DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and some stories, friend, are too real for embellishment. Almaron and Susanna Dickinson came to Gonzales about 1835, settling in as members of DeWitt's Colony. A young family putting down roots in a young Texas.
What they couldn't know — what nobody could know — was what March of 1836 was going to ask of them. The Alamo fell that month. Susanna was there when it happened.
She was inside those walls with her daughter, Angelina, and she witnessed the deaths of Almaron and the other Texans. Let that land for a moment. She watched it happen.
There is no softening that. And then — and here is where the story turns on something remarkable — Mexican General Santa Anna released her after the battle. With an escort, Susanna made her way to Sam Houston, carrying news of what had happened at the Alamo.
She was the one who brought word. Think about the weight of that ride. Susanna went on living.
She married Joseph Hannig in 1857 and made her home in Austin, where she lived until her death in 1883. Born in 1814. She came through the Alamo.
She carried the news. She built a life after. Some people, the marker doesn't need to dress up — it just needs to tell the truth.
What the marker says
(1814-1883). Almaron and Susanna Dickinson settled in Gonzales about 1835 as members of DeWitt's Colony. Present with her daughter, Angelina, when the Alamo fell in March 1836, Susanna witnessed the deaths of Almaron and the other Texans. She was released by Mexican General Santa Anna after the battle, and with an escort made her way to Sam Houston with news of the Alamo. She married Joseph Hannig in 1857 and lived in Austin until her death. Recorded-1993.