Archibald Stevens Alexander Explained

Archibald S. Alexander
Office:Member of the New Jersey Assembly
Term Start:1907
Term End:1907
Term Start1:1905
Term End1:1905
Birth Name:Archibald Stevens Alexander
Birth Date:22 August 1880
Birth Place:Hoboken, New Jersey
Death Place:Manhattan, New York
Education:St. Paul's School
Alma Mater:Princeton University
New York Law School
Party:Democrat
Children:Archibald S. Alexander

Col. Archibald Stevens Alexander (August 22, 1880 – August 30, 1912) was a lawyer, Democratic politician, and military aide to Woodrow Wilson from New Jersey.

Early life

Alexander was born on August 22, 1880. He was the son of Archibald Alexander (1855–1917), a professor of philosophy at Columbia College,[1] and Caroline Bayard (née Stevens) Alexander (1859–1932). His parents divorced when he was young and, later after his death, she remarried to H. Otto Wittpenn, the 28th Mayor of Jersey City, on January 6, 1915.

His maternal grandparents were the noted philanthropist Martha Bayard Stevens (a daughter of professor Albert Baldwin Dod) and Edwin Augustus Stevens (son of Col. John Stevens, who developed early versions of screw-propelled steamboat and steam locomotive). Through his grandfather, an engineer and entrepreneur who is considered the founder of Stevens Institute of Technology, he was a direct descendant of Continental Congressman from New Jersey, John Stevens.[2] His paternal grandparents were Henry Martyn Alexander (a lawyer, Trustee of Princeton, and son of Archibald Alexander, the first Principal of Princeton Theological Seminary) and Susan Mary (née Brown) Alexander (daughter of Rev. Matthew Brown).[3] Among his paternal family were grand-uncles, James Waddel Alexander, William Cowper Alexander, and Joseph Addison Alexander.[4]

He prepared at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, before attending Princeton University, where he graduated in 1902. He went to New York Law School, graduating in 1904, and was admitted to the bar in New Jersey.

Career

After law school, Alexander became a member of law firm of Besson, Alexander & Stevens law firm. He served as a member of the New Jersey Assembly in 1905, was defeated in 1906, and served again in 1907.

Beginning in 1911, Alexander served on the Governor Woodrow Wilson's military staff as a colonel.[5] In July 1912, Alexander and three others, including David S. Crater (Secretary of State of New Jersey), and two members of the Democratic National Committee, left their handbags in Gov. Wilson's library and Alexander had to sneak in through a window to retrieve them after the family went to sleep and locked the windows. Gov. Wilson, in his pajamas, caught him while retrieving the bags and the story was widely reported at the time.[6]

At the time of his death, Col. Alexander was campaigning to become the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress from New Jersey's 11th congressional district which then included Hoboken.[7] The seat he was running for was won by fellow Democrat John J. Eagan.[8]

Personal life

In 1905, Alexander was married to Helen Tracy Barney (1882–1922) at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York City. She was the daughter of Lily (née Whitney) Barney (daughter of Brig.-Gen. James Scollay Whitney, president of the Metropolitan Steamship Company) and Charles T. Barney, the former president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company.[9] Among her extended family were maternal uncle William Collins Whitney and paternal grandfather Ashbel H. Barney, an early president of Wells Fargo & Company. Before his early death, they lived at Castle Point and were the parents of:

After an illness of two weeks, Alexander died of typhoid fever on August 30, 1912, aged 32, at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City.[11] [12] After a funeral held at the Church of the Holy Innocents in Hoboken, and attended by Governor Wilson (who was then the Democratic candidate for President), Mayor Wittpenn, and Mayor Cooke, he was buried at Saint Bernards Cemetery in Bernardsville in Somerset County.[13] After his death, his widow remarried to Frederic Newell Watriss,[14] with whom she had another son, James Barney Watriss (who became a horse breeder and aviator).[15]

References

Notes
Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Alexander . Archibald . Some Problems of Philosophy . 1886 . . 29 July 2020 . en.
  2. Mark M. Boatner III, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, p. 271. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1966
  3. Book: Shook . John R. . Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers . 2005 . A&C Black . 978-1-84371-037-0 . 29 July 2020 . en.
  4. Web site: Guide to the Archibald Alexander Papers . www.history.pcusa.org . 5 May 2014 . . 29 July 2020.
  5. http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/alexander.html#RPR18E253 Biographical information for Archibald S. Alexander
  6. News: Times . Special to The New York . BROKE INTO WILSON'S HOME.; Governor In Pajamas Found His Aid Retrieving Visitors' Baggage. . 29 July 2020 . . 6 July 1912.
  7. News: COL. A. S. ALEXANDER DIES. Democratic Candidate for Congress Stricken After Campaigning. . 29 July 2020 . . 31 August 1912 . 7.
  8. News: COL. A. S. ALEXANDER, ILL, OUT OF CONGRESS RACE . 29 July 2020 . . 30 August 1912 . 2.
  9. Robert F. Bruner and Sean D. Carr, The Panic of 1907. Lessons Learned from the Market's Perfect Storm, passim. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
  10. News: Cook . Joan . Archibald Alexander, 72 . 29 July 2020 . . 6 September 1979.
  11. News: ALEXANDER, FORMER ASSEMBLYMAN, DIES FROM THE TYPHOID . . August 31, 1912.
  12. News: COL. ALEXANDER IS TYPHOID VICTIM . 29 July 2020 . . 31 August 1912 . 1.
  13. News: Tites . Special to The New York . WILSON MOURNS ALEXANDER Democratic Candidate Attends Funeral Services With Mrs. Wilson . 29 July 2020 . . 2 September 1912.
  14. News: MRS. ALEXANDER'S WEDDING A SURPRISE; Daughter of Mrs. Chas. T. Barney Marries Frederick N. Watriss, Lawyer, at Her Home. BRIDEGROOM JUST DIVORCED Member of Many Clubs and Twelve Years the Senior of His Bride, Widow of Col. A. S. Alexander. . 29 July 2020 . . 11 April 1917.
  15. News: James Barney Watriss, 76, horse breeder, aviator . 28 July 2020 . . June 6, 1998.