Texana Thursday: Remembering Susanna Dickinson Hannig

Susanna Dickinson, survivor of the Alamo (public domain photo)

Susannah Dickinson Hannig wasn’t the only survivor of the Alamo, but she was perhaps the most famous.

Like many early Texas settlers, Susanna Wilkerson came from Tennessee. She married her husband, Almeron, there in 1829. They came to Texas in 1831, when Texas was part of Mexico. The Dickinsons received a league of land on the San Marcos River in what would become Caldwell County. (Looking at a map, Caldwell County is east of San Antonio, south of Austin, and mostly north of Interstate 10. Lockhart is the county seat.)

Their daughter, Angelina, was born in 1834.

The Dickinsons settled in Texas just before the Texas Revolution began. They were at the Alamo for the fateful battle there. Susanna and Angelina, among other non-combatants, hid on the grounds while the battle took place. Almeron, like William B. Travis, Jim Bowie, David Crockett, and the other Alamo defenders, were killed.

Yet when Susanna and Angelina were found, Mexican General Antonio de Lopez Santa Anna had other plans for them. He met with Susanna personally, and gave her a message to give to his counterpart, Sam Houston. The message was a warning to the Texans of what they might expect if they continued to resist as the Alamo defenders had.

Just over a month later, on April 21, Houston led the Texas Army against Santa Anna and his troops at San Jacinto, east of present-day Houston. The Texas victory there won Texas its independence, and led to the creation of the Republic of Texas.

Susanna’s story didn’t end with the revolution. It would be nice to report that she rebuilt her life and lived happily ever after. This was not the case. She had a turbulent personal life. She married four times after Almeron was killed, and on occasion worked as a prostitute.

Susanna’s final marriage was at least a stable and long-lasting one. She married Joseph William Hanning, a man who was 19 years her junior, in 1857. The Hannings moved to Austin, where he became a prosperous businessman.

Angelina didn’t have a fairy tale life, either. She married three times, died in 1869, and was buried in Galveston.

Susanna Dickinson Hanning survived her daughter, dying in 1883. She was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, where her epitaph reads, “Mother of ‘the Babe of the Alamo.’”