A History of Monroe County, West Virginia
Oren F. Morton, B. Lit.
Staunton, VA
The McClure Company, Inc.
1916
p. 300-301

ALEXANDER Family

This family was the first to settle where the county seat was estab-lished.
Owing also to its intermarriages with other leading families of Monroe, the
Alexander connection has been very prominent in local an-nals. James, Sr.,
who lived in Beverly Manor, is mentioned there as early as 1746 and was a
captain in the Old French war. James, Jr., (1750-1814) visited this region
before his settlement in 1773. He located on land which he understood was to
be conveyed by a man from Pennsylvania, but that personage failed to appear.
His first house was built on the hill just east of Union. The second year he
started for the Valley, and from the summit of a knob the couple saw their
cabin in flames. It was the year of the Dunmore war.  The second house was
built on what be-came the main street of Union, and th third, "Old Hundred,"
was low down on the western slope of Green Hill. It was afterward the home of
Matthew Alexander, and was burned several years ago. The cemetery at the top
of the knob is on land granted by the pioneer. He was a member of the
Greenbrier court in 1784 and was sheriff in 1793. Two years before Union was
founded he took out a tavern license. His wife was Isabella Erskine.  C:
Andrew (b. 1773) (Phoebe Bracken, 1805)-Jane (b. 1775) (Alexander
Dunlap)-Catharine (b. 1776) (Richard Shank-lin)-Matthew (1777-1825)
(Elizabeth 3. Marshall)-Michael (1779-1857) (Mary Benson, 1801)-Henry
(1782-1866) (Elizabeth Cathron, Frances P. Burrell ) -Elizabeth (John
Byrnside) -Mary (Henley Chapman)
Jane, Catharine, Henry, and Michael had each a James, and by will each of
these grandsons had a legacy of $50.
C.  of Andrew: Mary A. (Hugh McClaugherty, 1828)-Rebecca B. (b. 1811) (Samuel
Kean, 1837)-Isabella (Michael Cotton, 1835)-Catherine (Stephen Wright)-Jane
(W. G. Henderson)-Malvina (William
Byrnside,   Saunders).
C. of Matthew: James (d. 1854) (Ingabo  )-Matthew-John-Catharine (Joseph
Porter, 1807)-Mary (Robert B. Wallace, 1808)-Andrew-daughter (Robert Ross)
daughter (George W. Curry).
C.  of Michael: John B. (Jane Miller)-Mary M.-James A.-Catherine A. (William
H. Shanklin, 1831)-Jabin B-Isabella B. (Benjamin F. Steele)-Delilah (George
Beirne, 1827, Hugh Caperton).
C.  of Henry (by 1st w.) : Charles C. (s)-Isabella (Rev. John
Pink-erton)-James H. (1810-1866) (s)-Elizabeth (Newton B. Keenan, 1834)
-Frances C. (Lewis B. Caperton)-Harriet B. (William G. Caperton)
C.  of 3. B. of Michael: James R. (Elizabeth Baldwin, 1855)-Mary 3. (John
Ross)-Michael C. (Sarah McFadden)-Jabin B. (s)-Delilah C. (John Miller)-John
M. (Annie B. Zoll, 1872)-Margaret B. (Frederick D. Wheelwright, 1869)-Madison
S.  (Isabella Zoll).
C.  of Michael C. of 3. B.-William M., Elizabeth, Libbie, Kyle. Rev. William
M. Alexander, D. D. was born in Union in 1861. He
was graduated from the Washington and Lee University in 1884 and from Union
Theological Seminary in 1887. He was chosen moderator of the 55th General
Association of the Southern Presbyterian Church and is well qualified for
such a position.