Judge Alexander Nisbet (July 26, 1777 in Montrose, Scotland – November 1857) was a judge in Baltimore and a president of the

Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad The Northern Central Railway (NCRY) was a Class I Railroad connecting Baltimore, Maryland with Sunbury, Pennsylvania, along the Susquehanna River. Completed in 1858, the line came under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in 1861, whe ...

. He was also one of the founding members of the St. Andrew's Society of Baltimore. He was the youngest son of the Dr.

Charles Nisbet Charles Nisbet (January 21, 1736 – January 18, 1804) was a Scottish-American academic and churchman, and the first Principal of Dickinson College. Life Charles Nisbet was born in Haddington, Scotland on January 21, 1736, the son of William Ni ...

D.D. and Anne Tweedie. He moved to the US in 1785 with his parents and settled in

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

, where his father was appointed the first President of

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

. After graduating from Dickinson in 1794, he studied law in Carlisle. He was appointed Judge of the Baltimore Criminal Court in 1806. In 1806, Nisbet and several leading men formed the St. Andrew's Society of Baltimore. Nisbet served at that Society's third president, from 1830 until his death in 1857, at the time being the last surviving original member. Upon his death, due to a fall from his bedroom window, the St. Andrew's Society chartered a railroad car from Calvert Station to attend the funeral. Nisbet served as the President of the Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad from 1833 to 1835. He married Mary C. Owings of Maryland and they had several children, but only the daughters survived to adulthood. Their home was known at the Montrose Estate, named for his place of birth Montrose, Scotland. The estate contained 1,500 acres and was located in what is now

Cockeysville, Maryland Cockeysville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 20,776 at the 2010 census. History Cockeysville was named after the Cockey family who helped establish the town. Thomas Cockey (1676� ...

, just north of the

Hampton National Historic Site Hampton National Historic Site, in the Hampton area north of Towson, Baltimore County, Maryland, USA, preserves a remnant of a vast 18th-century estate, including a Georgian manor house, gardens, grounds, and the original stone slave quarters. Th ...

. All that is left of the Montrose Estate is the burial plot containing the graves of the Nisbet family, near the

Historical Society of Baltimore County The Historical Society of Baltimore County (HSBC) was founded in 1959 with the goal of preserving, interpreting, and illustrating the history of Baltimore County for the benefit of present and future generations of Marylanders, and is a resource f ...

. The grave site has been restored and a memorial service is held each August at the site by th
St Andrew's Society of Baltimore
Historic graves of Maryland and the District of Columbia, By National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Maryland, by Helen W. Ridgely 1908, page 133

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nisbet, Alexander 1777 births 1857 deaths People from Montrose, Angus Scottish emigrants to the United States People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania American judges Accidental deaths from falls Deaths by defenestration