Hezekiah Alexander (abt. 1728 - 1801)

Born about 1728 in New Munster, Cecil, Maryland

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Sample) Alexander — married 12 Jun 1752 in Newcastle, Lawrence, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died 16 Jul 1801 at about age 73 in Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

Birth: 1728, Cecil County, Maryland

Death: Jul 10, 1801, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, USA

Burial: Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Cemetery #02 Charlotte Mecklenburg County NC

Parents: James Robt Alexander 1690 - 1779 Marg McKnitt Alexander (1693 - 1736)

Spouse: Mary Sample Alexander (?-1803)

Children:

1. William Sample Alexander (1751 - 1826)
2. James Rankin Alexander, sr.
3. Silas Alexander (1758 - 1831)
4. Esther Alexander Garrison (1762 - 1829)
5. Hezekiah Alexander Jr
6. Mary Alexander Polk (1765 - 1796)
7. Amos Alexander (1769 - 1847)
8. Keziah Alexander
9. Joel Alexander (1773 - 1825)
10. Ozwald Alexander

Siblings:

1. Theophilus Alexander (1714 - 1768)
2. Hezekiah Alexander (1721 - 1801)
3. Jemima Alexander Sharpe (1727 - 1797)
4. Amos Alexander (1729 - 1780)
5. John McKnitt Alexander (1733 - 1817)
6. Ann Moore (1736 - 1802)
7. Elizabeth Alexander Sample (1746 - 1822)

Timeline

• 1768 appointed County Magistrate, Mecklenburg Cty, NC. By Royal Gov. William Tyron.
• 1771 founded and was 1st Treasurer Queen's College (Queen's Museum)ed
• 1775 participated in the Mecklenburg Convention
  • Signer of the "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence."
  • Assisted in the Mecklenburg Resolves.
• 1776 became a member of Mecklenburg Committee of Safety, appointed to the Council of Safety, elected Delegate to the 5th provincial Congress in Halifax, served on the Committee appointed to draft the first North Carolina State Constitution and Bill of Rights and signed Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence

Revolutionary War Service

With the approach of the Revolution, both of the Alexander brothers (Hezekiah and John McKnitt) became increasingly involved in the events which would culminate in independence from Great Britain. In 1775 both men were members of the Mecklenburg County Committee of Safety. On August 21, 1775, Hezekiah was appointed by the Provincial Congress meeting in Hillsborough to the Salisbury District Committee of Safety which was to serve as the local governing body for a multi-county area. In November, 1776, Hezekiah joined other state delegates at Halifax to form the Fifth Provincial Congress which was charged with the task of writing the first state constitution. After the Halifax Congress, Hezekiah joined the Fourth Regiment of North Carolina Troops as Paymaster.^[1]

DAR PATRIOT OF THE REVOLUTION

Service: NORTH CAROLINA ^[2] Rank(s): PATRIOTIC SERVICE Service Source: GROOME, MECKLENBURG IN THE REV, 1740-1783, P 29; SAUNDERS, COL RECS OF NC, VOL 10, PP 619, 914 Service Description: 1) SIGNER OF MECKLENBURG DEC OF INDEPENDENCE, 2) MEMBER, PROV CONGRESS AND COUNCIL OF SAFETY

Slavery

Enslaved People in the Alexander Household^[3] Based on the same information used for the timeline, this section is organized by personal name rather than date. Keep in mind that there were probably other enslaved people here whose names are unknown because they either died or were sold before Hezekiah wrote his will. Abram: A “Negro man.” Hezekiah bequeathed Abram to Mary Sample Alexander in his 1796 will. Ann: A “Negro girl.” In his will, Hezekiah left Ann to his son Silas. Bet, A “Negro woman” Hezekiah Alexander left to his wife, who in turn left Bet to their son Joel when she made out her will in 1803. We know that Bet was of child-bearing age around the turn of the century because Mary’s will specifically mention Bet’s child Fanny/Jenny (accounts and spellings vary), born on Sept. 5, 1799. Mary left Fanny/Jenny to Keziah. Fanny or Jenny: Fanny/Jenny was Bet’s daughter, and was described in Mary Alexander’s will as having been born on Sept. 5, 1799. Mary left the child Fanny/Jenny to her daughter Keziah. Frank, son of Jean, was born into slavery. In the 1796 will of Hezekiah Alexander, he left Jean, Frank, and Frank’s siblings, Siah and Nancy, to his daughter Esther Garrison.

