Adam Rankin Alexander (November 1, 1781 – November 1, 1848) was an American slave owner and politician who represented

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

Biography

Alexander was born in

Rockbridge County, Virginia Rockbridge County is a County (United States), county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 22,650. Its count ...

, on November 1, 1781, to Oliver and Mary ( Craig) Alexander. Educator Eben Alexander was his grandson.

Career

During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, Alexander served from October 4, 1813, to January 4, 1814. He served as a private in Captain William Dooley's Company; and as a Lieutenant and Quartermaster in Thomas McCrory's 2nd Regiment, West Tennessee Militia. He married Leah Reagan, a Virginia native, on March 26, 1805, in

Blount County, Tennessee Blount County is a County (United States), county located in the East Tennessee Grand Divisions of Tennessee, Grand Division of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 135,280. The count ...

. Alexander worked as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

, and afterwards, he was the register of the land office for the tenth surveyors' district in

Madison County, Tennessee Madison County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 98,823. Its county seat is Jackson. Madison County is included in the Jackson metropolitan area. History Madis ...

. He was a member of the court of Madison County in 1821. He became a member of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

in 1817. Elected as a

Jacksonian Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed li ...

to the Eighteenth and as a Jacksonian to the succeeding Congress, Alexander served as a U.S. Representative from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1827. He was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the Twentieth Congress in 1827, and lost his seat to frontiersman

Davy Crockett Colonel (United States), Colonel David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American politician, militia officer and frontiersman. Often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier", he represented Tennesse ...

. Alexander represented

Shelby County, Tennessee Shelby County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 929,744. It is the largest of the state's List of counties in Tennessee, 95 counties, both in terms of ...

, at the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1834. He was a member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

in 1841 and 1843.

Death

Alexander died on November 1, 1848, aged 67, in

Marshall County, Mississippi Marshall County is a County (United States), county located on the north central border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,752. Its county seat is Holly Springs, Mississippi ...

. He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

at Alexander-Pryor Family Cemetery, Laws Hill,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Adam Rankin 1781 births 1848 deaths People from Rockbridge County, Virginia People from Marshall County, Mississippi People from Madison County, Tennessee People from Shelby County, Tennessee American people of Scotch-Irish descent Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Tennessee state senators Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly