| From Mecklenburg to Moore: Four North Carolina Families |
Descendants of Telemacus & Hannah Smith Alexander:Oswald Alexander, m. Mary Frances Reid White |
| Silas and Mary Alexander, parents of Telemacus Alexander | Telemacus & Hannah Smith Alexander | John & Prudence Smith, Probable Parents of Hannah |
| Children of Telemacus & Hannah Alexander: |
| Jane Rankin | Martha Ann | James Wallace | John Smith | Silas Washington | William N. | Prudence Morehead | Ulysses Columbus | Oswald A. | Mary Steele |
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Oswald Alexander was born in December of 1835.1 In the 1860 census, his name is missing from the list of siblings still living on their parents' farm, so it is possible he may have been working elsewhere.2 The Civil War muster rolls show his occupation as daguerreotypist.3 Daguerreotypes were an early form of photography, and practicioners often traveled about making portraits and images. Oswald served with his brothers Silas Washington and Ulysses in Company B of the 13th Regiment, first as a private and then as a musician. He was paroled at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865.4 Before the war, on December 20, 1859, he posted bond for the marriage of John Mc. White and M. F. Reid.5 White apparently died during the war, and on October 29, 1868, Oswald married his widow, Mary Frances Reid White.6
Mary Frances was born March 7, 1838, the daughter of William Reid, Esquire, and his first wife, Martha. She is also the sister of Margaret Louise Reid, who married Oswald's brother James Wallace Alexander. She died April 9, 1894 and was buried at Sharon Church, with both her husbands' names on her gravestone. The stone, presumably erected by Oswald, reads: "Having finished life's duty, She now sweetly rests." Oswald died December 25, 1915, and was also buried at Sharon Church. His stone reads: "He died as he lived--a Christian."10 Over the years, Oswald served as deacon, elder, and church secretary at Sharon.11 The census of 1900 indicates that Oswald married again, to a woman named Mary R. She was born in South Carolina in March of 1850, and they have no children living with them in their home in Pineville, NC. His profession is given as druggist.12 In the 1910 census year, he was 73 years old and the family was living in Chester County, South Carolina.13 After Oswald's death in 1915, Mary R. Alexander, 69 years old and born in South Carolina, appears in the 1920 census, living alone in Pineville.14 Mary applied for a Confederate widow's pension in 1925.15 Oswald's son Ralph Wallace Alexander married Sarah Delia Kirkpatrick January 10, 1894, in Sharon Township.16 They had three sons: Alfred Oswald, William Kirkpatrick, and Gibbs. Ralph was a minister, and they moved to Cumberland County, North Carolina.17 Sarah passed away sometime before 1909. Ralph married again on June 9, 1909, to Sue Curtis, in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.18 They had two children, Mary Ashley and John Nash,19 and apparently separated sometime before 1920.20 Ralph passed away on the 31st of May, 1941, in Anderson County, South Carolina.21 |
In the 1870 census, Oswald's occupation is farmer, and the couple has one daughter, named Mattie. A Dr. H.K. Dearmond and a carpenter named McKee Barrett also live in their household, though the property appears to belong to Oswald.| Home | Index of Names | Site Map |
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From Mecklenburg to Moore: Four North Carolina Families /Oswald Alexander, m. Mary Frances Reid White |