William B. Travis

William Barret Travis (August 1809-1836) was an early U.S. settler of Texas; he was born in South Carolina. His family moved to Sparta, Alabama in 1817, where Travis received much of his education. He then moved on to a school in Claiborne, where he eventually worked as an assistant teacher.

He then became an attorney and, at age 19, married one of his students, Rosanna Cato, who was 16 years old. The couple had a son, Charles, within two years. Because of serious financial problems, Travis fled Alabama in 1831 to start over in Texas which was a part of Mexico at the time; he left his wife and son behind. He received land from Stephen F. Austin. The Texas Revolution started in October, 1835, and in January, 1836, Travis joined the Texas Army. He was ordered by the provisional governor to go to the Alamo with volunteers to reinforce the 120 men already there. Travis arrived at The Alamo with 30 reinforcements. Within a short time, he ended up as the official commander of the Texian troops when the Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna attacked the mission on February 23, 1836. William Travis was killed on March 6th with the other 188 defenders during the Battle of the Alamo after what many consider a heroic defense.