, and I have no doubt that anyone else will learn quite as quickly. A bounce of the wagon, which makes one’s head strike the top, bottom, or sides, will be equally disregarded, and ‘nature’s sweet restorer’ found as welcome on the hard bottom of the wagon as in the downy beds of the St. Nicholas. White pants and kid gloves had better be discarded by most passengers.”

Unlike the classic Concord stagecoaches, which could be mired in bad weather, mud wagons could travel over trails and roads during inclement weather. The only protection provided for passengers against bad weather and dusty roads were the canvas side curtains which could be rolled down and fastened.

By the way, the word “stage” meant the place where the horses or mules were changed—staged along the route. These were spaced every 12 to 20 miles, depending on the terrain, and were usually operated by a single man living in a small cottage who kept a change of horses in a barn and/or corral. The stage stopped only long enough for passengers to stretch their legs while the horses or mules were changed.

Every 50 miles were the “home” stages, which were usually a couple or family who served meals and could provide overnight lodging—though sometimes passengers slept on a dirt floor. These stations also might include a blacksmith and stables. Drivers might be switched there.

Some coaches had two seats facing one another. The larger Concord squeezed in a center, forward-facing third seat, which made passengers very crowded and uncomfortable. Often the third seat had no back, which must have made retaining balance awkward as the coach swayed along. Often passengers had to interlock knees due to the crowded interior. Imagine you were a lady in the 19^th century who’d been raised to observe propriety and you found yourself on a long coach ride having to lace legs with a male stranger. Ugh! Come to think of it, that wouldn’t be comfortable now.

Here are a set of rules posted by Wells Fargo in 1888:

1.      Abstinence from liquor is requested, but if you must drink, share the bottle. To do otherwise makes you appear selfish and unneighborly.

2.      If ladies are present, gentlemen are urged to forego smoking cigars and pipes as the odor of same is repugnant to the Gentle Sex. Chewing tobacco is permitted but spit WITH the wind, not against it. (I’d think this would be a given, wouldn’t you?)

3.      Gentlemen must refrain from the use of rough language in the presence of ladies and children.

4.      Buffalo robes are provided for your comfort during cold weather. Hogging robes will not be tolerated and the offender will be made to ride with the driver.

5.      Don’t snore loudly while sleeping or use your fellow passenger’s shoulder for a pillow; he or she may not understand and friction may result.

6.      Firearms may be kept on your person for use in emergencies. Do not fire them for pleasure or shoot at wild animals as the sound riles the horses.

7.      In the event of runaway horses, remain calm. Leaping from the coach in panic will leave you injured, at the mercy of the elements, hostile Indians, and hungry coyotes.

8.      Forbidden topics of discussion are stagecoach robberies and Indian uprisings.

9.      Gents guilty of unchivalrous behavior toward lady passengers will be put off the stage. It’s a long walk back. A word to the wise is sufficient. (I love this one)

To these, the Omaha Herald in 1877 added cautions to:

Never ride in cold weather with tight boots nor close-fitting gloves.

When the driver asks you to get out and walk, do so without grumbling. He will not request it unless absolutely necessary.

Don’t linger too long at the pewter wash basin at the station. Don’t grease your hair before starting out or dust will stick there in sufficient quantities to make a respectable ‘tater patch. Tie a silk handkerchief around your neck to keep out dust and prevent sunburns. A little glycerin is good in case of chapped hands.

Don’t discuss politics or religion nor point out places on the road where horrible murders have been committed.

In very cold weather, abstain entirely from liquor while on the road. A man will freeze twice as quick while under its influence.

Don’t imagine for a minute you are going on a picnic: expect annoyance, discomfort, and some hardships. If you are disappointed, thank heaven.

The seven heroines in my Bride Brigade Series—each book of which has a new cover—traveled in a Concord coach from Fort Worth to (fictional) Tarnation, Texas. The first book is JOSEPHINE, which is only 99¢. https://www.amazon.com/Josephine-Bride-Brigade-Book-1-ebook/dp/B015M4FJUY/  

Caroline Clemmons is an award winning and bestselling author of historical and contemporary western romance. She and her husband live in cowboy country in North Central Texas where they are owned by a menagerie of rescued pets.

