|
North Carolina's Governors
Nathaniel Alexander (1756-1808), who served as a surgeon during the Revolution, lived near Harrisburg in a house on the present site of Lowes (Charlotte) Motor Speedway. In 1776 he graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) with a degree in medicine. Two years after graduation, he was commissioned a surgeon in the North Carolina Continental Line. In the field he labored with great difficulty, given the scarcity of supplies. Alexander practiced medicine for several years in South Carolina after the war and then returned to Mecklenburg County. He served in the State House and was elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served from 1803 to 1805. He resigned from Congress in November of 1805, having been elected by the state legislature to replace James Turner as governor. Reelected without opposition in 1806, he served as chief executive for just over two years. As governor, Alexander attempted to settle the lingering border dispute with Georgia and was an early advocate of education and internal improvements. Historians have acclaimed him as the forerunner of the prominent line of politicians with a grasp of the importance of education. It was during Alexander's governorship that the Court Act of 1806 brought significant reform to the state's judicial system, creating a separate superior court in each county. Alexander himself feared that the additional courts would place undue demands on both judges and eligible jurors. Ironically, it was almost certainly his call for repeal of the legislation in 1807 that cost him a third term as governor. Because many of his Republican supporters deserted him in the election of that year, he was defeated by Federalist Benjamin Williams. Alexander died in Salisbury in 1808 less than a year after leaving office, and was buried in the cemetery of the First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte.
|
