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Hezekiah Alexander, Revolutionary statesman, was born in Cecil County, Md., of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His grandfather, Joseph Alexander, a tanner, is thought to be one of seven brothers who migrated to Somerset County, Md., sometime prior to 1670. His father, James Alexander, moved to Cecil County where he became a magistrate and an elder in the Presbyterian church. His mother, Margaret McKnitt, the daughter of John McKnitt and Jane Wallace, was James Alexander's first wife.
A member of a large family, Hezekiah Alexander learned the blacksmith's trade and then moved to Cumberland (now Franklin) County on the Pennsylvania frontier. On 12 June 1752 he married Mary Sample; they settled on a small tract purchased the previous year. When the outbreak of the French and Indian War opened the area to severe Indian attacks, Alexander's family was forced to flee. By 1764 Alexander was buying land near the Catawba River in Piedmont, North Carolina, an area where many of his relatives had settled. He rose to become, with Thomas Polk, one of the most influential men in Mecklenburg County. He was an elder of the Sugar Creek Presbyterian Church, where preached the fiery Alexander Craighead. In 1768 Governor William Tryon appointed him a county magistrate. Three years later, as treasurer and trustee, he played a prominent part in the creation of Queens College, the first college chartered south of Virginia and the only school for the training of Presbyterian ministers south of Nassau Hall in New Jersey.
From the first, the largely Presbyterian settlers of Mecklenburg were at odds with the Crown. They opposed the land claims of Governor Arthur Dobbs and George Selwyn in "the war of Sugar Creek." Also deeply resented were laws placing restrictions on Presbyterian ministers and taxing the inhabitants for the support of the Anglican church. A petition to the governor in 1769 warned that there were in the county over a thousand members of the Church of Scotland "able to bear arms," who "shall ever be more ready to support that government under which they find the most liberty." The levying of new restrictions on America by Parliament and the king's veto of the Queens College charter in 1773 led Alexander to give his support to the actions of the Continental Congress and to become a member of Mecklenburg's Committee of Safety.
An effective public speaker, he was active in a series of public meetings held by the committee during the winter and spring of 1774–75. Following the outbreak of fighting at Lexington, he took part in the adoption of the Mecklenburg Resolves of May 31, 1775, which declared all British laws and authority to be henceforth null and void. The royal governor wrote England that these were the most "treasonable publications" that "this continent have yet produced." Captain James Jack, who carried a copy of the resolves to the North Carolina delegation in Congress, later remembered Hezekiah as chairman of that May meeting; others thought it might have been Abraham or Adam Alexander, who were his cousins. Chairman or not, he played a major role in bringing about the break with Great Britain.
In September the Patriots organized a council and six District Committees of Safety to oversee the town and county committees of the province, and named Hezekiah Alexander to the Salisbury district committee. In December of 1775 this committee sent a military expedition to western South Carolina, which crushed the Scovellite Tories there. Alexander outfitted and supplied the expedition as its commissary. In May 1776, when the district committees were abolished and virtual dictatorial powers were given to the council, he was selected to be one of its thirteen members. With his colleagues in this office, he saw to the raising, provisioning, and financing of the patriot forces, served as the highest judicial body, and determined civilian and military policy in the province. The Tory threat in the east was suppressed by the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, and an expedition sent against the Cherokees ended that threat to the west. The actions taken by the council in these first years of conflict were crucial in determining the success of the Revolution in North Carolina.
Following the Declaration of Independence, the council called for a congress to meet at Halifax in November to establish a permanent government for the state. Hezekiah was subsequently elected a delegate to this congress. He was a champion of the democratic forces in Mecklenburg, against the conservatives led by Thomas Polk. In all his actions, his chief lieutenants were Waightstill Avery, an attorney who boarded in his home, and Alexander's younger brother, John McKnitt Alexander. At Halifax, because of his council reputation, he was placed on the committees that drafted the bill of rights and the constitution. His influence helped make the North Carolina constitution, second only to Pennsylvania's, the most democratic of those then drawn.
With this, his major work, accomplished, his remaining years were spent in Mecklenburg with his family of seven sons and three daughters. He continued to play a leading role in the affairs of his church and served wisely and conscientiously as county magistrate until 1794. His stone house still stands in Charlotte and he was buried in the cemetery of the Sugar Creek Presbyterian Church.