Sources:

Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas online

http://www.deadwoodmagazine.com/archivedsite/Archives/Stage.htm

http://www.historicthedalles.org/rules_for_stage_travelers.htm

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/stagecoach.aspx

http://www.wikipedia.com

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25449

 

FACTUAL AND FICTIONAL PLACES IN NOVELS - AND A 99¢ SALE!

 By Caroline Clemmons

Come take a tour with me of a setting I’ve used in numerous books. It's a real place in Texas that I sometimes give a fictitious name. Both the county and county seat are called Palo Pinto and they're reached on Highway 180 heading west from Fort Worth or Weatherford. An alternate route is headed west on Interstate 20 and taking Highway 4 heading north to Highway 180. In addition to being used by the real name in my books, it’s been the towns of Tarnation, Desperation, Radford Crossing, and others. The area has been the setting for my Stone Mountain Texas series, the Bride Brigade series, and several single titles such as CHARLOTTE'S CHALLENGE.

A

Longhorns in a Palo Pinto field

In addition to the fact that I think it’s a pretty (if rustic) area, it’s not that far from where I live. On several occasions, my husband and I went on the Palo Pinto County Historical Society driving tour. This included the towns of Palo Pinto, Santo, and Strawn. Also on the tour were the beautiful Belding-Gibson Ranch and Johnson’s League Ranch. I fell in love with both, especially the Belding-Gibson Ranch. I confess to having used these two ranches many times in my writing.

Belding-Gibson Ranch home side-door. This

door leads between the original cabin and the

smoke house, which have been cleverly preserved

and incorporated into rooms of the home. Even

the cold space has been preserved. Note the

use of cedar logs on either side of the door.

This area is the Palo Pinto Mountains. If (like Sweethearts member Angela Rains in Colorado) you are from a state with high mountains and you traveled through the Palo Pinto area, you would laugh at me calling them mountains. However, geologically     speaking, they are genuine mountains. To someone like me who spent most of my growing up years in fairly flat West Texas, I enjoy driving through the scenic Palo Pinto “mountains”.

Their name, according to some sources, is because the Indians called the scrub oaks “painted sticks”. In fall the foliage is colorful and I suppose the thin scrub oak trunks do resemble painted sticks.  Numerous creeks as well as the Brazos River run through the county. Some springs, like one on the Belding-Gibson Ranch, don’t dry up in summer. These constant water sources made popular camping places for Comanche and other Indian tribes.

Belding-Gibson barns

With the internet it’s possible to do research from the comfort of your home while seated at your computer. Like most authors, I also have many reference books in my office. Writers have to depend on second-hand accounts for some things. After all, I’ve never been in a coal mine (O'NEILL'S TEXAS BRIDE), never been on a sleigh ride in the snow (JAMIE and WINTER WISH), never been to Montana (but I'd love to visit), never shot a person, never been shot (I’d like for this last one to remain true!). Armed with facts and imagination, writers create settings for their stories. What’s even better, though, is having been to a place in person. I fell in love with this area and enjoy writing about it under any name.

Former blacksmith shop now part of  

Palo Pinto jail museum. Man is not part of the

display--that's just how many local men dress.

Charles Goodnight resided in Palo Pinto for a time when he and his stepbrother worked cattle. In 1857, the young partners trailed their herd up the Brazos to the Keechi valley in Palo Pinto County. At Black Springs, they built a log cabin buttressed with stone chimneys to which they brought their parents in 1858. 

You probably know Goodnight later settled in Palo Duro Canyon, but not before creating the Goodnight-Loving Trail. You probably also know that he and Oliver Loving were models for Larry McMurtry's LONESOME DOVE. The model for Deke, Bose Ikard, is buried in nearby Weatherford, Parker County, and some of his descendants still reside there. But I digressed...

Perhaps Goodnight's activity in the county is one reason Palo Pinto calls itself the "Cradle of the Cattle Industry." Located in the high desert in north-central Texas, Palo Pinto was settled by cattle ranchers in the early- to mid-1800s. Today the Old West spirit lives on in the rugged patch of hilly land. A handful of historic sites and buildings continue to draw tourists like me.

