De Alva Stanwood Alexander was an American congressman, politician and historian. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
Background
De Alva Stanwood Alexander was born at Richmond, Maine, United States. He was the son of Stanwood and Priscilla (Brown) Alexander. He belonged to a distinguished line which traced its ancestry back through William Alexander, the pioneer of 1719, to Somerled, Lord of the Isles in Scotland in 1135. When he was seven years old, his father died and his mother moved to Ohio where the boy grew up.
Education
Alexander entered the Edward Little Institute at Auburn to prepare for college. From here he passed to Bowdoin College, graduating in 1870 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. It is recorded that he had an excellent record, particularly in English. Later in life he also studied law.
Career
In 1862 Alexander enlisted--at sixteen--in the 128th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served as a private until the close of the war.
He for a time taught in the public schools of Fort Wayne, Indiana; a little later he acquired an interest in the Daily Gazette, and was its editor at a period when it was a leading organ of the Republican party in that state. In 1874 he sold out his interest and went to Indianapolis, where he acted as staff correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette. About this time he served also as secretary of the Republican state committee.
He studied law under Senator McDonald, was admitted to the bar in 1877, and formed a law partnership with Stanton J. Peelle of Indianapolis, in after years chief justice of the court of claims in Washington. After four years of legal practise, on the recommendation of his friend Senator Benjamin Harrison, he was appointed auditor in the United States Treasury Department.
In 1885 he removed to Buffalo, New York, and formed a partnership with a former college friend, James A. Roberts, who subsequently was comptroller of the State of New York.
In June 1889 President Harrison appointed him United States district attorney for the northern district of New York. He discharged the duties of this office with fidelity and distinction until December 1893, when he resigned.
In 1896 he was elected on the Republican ticket to represent his district in Congress. For fourteen years he faithfully served his constituents, winning his way to a commanding place in the House. In 1910 the Republican party was disrupted by a revolt against the so-called "old guard. " One result of the split-up was Alexander's defeat by his Democratic opponent by one vote. This led to his retirement from public life.
While still in Congress he had begun his Political History of the State of New York. The first two volumes were published in 1906, a third in 1909, and a supplementary volume, entitled Four Famous New Yorkers, in 1923. Believing that the history of a state or nation is largely the history of a few leading men, he made his narrative center around those picturesque figures from Clinton to Platt, who successively occupied the stage of New York politics. If there is little suggestion of underlying forces which may have shaped policy and conduct, the story is always told interestingly, often dramatically, and with a desire to do even-handed justice to politicians of all parties. The History and Procedure of the House of Representatives (1916) is an informing account of parliamentary procedure, interspersed with many brief character sketches. It was a congenial task for which his fourteen years of service in the House fitted him admirably.
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Politics
Alexander was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives.
Personality
Alexander was distinguished by a cordial urbanity of manner which made him a welcome member of a great variety of groups. He was to an unusual degree an example to the younger generation of that fine combination of dignity and courtesy with which it is customary to designate "a gentleman of the old school. "
Connections
Alexander was twice married: first, in September 1871, to Alice Colby of Defiance, Ohio; second, in December 1893, to Anne Bliss of Buffalo, who survived him.