Record of the descendants of John Alexander

1 8 The ^Descendants of
oldest child Margaret was born in Sherman's Valley, in
1754 — that in her childhood her parents fled several
times from Sherman's Valley back to their old home on
the "Eastern Shore of Maryland" from Indian raids,
and returned to find their habitation burned. The " old
home " was no doubt that of Margaret's mother, East of
the Susquehanna in Cecil county, Md. In 1752 he
married * Martha Edmiston, of Lower West Notting-
ham, Cecil county, Md., whose father David Edmiston
was born in the year 1700 and died Nov. 2, 1771. Her
* Note. — From the Records of Cecil county it appears that the
Ediniston Family, in 1740, owned a tract of land (980 acres) on the Octo-
rara Creek, at the mouth of Stony Run, of which Dr. Samuel Edmiston,
Martha's brother, sold 33 acres and a mill property in 1795 for £800.
Also David Edmiston, brother of Martha, owned " Stony Purchase,"
bounded West by the Octorara and North by the Pennsylvania line. On
this property Margaret Donnel Edmiston lived with her son David after
the death of her husband David Edmiston, Senr. Here she was visited
by her granddaughter Margaret, in 1795, when she married Andrew
Mitchel.
The children of David Edmiston and Margaret Donnel were :
1. Martha, born 1733-4; married Hugh Alexander, as above.
2. Samuel, physician, born July 21, 1746 ; a graduate of Princeton Col-
lege under Dr. Finley, and long a ruling elder in Fagg's Manor Presbyterian
church ; married Martha, daughter of Samuel Blair, D.D., of said church
in Chester county; died January 16, 1816.
3. David, long a ruling elder in Lower West Nottingham church, Cecil
county, Maryland; a bachelor of considerable estate, whose will dates
1809, and is recorded at Elkton, Maryland.
4. Margaret married Mr. Donnel and went to North Carolina.
5. Mary married John Stephenson, of Cecil county, Maryland.
6. Sarah married her cousin, John Edmiston, of Virginia.
7. Elizabeth married her cousin, Samuel Edmiston, of Virginia.
8. Hannah married a Mr. Scott, of Maryland.
The parents and David were probably buried in the old Presbyterian
churchyard at Rising Sun, Maryland.
The children of Dr. Samuel Edmiston and Martha Blair were: Fran-
cisca Blair, married John Hamilton, of " Fermanagh," and Margaret
Donnel, married Joseph Turner, of Chester county. Their children are :
Samuel, Rebecca, Francisca Blair, James, Washington B., Joseph and
Martha Mary.
This genealogy is mainly derived from Mrs. MargaYet Donnel Turner,
of Chester County, a widow now in her eighty-ninth year (1875).