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This article is from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 volumes, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright ©1979-1996 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

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Alexander, Evan Shelby

by Eva Murphy, 1979

1767–28 Oct. 1809

Evan Shelby Alexander, lawyer and legislator from Salisbury, was born in Mecklenburg County, probably in the Clear Creek Township area, where his father owned a plantation. He was the son of Colonel Adam Alexander and Mary Shelby and a cousin of Nathaniel Alexander. Evan Shelby Alexander was graduated from Princeton University in 1787. His father had intended that he should enter the ministry, but he preferred the law. He was admitted to the bar and set up practice in Salisbury. He served three terms in the North Carolina House of Commons between 1796 and 1803, and two years later he was chosen to finish the congressional term of his cousin Nathaniel, who had become governor of the state. He was reelected as a representative to the Tenth Congress and served from 24 Feb. 1806 until 3 Mar. 1809. He also served as a trustee of The University of North Carolina from 1799 to 1809.

Alexander never married. Dying in Salisbury, he was buried there in the old Lutheran Cemetery.

References:

Biog. Dir. Am. Cong. (1950).

Alvah Stafford, comp. Alexander Notebooks (Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, Charlotte).

Who Was Who in America, 1607–1896.

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Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.

1 January 1979 | Murphy, Eva B.