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 state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Biography

Alexander was born in

Rockbridge County, Virginia Rockbridge County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,650. Its county seat is the city of Lexington. Rockbridge County completely surrounds the ...

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 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, 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 located in the East Tennessee Grand Division of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 135,280. The county seat is Maryville, which is also the county's largest city. Blount County is ...

. 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. A land surveying professional is ca ...

, 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, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area. H ...

. 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's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...

in 1817. Elected as a

Jacksonian Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an Political parties in the United States, American political party founded by Thomas J ...

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 David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...

. 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 p ...

, 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 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 37,144. 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 objec ...

at Alexander-Pryor Family Cemetery, Laws Hill,

References

External links

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{{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 American slave owners