The Alexander Family History 1720’s To 1899

The name Alexander is of Greek origin. It means “Helper of Men.” Alexander Macdonald, second son of Donald, King of the Isles, had two sons who adopted the christian name of their father as their surname. Numerous clans of Alexanders descended from the ancient clan of MacDonald, including nobility and commoners.The chiefs of these clans at first resided in the South of Scotland around Edinburgh and Glasgow. Their chiefs were the Earls of Stirling and Dovan.

In the period following the Irish Rebellion, James I of England, who was also James VI of Scotland, defeated and outlawed certain of the Irish chiefs. James I then took their vast estates and divided them into small tracts and given to the Scottish Protestants on the condition that they should settle permanently in Ireland. James I had a dual object in view in this act, one to replace the Catholics by Protestants, and the other to secure for himself loyal subjects in the place of rebels. A settlement of Scotch Presbyterians in the midst of the Celtic Catholics meant a perpetual and increasing garrison of friends of the home government in the midst of a hostile population.

The distance from Scotland to Ireland at some points is less than twenty miles, so it was quite convenient for thousands of Scots to emigrate to Ireland and take possession of the confiscated lands. The motivation was not greed, but safety. The borderland from which the migrating Scots came was a violent no-man’s-land for hundreds and hundreds of years. There would certainly be struggles with the Irish in Ireland, but nothing could match the unending violence that these families had endured along the northern border of England. Among those who availed themselves of this opportunity were many of the Alexanders who settled in Counties Antrim, Armagh, and Down. These families included both the commonalty and the nobility within the family. Our branch of the family left the Glasgow-Ayrshire region of Scotland and settled in Donegal County, Ireland.[1]

James I supported the Scots in Ireland until his death in 1625. His son, Charles I, was not supportive. In 1626, Charles I began a campaign to harrass non-conforming Protestants throughout his kingdom, and that included the Presbyterian Scots of Ireland. So, these loyal subjects were suddenly defenseless in a hostile Irish environment. To make matters worse, the winter of 1639 to 1640 was so severe that it destroyed the Irish potatoe crop and there was great famine in the land. Shortly thereafter the English Parliament rebelled against Charles I. And while that may have seemed like a good thing initially, it ended up being a bad thing. The Scots in Ireland recieved no support from the English Protestants, because Cromwell was too busy fighting the English Civil War to spare anything to help the Protestant Scots. Ultimately, persectution and famine killed thousands of Scots in Ireland, and they began to migrate to America in the 1640’s.[2]

William Alexander left Donegal County, Ireland for America in the 1640’s. [3] He came to Northampton County, Virginia around 1649, where he became the founder of the Alexander family that populated Somerset Co., Maryland, Cecil Co., Maryland and eventually Mecklenberg Co., North Carolina. William had seven sons and two daughters. Family tradition says that William’s sons were William Alexander (b. ca1646), Andrew Alexander (b. ca 1648), James Alexander (b. ca 1652), Francis Alexander (b. ca 1654), Samuel Alexander (b. ca 1657), Joseph Alexander (b. ca 1660), and John Alexander (b. 1662).[4]

So William Alexander came from Ireland to Northampton County, Virginia in the early 1640’s to escape persecution. Around the time William Alexander came to the colony, Virginia got a new royal governor - William Berkeley, a staunch supporter of Charles I and the Anglican Church. Nearly all the population of Northampton County belonged to dissenter religious sects. Governor Berkeley was alarmed at the spread of beliefs contrary to his own. In an attempt to drive these non-conformists out of Virginia, Berkeley prohibited all preaching that was not Anglican, denied the entire County of Northampton representation in the House of Burgesses, and taxed all the inhabitants heavily. Despite protests, Governor Berkeley harrassed William Alexander and those like him until 1652. It was in March of that year that an English fleet sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and deposed the Royal Governor William Berkeley on order of Parliament.[5]

For eight years, from 1652 to 1660, Presbyterians and other dissenters in Northampton County, Virginia were able to practice their religion publicly without harrassment. They were free to make a living without being taxed unreasonably. Thins were finally looking up for William Alexander. But then Charles II was restored as the King of England. Sir William Berkeley returned as Royal Governor. And so did all his policies. This time the situation was even worse, because England began to wage war with the Netherlands. As part of the war effort, direct shipping (formerly in Dutch ships) of tobacco to Europe was banned. In retaliation, the Dutch fleet sailed into the Chesapeake and captured almost all of the English tobacco fleet. The price of tobacco fell sharply, and Virginia was plunged into and ecomomic depression during the 1660’s and 1670’s. So William Alexander wasn’t much better off than when he was in Ireland.[6]

But life improved again for William Alexander. Lord Baltimore offered land, freedom of religion and representation in his assembly to any of the Northampton County Virginians who would cross over into neighboring Maryland. Lord Baltimore did this to form a buffer zone between his colony, Maryland, and the more powerful and populated colony of Virginia.[7]

