Commonly listed as "L. P. Alexander".
---
Lorenzo was the son of
Thomas Parker Alexander, and
his wife Betsey "Eliza" White.
------------------------------
He came from New York, to
"McCoy's Creek", in (Berrien
County) Michigan in Oct. of 1841,
with the family of Price Cooper
(his future father-in-law).
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Lorenzo was one of Buchanan's most
prominent citizens from about 1850
until his death in Buchanan in 1894.
-----------------
See article on Lorenzo P. Alexander
in the "Friends of Oak Ridge Cemetery"
newsletter, October 2007, Vol. II, No. 4,
by editor Robert D. Brown,
which includes the following:
Lorenzo served in the Michigan Militia
(27th and 28th Regiments) for a while,
starting in 1844 (at age 23).
From 1847 to 1851 he was constable and
Buchanan Twp. treasurer, and he served
numerous terms as supervisor. From 1848
to 1859, he was director of schools, and
later was on the school board. In 1860
he was elected to the state legislature.
Then, he was Postmaster of Buchanan from
1863 to 1866 (and then again starting in
1877). In 1870 he was elected state
senator for Berrien County.
He was the general contractor for the
first brick high school, which
he built in 1871, and which remained
in service until the current high
school was built 50 years later.
---
Also see article on Lorenzo P. Alexander
in "History of Berrien and Van Buren
Counties, Michigan", by D. W. Ensign & Co.
-------------------------------
Lorenzo was married to his first
wife Rachel Cooper, the daughter
of Price Cooper, on Jan. 13, 1842,
in Berrien County Michigan.
(They were school-mates back in N. Y.).
Lorenzo and Rachel had three children:
(the two boys dying young)
---
(1.) Theodore Alexander
(he drowned at age 10 or 11).
---
(2.) Carlton Alexander
(he died at age 4).
---
(3.) Emily Kate (Alexander) French,
who married Henry Clay French,
on Sept. 6, 1870, in Berrien Co. MI.
Emily lived in Cassopolis, Cass Co. MI
in 1880 and 1900, and in South Bend,
St. Joseph County Indiana in 1910 (age 60).
Emily is buried with her husband in the
Riverview Cemetery, in South Bend, IN.
-------------------------------
Note: Lorenzo's first wife Rachel
died in 1859.
-------------------------------
Lorenzo married his second wife,
Helen M. Byrnes/Burns, the daughter
f John Byrnes, on Aug. 26, 1860,
in Berrien County Michigan.
They had one son, John Byrnes Alexander.
----------------------------------
There are headstones here in the
Oak Ridge Cemetery for his first
wife Rachel, and his grandson
Sammy French (son of Emily and Henry),
in Section 20, Lot 1. All three of
Lorenzo's sons are also listed as buried
in this lot, as well as his second wife
Helen, but there are no stones for them.
Lorenzo has no headstone, but it is
believed that he is also buried in
Section 20, Lot 1.
--------------------------