Alexander Douglass (1769 - 1829)

Born 28 Sep 1769 in Scotland

Husband of Anna (Benedict) Douglass — married 11 Dec 1796 in Dutchess, New York, United States

Descendants

Died 4 Feb 1829 at age 59 in Niagara, New York, United States

Biography

Came to US between 1775-1780.

Elected Justice of the Peace, Niagara, NY on 17 Mar 1819 and 17 Apr 1821.

Alexander Douglass was born in Scotland on Sep. 28, 1769. His date of birth is known from the family Bible, which has sadly been lost before any copies were made. His birth place was said to be the Scottish Highlands in a biography of his grandson, Alexander Douglass Pease. The account has many errors but the general story is true. It states he came to America as a boy of nine so his arrival could have been around 1778 while the American Revolution was going on. His presumed father was John Douglass as evidenced by multiple records placing both of them in the same town. There are no known records of his mother’s name or any siblings. John Douglass first appears in the 1790 census in Frederickstown, Dutchess County, New York, listed as 2 males over 16 and 1 female. Alexander married Anna Benedict on Dec. 11, 1796, in Dutchess County, New York. She was born on Nov. 23, 1776, in South Salem, Westchester County, New York, to Benjamin and Elizabeth Gilbert Benedict. Anna is listed in the South Salem Church records with a baptismal date of Aug. 17, 1777. Her father, Benjamin Benedict served in the New York Militia during the American Revolution in Westchester County, New York. Alexander and Anna had 12 children between 1797 and 1824, losing two to infant deaths and another child at 5 years old. Their children were John Benedict (1797-1872), Eliza Ann (1800-1843), Jane Adaline (1802-1885), Edwin Alexander (1804-1810), William Jefferson (1807-1807), Mary Marina (1808-1856), Ellen Almira (1810-1878), Emily T. (1813-1861), Ruth Emma (1816-1887), Infant Boy (1819-1819), Elvira Fenanda (1820-1899), and Edwin Alexander Douglass (1824-1893). The 1800 census and tax assessment rolls for Franklin, Dutchess County, New York, list Alexander and his family, with a house and farm. There are six people listed even though they had only two children by that time, but may have had some other family or hired help living with them. His father, John, is also listed with a house and lot, with a male and female, both over 45 years of age, and Anna’s father, Benjamin Benedict lived there with his family. Alexander served in the Dutchess County, New York Cavalry Militia in 1803-1804, having a commissioned rank of Second Lieutenant. By 1810, the family had moved westward to Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York. By 1819, Alexander appeared in Wilson, Niagara County, New York in the far northwest corner of the state near Lake Ontario. He was elected to Excise Commissioner in April 1819, and to Justice of the Peace in April 1821. He died on February 4, 1829, in Newfane, Niagara County, New York, and likely buried there although there are no records. Anna Douglass moved much of the family, now led by eldest son, John Benedict Douglass, to Bridgewater, Washtenaw County, Michigan between the 1830 and 1840 census. They then moved to more fertile farmland in McHenry County, Illinois in 1842. Anna died on June 19, 1844 in Greenwood, McHenry County, Illinois. She is buried at the South Hebron Cemetery.

(Sources are listed in Ancestry under the Alexander Douglass profile in the public “John Douglass Family Tree”.)

Sources

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/215064240/alexander-douglass