The famous Alexander family with 7 brothers and two sisters are said to have arrived in America in 1679 and settled in Somerset Co. MD. From there most of them moved to Cecil Co. MD. (Cf Robert Stephens Hand, The Brevard Family: The Descendants of John/Jean Brevard of France, Ireland, and Maryland, Chadd's Ford, PA, 1937; courtesy of fellow researcher Beau Bowen.)
The deed was to Matthew Wallace and his company. It
named Wallace
and the following Alexanders:
James, farmer
Arthur
David, weaver
Joseph and son James, tanners
James, weaver and son Moses
In the course of time quite a number of other inhabitants of Somerset Co. made the same move. Perhaps land was cheaper up in northern Cecil Co. or just more available. The government was anxious to get these new people to add weight to its claim of the area. Families who made this leap included Polk, Knox, Brevard, Harris, Givens, and Leech (the latter family being the ancestor of the writer).
Most of these people were strong Presbyterians. Churches were organized in all three states, and members of the families named above made up much of the membership. The Alexanders in particular were noted ministers--in Ireland, Somerset and Cecil Counties, Mecklenburg Co. NC and York Co. SC
More of the Alexanders (John, Joseph, Theopolis, and Jedediah) were in the Horse Company of Capt. Thomas Johnson.
As mentioned above Thomas Wallace was in Capt. Veazey's Foot company in 1739 with Charles and David Leech and Nathaniel Alexander. In 1751 Joseph Wallace and Theophilus Alexander received money from the estate of David Leech in Cecil Co. Theophilus was an elder of "The Rock", a Presby Church, which later proved to be in Chester Co. PA.
In 1765 William Wallace bought 162 acres adjoining James Wallace and David Alexander. (Mecklenburg deed book 2 p 114).(This taken from Robert E. Wallace's The Family of Samuel W. Wallace)
In 1765 John McKnitt Alexander patented 200 acres on Turkey Creek (York Co.) on both sides of Morris' Mill Creek and in 1768 he made it over to Samuel Thompson. Witnesses were William Henry and James Cannon.
In 1766 Benjamin Alexander and his wife, Susannah, patented 146a on both sides of Bullocks Creek (York Co.) adjacent Daniel Richardson, Richard Sherrill and Zachariah Bell. He almost immediately made it over to William Sharp. The deed was witnessed by William Alexander and George Reed and recorded in Mecklenburg court in 1769.
In 1768 William Sharp made over 200 acres on Bullocks Creek on the head of Stephenson's Branch, which he had patented in 1765. Witnesses were John McKnitt Alexander and and William Givens.
Rev. Joseph Alexander became the pastor of Bullock's Creek Presbyterian Church in York Co. SC before the Revolution. Many members of the Leech family belonged to this church. David Leech was one of the elders. Rev. Alexander was closely associated with several members of the Leech family, particularly the Feemsters. Silas Feemster married Margaret Alexander; they were parents of Rev. Minos B. Feemster, a very close friend and associate of the Leech's in four different states.
Some of the Alexanders went to Lawrence Co. AL, when it was organized. David Alexander (b. 1806) married Julie Cunningham there. She was the daughter of James Cunningham. In 1820 David Alexander lived a few doors from John and David Leech, my ancestors.
James Alexander, born in 1796 in TN (perhaps in Blount Co.) married Mary Wallace, daughter of John (ca 1765) and Jane Blackburn Wallace on 22 May 1798 in Blount County, TN. This John Wallace may have been a cousin (This from Wallace researcher Beverly Key): Their daughter, Mary Wallace b: 1803 married James Alexander (1796 in TN) on 29 August 1818. John Wallace and James Alexander appear in the 1820 Lawrence Co. (State) census on page 3, #20 and 21. It was Samuel's daughter, Mary Jane, b. 1827, who married William G. Alexander. (I am very interested in learning the parentage of William G. Alexander!! I have some reason to suppose that William G. may have been the son of David Alexander, who was in the neighborhood in 1820. It was William G's son, William Samuel, who married Sarah Pamela Ash, named for her grandmother, Sarah Leech Ash, my gggg aunt.)
In 1815 William Alexander, Esq was an executor of the will of Andrew Morrison in Franklin Co. TN. The will was witnessed by James Harris. (Might this William Alexander be of the family of William G. and William S.?)
In 1857 Joshua Alexander entered land in several sections of Twp 6S 9W included section 13, a mile or two south of the Leech property.
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