TEXANA TALES: Songs of Susanna at library
On July 14, 2026 at 7:00pm, the historic Dr. Eugene Clark Library continues its monthly series of TEXANA TALES, with SONGS OF SUSANNA. In lecture and narrative, verse and song, Donaly Brice and Fletcher Clark bring to life the saga of this great Texas heroine, forever remembered as Messenger of the Alamo.
SONGS OF SUSANNA follows young Susanna Dickinson (nee Wilkerson) in her travels from Tennessee to Gonzales, Texas in the Green DeWitt Colony with her husband Almeron Dickinson, who would become a fallen hero at the Alamo. As Messenger of the Alamo, she carried Santa Anna’s demand for capitulation to General Sam Houston, who was then preparing his Texian army to retreat eastward in the ‘Runaway Scrape’. After the Texian victory at San Jacinto, Susanna found herself widowed and penniless with her infant daughter Angelina, forever remembered as Babe of the Alamo. Unskilled and illiterate, she would marry three more men in Houston, seeking in turn, and in vain, that husband who would keep her and her daughter happy and secure. Susanna would return to Caldwell County, where she would open her own business in its county seat, taking ownership of the in the original Green DeWitt Colony league of land granted to her and her deceased husband Almeron. There in Lockhart she would meet and marry her fifth husband – Joseph Hannig, a young German immigrant half her age. Finally, upon moving to Austin, Susanna Wilkerson Dickinson Williams Herring Bellows Hannig would become prosperous and respected.
For over a decade, Lockhart’s historian Donaly Brice and songwriter Fletcher Clark have combined lecture and narrative with characterization and song, “Our collaborations began in 2014 with SONGS OF SUSANNA,” recalls Clark. “I had answered a commission to write and perform a song for the 200th Birthday Celebration for the Friends of the Susanna Dickinson Museum in Austin. Intrigued by the story of this nineteenth-century woman with five husbands, I eventually wrote a four-chapter, fourteen-minute epic ballad, There Must Be a Good Man in Texas.” Brice, retired as Senior Archivist for the Texas State Library and author/co-author of several books of Texas history, made this possible by amply supplying Clark with much of the little-known story of Susanna. “On that evening, Donaly thoroughly captivated the room with his informative lecture, while my ballad reached the hearts of this rapt audience,” remembers Fletcher. “I knew then that we had a program style which could bring forth both the facts and the feelings of our history.”
The pair would go on to develop additional programs, presenting their TEXANA TALES in dozens of appearances for Daughters of the Republic of Texas chapters, community libraries, museums, county historical commissions, and other history groups. “One can simply close one’s eyes and see Texas so many years ago. The stories, poems, and music truly bring history to life!” read the thank-you from one grateful DRT Chapter.
As a life-long resident of Lockhart, Donaly Brice remains involved with the Caldwell County Genealogical and Historical Society and its Plum Creek Almanac publication. He is an active member and Fellow of the East Texas Historical Association, the West Texas Historical Association, the Southern Historical Association, and the Texas State Historical Association. Lockhart’s resident songwriter, Fletcher Clark continues his long and venerable career in Texas music, still performing for select audiences and festivals. He remains active as a sound and recording engineer and producer, while continuing his path as hymnist and composer of sacred music for the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas.
“We are so very grateful to Library Director Bertha Martinez and her able staff. As the oldest continually operating library building in Texas, the historic Dr. Eugene Clark Library is the ideal venue for the presentation of our TEXANA TALES,” said Clark. “We originally planned to present a program monthly on the second Tuesday through September. We have since added three new programs to continue through the end of 2026.” Already presented have been RUNAWAY SCRAPE and IMMORTAL 32. After July’s SONGS OF SUSANNA, THE GREAT COMANCHE RAID and THE BLACK BEAN EPISODE continue the initial series. The extended series through December will offer the new programs SIEGE OF BEXAR, MASSACRE AT GOLIAD, and BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO.
