Adam Rankin Alexander

Adam Rankin Alexander
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 9th district
In office
March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1827
Preceded byDistrict created
Succeeded byDavy Crockett
Personal details
Born(1781-11-01)November 1, 1781
Rockbridge County, Virginia
DiedNovember 1, 1848(1848-11-01) (aged 67)
Marshall County, Mississippi
PartyJacksonian Republican
Spouse(s)Leah Reagan Alexander
Dorothea Alexander (Slave)
ChildrenEbeneza Alexander
Mary Melissa Alexander
William Reagan Alexander
Jane Maria Alexander
James Henry Alexander
Margaret Ann Alexander
Joseph Brown Porter Alexander
Benjamin Newton Alexander
Martha Hill Alexander
Samuel Blair Houston Alexander
John Bell Pinkney Alexander
Bettie Alexander (Slave)
Aaron Alexander (Slave)
Professionpolitician

Adam Rankin Alexander (November 1, 1781 – November 1, 1848) was an American politician who represented Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives.

Biography

Alexander was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, on November 1, 1781, to Oliver and Mary (née Craig) Alexander. Oliver fought in the American Revolutionary War, and reputedly served in George Washington's company in the 1755 Braddock Expedition. Mary is recorded as being Irish. Educator Eben Alexander was his grandson.

Career

During the War of 1812, Alexander served from October 4, 1813, to January 4, 1814. He served as a private in Captain William Dooley's Company; and as a Lieutenant and Quartermaster in Thomas McCrory's 2nd Regiment, West Tennessee Militia.

He married Leah Reagan, a Virginia native, on March 26, 1805, in Blount County, Tennessee.

Alexander worked as a surveyor, and afterwards, he was the register of the land office for the tenth surveyors' district in Madison County, Tennessee. He was a member of the court of Madison County in 1821. He became a member of the Tennessee Senate representing Maury County in 1817, serving until 1819.

Elected to represent Tennessee's newly established 9th District as a Jacksonian Republican to the Eighteenth Congress and as a Jacksonian to the succeeding Congress, Alexander served as a U.S. Representative from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1827. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the Twentieth Congress in 1827, and lost his seat to frontiersman Davy Crockett.

Alexander represented Shelby County at the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1834. He was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives representing Shelby County from 1841 and 1845.

Death

Alexander died on November 1, 1848, aged 67, in Marshall County, Mississippi. He is buried at Alexander-Pryor Family Cemetery, Laws Hill, Marshall County, Mississippi.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lassman, Valerie Fisher (1996). Frances Newman: The Formative Years. Florida State University. p. 22.
  2. ↑ "Orange County, North Carolina Genealogy and History". genealogytrails.com. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Adam Rankin Alexander". Alabama Trails War of 1812. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Adam Rankin Alexander". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Adam Rankin Alexander". Govtrack US Congress. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Adam Rankin Alexander". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved October 27, 2022.