Susanna Dickinson Hannig - Messenger of the Alamo
Lockhart, Caldwell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
At this site once stood the home of Susanna Dickinson Hannig (1814-1883), who came to Texas from Tennessee in 1831 with her husband Almeron Dickinson. He died at the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Susanna, with her daughter Angelina, was among the survivors. She carried news of the Alamo's capture to Gen. Sam Houston, commander of the Texas Army. Susanna settled in Lockhart in 1855 and bought this property. She married Joseph William Hannig, who had a cabinet shop here. In 1858 they moved to Austin, where susanna died and is buried.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On this Lockhart lot once stood the home of Susanna Dickinson, one of the few survivors of the Battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Sent out from the fallen mission with her infant daughter Angelina, she carried the news of the garrison's destruction to Gen. Sam Houston — a warning that helped steel the Texian army for San Jacinto. Widowed at the Alamo, she later settled here, married cabinetmaker Joseph Hannig, and eventually moved to Austin.
Why it matters
As the "Messenger of the Alamo," Susanna Dickinson is one of the most consequential eyewitnesses of the Texas Revolution, and a rare woman whose testimony shaped the course of a war.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Susanna Dickinson Hannig
- · Almeron Dickinson
- · Angelina Dickinson
- · Sam Houston
- · Joseph William Hannig
Related events
- · Battle of the Alamo
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Caldwell County
Lockhart, TX
The land that became Caldwell County began as part of DeWitt's Colony in 1825 and was carved from Gonzales County when the county was created and organized in 1848, with early settlements along Plum Creek and the San Marcos River. It honors Mathew Caldwell — nicknamed 'Old Paint' — a soldier-statesman who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence and commanded the Texas Rangers. Lockhart was named the county seat.
Battle of Plum Creek
Lockhart, TX
By 1840 the young Republic of Texas and the Comanche and Kiowa nations were locked in escalating violence, inflamed by President Lamar's aggressive policies and the deadly Council House Fight in San Antonio. In revenge, a large war party swept to the coast and sacked Linnville before turning inland laden with plunder. On August 12, 1840, Texan volunteers under Felix Huston, Edward Burleson, and Mathew Caldwell—joined by Tonkawa allies—intercepted them at Plum Creek in a running fight across the prairie.
Cementerio Navarro Historico
Lockhart, TX
Also known as the Mexican Cemetery, this burial ground has served Lockhart's Mexican American community since about 1900, with its earliest dated grave, that of settler Severiano Sánchez, marked 1901. Community leaders, business owners, laborers, ranchers, teachers, and veterans dating to World War I rest here, many beneath the tree-shaped Woodmen of the World monuments that gave it another local name. In 2005 descendants formed an association to restore the grounds and renamed it for Tejano statesman and Texas Declaration signer José Antonio Navarro.
Isham Jones Good
Lockhart, TX
Georgia-born Isham Jones Good came to Texas in 1835 as a volunteer for the fight for independence from Mexico, narrowly escaping the 1836 Goliad Massacre that claimed Colonel Fannin's command. He returned to settle the frontier, fought in the 1840 Indian battle of Plum Creek, served as an early postmaster and Caldwell County's first sheriff, and helped organize the county in 1848 before turning to cattle ranching in Hays County.