John Davidson Alexander was born September 15, 1829, in Mecklenburg County, N. C, and died February 24, 1901, at Faunsdale, Alabama. He was the son of Joseph McKnitt Alexander and Nancy Agnes (Cathey) Alexander, the former born February 3, 1793, in Mecklenburg County, N. C, who died March 13, 1865. in Marengo County, Alabama; the latter a native of Mecklenburg County, born January 5, 1800, and died November 20, 1855; grandson of William Bain Alexander and Violet (Davidson) Alexander, and of Capt. John Archer and Agnes (Caldwell) Cathey; great-grandson of John McKnitt and Jane (Bain) Alexander, the former of whom, with his brother Hezekiah Alexander, and four others of the same name, was a signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence at Charlotte, N. C, May 20, 1875, and of James Alexander and Margaret McKnitt.
The Alexander family tree contains more than eight hundred names, and has three crowns upon it. The family in this country has been traced back to Cecil County, Md. Mr. Alexander was related through blood and marriage to the Davidsons, the Wilsons, the Sharps, the Prices, the Hendersons and the Moores. J. G. M. Ramsey, a cousin, was historian of Tennessee. John Sharp Williams, senator from Mississippi, and Gen. Sterling Price, of the C. S. Army, were connected with the Alexander family.
Mr. Alexander moved from Mecklenburg County, N. C, with his parents, to Alabama, and settled in Marengo County. He became a planter and lived there for the remainder of his life.
He married: (1) at McKinley, Alabama, Rebecca Lawson Cathey, born January 2, 1836, and died January 21, 1894, the only daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Anne (Miller) Cathey, of McKinley; (2) Livie Margaret Houston, daughter of Frank and Margaret (Woods) Houston, of Bibb County.
His children by his first marriage were;
Millard Lesueur Alexander, b. February 11, 1854, died November 26, 1887. in Faunsdale, Alabama m. Clara L. Eaton, d. November 11, 1887, left three children;
Andrew Clinton Alexander b. August 3, 1855, d. October 25, 1856;
Florence Epher Alexander, b. April 10, 1857, d. November 7, 1880, in Faunsdale, Alabama m. John F. Watkins;
Olive Rebecca Alexander , b. February 24, 1868. m. W. C. McKnight. resided at Faunsdale, Alabama;
Ira Caldwell Alexander, b. October 13, 1869, d. November 17, 1890, m. Gaston Alexander Robins;
James Franklin Alexander, b. February 27, 1872, m. Gertrude Blackburn, resided at Ashland, Alabama;
Roy Cathey Alexander, b. November 23, 1873, d. September 23, 1915, m. Laura Maude Donovan
by second marriage
Houston Davidson Alexander, b. June 6, 1897.
His last residence was Faunsdale, Marengo County, Alabama. John Davidson Alexander died Feb. 29, 1901. He is buried at Dayton Cemetery in Marengo County, Alabama.
SOURCES
History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume 3 By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owen
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