The roll of buffer population was not new to the Scots. They had been buffers against the English in southern Scotland, they had been buffers against the Irish in northern Ireland. They had been buffers against the Indians in Virginia. As a people, they were good buffers. Over the centuries of living as human shields to one country or another, the Scots had developed a culture that helped them survive these precarious living conditions. The culture of these border Scots was extremely violent, rigidly organized by family bonds, and fiercely proud.[8] The assignment in Maryland was one of the best offers these Scots had recieved in hundreds of years. And so they moved to Maryland, famililes and all. William Alexander moved his family to Somerset County on the eastern shore of Maryland in the 1670’s.[9]

After ten years of living in Somerset County, the Alexanders began to plan their next move. Around 1680, Lord Baltimore had opened up land for settlement in Cecil County, Maryland. Not only was Cecil County land more fertile than that of Somerset County, Cecil County’s location was at a major crossroad of colonial trade. Cecil County was up in the northeast corner of Maryland near the border of Pennsylvania and Delaware. To the south was Annapolis, Maryland’s capitol and key seaport, Wilmington (capitol) and New Castle (seaport) in Delaware were to the east, and just a bit farther was colonial America’s largest city and seaport, Philadelphia. So this land in Cecil County allowed the Alexanders to grow more tobacco, get it to market morea easily, and profit by trading other goods along the trade roots that went through their county. Many Alexanders took out 30 year warrants on land in Cecil County, Maryland in the 1680’s, but didn’t move to the area until around 1700 when their children were old enough to help them clear the land. [10] It was in Cecil County, Maryland on Christmas day in 1746, that our ancestor William Alexander, Sr. and his wife had a son named William, Jr.(who would one day be known as Captain William “Rowan Bill” Alexander).[11]

William Alexander, Sr. (father of “Rowan Bill”) was a direct descendant of the original William Alexander who came to Northampton Co., Virginia from Donegal County, Ireland. Scottish families were extremely clanish. They adheared to the ancient Scottish code of Thanistry which structured extended family groups like tribes - with an ultimate chieftan and all. They emigrated to this country in family groups, as opposed to individuals. They settled close together and intermarried. When one family member moved to another county or state, the rest of the family moved as well. Sometimes it took a few years, but the whole extended family ended up together in that new area. So when several Alexander families were living in the same area, it was not a coincidence - the families were related to eachother.[12] Our ancestor, William Alexander, Sr. lived in Cecil County Maryland, and then ultimately ended up in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. That means that he is related to that band of Alexanders which moved from Northumberland County, Virginia to Somerset County, Maryland, then to Cecil County, Maryland and ultimately ended up in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. What William Alexander, Sr.’s exact lineage is within that group of Alexanders, I don’t yet know.

Cecil County, Maryland was such a wonderful place that it attracted a large number of new settlers. By 1735, the land prices had risen so much that it was difficult for the children of the original settlers to afford property of their own. So many families moved to Penssylvania’s Cumberland Valley around 1750. People like the Alexanders were encouraged by the Pennsylvania authorities because the people of Pennsylvania wanted a human buffer between themselves and the Delaware and Shawnee Indians.[13] Families like the Alexanders were interested because the land was good and it was cheap enough for their children to buy as they came of age. Unfortunately, the ensuing violence between the settlers and the Indians escalated until it started the French and Indian War in 1754. It was a war that didn’t initially go very well for the English. And so by 1756, most families had fled the Cumberland Valley and returned to Cecil County.

Cecil County had not changed since the Alexanders left. The land was still too expensive for their children to buy their own farms. Between 1755 and 1764 many of the Alexander family moved to North Carolina. They settled in an area between the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers. The land was good and inexpensive. In 1765, the French and Indian War ended and North Carolina was suddenly very safe. That year over a thousand wagons passed through the area. The Alexanders quickly became involved in land speculation as well as farming.[14]

William Alexander, Sr. and his son, Captain William “Rowan Bill” Alexander were among the first Alexanders who moved to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.[15] William Sr. settled Sugar Creek Church Community, near Charlotte around 1750 to 1755. Eventually, William Sr.’s son, “Rowan Bill” Alexander, owned a farm at the junction of Panther Run and Grant’s Creek in Rowan County (which borders Mecklenburg County). [16]

The Alexanders were the most numerous group in the Mecklenberg County area of North Carolina. There were so many of them, it’s hard to keep track of the exact relations. Our ancestor, Captain William, “Rowan Bill”, Alexander’s nickname was used to distinguish him from the two other Captain William Alexanders. [17] The nickname refers to the fact that at the outbreak of the Revolution he was living in Rowan county, North Carolina.

