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Q. Susanna Dickinson is well-known as a survivor of the Battle of the Alamo. Were there other women inside the Alamo?



A. Yes. Local author, Don Blevins includes Alamo survivor Madam Candelaria in his recent book, “A Priest, a Prostitute, and Some Other Early Texans.” Before I go further, let me make it clear that Candelaria was not the prostitute referred to in the title of Blevins’ book.

Blevins will be one of more than 30 authors and illustrators at the library’s Fifth Annual Texas Author Day today from 2 to 5 p.m.. This is a great opportunity to chat with Texas writers and pick up some signed books for Christmas gifts.

In the chapter on Madam Candelaria, Blevins sets the stage: “The Daughters of the Republic of Texas list about eighteen survivors of the Alamo; these were men who acted as couriers and foragers. An unknown number of black slaves also walked away from the siege unscathed. The other survivors were family members taken into the mission prior to the battle in a misguided attempt to save them from the Mexican army.

“Santa Anna released these women and children, not through any benevolence on his part, but because he wanted them to spread word about the devastation wrought on the Alamo. This was a warning of what lay in store for anyone defying the Mexican government.

“The best-known of the Alamo survivors, at least historically, were Susanna Dickinson and her young daughter, Angelina. Others included Francisco Esparza, Gertrudis Navarro, Petra Gonzales, and Conception Losoya and her son, Juan — all family members of Mexican or Tejano defenders of the Alamo.

“One name missing from the DRT list of survivors is Andrea Castañón Villanueva, a woman known as Madam Candelaria.

“When Andrea was a young woman, she moved to San Antonio, where she served as a cook in the household of Gertrudis Perez Cordero, wife of the governor of Texas and Coahuila.

“Andrea married Silberio Flores y Abrigo, a follower of Father Miguel Hidalgo and his Mexican rebellion against Spain. Flores died in battle against Spanish Royalists at the Medina River near San Antonio.

“When Andrea was in her forties, she married Candelario Villanueva. Andrea and Candelario parented four children. Being of a benevolent nature, she also raised twenty-two orphans.

“Her station in life must have been one of affluence because she became a sort of traveler’s aid, coming to the financial rescue of many strangers stranded in San Antonio.

“Andrea’s services were especially in demand when San Antonio was hit by cholera and typhoid during a three-year period beginning in 1819, and again during a smallpox epidemic several decades later.

“Andrea might have passed through history remembered by a few as a kind and generous soul, but for one thing: Andrea claimed that she was a survivor of the Alamo battle and that she had in fact, nursed James Bowie, who was suffering from typhoid or tuberculosis at the time of the fight.

“Many historians accept her claim. Although none of the other Alamo survivors attested to seeing her at the battle site, only one denied that it was possible. Most of the people of her time accepted Madam Candelaria’s claim.

“After all, she had demonstrated her compassion and generosity for many years. And the state of Texas believed her, going so far as to grant her a pension of $12 a month for being a survivor of the Alamo and for aiding victims of smallpox in and around San Antonio.”