03/10/2026
A story taken from Facebook from
The Texas Center at Schreiner University
After news of the Alamo's fall reached the settlements, something Texans later called the Runaway Scrape began. Basically, all supporters of the Texian cause were forced to flee towards the Sabine as Santa Anna pursued his plan to boot the colonists not supporting his regime back into the United States - or slaughter them.
Here is the story of one of those refugees, Jane Boyd Wells Woods. She suffered much during the Runaway Scrape, as did many other women with the Texian Army. The old saying is very true - "Texas is heaven for men and dogs. Hell on women and oxen." While the men fought bravely and died nobly, the women and children suffered much and their sacrifices need to be remembered.
This is a family oral tradition of the Woods family, first written down by the Spellman branch of the family in the early 20th century after hearing the stories from another Runaway Scrape refugee, Jane's daughter, Ardelia.
"On hearing of the fall of the Alamo, Houston at once burned the town of Gonzales, destroyed all supplies the settlers could not take with them, and retreated eastward. Army and civilians alike fled before the Mexicans. There was little authentic news regarding the nearness of the Mexicans, but there were plenty of rumors. The fear of the settlers fed on the uncertainty, and rumors of the foe's nearness added terror to their flight. As the settlers left their homes, Houston's army burned everything that could be used by the Mexicans. It was pure panic on a wide front.
The colonists fled on foot, on horseback, and in all available conveyances. Every man that could be spared was with the army. Stories of this mad flight abound in tales of hardship and horror. Continuous rains, miring mud, and swollen streams added to their trials, but did not stop their flight.
This was in March of 1836. By this time, Norman and Jane Woods had a daughter three years of age. This was Ardelia, the oldest. There was a younger pair of twins, Sarah Boyd and Cordelia Minerva, and Jane was again several months pregnant. Their only means of transportation was a huge, clumsy, two-wheeled oxcart.
An old couple we now know only as Uncle and Aunt Speer, who had with them an adopted daughter named Miriam, helped Jane. Uncle Speer had a wooden leg. Jane never forgot their wonderful kindness to her all through their nightmarish trip.
At one time, word came to Jane that Norman (her husband) was killed. Little Minerva had been quite ill and Jane was sick at heart and utterly discouraged. A few nights later at dusk, while she was fixing the children's supper, she thought she heard Norman's whistle. Then, like heavenly music, she heard his voice as he spoke to his horse. Norman was alive!
Some of the stories of the Runaway Scrape may have grown with the telling. There was the day when one of the children was suffering from a throat infection. The ox cart was parked to one side of the road while Jane sought to comfort the child. A doctor came riding by, and learning of their trouble, rode up to the cart and gave the child medication without dismounting!
Another story, better authenticated, is of a well-dressed young woman, mounted on a fine grey horse and wearing a broad-brimmed hat, who happened by while Jane was caring for her little family. She stopped to talk with Jane and offered to help. She was interested in the children and finally asked Jane to let her have Sarah as her own. Of course, Jane refused to consider this, but when the lady then offered to carry Sarah for her for a while, she consented. As the day wore on and the lady did not return, Jane grew uneasy, and then frantic, as she recalled the lady's wish to adopt her. However, just before stopping for the evening, the lady was found waiting by the roadside with little Sarah safe and sound.
In all the flight, Jane carried with her an old, “Dutch Oven” styled, cooking vessel which her little party used for most of their cooking. Before leaving, they loaded the cart with what food they had; corn meal, sides of bacon, dried peas, and “all the chickens they could catch.” Those old high-wheeled carts could carry a lot of cargo! The cart belonged to Uncle Speer. No doubt, Jane was able to repay his kindness with something from the Dutch oven. This old pot is now stored in the Alamo Museum.
The story of San Jacinto, where the Mexicans were defeated, is too well known tell here. Though the flight ended with this battle, Jane did not return to her home at once. She stayed for some time “on the Brazos,” as she always referred to it. Here little Cordelia Minerva, one of the twins, died, and here another daughter, Margaret, was born, only to die as an infant. Our pioneer mothers had much to do and much to endure, with wounds more obscure, but perhaps more painful and poignant than those suffered by their men on the battlefield."
This is a possible picture of Jane. It's a daguerreotype dated to the late 1840's to early 1850's. It bears a strong resemblance to pictures of her daughter Ardelia, who is in the second picture with her husband, Tom Glimp and their first daughter, Mary Jane. The pot is still on display at the Alamo in the Ralston Center.