William, “Rowan Bill,” Alexander was known as Capt. William Alexander because of his service in the Revolutionary War. He initially enlisted as a private in his brother-in-laws’ regiment (Captain William Brandon) in 1775. In 1776, General Griffith Rutherford named “Rowan Bill” Alexander Captain of a company of spies sent to fight the Indians. These were both North Carolina regiments. In an engagement with the Indians at Seven Mile Mountain on September 8, 1776, he was wounded so badly he was partially crippled for the rest of his life and not able to fight again until 1781. At that point he was commissioned Captain in Colonel Wade Hampton’s Cavalry Regiment (South Carolina), taking part in the battles of Cowpens, Fort Marte, Grosby, Biggnes Church, and the siege of 96.He is a lineal descendant of (James McNutt Alexander who signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.[18]

Captain William (Rowan Bill) Alexander married Mary Brandon and had four kids: Mary Brandon Alexander, who married Gov. William Hall, Jane Alexander who was so beautiful that she was called the “Cumberland Beauty” married Dr. Redmond Dillon Barry ( a native of Ireland, educated at the University of Dublin and a surgeon for the British Navy, he gave up his post to fight with the colonists during the Revolution), William Locke Alexander, who married Susan Allen- daughter of Capt. Grant Allen, and the oldest child, Richard Alexander, who is our ancestor.

Captain William (Rowan Bill) and his wife Mary Brandon Alexander lived in Rowan County, NC up until 1796. The Cencus of 1790 shows he had 11 slaves; so he must have been fairly successful.[19] The family finally moved to Sumner County Tennessee to claim a 400 acre Revolutionary War grant.

“Rowan Bill” Alexander’s son, Richard Brandon Alexander, was born in Rowan County , North Carolina on November 11, 1769. He came with his father,Captain “Rowan Bill” Alexander, and his mother to Sumner County, Tennessee in 1796. On February 28, 1808, Richard married Nancy Cunningham Saunders (Sanders), the widow of Lt. William Saunders (Sanders) who had died in 1803.Richard’s new wife Nancy Cunningham Saunders (Sanders) was the daughter of Major William Cunningham, who served as an Aide de Camp to General George Washington in the Revolution).[20]

Lt. Sanders had been the recipient of a Revolutionary land grant of 2560 acres located at the mouth of Dixon Creek and after coming to Tennessee, Sanders had bought the triangle of land on which Dixon Springs now stands from a Captain Dixon. There were no buildings there at the time.

After their marriage, Richard and Nancy Alexander bought all the land then held by the Sanders heirs and thereby came into possession of the Dixon Springs area. However they established their residence in the William Sanders house near the Cumberland River, at the mouth of Dry Branch, the site of Bledsoborough.

The first child of Richard and Nancy Alexander was a son, born in 1809. His name was William Sanders Alexander, after Nancy’s first husband. William Sanders Alexander married Susan Black (b. 1818) of Wilson County, Tennessee. They were married on December 21, 1844. William was deeded 295 acres by his father and he and his wife Susan built a large house on the hill overlooking the village of Dixon Springs. Later he added 205 more acres to his holdings.

William was the postmaster for Dixon Springs for a period of time. He built and operated a general store in connection with the post office. The store was built with bricks(made from clay from the Alexander farm). This building was destroyed by fire in 1985.

Although the Alexander family were Southern sympathizers, their home was used as a Headquarters for Union Officers for a time during the Civil War.

William and Susan Black Alexander had seven children: Nancy A.(b 7/28/1843who married George Madison Allen), Mary A. (b. 1846 who married William Field - a Union Officer from Pennsylvania), William Sanders Alexander, Jr. (b 1847, a Confederate soldier , killed at the Battle of Shiloh at age 16 - his body was never recovered, but his man-servant, Wall Alexander, later managed to bring home his horse and a few belongings), Elizabeth A. (b 1848, married Walter Guild of Sumner County), Lewis Cass Alexander (b 1849 married Mary Barksdale and came into the possession of the family home - which by the way is still owned by family members, the Beasleys, and is listed in the registry of Tennessee Century Farms), Susan A. (b 1853 married a Mr. Downs and moved to Connecticut), and the youngest, Lucy Harris Alexander (b. 1855 married Henry L. Werne of Louisville, Kentucky).

Our relative is Lucy Harris Alexander, the youngest of the family. She married Henry L. Werne. He was a jeweller. Lucy ,according to her granddaughter Mary Gist Bryan Steele, had blue eyes with beautiful light colored hair. Lucy and Henry were happily married, but she died very young, leaving her oldest daughter, Willie Alexander Werne, to mother the children. Henry, the father, went on the road to make a living. I could never figure out why. Maybe he had ceased being a jeweller. Willie did a marvellous job raising that family. Her uncle, Joseph Werne would stop by from time to time and give them some money. Apparently, had it not been for that, they might have all starved.The experience took its toll. She later had a family of her own, but she always had a very nervous disposition. She married Miles Turpin, son of Jackson Turpin.Willie and Miles had one child, MIles Alexander Turpin, my grandfather.