Black Springs Fort

(not affiliated with the military)

The small rock fort at Black Springs was a gathering place for area families when Comanche were raiding. The exterior appearance reminds me of a mill. Having seen the size of this building from the outside, I sympathize with those confined inside while they waited, not knowing if their homes would still be standing when they emerged. Small as it was, it provided sanctuary for families. At times the women and children waited with  only a few men to protect them while most of the men pursued the Indians.  

Front view of Belding-Gibson Ranch home

The mountains have been called a northern extension of the Texas Hill Country. Both are dissected plateaus featuring karst topography (Karst explained in next paragraph) with similar vegetation, including post oak, blueberry juniper, and mesquite. The smaller Carbonate Cross Timbers has a limestone substrate, as does the Hill Country, although the surrounding Western Cross Timbers area is underlain by sandstone.

I didn’t know what karst meant until I was researching for more on Palo Pinto County. If you're interested in specifics, karst is an area of land made up of limestone. Limestone, also known as chalk or calcium carbonate, is a soft rock that dissolves in water.  Karst landscapes can be worn away from the top or dissolved from a weak point inside the rock. Karst landscapes feature caves, underground streams, and sinkholes on the surface. 

This definition makes sense. There are a lot of caves in the area, some deep and some shallow, and I’ve used them in my writing. I really, really don’t like being in deep caves (shudder), but they’re great for creating stories. HIGH STAKES BRIDE, PRUDENCE, and DESPERATE IN DELAWARE use Palo Pinto County caves. I use caves in other stories, but they're not set in this part of Texas. I suppose my phobia with them makes caves pop up in my stories.

In front of the original jail are these

cages used to allow prisoners to get

sunlight and fresh air (shudder)

Palo Pinto County Jail

One of the oldest structures in the town of Palo Pinto, the county jail was built in 1880 and served Palo Pinto County until the building was abandoned in 1941. In 1968, it was converted into a museum. Today, the Old Jail Museum Complex is operated by the Palo Pinto County Historical Association (https://palopintohistory.com) and includes several pioneer cabins, a carriage house, the Black Springs Fort, and the actual jail and yard. The two-story, sandstone jail includes various artifacts and, topping steep iron stairs that lead to the second floor, are a hangman's noose and trapdoor (added in 1906 but never used).

One of the scarier exhibits is in front of the jail--a metal cage in which prisoners were allowed to get some fresh air (shown above).

Johnson League Ranch house

Johnson's League Ranch house from back

On a hill overlooking the ranch, this mausoleum

was built when their young son died 

Johnson's League Ranch from Mausoleum Hill

Cabins from the museum grounds

Cabin interior

Bed with ropes supporting the mattress--

that's where "sleep tight" came from. The ropes

had to be tightened periodically.

A commode chair in the Strawn museum. This

one has missing pieces: a chair seat/lid that converts

it to look like a regular chair, and a door to

conceal the chamber pot. Owning one of these

would be a luxury.

Old style storm cellar. Which is more

frightening--a possible tornado or the 

creepy-crawlies waiting in the cellar?

Palo Pinto County ranchland

As promised, I have a 99¢ sale on one of the Bride Brigade books, set in the fictitious town of Tarnation, which is modeled after Johnson's League Ranch's location. Now through July 29, JOSEPHINE is on sale. If you haven't read this series, I hope you'll take advantage of the special price and will enjoy the book. https://www.amzn.com/B015M4FJUY    

I hope you’ve enjoyed your tour of the Palo Pinto area of Texas. Y'all come back now, you hear?

Photos by the author  

FOLK HEALING VERSUS QUAKERY

Folk healing is a tradition that goes back as far as even the most primitive civilizations. Every ancient culture has healers and plant-derived medicines. For years, I’ve collected folk remedies and alternative healing methods. I enjoyed taking herbal classes from author Beth Trissel, who is extremely knowledgeable about herbs and their uses.

I also love perusing old advertisements for medical remedies and clues to lifestyles of various eras. I blame—and thank—Jacquie Rogers for getting me started on old newspapers. (I blame Jacquie for a lot of things, unless she's within swatting distance.)  You learn the most amazing things from the historic articles and advertisements.

Through the beginning of the twentieth century, any individual could go to the neighborhood drug store and buy heroin, cocaine, cannabis powder, and laudanum over the counter. Shocking today, but they were routinely used as analgesics. Not until 1907 did the Federal Government regulate the sale of these drugs. At that time, they also decreed that medicines must contain a list of ingredients.

