Major General The Earl Of Stirling

Author : Charles Andrew Ditmas
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331392101
Total Pages : 22 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (921 download)

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Download or read book The Life and Service of Major-General William Alexander, Vol. 1 written by Charles Andrew Ditmas and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-14 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Life and Service of Major-General William Alexander, Vol. 1: Also Called the Earl of Stirling American History presents no more interesting character than William Alexander, the patriot. The son of a great patriot and a charming, capable woman who played no small part in both the business and the social life of her age. That he was one of Washington's favorite Generals can be construed only as recognizing his ability and loyalty to the great cause. James Alexander, his father, was born in Scotland in 1691, and came to New York in 1715, having been compelled to leave his native land because he had served as an officer of engineers in the army of The Pretender. In 1716, because of his ability as an engineer, he was appointed Surveyor-General of the Colony of New York and of the Colony of New Jersey. He possessed much scientific knowledge, particularly in mathematics. Taking up the study of law, he was admitted to practice and attained a high place at the bar. In 1721 he was appointed Attorney-General, and from 1721 to 1737 and again from 1750 to 1756 he was a member of the Governors Council. In 1737 he was elected to the Colonial Assembly, and from 1722 until his death he was a member of the Governors Council of the Colony of New Jersey. A most remarkable instance of a man serving in the highest governing body of two Colonies at the same time. In 1721 he married the rich widow of Samuel Provoost, whose maiden name was Mary Sprott; her father was John Sprott, of Wigtown, Scotland. By Samuel Provoost she had two sons, John and David. Her husband, Samuel Provoost, had acquired a large estate in mercantile business, the profits of which in those days were enormous. His estate was divided between his widow and two sons. The widow continued the business with considerable success. Her son David grew up to be a sea captain, but died while still a young man, before marriage. The other son, John Provoost, survived his mother, who upon her death in 1761 left him five thousand pounds and his brother David's portrait. He already had one-third of his fathers estate and possibly his brothers share. It was quite natural that when the young widow found herself left in the world with her two boys, and not only a large estate to care for but also a flourishing business to manage, she frequently turned to the young and rising lawyer for advice, and that business turned into friendship, and friendship into love, and the minister did the rest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.