There are 254 counties in Texas and 11 of them are named for Alamo defenders: Bailey, Bowie, Cochran, Cottle, Crockett, Dickens, Floyd, King, Lynn, Taylor and Travis counties. Floyd County is one such county. It was named for Dolphin Ward Floyd who is believed to have died on his birthday, March 6, 1836, in Santa Anna’s attack on the Alamo. Ward Floyd was born in North Carolina in 1804 and later moved near Gonzales where he worked as a farmer. In 1832, he married the recently widowed Esther Berry House, a mother of three by her first husband Isaac House, who also lived in Texas.
Tag: history
Satanta, Kiowa Chief
Satanta, or Settiante (White Bear), was a Kiowa war chief. Born around 1820, the son of Chief Red Tipi and a Spanish captive, he was similar the Comanche leader Quanah Parker, in that he was a formidable warrior and has been called the last great chief of his tribe.
Francita Alavéz, the Angel of Goliad
On March 27, some 21 days after the fall of the Alamo, James Fannin and roughly 345 captured soldiers were executed by Mexican General Urrea at the order of Santa Anna after the fall of the Presidio la Bahia. The bodies of the soldiers were burned.
Out of this story came another one of a Mexican woman who had shown mercy to those who had been captured at other times or feigned death in the massacre. In various accounts, the woman was referred to by several variations of the name, including Alvarez, but for this account, we will use Francita Alavéz or just Señora Alavéz.
Continue reading Francita Alavéz, the Angel of GoliadThe Barrow Brothers
Henry Basil Barrow (1874-1957) married Cumie Tabitha Walker (1874-1942) on December 5, 1891. They had seven children:
Elvin Wilson Barrow (1894 – 1947)
Artie Adelle Barrow Keys (1899 – 1981)
Nell May Barrow Francis (1905 – 1968)
Marvin Ivan Barrow (1905 – 1933)
Clyde Barrow (1909 – 1934)
Leon C. Barrow (1913 – 1979)
Lillian Marie Barrow Scoma (1918 – 1999)
Lt. William J. Lang (1919-1944)
Bill Lang was an aviator in WWII. Bill was the son of prominent Dallas architect William J. Lang, Sr. and the grandson of Otto H. Lang, both of whom were well known in the area. The Lang name had long been associated with the architectural firm Lang and Witchell, a company that designed many of the buildings that still stand in Dallas.