Parents
James Robert "The Yeoman" Alexander 1690–1779
Margaret McKnitt Alexander 1693–1736
Spouse
Mary Sample Alexander 1734–1805 (m. 1752)
Siblings
Theophilus Alexander 1714–1768
Jemima Alexander Sharpe 1727–1797
Col. Amos Alexander Sr 1729–1780
John McKnitt Alexander 1733–1817
Ann Alexander Moore 1736–1802
Elizabeth Alexander Sample 1746–1822
Abigail Alexander Bradley 1748–1817
Half Siblings
Mary Alexander Miller 1719–1773
Zebulon Alexander 1720–1784
Moses "Sheriff" Alexander Jr 1722–1779
James Alexander Sr 1725–1810
Abigail McKnitt Alexander 1748 – unknown
Josiah Alexander 1752–1818
Children
William Sample "White Billy" Alexander 1751–1826
Capt. James Rankin Alexander Sr 1756–1836
Silas Alexander 1758–1831
Esther Alexander Garrison 1762–1829
Mary Sample "Polly" Alexander Polk 1765–1796
Amos Alexander 1769–1847
Joel Alexander 1773–1825
1. William Sample Alexander b1752? d October 26, 1826
Spouses:
2. James R. Alexander b November 23, 1756 d. March 11, 1836
Spouse: Dorcas Wilson Garrison, 1789
3. Silas Alexander b. 1759 d. October 27, 1831 Spouse: Mary, 1792
4. Esther Alexander (Garrison) b September 28, 1762 d September 12, 1829
Spouse: Samuel W. Garrison, 1786
5. Mary "Polly" Alexander (Polk) 1765-1791 married Charles T. Polk, 1785
6. Hezekiah Alexander Jr. January 13, 1767-1840 married Patsey, 1793
7. Amos Alexander May 13, 1769-January 25, 1847 married Mildred Orr, 1797
8. Keziah Alexander 1771 1819 Spouse Unknown
9. Joel Alexander April 26, 1773-May 17, 1825 married Ruth, 1800
10. Ozwald Alexander September 16, 1775-December 11, 1826
Spouses:
1 http://www.charlottemuseum.org/alexanders.asp
2 http://home.earthlink.net/~glendaalex/hezekiah.htm
3 https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/alexander-hezekiah
4 http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/18182599/person/620376007
5a https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11017534/hezekiah_alexander
5b https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11017534/hezekiah-alexander Find A Grave Memorial] - SmartCopy: Nov 4 2022, 18:32:23 UTC
6 http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bruckner/knox/profiles/mar...
7 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Alexander-2274 WikiTree Genealogy] - SmartCopy: Nov 4 2022, 18:29:12 UTC
8 https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=ful...
9 http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search_adb/?action=full... DAR Ancestor # A001156 A Patriot of the American Revolution for NORTH CAROLINA.
10 https://familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GMG7-VR3 FamilySearch Genealogy] - SmartCopy: Apr 9 2022, 3:00:51 UTC
11 Mecklenburg to Moore: Four North Carolina Families
12 Preyer, Norris W., Hezekiah Alexander and the Revolution in the Back Country, (Charlotte: Norris Preyer, 1987) pp. 5-43. Preyer has the best researched and documented writing I have found on the early history of the Alexander family.
Hezekiah & Mary Sample Alexander
James Robert Alexander & Margaret McKnitt, parents
of Hezekiah Alexander Hezekiah Alexander(1728-1801)
& Mary Sample (1734-1805) William Sample &
Esther Garrison,
parents of Mary Sample
Children of Hezekiah & Mary Sample Alexander:
William
Sample Esther James
Rankin Joel Keziah Mary Silas Amos Oswald Hezekiah
Slaves of Hezekiah & Mary Alexander:
Sam Abram Jack Mary Ann Jean Sarah Frank
Nancy Hannah Nance Rachel Girl Bet Jenny
The Alexander family originated in Scotland and moved to Ireland before immigrating to America in the 1600's. Several brothers and sisters and their families lived in Somerset and Cecil Counties in Maryland before moving to Mecklenburg County in North Carolina in the mid-1700's.*
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Footnotes for the History of Hezekiah and Mary Sample Alexander:
Slaves' names are taken from the wills of Hezekiah Alexander, a transcript from Mecklenburg County Will Book A, p. 20, and the will of Mary Alexander in Herman W. Ferguson, Mecklenburg County NC Will Abstracts 1791-1868, Books A-J (Rocky Mount NC: author, 1993) p. 3.
History records the name of Hezekiah Alexander as an administrator and councilor. He held the post as Magistrate from the first appointed one in the county and historians have said "He was one of the most clear headed Magistrates in the County before the Revolutionary War and following the Declaration of Independence was named one of the members of the State Councul [sic] of Safety. His most important contribution to Mecklenburg County was his participation in the Declaration Convention and his signing of that immortal document, The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.
