These are the gravestones of Sally Alexander And John Hawpe Carson.  There are many, many Sally Alexanders in my family tree.  This one was my great great grand aunt.  She was the sister of my great great grandfather, John McClure Alexander, as well as the sister of William Archibald and Agnes Jane Alexander about whom I will post or have posted separately.

Sally was born in 1828 in Virginia and died in 1863 in Virginia.  However, she did not live her whole life in Virginia.  When she was about a year old, she and her siblings and her parents, Nancy McCluer and  James Harvey Alexander, moved to Hannibal, St. Charles, Missouri, where her father farmed. Sally's mother died in Missouri in 1833 and her father died there in 1836, leaving Sally and her siblings orphans.

Alexander B. Stuart from Rockbridge County, Virginia, was appointed guardian of the four orphaned children.  Stuart, Sally's uncle by his marriage to Elizabeth Alexander, traveled to Missouri and brought the children back to Virginia. In 1852, Sally married John Hawpe Carson and they had two daughters.  Sally & her husband are both buried in Augusta County, Virginia.

This is the tombstone for John McClure Alexander and his wife, Ann Eliza Gibson Alexander.  They are my great great grandparents.  John was the brother of William Archibald, Sally, and Agnes Jane Alexander, about whom I will post separately.

John McClure Alexander was born in Rockbridge County, Virgina, in 1822.  In 1829, he and his siblings and his parents, Nancy McCluer and  James Harvey Alexander, moved to Hannibal, St. Charles, Missouri, where his father farmed. John's parents died in Missouri and he was orphaned. Alexander B. Stuart, his uncle, was appointed his guardian and brought the children back to Virginia. 

Dr. Alexander graduated from Washington College (now Washington & Lee University) in 1844. In 1850, Dr. Alexander married Ann Eliza Gibson, oldest daughter of Grace McKay Taylor and John Beard Gibson of Timber Ridge in Rockbridge County, Virginia.  He was a physician and a farmer.  I'm sad to day he was also a slave owner--although I was not surprised to discover this because many white people did own slaves in Virginia at that time.

John & his family lived at the “Red House” 2 miles southwest of Fairfield, Virginia, near the old McDowell burying ground.  When I was a kid, my Cousin Louise Alexander lived there with her family and her descendants still live there.   

John & Ann Eliza Alexander are buried in the Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church cemetery.

This is Joseph Addison Waddell, who was married to Virginia McClung, my second cousin five times removed.

Before the Civil War, Waddell owned and edited a newspaper in Augusta County, Virginia, the Staunton Spectator. He kept a diary from 1855 to 1865 that, among other things, told about life at home during the war.  It is now online at http://valley.lib.virginia.edu/papers/AD1500. He mentions his wife,Virginia, many times.

I found an October 1856 entry interesting.  The entry reads as follows:

"D^r M^cGill proposed to buy Selena today, and offered me $1000 — I would not have sold her for $20,000, unless she desired to go, or had grossly misbehaved. This thing of speculating on human flesh is utterly horrible to me — the money would eat into my flesh like hot iron. Slavery itself is extremely repulsive to my feelings, and I earnestly desire its extinction everywhere, when it can be done judiciously, and so as to promote the welfare of both races. Yet I am no abolitionists. The day for emancipation with us has not come, and we must wait God's time. For the present all that the most philanthropic can do is to endeavor to ameliorate the institution; but it is hard to do this in the midst of the mischievous interference of outside fanatics"

It is hard for me to imagine how slavery could have existed, so I am fascinated by accounts that describe the feelings of the time.  Even with his misgivings about slavery, Waddell served during the Civil War as a clerk in the Quartermaster's Office in  Staunton, Virginia. He stayed loyal to his state.

