Notes for Joseph Alexander: [alexander sorrels.FTW]
Of New Munster, and O'Dwire tract. His will mentions daughter Sophia and Son-in-law, Elias A LEXANDER.
His will was presented on 9 Mar 1730 in Cecil Co., MD
"Cecil County, Maryland directly abutts against New Castle County, Delaware. Anyhow, accordi ng to local history books, New Castle, DE, was THE major point of immigration for the Irish a nd Scotch-Irish in America. This is about thirty miles from Philadelphia, so Philadelphia bei ng the nearest big city may have been referenced as the point of arrival simply because nobod y would know where New Castle, DE, was.
To give a bit of geography, the town of New Castle in New Castle County, Delaware, is locate d on the Delaware Bay, which separates Delaware from New Jersey. There are two rivers that dr ain from the city of Philadelphia into the Delaware Bay, this area is referred to as the 'Del aware Valley.' New Castle County is tall and narrow in shape. It comprises the upper third o f the state of Delaware. From the Delaware Bay to the Maryland line is about ten miles. Fro m there to the Elk River is about two miles, the Elk River drains into the Chesapeake Bay. T he peninsula that separates the Chesapeake Bay from the Delaware Bay is called Delmarva. Ne w Munster lays at the intersection of MD, DE, and PA. New Munster roughly coincides with tha t area which is now the Fair Hill Natural Resource Area. Owing to the shortness of the dista nce between New Castle Town on the Delaware Bay and Head of Elk (modern Elkton) on the Chesap eake Bay, there was a major road (now Rt 40), this road ran all the way from Philadelphia t o Baltimore, and eventually west over the Appalachian Mountains to St. Louis. It was origina lly an Indian Trail.
A number of Scotch-Irish, including the Alexander family, who were prominent among them, star ted settling in the New Munster district in the 1680s. More settled slightly west of there i n the Nottingham Tract, while some settled a little southeast in the Welsh Tract (modern DE) . They were Presbyterians, and established two churches just outside of the Maryland state li ne, one in PA, one in (modern) DE.
Over the years Alexanders wound up owning a lot of property in Cecil County; during the Ameri can Revolution, Robert Alexander was a Loyalist, and he was hanged on 4 Nov 1778 in Philadelp hia. His property was seized, and was sold to create the town of Elkton. The village of Hea d of Elk had existed for some years before that, his land lay east of it and was divided up i nto lots and sold off, the courthouse stands on his former land. It supposedly contains recor ds dating as far back as 1674, but I have not yet investigated. The Alexander home still stan ds, I've been by there many times. It is called 'The Hermitage' and the eastern part of Ekto n has grown around it. Robert had 9 children.
However, while some Alexanders stayed and prospered in early Cecil County, others chose to mi grate to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in 1746. Based on info from other sources, it a ppears that members of the Haltom family went with them. Members of the Alexander family wh o remained in Cecil bought the Haltom property when they left. Over the years, additional fam ily members migrated from Cecil County to join their kin in North Carolina, creating a stead y trickle of immigration for some years from Cecil County to western North Carolina." (Beau B owen)
More About Joseph Alexander: Date born 2: Bet. 1639 - 1660, Rapahoe Par, Donegal Co. Ireland. Died 2: March 09, 1729/30, Cecil Co. Maryland. Record Change: November 26, 199914
More About Joseph Alexander and Jane McKnitt: Marriage 1: 1686, Somerset Co., MD.14 Marriage 2: 1676, Somerset Co., MD.14 Marriage 3: 1686, Somerset Co. Maryland.
Children of Joseph Alexander and Jane McKnitt are:
+Sophia Alexander, b. Abt. 1687, Somerset Co Maryland, d. August 31, 1749, York Co. Pennsylvania.
Joseph Alexander (b. Bet. 1639 - 1660, d. Abt. 1729)
Notes for Joseph Alexander: