Person:John Alexander (79)

Served in the RW, enlisted as a private, in the Tyger Irish Company. Promoted to lieutenant then to Captain. Given the honorific of Major when he ran for his district in the Georgia legislature.

John Alexander, son of James Alexander and Mary Peden, was born on 17 Nov. 1756 in Ireland.

His biography was included in The Pedens of America:

   "John, the eldest son, was born in Ireland and was about fifteen or sixteen years of age when they came over. 'During the Revolution, 1776, he commanded the 'Tyger Irish' in the great battle of King's Mountain. His grave is still visible in the church-yard of Fairview church, in Gwinnett County, Georgia, which church he and a number of Alexanders and Pedens really founded. The marble slab over his grave bears the inscription: 'Sacred to the memory of Maj. John Alexander, who departed this life May 29th, 1830, in the 75th year of his age. The Patriot, the Soldier, and the Christian." 

   The family to which his first wife belonged originally owned the land whereon now stands the flourishing city of Spartanburg. Landrum, in his Revolutionary and Colonial History of Upper South Carolina, makes the statement, 'Where Spartanburg now stands was deeded for a court house by Thomas Williamson.

He married Elizabeth Williamson from Spartanburg, South Carolina.

He married Mrs. Sarah McRee Russell of North Carolina.

John died on 9 May 1830 at Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia, and was buried at Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia. His memorial has biographical material, photos and links to those of family members. Children of John and Elizabeth

   + 1-15 i. James Dixon b. a, 1788 SC d. after 1864
   + 1-16 ii Thomas Williamson b. 2 Jan 1790SC d 26 Feb 1847 Gwinnett Co. GA
     1-17 iii Anne Nancy Newton known as Nancy was b. abt 1792 d. 29 Aug 1817, Greenville Co, SC (no known issue) 

Children of John and Sarah

   1-18 iv Jane no dates, probably died young
   1-19 v Amanda died young
   1-20 vi John Newton b. 18 Jun 1808 SC d, 24 Jul 1841 Lawrenceville, Gwinnett, GA m. Margaret Knox b. 1796 d. 31 Jul 1840 Lawrenceville, Gwinnet, GA. John served in 1836 a 1st Lt in Captain James Garmany's Company, Creek Indian War.
   + 1-21vii Samuel Franklin b.2 Sep 1810 SC d. bet Dec 1861-1870
   + 1-22 viii David Harvey b. abt 1813 Greenville Dist. SC died after 1870
   1-23 ix Elizabeth m. Unknown Chatham 

John Alexander, the elderst child of James Alexander and Mary Peden, was born in Ireland in 1756 and died in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He served during the Revolutionary War in the Tyger Irish Company of the Spartan Regiment, under Colonel JohnThomas and Colonel Roebuck, enlisting as a private and later promoted to lieutenant and captain. He served as a captain during the Battle of King's Mountain. Later in life he was referred to as Major John Alexander, an honorific designation for being chosen to represent his district in the Georgia Legislature.

John Alexander's first wife was Elizabeth Williamson, a daughter of Thomas Williamson and Anne Newton. Thomas Williamson had, for a token payment of five shillings, sold the land to Spartanburg County, for the purpose of building a courthouse and jail, where Daniel Morgan Square is located today Spartanburg. Elizabeth was born about 1762 and died 28 August 1797; she is buried in the cemetery at Fairview Church. John and Elizabeth had from Spartanburg County to Greenville County by 1785. After Elizabeth's death, John married Sarah McRee, a daughter of of William McRee and Mary White, a sister of Elizabeth White, the wife of Thomas Peden of the House of Thomas.

Pedens of South Carolina, 2013 edition. Peden/Paden Family Association of South Carolina. James Mark Paden editor. ISBN 978-0-9837262-5-8 House of Mary, chapter 7, pages 69-90 #1.2

1.   Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees: (Note: not considered a reliable primary source)
   Ancestry Family Trees.

   http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=7389603&pid=-1090407269

2. ↑ 102319884, in Findagrave.com.

   https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102319884/john-alexander Memorial #102319884, citing Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia, USA;