The Handbook of Texas is free-to-use thanks to the support of readers like you. Support the Handbook today.

Font size: A / A reset

Support Texas History Now

Join TSHA to support quality Texas history programs and receive exclusive benefits.

Lightfoot, John William (1805–1836)

Bill Groneman Biography Entry

John William Lightfoot, also referred to as William John Lightfoot, an Alamo defender, son of Henry Taylor and Nancy (Webster) Lightfoot, was born in Mercer County, Kentucky on September 8, 1805. The family moved to Missouri Territory by 1816 and to Union County, Arkansas, by 1824. Lightfoot received one-twelfth of a league of land in Fort Bend County, Texas, in August 1830 and lived in Gonzales in 1836. He took part in the siege of Bexar and later served in the Alamo garrison as a third corporal of Capt. William R. Carey's artillery company. He died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836.

Daughters of the American Revolution, The Alamo Heroes and Their Revolutionary Ancestors (San Antonio, 1976). Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Muster Rolls of the Texas Revolution (Austin, 1986). Bill Groneman, Alamo Defenders (Austin: Eakin, 1990).

Time Periods:

Texas Revolution

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

Bill Groneman, “Lightfoot, John William,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed June 20, 2021, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/lightfoot-john-william.

Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 related to Copyright and “Fair Use” for Non-Profit educational institutions, which permits the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), to utilize copyrighted materials to further scholarship, education, and inform the public. The TSHA makes every effort to conform to the principles of fair use and to comply with copyright law.

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Original Publication Date:: March 1, 1995
Most Recent Revision Date:: March 29, 2018

Save to MyTSHA Load a Random Entry Report an Error Request a Revision

Become a TSHA member and get a FREE Texas Almanac!

Support Texas History Now

Lightfoot, John William (1805–1836)

Time Periods:

Recently Viewed

Settings