BIO: Hon. Joseph ALEXANDER, Clearfield County, PA
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_____________________________________________________________
From Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania,
and Representative Citizens, by Roland D. Swoope, Jr.,
Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, 1911, pages 760 - 763.
_____________________________________________________________
HON. JOSEPH ALEXANDER, of Bigler township, Clearfield county, who is now
serving as state senator, is a man who has filled many positions of trust to the
satisfaction of the public, his abilities having won for him recognition as one
of the leaders of the Republican party in this section. As a descendant of one
of the oldest and most influential families in the country, he has the advantage
of an honored name, to which his career has added new distinction.
The Alexander family is of Scotch-Irish blood, descendants of James Alexander,
who served under Gen. Washington during the memorable winter at Valley Forge,
Pa., 1777-78, as an officer in the commissary department. He settled in
Kishacoquillas Valley, in Cumberland county, Pa., part now Mifflin county, Pa.
Having heard from John Reed, an old hunter and trapper, a favorable report of
the lands lying on Clearfield Creek, he in 1784 took out warrants for four
tracts of land. The first, which he entered in his own name, cornered on the
creek at what was then a small ash sapling but grew to be a large tree, which
was washed away some time in the seventies. Upon it were legible the letters,
"J. A." and "J. R.," which were cut there at that early date as the initials of
his own name and that of his friend, John Reed. This ash tree was the oldest
land mark of the creek, and had an important part in the court trials concerning
lands in that region, because the James Alexander warrant, being the oldest, was
the starting point to determine other surveys and warrants. This land begins at
the head of the narrows and lies mostly on the northeast side of the creek. On
the opposite side he located the John McConnell tract, and farther up the creek
he located the John McGill and Cullen tracts. His friend, William Brown,
located six other tracts still further up the creek, extending to what was
called the Crab Orchard.
About midsummer of the year 1785, James Alexander returned again to his lands
on Clearfield Creek, accompanied by his eldest son, Robert. They went by way of
Lock Haven, then Great and Big Island on the Susquehanna river, and procured
there a flat-boat which they pushed with poles and dragged partly by means of a
horse all the way to Muddy Run, a tributary of Clearfield Creek. With them they
took provisions for a somewhat protracted stay. The exposure endured on this
trip is said to have had a serious effect on the health of James Alexander,
although he did not die until six years later, in 1791. John Reed, the hunter,
was in their company during a part of the journey, having crossed the mountains
by an Indian path to meet them at a point on the Susquehanna river. While
ascending the Clearfield Creek at a place now unknown John Reed and Robert
Alexander crossed over a hill, while James Alexander kept to the stream with the
horse and boat. In crossing the hill they discovered a shining ore, some pieces
of which John Reed put in his shot pouch. He afterward reported that, having
sent this ore to Philadelphia, the mint had returned a silver coin; many persons
saw this coin, which he alleged had been made from the discovered ore. Many a
treasure seeker sought diligently for the spot where the ore was found, but in
vain.
When dividing his lands, James Alexander gave his four younger sons - Hugh,
Reed, Joseph, and William B. - the four tracts on Clearfield Creek. Three of
them sold their claims to Sir Henry Philips, a gentleman from England, but
William B. not only refused to sell what his father had left him, but secreted
himself for two days that he might not be solicited to agree to the papers
needed to legalize the other sales. His brothers finally induced him to agree
to their transfer by promising him his choice of the four tracts of land.
William B. Alexander was born in Kishacoquillas Valley, March 27, 1782. He
was named after the lifelong friend of his father, Judge William Brown, who was
a very early settler of what is now Mifflin (then a part of Cumberland) county,
and a well known and highly respected citizen. In the year 1800, when eighteen
years of age, William B. Alexander visited the lands in Clearfield county (then
part of Huntingdon county) and made choice of a tract which his father had
entered in his own name. It is worth recording that on this journey to
Clearfield he took with him a pint of appleseed from Kishacoquillas Valley and
gave it for planting to an old man who lived several miles from his lands. Nine
years later, when he came to settle on his tract, he planted an orchard of trees
grown from that seed, now well known as the old Alexander orchard. After making
his choice and before settling, he made what was then a long journey westward on
horseback, visiting West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky. On his return he stated
that 200 acres of land, part of the present site of Wheeling, W. Va., were
offered to him for the horse which he rode, so cheap was the land in that
section at that time.
