I found some interesting information while researching William Barrett Travis (Mark Butler Travis, Barrick Travis, John D. Travis [brother to my Charles Travis/Travers]. Colonel William Barrett Travis, commander at the Battle of the Alamo, was the oldest of eleven children of Mark Butler Travis and Jemima (Stallworth) Travis, and born in 1809.

They lived in Saluda County, SC at the time of his birth. The history of William Barrett Travis and that of the Alamo are well documented and well known but the thing I found interesting in researching him is the story of his slave, Joe, who was one of the few survivors of the Alamo. In the ** Handbook of Texas Online , it is stated that he and Sam, James Bowie's slave both survived the battle but no further record is known to exist on Sam.

Joe, (abt 1813-??), was listed as living in Harrisburg in 1833. Joe claimed to have armed himself and fought alongside Travis when Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's troops stormed the Alamo on March 6, 1836. He then retreated into a building where he was later found by Mexican troops. Before being spared by a Mexican captain, he was pistol shot and struck by a bayonet. After being taken to Bexar, he was detained and interrogated by Santa Anna about Texas and its Army. All that is known after that is that he fled with Santa Anna's black cook Ben, and Susanna W. Dickinson to Gen. Sam Houston's camp on Gonzales. On March 20th, the **Handbook of Texas  Online reports,  Joe was taken before the Texas Cabinet at Groce's Retreat and questioned where he impressed those present with his candor, modesty, and clarity of the event at the Alamo. Afterwards, Joe returned to Travis' estate near Columbia till April 21, when he escaped with a Mexican accomplice and 2 horses. A notice offering fifty dollars for his return was posted and ran 3 months before being discontinued on Aug. 26, 1837. The last report of Joe was in Austin, Texas in 1875.

**Note: The Handbook of Texas Online is a joint project of the General Libraries at the Univ. of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association. More research information they relied on is documented on their site.

Last update : 25-12-2007 07:40

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