Husband of Betsey Healy
"History of Will County", May 1973, Page 730
James L. ALEXANDER, farmer, P.O. Lockport; was born in New Marlboro, Mass., Aug. 22, 1805. He was married to Betsey HEALY, of Elbridge, Onondaga Co., N.Y., May 17, 1834; after marriage, he lived three years in Sodus, Wayne Co., N.Y. where he engaged in farming; in 1837, he came West and settled near Lockport, taking contracts on the I. & M. Canal on the section at Kankakee, and subsequently on Secs. 62 and 45; after the completion of the canal, he purchased a farm in the present limits of Dupage Twp., and occupied it in 1841; in 1860, he moved to the farm now owned and operated, by his widow and son, James H.; he died Dec. 29, 1876; has two children living - James H. and Sarah E. (now wife of C.W. RATHBURN, of Joliet). The home farm contains 382 acres, worth $70 per acre. Never having sought political preferment, he held no offices higher than those of School Trustee and School Director. He was a well-read, thorough-going business man; perhaps no man in the communities which he lived enjoyed the respect and confidence of his neighbors to a fuller extent than did Mr. ALEXANDER; starting in life a poor boy, he, by manly exertions, accumulated a competency for his family, and, at his death, no man could truthfully say that he had accumulated one cent in a dishonest manner.
*****
OBITUARY
Died -- In Lockport on Friday, Dec. 29th 1876, James Alexander. His funeral took place on the homestead and was attended by a large concourse of relatives and friends.
Mr. Alexander was the eldest of a family of four, was born in Marlborough, Mass., August 22, 1805. At the age of 12 his parents moved into New York; at the age of 18 he started to make a fortune for himself and worked for John Healy, Esq., one of whose daughters he subsequently married. At the age of 22 he walked 350 miles to Maryland in search of employment and began as a common laborer in the work of digging the Baltimore and Ohio canal. He was since placed in the position of an overseer and became a contractor.
Meeting with success in his enterprises and imbibing the spirit of western enterprise, he came to Illinois and secured contracts on the Illinois and Michigan canal. The further prosecution of the work being abandoned, he purchased the farm now occupied by the wife of the late A.W. Coit, Esq., on which he lived until the spring of 1854, when he moved to Lockport village. Afterward, in 1859 he purchased the farm and built the homestead in which he treaded his last.
In the death of Mr. Alexander society loses one of its best and most prominent pillars of support. He was the pattern of a straight-forward businessman, always ready to do and never faltering in what he did. His right hand was always open, and from his conversation always came words of welcome, good cheer and sympathy for every one. He lived respected by all who knew him and died without an enemy. Possessed of a religious nature and sympathetic temperament, without subscribing to sectarian dogmas, he lived the pure life of a Christian and passed from earth in the full faith of enjoying a brighter future--in that faith that springs from the soul of manhood and grows with the natural embodiment of common, natural sense.
Mr. Alexander leaves a wife, a son (James H. Alexander) and a daughter (Mrs. Sarah Rathburn) to mourn his loss.
"History of Will County", May 1973, Page 730
James L. ALEXANDER, farmer, P.O. Lockport; was born in New Marlboro, Mass., Aug. 22, 1805. He was married to Betsey HEALY, of Elbridge, Onondaga Co., N.Y., May 17, 1834; after marriage, he lived three years in Sodus, Wayne Co., N.Y. where he engaged in farming; in 1837, he came West and settled near Lockport, taking contracts on the I. & M. Canal on the section at Kankakee, and subsequently on Secs. 62 and 45; after the completion of the canal, he purchased a farm in the present limits of Dupage Twp., and occupied it in 1841; in 1860, he moved to the farm now owned and operated, by his widow and son, James H.; he died Dec. 29, 1876; has two children living - James H. and Sarah E. (now wife of C.W. RATHBURN, of Joliet). The home farm contains 382 acres, worth $70 per acre. Never having sought political preferment, he held no offices higher than those of School Trustee and School Director. He was a well-read, thorough-going business man; perhaps no man in the communities which he lived enjoyed the respect and confidence of his neighbors to a fuller extent than did Mr. ALEXANDER; starting in life a poor boy, he, by manly exertions, accumulated a competency for his family, and, at his death, no man could truthfully say that he had accumulated one cent in a dishonest manner.
