Alexander Nisbet (1777 - abt. 1857)

Born 26 Jul 1777 in Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Cockey (Owings) Nisbet — married 26 Dec 1807 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Died about 22 Nov 1857 at about age 80 in Cockeysville, Baltimore County, Maryland

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Biography

The Honorable Alexander Nisbet was a son of Charles and Ann (Tweedie) Nesbit. He was born on 26 April 1777 and baptized the following day at Montrose, Forfarshire, Scotland.^[1] The family emigrated to America in 1784 and settled in Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Sometime between 1800 and 1807, Alexander moved to Cockeysville, Maryland.

In summer of the latter year, while a British Navy vessel patrolled off the coast of Virginia, five of its crewmen deserted to the shores of the U.S. at Norfolk. One man in particular, Jenkin Ratford, publicly boasted about his escape to the "land of liberty" and thereby provoked British authorities to seek revenge. In June 1807, the HMS Leopard intercepted the frigate USS Chesapeake and asked to search the frigate for possible deserters, but the U.S. commander refused to muster his crew for inspection. Within minutes, the British commander opened fire on the frigate, killed three Americans, and wounded eighteen. British officers then boarded the Chesapeake and seized cargo and a number of men they suspected of being deserters. With most of the U.S. Navy having been deployed in the Mediterranean, President Thomas Jefferson knew it would be unwise to respond militarily. Instead, he used economic coercion by way of the Embargo Act.^[2] In the meantime, however, the State of Maryland took measures to strengthen its military presence on land. On 30 July, the Governor and Council of Maryland appointed more than a dozen men to be officers of the Maryland militia, including Alexander Nesbit as Captain the 27th infantry, Baltimore County.^[3] Subsequently, field officers of Maryland's 27th and 39th militia regiments agreed to extend the militia district of the 27th to encompass an area "from Light Lane (Street) and St. Paul's its present limits west, to Charles street, east running northerly to the precincts, and southerly to the north side of Camden street and with the north side of said street to the bason [basin], including all the intermediate streets, lanes and alleys, of which the citizens residing therein will please to take notice, who will accordingly hold themselves in readiness to be annexed to the 27th regiment." In a notice to residents of the district, Captain Alexander Nesbitt's company of infantry militia was included among five units who would be attending to "the citizens living within those bounds", said citizens being expected to "hold themselves in readiness to be annexed to the 27th regiment."^[4] As early as 1803, Britain had begun snatching American sailors and forcing them into service on British ships. It is no surprise, then, that the commander of the Chesapeake refused to muster his crew for inspection by the British navy. Ensuing events, including the Chesapeake incident, culminated finally in the War of 1812.

Nisbet served for many years as a judge in the Baltimore City Courts, including Criminal Court.^[5] He was also a stockholder and President of the Baltimore and Susquehanna Rail Road Company.^[6]

As an immigrant from Scotland, Alexander Nisbet joined the St. Andrew's Society of Baltimore, which had been founded "for the purpose of helping fellow Scots and maintaining Scottish institutions and heritage." The Society also devotes its resources to "contributing to the welfare of the community at large and its residents of Scottish descent in particular". Nisbet served for 26 years as the society's President.^[7]

Alexander Nisbet lived to the age of 80 and died on 22 November 1857. His life is memorialized in an obituary published in "The Baltimore Sun" ...

The venerable Judge Alexander Nisbet, the last surviving member of the bench of the Criminal Court of Baltimore under the old constitution, died suddenly at his residence, near Ellen-Gowan, on the line of the Northern Central Railway, at the early hour yesterday morning. His death was as the result of an accident, his body having been found beneath the open window of his chamber, from which he fell from some cause whilst opening it to receive some fresh air, a habit in which he often indulged. The deceased was a Scotsman by birth, and for the previous twenty-seven years, he filled the office of the President of the St. Andrew's Society and was the only surviving member of the original association of that name, it having been formed in 1806 by Messrs. Alexander Fridge, James Campbell, Robert Gilmor (1st President), Wm Morris, John Swan, and a number of other gentlemen including the deceased (and also David Williamson - 2nd President and William Wallace Spence - 6th President). For fifty-one years as Judge Nisbet continued a faithful member of this institution; and by his death the last link is broken which bound the society to its founders. He was appointed by the Governor of Maryland Judge of the Criminal Court of this city and occupied that high position with much credit.^[8]

Alexander Nisbet was laid to rest beside his wife in the family cemetery in Cockeysville. Also resting there are the earthly remains of three sons who had died in infancy or early childhood. The inscription on Alexander's stone reads ...

ALEXANDER NISBET

Born at Montrose Scotland

July 26, 1777

Came to the United States 1784

Died November 22, 1857

For nearly 40 years one of the Judges of the Baltimore City Court.

President of the St. Andrews Society 26 years.

As a Husband and Father, devoted and affectionate.

As a Friend confiding and faithful.

As a Judge upright and impartial.

"Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God."

Mat V 9."^[9]

While the family's stately home was eventually demolished, the cemetery remains and has been restored, and is faithfully cared, for by The St. Andrews Society of Baltimore.

Census

1850 Census District 2 Baltimore Maryland^[10]

• Alexander Nesbet 73 born abt 1777 Scotland
• Mary C Nesbet 70 born abt 1780 Maryland
• Ann Nesbet 78 born abt 1772 Maryland

Sources

1. ↑ www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk : Church of Scotland Baptisms at (Old Parish Registers).
2. ↑ https://www.nps.gov/articles/chesapeake-leopard-affair.htm : "Summer 1807: The British attack the USS Chesapeake and remove American sailors"
3. ↑ "The Maryland Herald and Hager's-Town Weekly Advertiser", Hagerstown, MD, 7 Aug 1807, Vol. XI, No. 545, p. 3
4. ↑ "Federal Gazette and Baltimore Daily Advertiser : MILITIA. Notice is hereby given", __ Aug 1807
5. ↑ "Baltimore Its History and People", Vol. I, Edit. Clayton Colman Hall, LL.B., A.M., NY and Chicago (1912), p. 633
6. ↑ "Annual Message of the Executive, to the Legislature of Maryland", Annapolis, MD (1839), pp. 35, 48-9, 103, 198
7. ↑ The St. Andrews Society of Baltimore
8. ↑ "The Baltimore Sun", 24 Nov 1857
9. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #18898642 for Alexander Nisbet
10. ↑ 1850 Census District 2 Baltimore Maryland