Wizard Oil claims to cure most ills,
but gives no list of ingredients.

While sincere, well-informed healers practiced, there were charlatans popping out from under every rock. No doubt you’re familiar with the idea of a salesman hawking his cure-all formula from a caravan then leaving town quickly. He was often labeled a “snake oil salesman”. What I recently learned is that there actually was a product labeled Snake Oil Liniment on the market. I don’t know if it really contained snake oil and, if so, what kind of snake was used.

Apparently, this
cures everything!

In my opinion, the weirdest of the weird “remedies” was the sale of “sanitized” tapeworms for those who wanted to lose weight but continue to eat all they wanted. Isn't that every overweight person's dream? I don’t understand how this worked—if it did, which I doubt. Obese King Henry VIII supposedly had a 26-foot tapeworm at the time of his death. I wouldn't have liked being the person who measured that. Sure didn’t slim him, did it? I wonder what happened to the people who took the tapeworm tablets.

Every  overweight person's dream,
to eat and always stay thin.

Some of the so-called curatives advertised were criminally detrimental to health. The most chilling are the ads that promise to “cure” all types of cancer without surgery, and there are several. Makes me hope karma got those charlatans tenfold!

I shudder when I think of some of the so-called “cures” I’ve been told were used on my ancestors. One—a diabetic—died of gangrene after her swollen feet were slit and leeches applied to drain off the excess liquid.

In the late 1800s, Coca Cola ® contained a small amount of cocaine and was popular with my family members of the time—and the cocaine-free version continues to be a favorite today. Originally, Coca Cola® was marketed as a patent medicine to aid the nerves and digestion (see ad below). My father started drinking it when he developed digestive problems. The name comes from the secret recipe that includes kola nuts and coca leaves. (Cherry Dr Pepper® for me, thank you.)

Another ancestor took up smoking because he had asthma and sinusitis and was told cigarettes would help. I was told those he used contained menthol so were likely not those in the ad below. The ad doesn't specify type of tobacco, etc., so who knows?

Numerous babies in our family were given Paregoric—camphorated tincture of opium, a patent remedy usually given to infants and children—to calm their colic, diarrhea, or fretful teething. Paregoric was available without a prescription in some states as late as 1970. Now it requires a doctor’s prescription as treatment for diarrhea and other stomach problems that include IBS, cancer, and Crohn's.

Is it just me or
is this ad chilling?

Amazing anyone survived, isn’t it? 

Of course, the healers I use as my characters are the best at their jobs and always conscientious and knowledgeable. Prudence Lynch is the fourth healer I’ve written about in a book: Pearl Parker Kincaid in THE MOST UNSUITABLE WIFE and the Kincaid series, Kathryn McClintock in THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE and the McClintock Series, Deirdre Dougherty in the time travel OUT OF THE BLUE, and PRUDENCE in the Bride Brigade Series.

Here’s the summary of my recent release, PRUDENCE, Bride Brigade Book 7:

Prudence Lynch’s beloved grandmother trained her in midwifery and in folk medicine. Always ostracized because they’re different—until someone needs their help—they live in poverty at the edge of a tiny Virginia village where rumors plague them.

After Granny’s death, Prudence leaves for Richmond. There, Prudence is fortunate to be chosen to accompany Lydia Harrison to Tarnation, Texas. She believes she’s left trouble and gossip behind to establish her healing business and begin a new life. Unfortunately, trouble follows her.

Doctor Riley Gaston wants a wife and children. He’s threatened to move from Tarnation to seek a wife, but he would never actually leave the community he loves. One of the young women Lydia brings home mesmerizes Riley. That is, until he learns her so-called profession is folk healing, which he views as dangerous as it is worthless.

Prudence is as stubborn as Riley. Danger causes them to reconsider their opinions. Is their change of heart too late?

Here’s the Amazon buy link: http://a.co/3AZ9c6d         

Here’s an excerpt from PRUDENCE:

Riley walked slowly, hoping to read the sign, but it was covered by bunting. Soon enough, he’d be back and by then he could meet his new neighbor. Wait—there was no one new in town except the seven women who’d accompanied Lydia.

He froze in his spot.

