James Thomas & Susan J. (Keith) Alexander

            James was born to John Hinton and Barbara Smith Alexander in Knox County , TN in1844. He was the fourth of eight children. His siblings were: William S.-1836, John S-1839, Robert H. Smith-1843, Nancy H.-1847, Elias R.-1850, Mary L.-1852, and Andrew Jackson-1856. His father was of Scottish ancestry. His mother’s grandfather had emigrated from Ireland . They were considerably wealthy.  It was surmised, by some, that the wealth came from the Smith side; however, John’s ancestors had owned large parcels of land also. John H. had quite a large holding in and around Concord .

            Little is known of James’s early life. The Civil War began in 1861. In March of 1863, at the age of 19, he joined the Confederacy in Knoxville , TN. He was enlisted as a Private by Major L. Peck, into Company B, 31st (Col. W. M. Bradford’s) Tennessee Infantry Regiment. In June of 1863 it became the 39th Tennessee Mounted ( Calvary ) Infantry.

            The unit joined Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Army of the Mississippi and they marched through Kentucky and Tennessee covering 700 miles in 42 days.  This was often without food or water, in dust, mud, and snow-all of this with no tents. They only had their belongings. The unit fought in Tennessee , Virginia , North Carolina , and Mississippi . Records show that James had once been in a CSA hospital in Charlottesville , VA

            The Siege and Battle of Vicksburg ( Mississippi ) was a turning point in the war.  The South spent 47 days in the trenches under heavy fire and artillery attacks from Major General U.S Grant’s army of 80,000 men. Of the original 40,000 Confederate’s under the command of Lt. Gen John C. Pemberton, only 20,000 starving souls survived and surrendered.  James Thomas became a Prisoner of War on July 4 and paroled on July 10, 1863 by the USA Commanding Officer, Capt. Pullen, of the Illinois Volunteers. He signed the solemn oath not to bear arms against the Union again. I expect he was relieved that he and the others did not receive the same treatment afforded other POW’s-that of having their trigger fingers cut off. Official records reflect that this was not the end of his military career. He was hospitalized at the CSA General Hospital in Charlottesville , VA in June 1864 and returned to duty June 17, 1864 -almost a year after being paroled as a POW. 

            Three brothers also fought for the Confederacy. William S. Alexander enlisted as a Private in Company G of the 63rd Infantry Regiment in Knoxville , TN on May 6, 1862 .  John S. Alexander enlisted in the same company and regiment in Cumberland Gap , TN on April 1, 1863 . Robert H. Smith Alexander entered the service as a Private in Company I, 12th Infantry. All three fought in the Battle of Chickamauga. On September 20, 1863 , John was killed.  William, now a Corporal, and Robert H. were wounded. They were sent to the Foard (Ford) Hospital in Newman , GA and William died November 23, 1863 . Robert H. remained hospitalized until June 1864 then was sent to Richmond , VA on May 10 by order of the regimental surgeon. He was present with the 63rd Infantry at Appomattox Court House on April 2, 1865 and surrendered seven days later.

            After the war was over for him, James returned home to Concord and helped with the farming operation. Family members have recalled that there had been some bitter feelings between James and his father. It is unknown whether it was because of James T’s war service or his selection of a wife

            In 1877, James married a lovely young lady, Susan Jane Keith, daughter of Gabriel Pinckney and Eliza Jane (Fuller) Keith. Prior to 1880, they moved to Hamilton County , north east of Chattanooga , TN. They appear in the 1880 Census with son, James A. and James T’s brother, Elias R.  His Alexander cousin’s and one brother migrated from the Knoxville area and resided near Chattanooga . Susan’s parents and family now also lived beside them.

            At first, James and the family resided in the Hixson/Falling Water/Middle Valley community. On page 8 of the aforementioned census, they lived next door to Andy and Preston Gann, origin of present day Gann’s Middle Valley, the Igou’s, who owned the ferry to Birchwood, and James Parks, the grandfather of Daisy Parks, for whom Daisy, Tennessee is named. Henry Baker, Postmaster of Falling Water, George Card, Postmaster of Melville, and Ephraim F. Hixson, for whom the former town of Lookout was renamed, lived nearby. The families of Poe, Igou, Hamil, Pendergrass, Penny, Levi, Gadd, and Varner’s were neighbors and many streets of Chattanooga bear their name.

            Within the next 10 years they moved to the Bakewell area and lived in a two-story house near present-day McCallie Ferry Road . There, they raised their large family. They were-James (after his father) Albert-1877, John Elias (after James father and brother)-1880, Mollie Jane (after a neighbor’s child and Susan)-1884, Samuel Logan (after The Honorable Samuel Logan, Knox County Criminal Judge) Pinckney (after Susan’s father)-1887, Liza (after Susan’s mother) C.-1888, Thomas Jackson (after James’s brother and Susan’s brother-1889, William S. (after James’s brother)-1891, Benjamin Franklin-1893, Charley S.-1895, Margaret (Maggie) Frances-1896, Kate-1899, and finally, Marie Elizabeth (after Susan’s mother). 

            It had been thought that Jim T. had not been that affluent but he did acquire property in the area. Heirs of Robert Patterson, the first settler of a newly formed Hamilton County , researched the deeds in the latter part of 1999. They found acquisitions of land purchased from James Alexander in the Bakewell area. He wasn’t wealthy but perhaps could have been - except for the problem between him and his father.  Two theories have been voiced about their problem, (1) it had to do with the War, and (2) it had to do with James T’s marriage to a Keith and one that was 16 years his junior. When John H. died, James did not return home to gain his inheritance. His last daughter, Marie, related that information to me and she was made privy to it by her older sister, who raised her. In addition, one of Susan’s nieces also confirmed the information-so it seems to be factual. Either way, Jim T. (as he was known here) never returned to Concord .   

            They all worked hard, as did everyone, since the times were not easy.  The boys worked in the fields, hewed trees into wood for fuel, hauled corn by horseback to be ground into meal at the gristmill in freezing weather, and the girls did the washing, mending, and cooking. Everyone worked!       In 1904, at the age of 59 or 60, Jim T. contracted pneumonia and died prior to Marie’s birth. James Thomas Alexander was laid to rest in the Hughes Cemetery-Bakewell, TN. The family marked the grave, with stones. When but a young lad, my grandmother Alexander showed me the area in which he was buried and said, “That is where Papa-Daddy’s ( Logan ’s) folks are buried.” In 2000, I purchased a granite stone and had it placed near the gravesite in memory of both James Thomas and Susan Jane Alexander.

            Each of us should be proud of our Alexander name and the heritage we share as Scots-Irish descendants.  We are products of industrious, patriotic, and honorable men and women who helped shape this great nation, state, and locale into what it is today. To my great-grandfather, James Thomas Alexander, I thank you, I am proud of you-and I salute you!

Compiled and Submitted by Rexford C. Alexander
rexcalex@bellsouth.net