On April 23, 1806, soon after his return, William B. Alexander married Miss
Nancy Davis, daughter of John Davis, of Kishacoquillas. He then rented a farm
and remained in that valley three years longer; but in 1809 he moved to
Clearfield county, following an Indian path across the Allegheny Mountains, and
conveying his wife and two young children and all his effects on pack horses.
He settled upon the estate, which he continued to occupy until a few months
before his death. To illustrate the inconveniences and discomforts of that
early settlement, we need only state the fact that for many years he was obliged
to go forty miles across the mountains on horseback along Indian paths to reach
a mill.
William B. Alexander died at the residence of his son, William B., March 30,
1862, aged eighty years and three days. His wife, Nancy D. Alexander, died at
the old homestead, April 1, 1861, aged seventy-three years and six months. They
were the parents of thirteen children, eleven of whom lived until after the
death of their father. William B. Alexander Jr., the father of our subject, was
a resident of Decatur township, later the part erected into Woodward township.
Hon. Joseph Alexander was born on his father's farm in a log house of the
earlier days. He has been extensively engaged in agriculture and lumbering, and
as a business man ranks among the best in his locality. He has an honorable war
record as a member of Company B, 149th P. V. I., of the famous "Bucktail
Brigade," in which he enlisted August 14, 1862, and served until the close of
the war. He took part in many important battles, and was wounded during the
first day of the Battle at Gettysburg in the charge by General Stone's brigade
at the railroad cut. He remained on the field all day and in the evening was
carried by colored stretcher-bearers of the Confederate army to a barn on the
McPherson farm, where he lay upon some straw until the early morning of July
4th, when Lee abandoned the place. In the closing days of the war Mr.
Alexander's regiment was sent north to recruit and to guard prisoners at Elmira,
N. Y. Mr. Alexander was detailed on detached service, was a member of the guard
of honor that escorted the remains of the lamented Lincoln from the White House
to the capitol, where the dead President lay in state for some time. Mr.
Alexander served the remaining period of his service as orderly, mostly at the
Old Capitol Prison during the trial of the conspirators who plotted the
assassination of the president. Mr. Alexander was discharged from the service
June 27, 1865, and in leaving the army was given the following commendation,
signed by the officers with whom he had been associated during his detached
service.
"We, the undersigned, take great pleasure in certifying that 'Orderly'
Alexander, late of Company B, 149th Pennsylvania Volunteers, since being in
special service, has done his duty as a soldier and conducted himself as
becoming a gentleman. We can cheerfully recommend him for any position that he
is capable of filling, as a trusty and faithful man, strictly temperate and
willing to make himself useful."
Very respectfully, etc.,
(Signed) LIEUT. WALTER F. HALLECK,
CAPT. J. H. BASSLER,
MAJ. GEORGE BOWERS.
Mr. Alexander has always been an ardent Republican, his first vote having been
cast for Lincoln, while he was in the army. Until recent years the Democratic
party has had a large majority in his locality, but this is now reversed.
Notwithstanding the odds against him in the earlier days, he was chosen to
various positions in Woodward township, serving as town clerk, auditor,
supervisor and overseer of the poor, and for two terms as assessor; he was also
a school director in the Madera independent district. On the formation of
Bigler township, he was chosen assessor and held the office three consecutive
terms, and one term as school director. In 1880 he was appointed census
enumerator for his district, and his work was specially commended by the
supervisor of census, J. Simpson Africa. He also served three years as jury
commissioner and with Dr. J. P. Burchfield, his colleague, inaugurated reforms
in the selecting of jurors. In 1883 he was nominated for the office of
prothonotary, unexpectedly and made no canvass; but at the election he led his
ticket, although his opponent was no less a personage than the Hon. James Kerr.
His well proven ability and strict integrity won for him the confidence of all
classes, his election as representative of his native county three terms in the
legislature indicating his hold upon the popular regard. He is now senator of
the Thirty-fourth Senatorial district of Pennsylvania, comprising the two large
central counties of the state - Center and Clearfield.