No—she wouldn’t—not across the street from him. He turned and hurried across the road. Disregarding the superstition of walking under a ladder causing bad luck, he walked into the office. Sure enough, there was Prudence setting out bottles and packets of this and that.

He walked up to her. “What do you think you’re doing?”

She barely glanced up. “I’m organizing my herbs and tinctures and salves for my grand opening on Saturday.”

He edged closer. “What are you playing at? Are you setting out to deliberately cause trouble with me?”

She continued arranging things on shelves. “Certainly not. Why would you even say that? In your opinion, which you’ve made known to me and probably most of the townspeople, you don’t believe we’re in the same business. Having me here shouldn’t have anything to do with you.”

He fought for calm but it wouldn’t come. “It’s as if you’re. . . you’re saying you’re in the medical profession the same as I am.”

She stopped messing about with the dratted shelves and faced him. “Dr. Gaston, I’ve never said that. I’m interested in helping people in any way I can. If that alarms you, that’s your problem.”

He leaned in so they were nose to nose. “You’re setting yourself up as a medical authority. That’s a big problem. You can do untold harm with your so-called healing.”

Sparks shot from her blue eyes. “So can you. Do I tell you how to run your office and treat your patients? No.” She poked him in the chest. “So, Doctor Gaston. Butt. Out.”

Fuming, Riley turned on his heel and strode from the building. He rushed to Mrs. Eppes’ home. Where did Prudence get off thinking she could do this to him? 

He’d come close to kissing her. Thank heavens he’d resisted. Who was he fooling? If he were being truthful, only her anger stopped him. What was he going to do about Prudence?

More importantly, what was he going to do about what being near her did to him?

I’ve loved writing the Bride Brigade Series. PRUDENCE was emotional for me because it ends the series into which I've immersed myself. In addition to the romance of Prudence Lynch and Dr. Riley Gaston, this book ties up loose ends and settles Lydia Harrison’s conundrum. Although I’ve already eagerly dived into one of the many new projects I have planned, DANIEL in the McClintock Series, saying goodbye to Tarnation, Texas and its citizens is bittersweet.

Caroline Clemmons is an Amazon bestselling and award winning author of contemporary and historical western romance. She lives in North Central Texas cowboy country with her Hero and their several rescued animals. Her latest series are the 7-book Bride Brigade Series and the (to date) 5-book Loving A Rancher Series for Montana Skies Series Kindle World. Check her Amazon Author Page for a complete list of her books. Sign up for her newsletter and receive a FREE historical romance novella, HAPPY IS THE BRIDE, as well as notices of new releases and contests.

SUSANNA DICKINSON, SURVIVOR OF THE ALAMO

Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson (also spelled Dickerson), survivor of the Alamo, was born about 1814 in Tennessee, perhaps in Williamson County. Her first name has also been recorded as Susan, Susana, and Suzanna. Her maiden name is sometimes given as Wilkinson. She could neither read nor write but gave oral accounts of what had transpired at the Alamo.

Almaron Dickinson

According to Don Blevins, author of FROM ANGELS TO HELLCATS, Almaron (Almeron) Dickinson  attempted to court Susanna but was rejected. He turned to her friend, who accepted Almaron’s proposal and asked Susanna to be a bridesmaid. When Almaron called on Susanna to take her to the home of his fiancée to stay until the wedding, something momentous occurred. Instead of going to the home of his fiancée, they stopped at the county clerk’s office in Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tennessee where they got a marriage license. They were wed there by a justice of the peace on May 24, 1829.

Almaron was fourteen years older than Susanna. He was adept in many fields, including blacksmith, ferrier, veterinarian of sorts, and dentist. Imagine having the ferrier pull your tooth! The Dickinsons arrived at Gonzales, Texas, on February 20, 1831 after a trip by schooner from New Orleans. They traveled in company with fifty-four other settlers in the Green DeWitt Colony. On May 5 Dickinson received a league of land from DeWitt on the San Marcos River in what became Caldwell County but he and Susanna didn’t settle there. He received ten more lots in and around Gonzales in 1833 and 1834. The Dickinsons lived on a lot just above Gonzales on the San Marcos River, where Susanna took in at least one boarder. A map of Gonzales in 1836 shows a Dickinson and Kimble hat factory in Gonzales.

