My Genealogy Hound

James Alexander, a retired banker and agriculturist of Gallatin, was born in Sumner County September 27, 1813. He is the only surviving child of a family of seven children born to David and Rebecca Alexander. The father was of Scotch descent, born in 1790 in Mecklenburg County, N. C. His father and Mr. Race came to Sumner County in 1796, and purchased 640 acres of land, erecting a fort to protect themselves from the Indians. They were among the first settlers of the county. David married in 1811, and afterward located on the home stead, where he died in 1826. His wife was of Scotch-Irish origin. She died in 1831. The subject of this sketch had but limited educational advantages, as the country was new and the schools few. When quite young he became a carpenter’s apprentice. Three years later he began working on his own responsibility, and for twenty years devoted himself to his trade, assisting in the erection of many of the buildings now to be seen in Gallatin. In 1850 he entered upon his career as a farmer, two miles from Gallatin, Tenn., in which occupation he has been more or less engaged ever since. Previous to the war, in connection with farming, he was an extensive stock-raiser, and very successful. In April, 1837, he married Miss Jane, daughter of John Stewart. Mrs. Alexander was born in 1809 in Sumner County, and became the mother of five children. Charles S. is the only surviving one. After Mrs. Alexander’s death, our subject married Nancy J., the only daughter of Gen. Joseph Miller, who was a native of Madison County, Ky. She died in 1870, leaving Susan K. (wife of S. E. Lackey) and Jennie L. (wife of Branch Donelson). In 1871 our subject was united in marriage to Mrs. C. E. Mentloe, nee Norman, a native of Virginia. Both are consistent members of the Missionary Baptist Church. In 1869 Mr. Alexander was appointed claim agent of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad by the superintendent, and has held the position since that date. In 1871, at the establishing of the Sumner Deposit Bank, he was elected president, remaining such until 1884, when it was reorganized as the Farmers’ & Traders’ Bank, and Mr. Alexander declined to retain the position of president. He is a director and stockholder in the concern. In 1884 he deeded to his children 326 acres of land, still retaining 350 acres. He is a Democrat, was a Whig before the war, and cast his first presidential vote for Hugh L. White, in 1836. He is a Master Mason, a member of the State Historical Society, has taken all the degrees of the I. O. O. F., and is one of the oldest native born citizens of Gallatin, where he has the highest regard of the entire community.