*****
OBITUARY
Died -- In Lockport on Friday, Dec. 29th 1876, James Alexander. His funeral took place on the homestead and was attended by a large concourse of relatives and friends.
Mr. Alexander was the eldest of a family of four, was born in Marlborough, Mass., August 22, 1805. At the age of 12 his parents moved into New York; at the age of 18 he started to make a fortune for himself and worked for John Healy, Esq., one of whose daughters he subsequently married. At the age of 22 he walked 350 miles to Maryland in search of employment and began as a common laborer in the work of digging the Baltimore and Ohio canal. He was since placed in the position of an overseer and became a contractor.
Meeting with success in his enterprises and imbibing the spirit of western enterprise, he came to Illinois and secured contracts on the Illinois and Michigan canal. The further prosecution of the work being abandoned, he purchased the farm now occupied by the wife of the late A.W. Coit, Esq., on which he lived until the spring of 1854, when he moved to Lockport village. Afterward, in 1859 he purchased the farm and built the homestead in which he treaded his last.
In the death of Mr. Alexander society loses one of its best and most prominent pillars of support. He was the pattern of a straight-forward businessman, always ready to do and never faltering in what he did. His right hand was always open, and from his conversation always came words of welcome, good cheer and sympathy for every one. He lived respected by all who knew him and died without an enemy. Possessed of a religious nature and sympathetic temperament, without subscribing to sectarian dogmas, he lived the pure life of a Christian and passed from earth in the full faith of enjoying a brighter future--in that faith that springs from the soul of manhood and grows with the natural embodiment of common, natural sense.
Mr. Alexander leaves a wife, a son (James H. Alexander) and a daughter (Mrs. Sarah Rathburn) to mourn his loss.
Husband of Betsey Healy
"History of Will County", May 1973, Page 730
James L. ALEXANDER, farmer, P.O. Lockport; was born in New Marlboro, Mass., Aug. 22, 1805. He was married to Betsey HEALY, of Elbridge, Onondaga Co., N.Y., May 17, 1834; after marriage, he lived three years in Sodus, Wayne Co., N.Y. where he engaged in farming; in 1837, he came West and settled near Lockport, taking contracts on the I. & M. Canal on the section at Kankakee, and subsequently on Secs. 62 and 45; after the completion of the canal, he purchased a farm in the present limits of Dupage Twp., and occupied it in 1841; in 1860, he moved to the farm now owned and operated, by his widow and son, James H.; he died Dec. 29, 1876; has two children living - James H. and Sarah E. (now wife of C.W. RATHBURN, of Joliet). The home farm contains 382 acres, worth $70 per acre. Never having sought political preferment, he held no offices higher than those of School Trustee and School Director. He was a well-read, thorough-going business man; perhaps no man in the communities which he lived enjoyed the respect and confidence of his neighbors to a fuller extent than did Mr. ALEXANDER; starting in life a poor boy, he, by manly exertions, accumulated a competency for his family, and, at his death, no man could truthfully say that he had accumulated one cent in a dishonest manner.
*****
OBITUARY
Died -- In Lockport on Friday, Dec. 29th 1876, James Alexander. His funeral took place on the homestead and was attended by a large concourse of relatives and friends.
Mr. Alexander was the eldest of a family of four, was born in Marlborough, Mass., August 22, 1805. At the age of 12 his parents moved into New York; at the age of 18 he started to make a fortune for himself and worked for John Healy, Esq., one of whose daughters he subsequently married. At the age of 22 he walked 350 miles to Maryland in search of employment and began as a common laborer in the work of digging the Baltimore and Ohio canal. He was since placed in the position of an overseer and became a contractor.
