James M. Alexander, one of the venerable old settlers of this county, is a native of east Tennessee, born October 9, 1818, and is the eldest of seven children, born to the marriage of Thomas and Elizabeth (Parr) Alexander, and is of Scotch-English ancestry. His father was born in South Carolina in 1796, and died in Johnson County, Ind., in 1878. He was one of the early local ministers in the Methodist Episcopal Church. The mother of Mr. Alexander was born in North Carolina in 1795, and died in this county in 1831. Her father was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and died in Johnson County at ninety-three years of age. The Alexander family came to Johnson County in 1827, and settled in Blue River Township, where they resided six years, and then removed to Hensley Township. Our subject was educated at the subscription school, and in 1834 began the scenes of life for himself, and for six years worked by the month on the farm, beginning at $5 per month, and never receiving more than $11 for a month’s service. In 1840, he commenced farming on his own account in the southwestern portion of Franklin Township, and six years later removed to Union Township, and in the fall of 1854, settled on his present farm, located about two miles from the city of Franklin, in Franklin Township. Mr. Alexander was united in marriage September 12, 1839, to Miss Elizabeth Keneaster, who was born in Kentucky, February 21, 1819, and was a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Moreland) Keneaster, natives of Virginia. To the union of our subject and wife, were born seven children, the following of whom are living: James P., born in 1844; Newton W., born in 1854, and George W., born in 1858. The death of the wife and mother occurred February 5, 1888. In politics, Mr. Alexander has been a life-long democrat, and has been county commissioner of Johnson County. Mrs. Alexander was a consistent member of the Baptist Church, and Mr. Alexander is by faith a Universalist. He has been a resident of Johnson County for more than three score years.