Freemasonry

Hezekiah was reportedly a Freemason. One can see supposed Freemason symbols carved above the windows and doors of the Hezekiah Alexander House in Charlotte, NC and Freemason news publications allude to the Alexander House doubling as a lodge meeting hall upon its completion in 1774.

Research Notes

Birth was January 13, 1722 is now January 13,1721 (likely a census rounding error) and death date was July 16,1801 now January 10,1801 (likely transcription error) Conflicting death information in a merge 2/2023:

• Died 10 Jan 1801 at age 79 in Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States
• Died 16 Jul 1801 at age 80 in Charlotte, Mecklenburg, North Carolina, United States

Sources

1. ↑ J.D. Lewis, record for Hezekiah Alexander, 4th Regiment
2. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed Feb 22, 2018), "Record of Hezekiah Alexander", Ancestor # A001156.
3. ↑ "Slavery at the Hezekiah Alexander House"[1]

• Freemason News Publication with article on Hezekiah Alexander House: http://www.epageflip.net/i/5196-november-december-2009/7
• Video Tour of Hezekiah Alexander House: http://www.pbs.org/video/nc-weekend-hezekiah-alexander-house/
• Find A Grave: Memorial #11017534
• http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0ahUKEwjG49On8-rYAhVYzmMKHXpoDl0QFgg4MAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.montyhistnotes.com%2FMorePages%2FJohnAndMartha_files%2FSampleWilliamAzmon_Desc.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2w9jlNw7Sr9bVZkmeq-NAv
• Scots and Scotch Irish Frontier Life in North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky by Larry J Hoefling pg 69 & 70 shows John McKnitt Alexander, Abraham Alexander, Hezekiah Alexander, Thomas Polk, Dr. Ephraim Brevard, John Phifer were in a meeting in Mecklenburg NC when someone brought the news that the British were attacking in Lexington and Concord so they decided to develop a committee to write a response to the attacks. The outcome of the Committee was the Mecklenburg Resolves that was said to be debated by Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, The debate was over whether the document known as the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence really existed a year before the official American Declaration of Independence of 1776 that had many of the same phrases and wording.

See also: Norris W. Preyer. Hezekiah Alexander and the Revolution in the Backcountry. By the author: Charlotte, North Carolina, 1998. (Reports "there is an old cemetery in northeast Charlotte across from the Sugaw Creek Presbyterian Church on Tryon Street....over one of the graves is a weathered headstone which says simply, "Hezekiah Alexander, died July 16, 1801, aged 73 years.""

Hezekiah Alexander, "United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783" https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG29-9YD6

1796 WILL OF HEZEKIAH ALEXANDER "Mecklenburg County, North Carolina; Will Abstracts, 1791-1868, Books A-J" 6, p 23. published 1993 - by Herman W. Ferguson

Hezekiah Alexander, "United States Census, 1800" Cabarrus, North Carolina https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHR8-LJS

DAR Genealogical Record of the Six Alexander's Who Signed The Mecklenburg County Declaration of Independence.

HEZEKIAH ALEXANDER (Sr.) by Norris W. Preyer, 1979; Revised by State Library of NC Government and Heritage Library, April 2023 DICTIONARY OF NORTH CAROLINA Biography, 6 volumes, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright ©1979-1996 by the University of North Carolina Press

www.ncpedia.org/biography/alexander-hezekiah

Acknowledgements

• Originally Alexander-6047 was created by Al Alexander through the import of Alexander Jr Family Tree.ged on Jan 11, 2015.