Tag Archives: Alexander

Harry Brown Alexander

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Harry Brown Alexander
birth: 1 Sep 1878, Franklin, Johnson Co., IN to Milton Gregg Alexander and Laura Chambers
death: 18 Jul 1953, New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas, OH
burial: Evergreen Burial Park, New Philadelphia, OH

marriage: 4 Apr 1902, Greenfield, Hancock, IN
Anna Maria Witte
birth: 15 Oct 1879, Cumberland, Marion, IN to Friedrich “Fred” Wilhelm Witte and Maria “Christine” Hartmann
death: 24 Feb 1965, Dover Twp., Tuscarawas Co., IN
burial: Evergreen Burial Park, New Philadelphia, OH

Children of Anna Maria Witte and Harry Brown Alexander:

  • George Milton, 1903-1974, m1931 wife Ruth MOOS, 1907-2011
  • Frederick William, 1905-1990, m1935 wife Della Josephine MENAPACE, 1904-1995
  • Helen Vivian, 1910-2003, never married
  • Robert Donald, 1912-2002, m1939 wife Hazel Oneida CRAIG, 1917-2006
  • Harry Brown, Jr., 1916-2003, m 1941 wife 1: Jolan Mary BOTH, 1919-1960; m 1961 wife 2: Jean GOODMAN, 1916-2007

Ancestor here lived in:

Greenfield, Hancock Co. 1880-1899
Indianapolis, Marion Co. 1900-1902
Greenfield, Hancock Co. 1902-1903
Charlottesville, Hancock Co. 1903
Hillsboro, probably Henry Co. 1904-1908

New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas Co., OH, 1908-1953

Other Information: Earlest record for this Alexander family in Indiana is 1820 Franklin Co. Census (great grandfather James ALEXANDER). Mother Laura CHAMBERS arrived Franklin Co. with family from Maryland in 1835. Harry’s early jobs were in a bicycle shop and as a moulder at Home Stove Co. in Indianapolis. Started Witte & Alexander handle mfg. factory with father-in-law Fred Witte in Greenfield in 1902 and moved factory to Charlottesville in 1903. Started Hillsboro Novelty Works in 1906 in Hillsboro. Moved to New Philadelphia, Ohio c1908 and started Columbia Mfg. Co. (wood handles) 1908-1918. Foreman, American Sheet & Tin Co. New Phila. OH 1918-1933. Owned Diamond Handle Co. 1929-1953 and Alexander Insurance Co. 1932-1953. Served on New Philadelphia City Council for several terms and was President @death. Methodist; Knights of Pythias Equity Lodge 73 (Secy); charter member and Secy of DOKK (Dramatic Order of Knights of Khorassan)

Submitted by: Judi Baumgarner

Email: judistree@gmail.com

Olive Alexander

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Olive Alexander
b. 10 June 1887, Jay County, Indiana, to Thomas Franklin and Mary Ann (Courtney) Alexander
d. 29 October 1973, Merced, Merced County, California

m/1. 11 August 1906, Bearcreek Township, Jay County, Indiana
Dallas Ray Richison
b. 4 August 1884, Jay County, Indiana, to Frank Albert and Sarah Jane (Davis) Richison
d. 13 March 1947, Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana

m/2. 15 April 1950
J. Frank Hodge
b. 24 November 1878, Jay County, Indiana, to Commodore Perry and Susan (Wood) Hodge
d. 1956, Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana

Children with Dallas Ray Richison:
• Modjeska Pauline (1907-1989) married Milburn
Theodore Thornburg
• Ophir Orlo (1909-1949) married Zella Beatrice
Wilkerson
• Herbert Meredith (1913-1969) married Alice Louise
Richardson
• Charles Allen (1918-1989) married Mildred Miley
• Frank Vaughn (1920-1999) married Edith Catherine
Smith

Olive lived in Jay and Randolph counties while she was in Indiana. She was moved to California by her son Frank and daughter Pauline when her health began to decline in 1966. When she died there in 1973, her ashes were flown back to Indiana to be buried beside her first husband, the father of all her children, in Fountain Park Cemetery in Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana.

Submitted by:
Shirley Richison Fields
Avon IN
E-mail: richison@indy.rr.com

Modjeska Pauline Richison

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Modjeska Pauline “Polly” Richison
b. 25 September 1907, Jay County, Indiana, to Dallas Ray and Olive (Alexander) Richison
d. 21 March 1989, Seattle, King County, Washington

m/1. 18 May 1926, Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana
Melburn Theodore Thornburg
b. 9 November 1903, Jay County, Indiana
d. 4 January 1987, Muncie, Delaware County, Indiana

m/2. after 1926
Paul Armstrong

m/3. before August 1949
Elwood Thompson

m/4. after 1952
James Jackson

m/5. by 1973
William Cleary

m/6.
Stankey Rohr

Pauline’s first husband, Ted Thornburg, worked at Kistleman’s Wire Mill in Muncie for many years and was reputed to have bootlegged booze during Prohibition while married to Pauline. They divorced, and she married several more times before her death. She never had any children although her brother, Frank, seemed to remember being told that she miscarried one child.