The diary covers many events.  It's especially interesting to see how Waddell received information.  Some in person, some by telegraph--when it was working.  In June 1865, he wrote:

"Gen. Duval issued a proclamation to-day to the negroes informing them that by virtue of the President's Proclamation of January 2, 1863, they were free and at liberty to enter into contracts for performing labor, that they must work for a maintenance, probably harder than they ever worked before; that idleness would not be tolerated, and those found unemployed would be severely punished; advising them to remain at their houses, +c +c. — not a word as to the aged, bed-ridden, infants and other helpless classes — They are set free, with no obligations on the part of their "late owners" to maintain them. I had a talk with Selena to-night, giving her information and making suggestions about our arrangements. I have always hated the institution of slavery, but I love the negro. There are a thousand tender associations connected with family servants — many of them have been like near relatives, and I have wept over them when they were dying. But all this is rudely destroyed"

This is one of my most exciting finds!  This is Forrest Clair Allen.  But the basketball world knows him as "Phog" Allen.  He was my Dad's fourth cousin (so, my fourth cousin once removed), although I'm pretty sure Dad never knew that.*

If you know me, you know that I'm a huge Carolina basketball fan and a college basketball fan, in general.  So I had heard of Phog Allen way before I knew we were related.  He is best known for being a basketball coach at the University of Kansas.  In fact, Allen Fieldhouse, the home court of the University of Kansas Jayhawks, is named in his honor.

In 1959, he was in the inaugural class of inductees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.  He actually played basketball under James Naismith.  But he did much more. You can read about him at http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/tag/forrest-c-phog-allen.

*Dad's mother was Janet Fultz, daughter of Ida Virginia Willson, daughter of Eliza Jane Ingles, daughter of Elizabeth Crawford, whose first cousin was William Allen. William Allen, by the way, was a brother of John T. Allen who co-founded Ann Arbor, Michigan.

William Alexander Caruthers was born 23 December 1802 in Virginia and died 29 August 1846 in Marietta, Georgia.  He was my second cousin five times removed. This marker is in Savannah, Georgia, at the intersection of Hull Street and Bull Street.

William Alexander Caruthers was a physician and an author.  He attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) from 1817 to 1820; and attended the medical college of the University of Pennsylvania from which he received a medical degree in 1823. He practiced medicine in Lexington, Virginia;New York City; and Savannah, Georgia.  

He also wrote several popular novels and is considered to be the first important Virginia novelist.  His works include  

• The Kentuckian in New-York; or, The Adventures of Three Southerns, by a Virginian
• Cavaliers of Virginia; or, The Recluse of Jamestown. An Historical Romance of the Old Dominion
• The Knights of the Golden Horse-Shoe, a Traditionary Tale of the Cocked Hat Gentry in the Old Dominion
  

In 1823, he married Louisa Catherine Gibson of Savannah, Georgia, who was from a wealthy family there.

This is one of the many, many Archibald Alexanders in my family tree.  But this Archibald Alexander (1777-1851) was recognized for his accomplishments as a Presbyterian.

Archibald studied first at an academy that later became Washington & Lee University.  He was licensed to preach in 1791 and was ordained by the presbytery of Hanover in 1794.  After that, he was an itinerant pastor in a couple of Virginia counties.

In 1797, he became President of Hampton-Sydney College where he stayed until 1806.  In 1807, he became pastor of Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.  And in 1810, he received the Doctor of Divinity from the College of New Jersey, which later became Princeton University. 

However, Archibald is most noted as founder and first principal of Princeton Theological Seminary at Princeton University.   Beginning in 1812, he was principal and professor of theology there and he is considered the first of the great "Princeton theologians." Many of his sermons have been published.  in fact, I purchased a volume of them in a used book store years ago.

Archibald married Janetta Waddell, the daughter of another minister, James Waddell.  They had several children. Archibald is my first cousin six times removed. His father, William, was the brother of my 5th-great grandmother, Elizabeth Alexander.

This is a portrait of Mrs. Charles Beatty Alexander, the former Harriet Crocker.  The painting was done in 1902 by John Singer Sargent. 
 

And this is her husband, Charles Beatty Alexander.  The photo is taken from his passport application.  Charles Beatty Alexander (1849-1927) is my 3rd cousin four times removed.*

He was from New York, where he was a lawyer for Equitable Life Insurance.  He served as director of the Middletown & Unionville Railroad, the Hocking Valley Railroad, and several banks.  He also was active in the Democratic party.  He died in Manhattan and is buried in Princeton, New Jersey.

