A Record of the Descendants of John Alexander of Lanarkshire, Scotland

A RECORD OF THE DESCENDANTS OF JOHN ALEXANDER, OF LANARKSHIRE, SCOTLAND, AND HIS WIFE, MARGARET GLASSON, WHO EMIGRATED FROM COUNTY ARMAGH, IRELAND, CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, A. D. I736. By the Rev. JOHN E. ALEXANDER, Principal of Washington College, Tennessee. PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED BY ALFRED MARTIEN, 821 JAYNE STREET. I878. INDEX. PART I. Pagb. The Family and Descendants of Hugh Alexandee, of Sherman's Valley, Pa 15 Chapter I. —The family and descendants of Margaret Alexander Hamilton, of Harrisburgh, Pa 27 " II. —The family and descendants of John Alexander, of Little Valley, Pa...... 41 III. —The family and descendants of Mary Alexander Clark, of Sherman'3 Valley, Perry county, Pa 78 IV.—The family and descendants of David Alexander, of St. Clair county, 111 89 V —The family and descendants of Hugh Alexander, of Tus- carora Valley, Juniata county, Pa 102 VI.—The family and descendants of James Alexander, of McKeesport, Allegheny county, Pa 107 " VII.— The family and descendants of William Alexander, of Centre county, Pa 108 " VIII. — The family and descendants of Emily Alexander Evans, of McKeesport, Allegheny county, Pa Ill PART II. The Family and Descendants of James Alexander, of Kishacoquil- las, Pa 114 Chapter I. —The family and descendants of Jane Alexander Brown, of Kishacoquillas Valley, Pa 123 II.—The family and descendants of Robert Alexander, Esq., of Kishacoquillas Valley, Pa 127 III.— The family and descendants of Elizabeth Alexander Wakefield, of Spencer county, Ky 133 IV.— The family and descendants of John Alexander, of Logan's Springs, Kishacoquillas, Pa 147 " V.— The family and descendants of James Alexander, of Spring Run, Kishacoquillas, Pa 155 VI.—The family and descendants of Hugh Alexander, of Stone Valley, Pa 169 " VII.—Joseph Alexander 171 4 Index. Page. Chapter VIII. —The family and descendants of Rachel Alexander Semple, of Stone Valley, Pa 172 " IX.—The family and descendants of William Brown Alexan- der, of Clearfield county, Pa 173 " X.—The family and descendants of Rosa Alexander Taylor, of Montgomery county, Ohio 180 PART IIL The Family and Descendants of Rachel Alexander Vance, of Martinsburgh, Va 189 Chapter I. —The family and descendants of Samuel Vance, of Stone Valley, Pa 190 " II, III, and IV.—The families and descendants of John, Alexan- der, and Joseph Vance, of Ohio 191 V. —The family and descendants of Rachel V. Porterfield, of Martinsburg, Va 191 PART IV. The Family and Descendants of John Alexander, of Chambers- burgh, Pa 193 The Family and Descendants of John Alexander, of Greene Town- ship, Franklin Co., Pa 193 Margaret Alexander 195 APPENDIX. Sketches of other Alexander Families 196 PREFACE. During the past twenty years several attempts at pre- paring a Genealogical Record of the Alexander Family represented in this book were made and abandoned, owing to difficulties which those only can appreciate who have themselves performed such a task. The great difficulty lay in collecting, digesting and arranging the mass of materials needed to represent six generations of a numerous people, who had spread themselves from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. A complete record would contain not only the names of all the individuals of these generations, each one in proper order and connection, but also correct dates of all marriages, births, deaths and migrations that have occurred, together with historical and biographical notices of various families and persons. The ideal of completeness was not attainable by such time and attention as the writer could give to the work. He is conscious that it is defective in some parts, and that mistakes will probably be found in others. These faults were unintentional, and for the most part un- avoidable. Because the earlier generations of our American ancestors, engaged in subduing primeval for- ests, or, harrassed by the hardships and dangers of Indian or Revolutionary warfare, either made no record I 6 (Preface. "for the edification of posterity," or their scanty records were generally burned with their habitations or were otherwise destroyed. Great difficulty has also arisen in collecting materials from distant and scattered families, though the needed information has been ear- nestly solicited by letters and otherwise. The writer offers the same apology for seeming partiality in treating of some families and persons much more fully than of others equally or more worthy of like attention. His personal knowledge or the materials furnished by others, enabled him to enlarge in some cases, while the lack of these compelled him to be too brief in others. There is consolation in the thought that such a book is not intended for the public, but only for the families of our own connection, which will find in it a genealogy of the past, mainly correct, that can be easily extended