During the Revolutionary War, he was paymaster of Col. Thomas Polk's regiment. Hezekiah Alexander's first purchased [sic] of land was recorded in May of 1765. He later purchased land in April of 1767 from Lord Selwyn on Alexander's Creek. He purchased 400 acres on the Broad River, now Gaston County from William Minter.
His home was two stories high and built of stone with a full basement where Mary Alexander stored food for her family of eleven children. The story is told how English soldiers raided her basement one day and what food they could not carry they destroyed. It was necessary at times for her to hide her sons in the weeds to prevent them from being kidnapped and held as hostages by the British Soldiers.
One of the unusual proofs of Hezekiah's love of religious freedom was a carving of a fish on his house, the secret symbol, which Presbyterians used in Scotland and Ireland to signify allegiance to the Presbyterian faith.
From the day when maurading [sic] Indians, killed the settlers; to the day when Tory neighbors informed the enemy where supplies could be obtained by foraging; to the days when the British Soldiers burned homes and confiscated personal belongings, Hezekiah Alexander remained calm and led the people of his community toward a just peace.
A signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bruckner/knox/profiles/mar...
He settled in the Sugaw Creek section of the County, and built his home about four miles from Charlotte. This dwelling house, of field stone, was built in 1774 and is the oldest house now standing in the County. It has recently been restored by the five Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Charlotte.
Hezekiah Alexander was an ardent supporter of the cause of freedom and a Signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775. He was a member of the committee of safety for Salisbury District in 1775 and of the Constitutional Convention in 1776. He served as Paymaster of the 4th Regiment of North Carolina Troops in 1776. For many years he was a Magistrate, a member of the Mecklenburg County Court, and Treasurer of Queen's Museum.
Hezekiah Alexander and his wife, Mary Sample Alexander, both lie buried in the graveyard at Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church, where he was a ruling elder. They had eight sons and three daughters:
1. William Sample, d. 10/20/1826, aged 70 years; m. (1) Elizabeth Alexander; m. (2) Sarah Rodgers; m. (3) Martha Nichols.
2. Silas, b. 1759, d. 10/27/1831.
3. James R., ---.
4. Hezekiah, ---.
5. Esther, m. --- Garrison.
6. Mary, m. Charles Polk.
7. Amos, b. 1769; d. 1/25/1847; m. Mildred Orr, b. 1772, d. 1828.
8. Joel, b. 1773; d. 5/17/1825.
9. Kezia, d. 1819.
10. Oswald.
11. Joseph, b. 1776; d. 1851; m. Elizabeth McReynolds.
Hezekiah Alexander was an ardent supporter of the cause of freedom and a Signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775. He was a member of the committee of safety for Salisbury District in 1775 and of the Constitutional Convention in 1776. He served as Paymaster of the 4th Regiment of North Carolina Troops in 1776. For many years he was a Magistrate, a member of the Mecklenburg County Court, and Treasurer of Queen's Museum.
Hezekiah Alexander is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A001156.Hezekiah Alexander performed Patriotic Service in North Carolina in the American Revolution. Birth: Jan 13, 1721 (1727/1728), Cecil County, Maryland
Death: Jan 10, 1801, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, USA
Parents: James Robert Alexander (1690 - 1779) and Margaret McKnitt Alexander (1693 - 1736)
Spouse: Mary Sample Alexander (?-1803)
Children:
Siblings:
Theophilus Alexander (1714 - 1768) Hezekiah Alexander (1721 - 1801) Jemima Alexander Sharpe (1727 - 1797) Amos Alexander (1729 - 1780) John McKnitt Alexander (1733 - 1817) Ann Moore (1736 - 1802) Elizabeth Alexander Sample (1746 - 1822)Burial: Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery #02 Charlotte Mecklenburg County North Carolina, USA
| 1728 |
January 13, 1728
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Cecil, Maryland, British Colonial America
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| 1753 |
1753
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Cecil County, Maryland, Colonial America
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| 1756 |
November 23, 1756
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Cecil County, Maryland
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| 1759 |
1759
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Mecklenburg County, NC
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| 1762 |
September 28, 1762
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Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, USA
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| 1765 |
1765
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Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Colonial America
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| 1766 |
August 26, 1766
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Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
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| 1767 |
January 13, 1767
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Cecil County, MD
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| 1769 |
1769
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Cecil, Maryland
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