Harriet Crocker Beatty was the daughter of, Charles Crocker, who was a wealthy railroad investor.  He was was one of the "Big Four," a nickname given to the four men who built the Central Pacific Railroad.  But one of the most interesting facts about him is that he built a remarkable fence around part of his property on Nob Hill in San Francisco. The fence was meant to obstruct the view of a neighbor who refused to sell his property to Crocker.  Consequently, Crocker's fence is used by Wikipedia to define "spite fence," see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spite_fence.

*Charles B. Alexander was the son of Henry Martin Alexander, who was the son of Archibald Alexander, son of William Alexander, son of Archibald Alexander who was my 5th great grandfather.  Charles B. Alexander was the 3rd cousin of my great-great grandfather Robert Tate Willson (through his mother Phebe Tate, her mother Margaret McClung, her mother Elizabeth Alexander, who was the daughter of Archibald Alexander and sister of William Alexander).

Eleanor Butler Alexander (1888-1960) was my 4th cousin three times removed (according to my family tree software).*  She was also Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. , and daughter-in-law to President Teddy Roosevelt.

She grew up in New York with her parents, Henry Addison and Grace Green Alexander, who were described as "prominent society personalities." She debuted in 1907 and met Ted Roosevelt at a house party.  They were married in 1910 at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City.  They had four children. 

They lived for a time in San Francisco, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Eleanor was active with the YMCA and the Red Cross during the war.  She also was an author, an artist, and a photographer.  She published articles and kept scrapbooks, some of which were donated to the Library of Congress.  Add to my list of things to do: a visit to the Library to see her materials!

You can read more about her at http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/womphotoj/rooseveltessay.html.

*Eleanor Butler Alexander was the daughter of Henry Addison Alexander, who was the son of Henry Martin Alexander, who was the son of Archibald Alexander, who was the son of William Alexander, who was the son of Archibald Alexander, who was my 5th-great grandfather.  Eleanor was 4th cousin of my great-grandmother, Ida Virginia Willson (through her father Robert Tate Willson, his mother Phebe Tate, her mother Margaret McClung, her mother Elizabeth Alexander, daughter of Archibald Alexander). 

This is Judith Alexander St. George.  Another noteworthy relative I discovered through my research.  We have never met, but I had seen her children's books for years before I realized we were related. She is my second cousin once removed because she was my father's second cousin.  Her grandfather was Harry Heald Alexander, a brother of my father's grandfather, James William Alexander.  Harry moved away from Virginia, which partially explains why we don't know this branch very well.

Her website (http://www.judithstgeorge.com/books.htm), describes her written works as follows:  "Judith has written picture books, historical fiction, mysteries, adventure, nonfiction, and biographies. They have won numerous awards, the Edgar Allan Poe Award, American Honor Book Award, New York Academy of Sciences Award, Christopher Award, Golden Kite Award, and with illustrator David Small, the Caldecott Medal."  So impressive.  Perhaps you've seen some of them. For example, So You want to Be President?

I've been trying to work up the courage to write her.  Maybe now I'll do it!

The woman above is Ann Isabella Barry, who was born in 1797 in Augusta County, Virginia.  In 1821, she married John T. Allen, shown on the right; it was the second marriage for both of  them.  John T. Allen, who was born in Virginia in 1796, was my first cousin five times removed.  I place him in the category of noteworthy relatives that I have found through my genealogical research.

John Allen was a co-founder of Ann Arbor, Michigan, which he named in honor of his wife.  John Allen was apparently born into a wealthy family in Virginia and both of his wives had money.  But his story is not all pretty.

Historians state that his father fell into debt and that John Allen inherited that debt.  John Allen left Virginia to sell a herd of cattle in Baltimore.  But he did not return to Virginia to settle his debts. Instead, he used the money to buy land in the West, which he planned to sell off for a return on his investment.  He went into business with a man named Elisha Rumsey.

In 1824, Allen and Rumsey selected a site west of Detroit and registered their claim at the U.S. land Office in Detroit.  Later, Michigan leaders selected this site for the state capitol, which ensuring its prosperity because all business with the state would require trips to the state capitol.  Later in the year, Ann traveled to Ann Arbor to live there with her husband.