Paula, as she was known outside the family, married her third husband, Elwood Thompson, in the late 1940’s. He was a navigator on a plane shot down over Korea, and his body was never recovered. She was a widow (Mrs. Stankey Rohr) when she died.

Submitted by:
Shirley Richison Fields
Avon IN
E-mail: richison@indy.rr.com

Edith Catherine Smith

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Edith Catherine Smith
b. 15 February 1918, Ligonier, Noble County, Indiana, to Thomas Jackson and Eva May (Vance) Smith
d. 28 April 2003, Huntington Beach, California

m. 30 June 1946, Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana
Frank Vaughn Richison
b. 6 October 1920, Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana, to Dallas Ray and Olive (Alexander) Richison
d. 21 September 1999, Santa Ana, Orange County, California

Children with Frank Vaughn Richison:
• Michael Vaughn (b. 1949) married April Irene Kuikahi
• Patrick Allen (b. 1951) married Patricia Byers

Edith was a registered nurse and worked at the Irene Byrum Sanitarium in Fort Wayne, Indiana, until after her marriage. By 1947 she was living in St. Louis, but moved to Winchester where she lived for many years before making her final move to Santa Ana, Orange County, California.

Submitted by:
Shirley Richison Fields
Avon IN
E-mail: richison@indy.rr.com

Frank Vaughn Richison

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Frank Vaughn Richison
b. 6 October 1920, Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana, to Dallas Ray and Olive (Alexander) Richison
d. 21 September 1999, Santa Ana, Orange County, California

m. 30 June 1946, Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana
Edith Catherine Smith
b. 15 February 1918, Ligonier, Noble County, Indiana, to Thomas Jackson and Eva May (Vance) Smith

Children with Edith Catherine Smith:
• Michael Vaughn (b. 1949) married April Irene Kuikahi
• Patrick Allen (b. 1951) married Patricia Byers

Frank’s ancestors came to Indiana from Ohio sometime between the 1870 and 1880 censuses. The family lived in Wabash and Jackson townships of Jay County for many years, but by the time Frank was born, his father had located on a farm outside of Winchester in Randolph County, Indiana. Frank was living in St. Louis by 1947 but returned to Winchester for many years before moving to Santa Ana, California, where he lived out his life. He was a laboratory technician and worked long hours in the late 1940’s during a polo epidemic that caused many deaths in Winchester, Indiana.

Submitted by:
Shirley Richison Fields
Avon IN
E-mail: richison@indy.rr.com

Charles Allen Richison

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Charles Allen Richison
b. 13 April 1918, Portland, Jay County, Indiana, to Dallas Ray and Olive (Alexander) Richison
d. 28 July 1989, Summerfield, Marion County, Florida

m. 24 December 1939
Mildred Miley
b. 1921

Charles and Mildred had no children.

Charles served in the U.S. Army from 9 January 1943 to 29 January 1946. He later taught school in Vesterburg, Michigan, before retiring to Florida.

Submitted by:
Shirley Richison Fields
Avon IN
E-mail: richison@indy.rr.com

George Washington Smith

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George Washington Smith
b. 17 May 1854, Franklin County, Indiana, to John H. and Leannah J. (Lane) Smith
d. 6 October 1925, Eddyville, Dawson County, Nebraska

m. 13 December 1874, Brookville, Franklin County, Indiana
Ida Isabelle Hunter
b. 14 July 1860, Ripley County, Indiana, to Aaron Nathan B. and Cynthia Ann (Lawrence) Hunter
d. 29 October 1956, in Lexington, Dawson County, Nebraska

Children with Ida Isabelle Hunter:
• Allen M. (1876-1954) married (1) Della Clark, (2) Etta Bruce
• Charles Henry (1878-1936) married (1) Martha Nelson, (2) May E. Alexander
• Jule U. (1879-1880)
• Dore Viola (1882-1882)
• Jennie Lavine (1884-1919) married LeGrand H. Mason
• Edna Lenore (1886-1972) married Albert Bayne
• Carrie Alice (1888-1978) married Oliver S. Wagner
• LeAnna Belle (1890-1989) married Herman Leo Pierce
• Bertha Mae (1892-1966) married (1) Frank Brown, (2) George Brewster
• George Lorance (1899-1986) married (1) Clara Persons, (2) Auleen Hiner
• Franklin Evert (1898-1950) married (1) Mable Shapiro, (2) Velma Davis
• Bonnie Rae (1900-1900)

Submitted by:
Gerry Yost
Ravenna NE
E-mail: gyost@webtv.net

Willis Emerson Alexander

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Willis Emerson Alexander
b. 8 April 1882, Vincennes, Knox Co., IN to George Willis and Sophia Mae (Rice) Alexander
d. 25 March 1911, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI
bur. Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI

Willis Emerson Alexander

Willis Emerson Alexander

m. 20 Sept. 1909, Wallaceburg, Kent Co., Ontario, Canada
Grace Florence Williston
b. 04 May 1882, Butler, DeKalb Co., IN
d. 29 May 1942, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI

Child with Grace Florence Williston:

  • Willis Dolly Alexander (1911-1978), married Harold L. Bliss

Willis and his six brothers and sisters were all born in Indiana. Willis’s father, George Willis Alexander, was born in Louisville, Kentucky but his mother Sophia Mae Rice was born in Indiana. The young family of George Willis and Sophia Mae Rice was fractured when Sophia died in Tennessee in 1897, and George died in 1900 in Arkansas. The younger children were divided among relatives.

As the second oldest son, Willis enlisted in Co. L, 4th Tennessee Volunteers on 23 June 1898. He was discharged May 6, 1899 after service in the Philippine Islands where he contracted malarial fever. He re-enlisted with Co. F., U.S. Infantry 15 May 1899 and was discharged 14 May 1902 after having served in Manila, Philippine Islands and Cuba. In the 1900 United States Federal Census, Willis is listed as living in the Pinar Del Rio Barracks, Cuba, Military and Naval Forces. His military file describes him as 5′, 9″ tall with a fair complexion, auburn hair, and brown eyes.

By 1908, Willis E. Alexander lived in Detroit. He resided at 168 Harrington St., and his future wife lived at 159 Harrington St. Undoubtedly they met as neighbors.

At age 28, Willis Emerson Alexander died after being injured in an industrial accident in Detroit, four months before his only child was born. He was buried in the U.S. Army section of historic Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan, just down the lane from his wife’s grave.

Submitted by:
Grace Elizabeth Bliss Smith (granddaughter)
Email: GraceMI@comcast.net

Grace Florence Williston

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Grace Florence Williston
b. 4 May 1882, Butler, DeKalb Co., IN to William W. and Mary Jane (Porter) Williston
d. 29 May 1942, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI
bur. Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI

Grace Florence Williston

Grace Florence Williston

m/1.
Herman Greek

m/2. 20 Sept. 1909, Wallaceburg, Kent Co., Ontario, Canada
Willis Emerson Alexander
b. 08 April 1882, Vincennes, Knox Co., IN
d. 25 March 1911, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI
bur. Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI

Children with Herman Greek:

  • Dorothy V. (1903-1986)
  • Leonard E. (1904-1971)

Child with Willis Emerson Alexander:

  • Willis Dolly Alexander (1911-1978), married Harold L. Bliss

Grace was born in DeKalb County, IN, but her father and older brothers were born in Ontario, Canada. According to census records, the family immigrated to the United States in 1881. The most likely reason for her Indiana birth is that her father, a machinist, relocated to Indiana when he worked for the Wabash Railroad. By 1885, the Williston family had moved to Detroit where William Williston was employed by the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway.

Grace was first married to Herman Greek, and they were the parents of two children: Dorothy V. (1903-1986) and Leonard E. (1904-1971). After their divorce, Grace married Willis E. Alexander of Boone Co., IN. They were the parents of one child, Willis Dolly Alexander, born 3 August, after her father’s death on 25 March 1911 in Detroit.

According to family lore, “Gracie” was a witty and resourceful woman who enjoyed people and crafts. She quilted, was an accomplished seamstress, and painted beautiful china plates, using violets and other flowers in her designs. She owned mother-of-pearl opera glasses so she must have enjoyed attending live performances in Detroit. After her husband Willis’s untimely death, she supported herself and her three children by taking boarders into her home. Grace Florence Williston Alexander died in Detroit and is buried next to her parents and sister Genevieve in the South Lake section of historic Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan.

Submitted by:
Grace Elizabeth Bliss Smith (granddaughter)
Email: GraceMI@comcast.net

A. Glen Nixon

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A. GLEN NIXON
b. about 1905, Jay County, Indiana
d. 26 Jun 1985, Portland, Jay County, Indiana
bur. Green Park Cemetery, Portland, Jay County, Indiana

m.
Marceil N. McKinley
b. 22 Jan 1905, to Robert Clem and Armeda (Alexander) McKinley

Children with Marceil N. McKinley:

  • Wanda married Alva Eley
  • Betty Lou (d. bef 1985)
  • Richard Dale (b. 1932) married Norma Jean Somers
  • Thomas E. (b. abt 1937) married Jeannette Louise Loy

Glen was a Jay County native and a farmer. He also worked for the Jay County Highway Department at one time. In addition to his wife, two sons and one daughter, a brother, Cleatus Nixon, and a sister, Mary (Mrs. Dale) Pensinger, survived him. He was a member of Portland Moose Lodge for 45 years. His obituary appeared in The Muncie (Indiana) Star on 28 June 1985.

Submitted by:
Shirley Richison Fields
Avon IN
E-mail: richison@me.com