Meeting with success in his enterprises and imbibing the spirit of western enterprise, he came to Illinois and secured contracts on the Illinois and Michigan canal. The further prosecution of the work being abandoned, he purchased the farm now occupied by the wife of the late A.W. Coit, Esq., on which he lived until the spring of 1854, when he moved to Lockport village. Afterward, in 1859 he purchased the farm and built the homestead in which he treaded his last.
In the death of Mr. Alexander society loses one of its best and most prominent pillars of support. He was the pattern of a straight-forward businessman, always ready to do and never faltering in what he did. His right hand was always open, and from his conversation always came words of welcome, good cheer and sympathy for every one. He lived respected by all who knew him and died without an enemy. Possessed of a religious nature and sympathetic temperament, without subscribing to sectarian dogmas, he lived the pure life of a Christian and passed from earth in the full faith of enjoying a brighter future--in that faith that springs from the soul of manhood and grows with the natural embodiment of common, natural sense.
Mr. Alexander leaves a wife, a son (James H. Alexander) and a daughter (Mrs. Sarah Rathburn) to mourn his loss.
"History of Will County", May 1973, Page 730
James L. ALEXANDER, farmer, P.O. Lockport; was born in New Marlboro, Mass., Aug. 22, 1805. He was married to Betsey HEALY, of Elbridge, Onondaga Co., N.Y., May 17, 1834; after marriage, he lived three years in Sodus, Wayne Co., N.Y. where he engaged in farming; in 1837, he came West and settled near Lockport, taking contracts on the I. & M. Canal on the section at Kankakee, and subsequently on Secs. 62 and 45; after the completion of the canal, he purchased a farm in the present limits of Dupage Twp., and occupied it in 1841; in 1860, he moved to the farm now owned and operated, by his widow and son, James H.; he died Dec. 29, 1876; has two children living - James H. and Sarah E. (now wife of C.W. RATHBURN, of Joliet). The home farm contains 382 acres, worth $70 per acre. Never having sought political preferment, he held no offices higher than those of School Trustee and School Director. He was a well-read, thorough-going business man; perhaps no man in the communities which he lived enjoyed the respect and confidence of his neighbors to a fuller extent than did Mr. ALEXANDER; starting in life a poor boy, he, by manly exertions, accumulated a competency for his family, and, at his death, no man could truthfully say that he had accumulated one cent in a dishonest manner.
*****
OBITUARY
Died -- In Lockport on Friday, Dec. 29th 1876, James Alexander. His funeral took place on the homestead and was attended by a large concourse of relatives and friends.
Mr. Alexander was the eldest of a family of four, was born in Marlborough, Mass., August 22, 1805. At the age of 12 his parents moved into New York; at the age of 18 he started to make a fortune for himself and worked for John Healy, Esq., one of whose daughters he subsequently married. At the age of 22 he walked 350 miles to Maryland in search of employment and began as a common laborer in the work of digging the Baltimore and Ohio canal. He was since placed in the position of an overseer and became a contractor.
Meeting with success in his enterprises and imbibing the spirit of western enterprise, he came to Illinois and secured contracts on the Illinois and Michigan canal. The further prosecution of the work being abandoned, he purchased the farm now occupied by the wife of the late A.W. Coit, Esq., on which he lived until the spring of 1854, when he moved to Lockport village. Afterward, in 1859 he purchased the farm and built the homestead in which he treaded his last.
In the death of Mr. Alexander society loses one of its best and most prominent pillars of support. He was the pattern of a straight-forward businessman, always ready to do and never faltering in what he did. His right hand was always open, and from his conversation always came words of welcome, good cheer and sympathy for every one. He lived respected by all who knew him and died without an enemy. Possessed of a religious nature and sympathetic temperament, without subscribing to sectarian dogmas, he lived the pure life of a Christian and passed from earth in the full faith of enjoying a brighter future--in that faith that springs from the soul of manhood and grows with the natural embodiment of common, natural sense.
Mr. Alexander leaves a wife, a son (James H. Alexander) and a daughter (Mrs. Sarah Rathburn) to mourn his loss.
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