Record of the descendants of John Alexander

PART I.
THE DESCENDANTS OF HUGH ALEXANDER.
It is uncertain whether Hugh Alexander, eldest son
of John of Lanark, was born in Scotland, or in County
Armagh, Ireland. He was probably a lad of twelve
years when his father's family emigrated to America,
1736. In consequence of the burning of his house and
papers by the Indians in 1754 little can be known of
his early youth. In accordance with a laudable custom
of early times that every boy must learn some useful
trade, Hugh Alexander had learned those of a Wheel-
wright and Carpenter — trades especially in demand
when the settlers in the wilderness must all be housed
by the builder, and clothed with the domestic produc-
tions of the spinning-wheel and loom. It is known
that he practised these trades while residing in West
Nottingham, Chester Co., on the Octorara, though at
the same time he was also engaged in agriculture. The
oldest document pertaining to his business, in the pos-
session of the writer, is a receipt for fifty bushels of
wheat which he had delivered to one Henry Willis,
dated March 31, 1753. The next in order of time is a
receipt dated 1755, given by George Armstrong, who
had surveyed a tract of land for Hugh Alexander in
Sherman's Valley, and had received his fee.
We copy an old Indenture for the historical interest
of its dates, names of persons and places, and to illus-
trate the strictness of early times. The penmanship is
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