Biography

08/14/1842 - 01/10/1919

Private Joseph Alexander (R34) Centre and Clearfield Counties 1911-1914 

Early Life: 

Private Joseph Alexander, born August 14, 1842, Woodward, Bigler Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania;  son of William Brown Alexander and Rebecca Whiteside Alexander; engaged, farming, lumberman, real estate; private, Union Army, Civil War, wounded, prisoner of war, Battle of Gettysburg, 1862-1865; town clerk, assessor, auditor, Clearfield; poor overseer and road supervisor, Woodward Township; school director, Madera Independent District; assessor, 3 terms, school director, Bigler Township; enumerator, United States Census, 1880; elected, jury commissioner, Clearfield County, 1881-1883; elected, prothonotary, Clearfield County, 1883-1886; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1897-1902; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1910-1914; married, Susannah Hegarty Alexander, 1868 (d.1885), married, Fannie Hunter Alexander, married 1889, five children; died, January 9, 1919, Bigler Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania; interment, Alexander Cemetery, Madera, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.  

Early Career:

Enlisted, private, August 14, 1862, Company B, 149th Regiment, "Bucktails," Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, three-year service; action at Chancellorsville; Battle of Gettysburg (wounded, prisoner of war); Pursuit of Lee; Mine Run Campaign, battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor; Bethesda Church; Petersburg; transferred, Veteran Reserve Corps and mustered out June 24, 1865. 

Town clerk, assessor, auditor, Clearfield; poor overseer and road supervisor, Woodward Township; school director, Madera Independent District; assessor (3 terms) and school director, Bigler Township; enumerator, United States Census, 1880; elected, jury commissioner, Clearfield County, 1881-1883; elected, prothonotary, Clearfield County, 1883-1886.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, State House of Representatives, 1897-1902. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 34th district, Centre and Clearfield Counties, 1910-1914; chair, Forestry Committee, member, Appropriations, Education, Insurance, Judicial Apportionment and Military Affairs Committees. 

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us) 

Cited:

Cox, Harold. Senate Members "A" (wilkes.edu). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Miller, H.P., (Compiler). Baker, W.H., (Assistant Compiler). (1914). The Pennsylvania Manual, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1090, 1097-1100, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1070.

Joseph Alexander (1842-1919) - Find a Grave Memorial