Susanna and Almaron's only child, Angelina Elizabeth Dickinson, was born on December 14, 1834. Susanna and her daughter may have joined other families hiding in the timber along the Guadalupe River in early October 1835, when Mexican troops from San Antonio demanded the return of an old cannon lent to Gonzales four years earlier. The resulting skirmish, the battle of Gonzales, was the first fight of the Texas Revolution.

Susanna said goodbye to her husband on October 13 when the volunteers left for San Antonio under command of Stephen F. Austin. She remained in Gonzales through November, when newly arriving troops looted her home. She joined Almaron in San Antonio, probably in December 1835, and lodged in the home of Almaron’s Masonic friend Ramón Músquiz. Músquiz was once political chief of Bexar, which later became San Antonio, and still had a great deal of influence. Susanna opened the home to boarders and did laundry. Davy Crockett was one of her boarders.

Attack on the Alamo by Santa Anna's forces

          On February 23, 1836, the family moved into the Alamo because Almaron thought the family would be safer there. What a terrible decision for Susanna and Angelina! During the battle, Colonel William Travis took off his cat’s eye ring (a gift from his betrothed, Rebecca Cummings). After threading a string through the ring, he tied it around Angelina’s neck. This ring is now in the Alamo Museum, courtesy of Douglas McGregor, who had inherited it.

Travis' Cat's Eye Ring

After the battle of the Alamo on March 6, Mexican soldiers found Susanna—some accounts say in the powder magazine, others in a small room of the church—and took her and Angelina, along with the other women and children, to Músquiz's home. Don Blevins asserts that Señora Músquiz asked Santa Anna to spare her friend Susanna. Santa Anna declared he “had not declared war on women and children”. Some accounts say the women were later interviewed by Santa Anna, who gave each a blanket and two dollars in silver before releasing them. Santa Anna was so enchanted by Angelina that he offered to adopt her and take her to Mexico and give her a good education. Susanna declined the man who had killed her husband and his comrades.

Angelina wearing Travis' ring

Santa Anna sent Susanna and her daughter, accompanied by a servant named Ben, to Sam Houston with a letter of warning dated March 7. On the way, the pair met Joe, William B. Travis’s slave, who had been freed by Santa Anna. The party was rescued by Erastus “Deaf” Smith and Henry Wax Karnes. Smith guided them to Sam Houston in Gonzales, where they arrived after dark about March 12.

Susanna Dickinson probably followed the army eastward in company with the other Gonzales women. Illiterate, without family, and only twenty-two years old, she petitioned the government meeting at Columbia in October 1836 for a donation. The proposed $500 was not awarded because politicians feared doing so would open the way for claims from other war widows.

By June 1837 she was cohabiting with John Williams, whom she married about November 27, 1837. He beat her and Angelina, and she petitioned in Harrisburg (later Harris) County for a divorce. The decree was granted on March 24, 1838—one of the first divorces in the county.

By 1839 Almeron Dickinson's heirs had received rights to 2,560 acres for his military service. They sold the land when Angelina reached twenty-one. Subsequent requests to the state legislature in November 1849 were turned down.

Susanna tried matrimony three more times before settling into a stable relationship. She wed Francis P. Herring on December 20, 1838, in Houston. Herring, formerly from Georgia, had come to Texas after October 20, 1837. He died on September 15, 1843. On December 15, 1847, Susanna married Pennsylvania drayman Peter Bellows (also known as Bellis or Belles) before an Episcopalian minister. In 1850 the couple had sixteen-year-old Angelina living with them. But by 1854 Susanna had left Bellows, who charged her with adultery and desertion when he filed for divorce in 1857. Susanna received praise from the Baptist minister Rufus C. Burleson for her work nursing cholera victims in Houston, where he baptized her in Buffalo Bayou in 1849.

Susana Dickinson

Susanna left Houston in 1857 for Lockhart, a small community near Austin in Caldwell County. This move gave her the opportunity to get away from the troubles and bad reputation she had endured and put them behind her. In Lockhart, she established a reputable boarding house.

Not long afterwards, she married Joseph William Hanning, who was sixteen years younger than she. Hannig (or Hannag), was a native of Germany. He was honest, a hard worker, and a shrewd businessman.