to include future generations. It is hoped that what has been accomplished will be interesting and acceptable both to the families and to the individuals chiefly concerned. For none should be willingly ignorant of their forefathers and kindred, whose characters and doings generally affect us more than those of any other people. To know that we have descended from a good and honorable ancestry, should powerfully incite us and our posterity to act worthy of such a parentage ; and even the knowledge of the eirors that have blotted the reputation and marred the happiness of some, is useful as a friendly warning to avoid the rocks of their shipwreck. (Preface. y Though it has been truly said that no one can climb very high on any genealogical tree without finding some dead branches, yet the writer feels a just pride in the good and honorable character of the following record as a whole. He commends it to his contem- porary relatives and to posterity with the hope and prayer that all whose lives are to be added thereto may contribute only what will be acceptable to God and worthy of praise among men. Sincere thanks are due and tendered to many kind friends who have aided our labor, especially to James Alexander, Esq., of Logan's Springs, for advancing funds for publication, and for much valuable material relating to the descendants of James Alexander of Spring Run ; to the Rev. H. S. Alexander of Culpeper, Va., for materials collected some years ago ; to Dr. O. C. Alexander of Albany, N. Y. ; to Mrs. Louisa K. Power and Boyd Hamilton, Esq., of Harrisburgh, Pa. ; to Messrs. James Taggart of Shelbyville, Ky., A. M. Mor- row of Piqua, O., Robert A. Clark of Sherman's Valley, Pa., James H. Alexander of Fruitland Farm, Little Valley, Pa. J. E. Alexander. Washington College, Tenn., May 10, 1817. INTRODUCTION. The name Alexander is of Grecian origin and signi- fies a Helper of Men. Very few names have been so long and so extensively used both as a Christian and as a surname. For more than two thousand years it has been found among all the nations that have received the literature and civiliza- tion of Greece and Rome. It is not known when it began to be used as a first or Christian name in Scotland, but the genealogy of the British Peerage, printed in 1840 by the Edmund Lodge of London, informs us that Alexander McDonald, second son of Donal, King of the Isles, had two sons who adopted the Christian name of their father as a surname for themselves and their descendants. Thus a numerous clan of Alexanders descended from the ancient clan of the McDonalds, including both a nobility and a commonalty. Their residence was first in the south of Scotland about Edin- burgh and Glasgow. Their chiefs were the Earls of Stirling and Dovan. In the civil and religious revolu- tions and persecutions of that country many of this clan were scattered from Scotland into England, and especially into the North of Ireland, where, besides the commonalty, some families have long enjoyed and do still enjoy hereditary nobility and honorable positions both in church and state. On this point the reader will find 9 i o Introduction. some further information in the Appendix to this volume. The Appendix also shows that yeomanry of this name, and probably of the same clan came gradually to America in considerable numbers during the whole period of her colonial history, sometimes in single families, and sometimes in groups of families, and settled at various points along the Eastern coast from Nova Scotia in the North to the Carolinas in the South. From these first settlements they became so widely dispersed that families of the name are now found in almost every part of the United States. So far as the writer has been able to ascertain, these families and colonies of Alexanders have been nearly all strict Presbyterians in religion, Scotch-Irish and Scotch in nationality, and strongly characterized by the well known peculiarities of that " intelligent, hardy, industrious, and liberty-loving people." But though the evidence is strongly in favor of the conclusion that they were originally of the same Scottish clan, yet owing to their long separation, partly in the old countries before emigration, and partly in the new, where they arrived at different times and places, it is very difficult to determine any thing concerning degrees of consanguinity. These remarks are made in answer to questions concerning relationship which frequently arise amongst their descendants in this country. Even where the con- necting links were known before the exodus from the old world, they have generally been lost sight of during the changes that occurred in the settlement of this country. In our researches we have had occasion to trace the migrations of several of these earlier Alexander families of America, who, though coming from the same parts of the British Isles as our own, have for the most 1 Introduction.

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