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Hezekiah Alexander

First Name: 
Hezekiah
Last Name: 
Alexander

Hezekiah Alexander (1728-1801) was one of the original signers of the Meckenburg Declaration of Independence. In 1774, Maryland native Hezekiah Alexander built a two-story stone house that remains the oldest dwelling in Mecklenburg County. The 600-acre plantation was home to Alexander, his wife Mary Sample, and their 10 children. Alexander, like many of the other wealthy Mecklenburg leaders, owned slaves. He was one of five men - John McKnitt Alexander, Ephraim Brevard, Abraham Alexander and Thomas Polk - who were at the center of Mecklenburg's political and economic struggles during the Revolutionary War years. These men, the Committee of Safety, maintained order and kept citizens informed of the turbulent events taking place. In 1775, news of a British attack on Massachusetts colonists reached the Carolinas.

Mecklenburgers angrily announced their freedom in documents called the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and the Mecklenburg Resolves. Alexander was one of the 27 signers of the proclamation. The existence of the actual Meck Dec would be a source of controversy for generations to come. Today, the Hezekiah Alexander Homesite, part of the Charlotte Museum of History, has been designated an historic site and can be visited by the public.