History of José Toribio Losoya (1808 – 1836)

José Toribio Losoya was born on April 11, 1808 to Ventura Losoya and Concepción de Los Angeles Charlé. The family’s two-room stone house, an old Indian building which had been deeded to them, was situated on the southwest corner to the Alamo Missions compound.

José Losoya married Concepción Curbier and had three children, one son and two daughters. In 1830 he was a private in the Alamo de Parras military company and occupied Fort Tenoxtítlan where Losoya and his family remained until the company returned to San Antonio de Béxar in September 1832.

Losoya was one of many Mexican soldiers who opposed Santa Anna’s despotic rule. By 1835 Losoya had deserted the Mexican army to enlist as a rifleman in Juan Sequin’s company of Tejanos. In December of 1835 Losoya participated in the storming of Béxar. The Losoya family was displaced from their home for many months as the Texans used it and other structures around the Alamo to defend their position.

As Santa Anna’s troops approached San Antonio in February 1836, Losoya and six other Tejanos were left at the Alamo as reinforcements when Juan Seguin rode from the Alamo. Losoya’s wife and children sought refuge in the mission’s chapel with several other women and children. Losoya died in the final battle on March 6, 1836. His body was found in the chapel of the mission and was cremated along with the other 188 men who died at the Alamo. His wife, son and two daughters survived the siege.