The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-30

stirring events In which his family has taken so prominent a part.
 Yes said he. T not only wouldn't mind telling you what I know about the family, and things which have hap pened, but 1 would like to say a few things in order to correct some things which have appeared in print which are not accurate. l am the only living member of my fathers family and l know more about the family than any body else. l could tell you enough to fill a big book but ] suppose that You can only put down the most important things.
 We came to Alabama from South Carolina. My fathers people settled | in Edgefield district, South Carolina when they came over from England There were three brothers. Joseph, Alexander. and my father, Mark. Joseph moved to Mississippi and we were never able to hear anything else from him. In 1s17 Alexander moved to Conecuh county, Alabama. He was a Baptist minister and earned wide reputation as pioneer preacher. My mother was a Miss Jemimah Stallworth. She and
 my father were married in 1907. There were II of us children, seven sons and four daughters. William was born in | Edgefield district South Carolina, Au- gust l, 1909. His birth date has been 1, given as July 31, but this is mistake.
 In 1918 my parents moved to Alabama
 and joined Joseph Travis in Conecun county. William was years old at that time I was born near Evergreen
 August 5. 1929.
 q have had some ups and downs my self, and I did something which I ,pect few other men have ever accom- plished. At the age of 63 I read law
 and was admitted to the bar in six tr,,< hot
 engaged in sawmilling and farming
 most of my life.
 "There was another brother of us
 who served in the wars. Mark Butler Travis. Mark was IT years old when the United States and Mexico went to war. He and I both wanted to go and l fight the Mexicans. We learned that the Palmetto regiment from South Car
 olina was en route to Mexico and would 1 stop several days in Mobile. This regi- ment came from our section of the state and Col. Pierce M. Butler, who was in | command, and many of the officers and men were known to our family. Mark and I planned to leave home for Mobile on Monday morning Friday he and | were out riding when my horse, which was blind in one eye became frightened
 at hole in the bridge and ran off the
 bridge on his blind side. The horse and I fell to the creek below, the horse
  You can see now that one of my legs
 is four inches shorter than the other. That short leg kept me out of the Con- federate army. When I volunteered
 was rejected on it's account
 Mark took me home and stayed with me until Tuesday. He did not like to 1 go away without me, as we had planned
 to go together, but as I could not go
 he went on by himself.
 "He joined the South Carolina regi- ment at Mobile and fought through the entire war He remained in Mexico 21
 months or until peace was signed. and l took part in many battles, the most | important of which were Contreras and lCherebusco. At Cherebusco he was wounded in the head and picked up for dead. He was only stunned and soon revived.
 When Mark returned from the Mexi- can war he was elected colonel of the
 state militia, and later general. When I the civil war opened Mark went to | the front as second lieutenant of the Conecuh Guards. Fourth Alabama in- l fantry under Capt. P. D. Bose. While | at home on furlough he was stricken
 with pneumonia and died at Sparta, Ala. Mark had son. P. M. B. Travis, who graduated from West Point. He rose l to the rank of major and held this po- sition in the Eleventh infantry at the time of his death in Kansas while en
 route from Fort Sam Houston to visit his sister.
 William Barrett Travis. who was killed at the Alamo, read law and lived l in Alabama until he went to Texas In 1882 he married Mss Rosannah Cato | of Monroe county. In 1884, at the age
 of 25. William moved to Texas. He practiced law in Washingtin county, Texas. before he entered the Texas revolution. We heard from him quite nf af {rQf m tinctly because he wrote me letter on which I had to pay 25c postage. He made us one visit after moving to
 Texas. William was only 27 years old
 when he was killed. Besides his wife
 he left two children, boy years old,
 Charles Edward Travis, and girl years old. Susan Isabella Travis Charles l and Susan returned to Alabama with l their mother and lived there with rela- | tives, where they were raised, until 1 1850 Susan married John D. Grissett of Monroe county and in 1850 they
 moved to Texas. Charles went With them. He later became a captain in
 the United States army and died in l1S5S. Susan died later.
 Ii "The first we knew of William hav- ing joined In the Texas fighting was when we heard that he had been placed in command of the Alamo. He had a negro slave and body guard. Ben Travis,
 who was with him and aided in the de- fense of the Alamo. This negro was F not killed by the Mexicans. but was ! allowed his liberty and returned to Ala E ibama.4
 ! r,Vhen the fight began the Alamo was held by the Mexicans under Gen. eral Cos a brother-in-law of Santa Anna. In 1885 the Texans under Aus tin, with Houston, Bowie, Fannin, | Crockett Milan Burleson. Smith. and my brother, William, as his advisors, attacked and captured the Alamo This was on October 28.
 "On the 23rd of February, 1886, the Mexicans. under Santa Anna, returned and laid siege to the Alamo. The Tex
 ans hastily gathered all the provisions they could and shut themselves up in
 the fort for the fight.
 Fl At first there were about 1000 Mex
 jeans in the force attacking the Alamo
 Within the fort there were only about
 154 Texans. Travis sent for aid to
 other places and 32 men came from lGonzalessand joined them. As the Mex.
 licans kept receiving reinforcements fhs
 Texans saw that unless they got more
 aid that they were lost. So Col. James
 B. Bonham and two men were sent to
 Gcliad to summon Colonel Fannin. who was in command there. Fannin started
 but he could not travel very fast with his command so Bonham and his two
 companions dashed on ahead to fell
 William Travis and the others in the fort that aid was coming Wbox <hoxr