Susanna sold her land holdings to help Joseph set up a cabinet shop in Austin. The couple moved to a small, plain house on what is now Fifth Street. While in Austin, the Hannigs invested wisely in land, flour mills, a furniture store, and even ran a mortgage operation for a while. They joined the social life of the burgeoning city.

In the late 1870s the Hannigs built a two-story frame home at what is now Duval and Thirty-Second Streets in Austin. Finally, Susanna was financially secure with a loving husband. The bleak spot in her life was the death of Angelina on July 13, 1869 at the age of thirty-five.

Susanna became ill in February 1883 and died on October 7 of that year from what was listed as hemorrhage of the bowels. Was it cancer, an ulcer, or something else? Hannig buried her in Oakwood Cemetery. Even though he married again, he was buried as he requested next to Susanna after his death in 1890. He had placed on her grave a marble marker that said "Sacred to the Memory of Susan A. Wife of J. W. Hannig Died Oct. 7, 1883 Aged 68 Years". The state of Texas added a marble slab above their graves on March 2, 1949. A cenotaph honoring Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson was placed in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas.

The house her fifth husband Joseph William Hannig built in Austin, Texas in 1869 became a museum, The Joseph and Susanna Dickinson Hannig Museum, dedicated to Susanna Dickinson and the other Alamo survivors.

Susanna Dickinson's witness accounts

·        There were very few casualties before the final assault. She didn't know the number.

·        She confirmed the legendary "line in the sand" incident, where Col. William Travis gave defenders the choice of staying or leaving, did happen. However, she said that it happened the day before the final assault, when it is believed to have happened on either March 3 or March 4.

·        On the morning of the assault, her husband ran into where she'd hidden, made his final statements to her and revealed that the Mexicans were inside, then returned to his duty. She never saw him again, nor did she ever see his body.

·        She hid inside the chapel, and did not see the actual battle. One defender ran inside during the battle, attempting to hide, but was killed by Mexican soldiers.

·        When she was discovered, a Mexican officer intervened. She believed he was a British mercenary named either Black or Almonte. He actually was Col. Juan Nepomuceno Almonte, who spoke perfect English, having been educated in New Orleans, Louisiana.

·        Outside there was a single survivor, found hiding, who unsuccessfully begged for mercy and was killed. Joe also reported this, claiming the man's name was Warner. However no Warner is listed as being at the Alamo. The most similar name is Henry Warnell, who departed the Alamo as a courier, probably on February 28, 1836, and died in Port Lavaca, Texas, of wounds received either during the battle or his escape in June, 1836.

·        She saw the body of Davy Crockett between the chapel and the barracks building.

·        She saw the body of Jim Bowie with two dead Mexican soldiers lying beside him.

·        She was taken to a house where she'd previously lived, and from there could see the pyres of the dead being burned.

·        The next day she was taken before Santa Anna, and Almonte, or Black, convinced Santa Anna to release her rather than imprison her.

·        She was sent east with Joe, and on the way to Gonzales, Texas, she was intercepted by a party including Deaf Smith.

·        At some point after the battle, she had no recollections, only that she wept for days.

Other survivors, including Enrique Esparza (the son of Alamo defender Gregorio Esparza) confirmed some of Dickinson's account.

One account says that since Mrs. Dickinson was an intelligent and well spoken woman, Santa Anna had her identify all the bodies of all the commanders and main players, including her husband. Other accounts say the bodies were being piled on already burning pyres when she left the chapel and she didn’t see her husband’s body. When she asked to see it, Santa Anna told her the body had already burned.

Caroline Clemmons writes historical and contemporary western romance. Her latest release is the historical western romance, LORRAINE, Bride Brigade series book 6, available now at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0725WQ6XG.

Lorraine Stuart escapes marriage to an odious man by leaving the state. She joins with six other young women going to Tarnation, Texas. Grant Pettigrew sets her heart aflutter but he is infuriatingly stubborn. 

Like Caroline’s Amazon page here and be alerted when she has a new release. 

Sign up for her newsletter here and receive a free novella, HAPPY IS THE BRIDE plus find out about new releases, contests, and other fun stuff.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susanna_Dickinson

FROM ANGELS TO HELLCATS: Legendary Texas Women 1836-1880, Don Blevins. Mountain Press Publishing, 2001

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdi06