STAY WHIMSICAL.
SOURCES:
“The Alamo." Defenders: Tapley Holland. The State of Texas. June 23, 2022 https://www.thealamo.org/remember/battle-and-revolution/defenders/tapley-holland.
Groneman, Bill. Alamo Defenders : A Genealogy, the People and their Words. Eakin Press 1990
THE LEGACY
Francis Holland (1785-1834) is the father of Tapley Holland. Susanna Holland (1809-1848) is daughter of Francis Holland and Tapley Holland’s sister. Tapley Burney (1836-1877) is the son of Susanna Holland and William Ebenezar Burney (1868-1943) is the son of Tapley Burney. Clara “Granny” Burney Hardaway (1901-1985), my paternal grandmother, was the daughter of William Ebenezar Burney (1868-1943). James Thomas “Jim Tom” Hardaway (1942-present) is the son of Clara Hardaway and my father. Tapley Holland (1810-1836) is my 3rd great-granduncle.
THE LEGEND
Tapley Holland made it a point to send a message with his cousin, John Peterson, prior to his departure from the Alamo. Peterson was one of the last men who left the garrison alive.
"I shall never leave this garrison 'till it shall become strong enough to defend itself against the advancing enemy," Holland told Peterson. "Tell our friends to hasten on and relieve me. I want to go home, rest a while, and procure some clothes."
Relief never came.
By March 3, the Alamo's fate seemed clear. Thousands of Mexican troops under General Santa Anna surrounded the Alamo in a death grip.
Travis called his men together on that day during a recess from the enemy's continual bombardment. He told them he had lost all hope for aid, and that he was resolved to stay and die fighting. The charismatic Travis then drew a line in the dirt with the tip of his sword and invited anyone who wanted to stay and die for his country to step across the line.
Holland was the first to emerge from the ranks.
The rough-and-tumble frontiersman stepped across the line and declared, "I am ready to die for my country.”
All but one of his fellow comrades followed Holland's lead. Three days later, Holland died as he requested [in the Battle of the Alamo].
William P. Zuber, Sketch of Tapley Holland: A Hero of the Alamo, March 6, 1836 (unpublished, 1910). Zuber's work was addressed to Amelia Martin of Anderson, Texas. He opens his sketch by writing, "Many of the facts herein stated were known to me at or near the times of their occurrence. For the rest, I am mainly indebted to Mr. Holland's sister, Mrs. Nancy Berryman, who stated them to me in conversation."
My family has always taken great pride in the fact that Tapley Holland is a part of our story… he’s in our family tree. Whether in conversations at church potluck dinners, or in school book reports, or when encountering random strangers while visiting the Alamo, we relish any moment to brag on our legacy. I actually did it just recently. You see, this honor gives us a deeper connection to Tejas, both in its history and its grandeur. And like Big Tex, it makes us feel like we stand a little bit taller!
THE MAN
Tapley Holland, Alamo defender, one of six children of Margaret (Buck) and Francis Holland, was born in Ohio in 1810. His father had migrated from Canada to Louisiana and moved to Texas in 1822 as one of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred settlers. Tapley Holland, a resident of the Washington Municipality (present-day Grimes County), took part in the siege of Bexar. Later he served in the Alamo garrison as a member of Capt. William R. Carey's artillery company. Holland died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.
