Charles F. Alexander
The late Charles F. Alexander, who died at his farm home, the old Alexander homestead place in Spring Valley township, early in 1912 and whose widow is still living there, the operations of the farm being carried on bv their son Lawrence Alexander, was born in Spring Valley township on a farm now owned by Reverend Collins, January 30, 1859. son of William J. and Elizabeth (Weller) Alexander, the former of whom was a son of Washington Alexander, who was a son of the Hon. John Alexander, the first lawyer to locate at Xenia and who many years ago represented this district in the Congress.
It was in the year 1803, the year in which Greene county was erected into a civic unit of the new state of Ohio and the county-seat town of Xenia was laid out, that John Alexander and his wife Isabella and their little family came up here from Butler county, in which county they had been located for a short time after coming into Ohio from their native South Carolina. John Alexander was a school teacher who had given considerable attention to the study of the law and upon locating at Xenia "put out his shingle" for the practice of law, the first lawyer to invite the attention of the people of the new county. He was elected prosecuting attorney in succession to Arthur St. Clair, Jr., the second prosecutor for the new county, and with the exception of four years served in that office by successive re-elections until 1832, the longest tenure ever held by any prosecutor in this county. He represented this legislative district in the Ohio General Assembly and for two terms represented the district in the Congress. He died at Xenia in 1848.
Washington Alexander, son of Judge Alexander, was born in South Carolina in 1801 and was thus but two years of age when his parents settled at the new county-seat town of Xenia. In his youth he studied law under the preceptorship of his father, but never practiced, instead turning his attention to farming in Spring Valley. After his marriage to Rachel Clark, of Spring Valley, he established his home on the farm and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1867. His wife had preceded him to the grave about eighteen years, her death having occurred in 1849. They were the parents of seven children, of whom William J., the father of the subject of this memorial sketch, was the second in order of birth, the others having been Jesse, Augustus, Isabella, who married William S. Frazier, Frank, Aurelius and John.
William J. Alexander was born in Spring Valley township on June 10, 1827, and was educated in the Xenia schools. For some time after leaving school he spent his winters teaching school, farming on the home place during the summers, and in the meantime gave attention to the study of law and in due time was admitted to the bar and opened an office for the practice of his profession at Spring Valley, later moving to Wilmington and thence, after a time, back to Xenia, where he opened an office. In the meantime he had been keeping up his farming interests and became the owner of several hundred acres of land in Spring Valley township, where he preferred to make his home. For twelve years he served as justice of the peace, for twenty-two years was township trustee and was for a time the superintendent of the Orphans Home. He was a Baptist and was affiliated with the Masons and with the Odd Fellows. On February 28, 1850, William J. Alexander was united in marriage to Elizabeth Weller and to that union were born three children, two sons and a daughter, the latter of whom died in infancy. Both the sons, Perry A. and the subject of this memorial sketch, became well-to-do farmers in Spring Valley township. William J. Alexander died on April 18, 1897, and his widow, who was born in Washington township, in the neighboring county of Montgomery, April 18, 1825, survived him until 1904.
Charles F. Alexander, second son of William J. and Elizabeth (Weller) Alexander, was reared on the home farm in Spring Valley township and received his schooling in the local schools. After his marriage in the spring of 1882 he made his home on a farm south of Spring Valley and there continued to reside for seven years, at the end of which time he returned to the old Alexander homestead place, one hundred and sixty-nine and one-half acres of which he owned, and there spent the remainder of his life engaged in general farming, his death occurring there on February 8, 1912. Mr. Alexander was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Spring Valley, as are the members of his family, and served as treasurer of the building committee at the time the new church was being erected. He was a Democrat, as was his father, and was afifiliated with the Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics.
On February 2, 1882, in Spring Valley township, Charles F. Alexander was united in marriage to Sadie Compton, who also was born in that same township, daughter of Eber and Mary Jane (Babb) Compton, both members of old families in this county. Eber Compton was a son of Henry and Catherine (Mock) Compton. the former of whom was born in North Carolina and was but seven years of age when he came to this county with his parents, Stephen and Dinah (Millhouse) Compton, who were Quakers, the family settling on a farm in the vicinity of the village of New Burlington. Henry Compton grew up there and all his life followed farming, becoming in time the owner of about four hundred and seventy-five acres of land in this county and six hundred acres in the neighboring county of Fayette. Eber Compton also grew up to the life of the farm and after his marriage to Mary Jane Babb, who was a daughter of Peter and Jane (Scarf) Babb, substantial residents of Spring Valley township, located on a farm on the Cincinnati pike, five miles south of Xenia, where he spent the rest of his life. After his death his widow moved to the village of Spring Valley and there her last days were spent, she being seventy-five years of age at the time of her death. Eber Compton was a Republican and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which faith their children were reared. There were six of these children, of whom Mrs. Alexander was the fourth in order of birth, the others being the following: Ambrose, now living at Xenia; Wilson, also a resident of Xenia; Alice, who married Frank Hupman and died in Xenia; Delia, wife of Melvin Beal, of Xenia township, and Clifford, who is farming in Spring Valley township.
To Charles F. and Sadie (Compton) Alexander were born five children, all of whom were educated in the Spring Valley schools and all of whom are still living, namely: Dena, who married W. W. Trout, of Springfield, Ohio, and has two children, Jean and Bettie; Nellie, who married John Peterson, of this county, and has three children, Wayne, Donald and Dean; Louise, wife of Joshua Inwood, of Rockford, Illinois; Lawrence, who is farming the home place and who married Eva DeHaven and has two children, Dorothy and Lucile; and Mary E., who is now (1918) a student in the Xenia high school. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Alexander has continued to make her home on the old home farm.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918