From The Lynchburg Press, page 3: 05 April 1822
William McAlexander Obituary…
“on Friday, the 8th ult. at his residence in Patrick County, after a short illness, which he bore with Christian fortitude. Mr. William McAlexander, in the 79th year of his age. Few have descended to the tomb more regretted. On the stage of life his conduct has been most exemplary. At an early age he became a professor of religion and a member of the Presbyterian church–he was a strict observer of the sabbath, and never known to use the name of God irreverently. He was firm in his purpose, inflexible in his integrity, unbound in his benevolence, he was the friend of the poor, and the protector of the widow and the orphan. The good, disinterested neighbor, his heart was open to every noble feeling. Mr. McAlexander was one amongst the first settlers in that part of Virginia, and as a true republican soldier placed himself under the standard of his country, and with active zeal bore a faithful part in obtaining our independence. In him we have lost one of the fathers of our freedom. He has had three wives and 21 children–and now a widow and 18 children, besides a numerous train of connections and friends, are left to mourn their irreparable loss.”
William McAlexander was a first generation American, born to James (1717-1798) and Sarah McAlexander who emigrated from Ayrshire, Scotland around the mid 1700’s. The McAlexanders settled in the part of Albemarle County that would later become Nelson County, Virginia and had five sons, James (1740-1830); William (1744-1822); Samuel (1748-1786); John (1750-1834); and Alexander (1756-1840).
William married Miss Agnis Henderson in 1772 in Albemarle County, Virginia. The couple had three children: Jane (1773-1820); James (1775-1838); and Margaret Ann “Peggy” (1776-1831). Agnis passed away in 1776 at the age of twenty-nine; the same year her last child was born.
William married again-this time in Henry County-to Miss Jean Ferguson on February 21, 1778. William and Jean had eight children: Esther (1778-1822); William Jr. (1779-1846); Agnes (1781-1842); Sarah (1783-1827); Mary (1785-1852); Elizabeth (1790-1830); Alexander (1794-1877); and Hannah (1795-1863). Jean passed away in 1797 at the age of 43.
Fifty-four-year-old William married for the third time in 1798, to 18-year-old Miss Tamar Boothe. The couple had seven children: Johnnie (1800-1870); Millie (1801-1870); Daniel (1804-1853); Samuel (1808-1876); Isabelle (1809-1870); little Tamar (1815-1865); and Rachel (1817-1881).
We know that brothers William and John McAlexander had made it to Patrick County by 1791 and were landowners because both men are listed on the Commissioner of the Land Tax list for that year. William settled in a beautiful valley along Rock Castle Creek and John settled nearby on Little Widgeon Creek.
In the midst of raising his large family, William also fought in the American Revolution alongside General Joseph Martin at Long Island in Tennessee and was at the surrender at Yorktown with Haman Critz.
William McAlexander’s will gives a wonderful snapshot of who his neighbors were at the time of his passing. Here is only a brief excerpt from his will that was probated in Patrick County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office in March of 1822…
“I give and bequeath unto my son, John McAlexander, one certain piece of land lying on the waters of Rock Castle Creek known by the name of the rich Hollow, beginning on a branch and leaving the branch about a hog pen and running up a ridge near William Harris’ land …running down to the old hog pen until it comes down just below the place of the Bubby blossoms to the beginning; also I give and bequeath unto my sons John & Samuel McAlexander the piece of land known by the name of Bob’s Place & bound by the land of William McAlexander on the N W and Bijah Booth and Gabriel Bowlings on the S & SW and William Ayres & John Massey’s land on the N & SE until it comes to the old wagon road… I give and bequeath unto my son, Daniel McAlexander, my home tract of land beginning at the mouth of the branch near the old hog pen thence up the same branch until it comes near the Bubby blossoms to the land laid off for my son, John, thence up the branch ‘til it comes up to the new ground fence on the line laid off for my son John and far as my land extends to Elijah Dehart’s land & ‘round on the line to my own Wm. McAlexander’s land and still following the line between him and myself till it comes to the old Wagon Road & thence along the old road until it comes to John Massay’s line …I give and bequeath to my son Samuel McAlexander the rest of my land the place where the widow Ayres family lived & my lower field and bounded by lands of John Massay, Jesse Dehart & Elijah Dehart – Rock Castle Creek & by the land I have here laid off for my sons.”
William McAlexander mentioned all of his children in his will, but as was the custom until only recently, land was given to the sons while chattel, such as furniture and milk cows, were bequeathed to the daughters.
In memory of William McAlexander, his wives, and descendants, John and Rosa Rogers, commissioned David and Katy Trent of Trent Memorials to create a new monument, befitting a Revolutionary War hero. John Rogers is the sixth great grandson of William McAlexander through his daughter, Margaret Ann “Peggy” McAlexander. 17-year-old Peggy married 33-year-old Revolutionary War veteran Reuben Marshall Harris, Sr. in Patrick County on November 11, 1793. Peggy and Reuben raised twelve children in Patrick County before the family decided to head out west in 1830.
In 2022, on the bicentennial anniversary of the death of William McAlexander, the monument donated by descendant John Rogers and wife Rosa was dedicated to McAlexander’s memory. The Patrick Henry Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution also held a marker dedication and presented a bronze DAR marker to be mounted at the gravesite. The dedication ceremony was attended by many McAlexander descendants, the local Boy Scout troop, and neighbors in the community. Members from the Patrick Henry, Colonel Abram Penn, Floyd Courthouse, Old Carolina Road, and General Joseph Martin Chapters of the DAR participated in the ceremony and the Colonel George Waller Sons of the American Revolution chapter honored McAlexander with a musket salute.
Thank you so much to John and Rosa Rogers for sharing information for this article and for honoring William McAlexander and his wives with such a beautiful monument.
Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com or (276) 692-9626.