For more information, you can read http://moaa.aadl.org/moaa/pictorial_history/1824-1859pg2 and http://www.umich.edu/~aahist/john_aln.html.

For my Alexander/Fultz/Willson relatives, here is how we are related to John T. Allen:

Jack Alexander was the son of Janet Ingles Fultz, who was the daughter of Ida Virginia Willson, who was the daughter of Eliza Jane Ingles, who was the daughter of Elizabeth Crawford, who was the daughter of Rebecca Allen, who was the sister of James Allen, who was John T. Allen's father. So, John T. Allen and Elizabeth Crawford were first cousins.

This is another picture from the album that came (probably) from Aunt Midge.  This woman was either labeled as or identified as Cousin Hattie Gibson.  Okay.  But who is Cousin Hattie Gibson?  I have no idea.

In my data base, I have a Hattie B. Gibson, but I can't figure out how she and her parents would be cousins to the Alexanders.  There is also a Hettie C. Gibson. a Hettie B. Gibson, and a Hetty Gibson.  All four are in the same branch of a Gibson family that I can't relate to the Alexanders.  So, this is one of the mysteries that remain to be solved.

This is a page from The Tin Horn from Virginia Tech in 1929.  Josephine Fultz was my grandmother's sister and my great aunt.  I have written about this publication before, but came across this excerpt and thought I would post it.

I found it funny that she called her car "Jack" because that was my Dad's name.  I wonder if there was any connection there or not?

You can see the full edition of this yearbook and the other three editions of The Tin Horn yearbooks at http://spec.lib.vt.edu/arc/tinhorn/index.html.

Family Recipes.  Most families have them.  Some families share them. 

We have several family recipes in my family.  One of my favorites is my Uncle Jim's sausage recipe. If you have ever tasted homemade sausage, you would never be satisfied with store bought again.  My aunt & uncle would serve sausage when we visited.  They prepared it when they butchered hogs and had it canned.  I don't know the details of that, but there was a canning facility not too far away where you could take things to be canned in metal cans, mostly vegetables.  I was never allowed to go. Anyway, my aunt would open a can, slice it, and brown it in a skillet.  Yummy!

One time when we were visiting, butchering was underway.  This was done just outside the house by the spring house.  Pans were scattered around with pig parts in them.  Tongues here, feet there. I mainly remember just trying not to get in the way.  It was a task that had to be completed fairly quickly so that the meat wouldn't spoil.  So, youngsters were discouraged.

Several years later, I asked my uncle if he could give me the recipe.  And he did!  Here it is, exactly as he dictated it:

50 pounds of ground pork (shoulder, loin)
13 ounces salt
3 ounces pepper

That's it.  I also remember that he recited this from memory; and when he started with "50 pounds," my Aunt Sarah admonished him, "Oh, Jim!" and said that I wouldn't want to make 50 pounds of sausage!  His reply was that that was the recipe and the only way he knew to tell me. 

The McCormick Reaper at work in the 1910s.  The man wearing the broad-brimmed hat is my grandfather, John Addison Alexander, Sr. 

According to records that my cousin Jim found, the Alexanders shipped hay by rail to Baltimore (and maybe other cities) to feed the horses that were used for transportation and other jobs in the cities.  In other words, hay was the gasoline of that time period. 

These records were in a bag of papers that Jim found when a hurricane took down the meat house.  The bag apparently had been moved to the Fultz farm from the Alexander farm after my grandfather died and after my grandmother moved back in with her mother.  And so the records sat from the 1920s until the 2000s when the hurricane came  through.  They make for interesting reading, though.

I'm not sure how well you can read this, but it is an excerpt from the 14 October 1903 Lexington Gazette.  It is the obituary for my great-grandfather, Joseph Fultz. I had always heard that he died of appendicitis, and this confirms it.  Family lore says the unsuccessful operation took place on the dining room table--it's a big table. My grandmother's name was Janet, not Jeanette. She would have been about 15 years old at the time that he died.

I didn't realize that he was Methodist. When we lived in Fairfield, we went to Fairfield Presbyterian Church, so I always assumed that all the family members were Presbyterian. Maybe that was the Alexander influence.

This was another find through the Chronicling America efforts at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/.