Woman who nursed Jim Bowie

[gar]

I ran across a woman on the in terenet last night and it was said she nursed Jim Bowie at the Alamo but I never heard of her before her name was Senorita Candelaria Villaneva, can someone tell me about her, is this true?

[Bill Yowell]

There are folks on this board who will be able to give you far more information on Madam Candalaria than I can, but I do know this: She is a real person that was alive and well during the time of the siege of the Alamo. From discussions I have seen and read on this forum, I gather that her being in the Alamo during the siege, whether it be part of the time , for the duration, or at all, is open for debate. If we are to believe the historical correctness of Alamo 2004 and some written accounts, Bowie was being cared for by his sister in law and other women inside the compound during the siege.

[gar]

Thank you so much, I have read lots of info on the Alamo and this is the first I have heard of her.

[martyb]

Sept 27, 2013 22:40:39 GMT -5 gar said:

I ran across a woman on the in terenet last night and it was said she nursed Jim Bowie at the Alamo but I never heard of her before her name was Senorita Candelaria Villaneva, can someone tell me about her, is this true?

Andrea Castañón Villanueva (Madam Candelaria), who claimed to be a survivor of the battle of the Alamo, was the daughter of Antonio Castañón and Francisca Ramírez. She was born, according to her own account, in Laredo in November 1785. Other sources say she was born at Presidio del Río Grande in what is now Mexico. Three years after her birth her parents probably took her to Laredo, where she remained until she was about twenty-five. She then went to San Antonio, where she married Candelario Villanueva, who she said was her second husband. She became known as Madam or Señora Candelaria. She was the mother of four children and also raised twenty-two orphans. She often nursed the sick, aided the poor, and gave money to strangers who became stranded in San Antonio. Madam Candelaria claimed to have been in the Alamo during the battle in 1836 and to have nursed the ailing James Bowie. Historians are in disagreement over her claim, but most believe she was there. Since the evidence pertaining to the survivors is sparse and fragmentary, it is unlikely that the dispute will ever be settled. Many of her contemporaries believed her, and she had regular visitors who wanted to hear her account. Enrique Esparza, who was in the Alamo at the time of the assault, said in 1907 that Madam Candelaria may have been one of the women in the Alamo and that he would not dispute her claim that she was present. In spite of the controversy, the Texas legislature, on February 12, 1891, awarded her a pension of twelve dollars a month for being an Alamo survivor and for her work with smallpox victims in San Antonio. Madam Candelaria died on February 10, 1899, in San Antonio at the age of 113 and was buried in San Fernando Cemetery.

Attachments:

[gar]

Thank you so much for your reply, very interesting.

[Rich Curilla]

For every historian who believes Candelaria was in the Alamo with Jim Bowie, there are two who do not believe it. It's certainly possible, but her own inability to tell the story the same way twice reduces that possibility. In one account, she says that Bowie was already dead when the Mexican soldados entered his room. In another, she says she was giving him a drink of water when they burst in and killed him, and even wounded her on the chin -- a wound she was quick to point out to visitors.

Juana Navarro Alsbury, Bowie's step-sister-in-law by marriage, was indeed in the Alamo with her sister, baby boy and Bowie -- they all lived in the Veramendi household and Bowie was their protector now. However, Juana's later account says that, a few days before the battle, Bowie insisted on being separated from the sisters since he was quite contageous. She said that she never saw him after he was removed to the low barrack. So, surely, during two or three days until the battle somebody cared for him. Could have been Candelaria. Enrique Esparza, upon being quastioned about her presence, said he did not know all the women who wee there.

[Riley Gardner]

There are a few account of a woman who was inside the mission during the siege and left to go back to the town, at which point Santa Anna had her interrogated and she pointed out that the Texians were "demoralized", and Santa Anna decided to base his attack to be sooner rather than later because of this exchange.

Whether or not this is true, someone may correct me, but some I've talked to seem to believe that it could in fact have been Candelaria, and her stories later could be her covering her actions. I doubt she believe the Texians could have been victorious at this point in the entire war, so she must have thought (if it had been her) she had nothing to lose. When the tide turned, so did her story.

Not to mention she charged people for pictures and stories later in her life.

[Rich Curilla]

This story that a Bexarena (or two) left the Alamo and snitched to Santa Anna during the night of March 4 actually comes from primary accounts. Susanna Dickinson, in one of her accounts, said, "...two women escaped to the enemy and betrayed our situation about two days before the assault..." In another interview, she said, "...A Mexican woman deserted us one night, and going over to the enemy, informed them of our inferior number."

Mexican second commander-in-chief, Gen. Vicente Filisola (who arrived after the battle) later said, "On the same evening about nightfall it was reported that Travis Barret [sic], through the intermediary of a woman, proposed to the general in chief that they would surrender arms and the fort with everybody in it with the only condition of saving his life and that of all his comrades in arms. However, the answer had come back that they should surrender unconditionally, without guarantees, not even of life itself...."

De la Pena only refers to this (possibly) obliquely by saying, "...information given by General Cos, by wounded officers after he had left at Bexar, and by some townspeople of this locality was considered sufficient [for a decision to attack]. The latter made clear to us the limited strength of the garrison of the Alamo and the shortage of supplies and munitions at their disposal." [italics mine]

[All from accounts as presented in Alan Huffines' Blood of Noble Men.]

Thus, I believe all we can conclude at this point is that "where there's smoke, there's fire." We however cannot say what the fire might have been.

[Rich Curilla]

Here is a photo I took of either my coonskin cap or Estephania LeBaron (you'll have to decide) after the showing of JLH's The Alamo at the Alamo several months ago. She joined my friend Kristi Hale and me at Ernie's after the screening. Estephania portrayed Juana Navarro Alsbury, who nursed Jason Patric's Jim Bowie, in the movie (see screen capture). Excellent job, beautiful girl, wonderful personality -- but a hat thief.