The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
Notes: This cemetery is located behind the Rite-Aid Drug store at North Tryon Street and Sugar Creek Road. It is not visible from the street or the parking lot. There is a huge concrete wall and the cemetery is located behind this wall. A key must be obtained from the church office located at 101 Sugar Creek Road West
Author: Kenneth C. Luckey
Capt. William "Black Billy" Alexander
William "Black Billy" ALEXANDER married Margaret (CLARK?). He was born in Bucks Co., PA in 1749. Died on 19 December 1836 at age 84 and is buried in the 2nd Graveyard of Sugar Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Mecklenburg Co..His will was probated in Mecklenburg Co, Book E, page 139, dated 22 Oct 1836, probate Jan 1837.28 His children are listed in the will: Isaac Alexander, Dan Alexander, Jonathan. He was "...known by the name of Black Billy to distinguish him from many other Alexander's in the same and surrounding neighborhoods. The Regulators, an organization of citizens,formed, under the provocations and impositions of the governor, were giving him trouble. The Governor had ordered out the militia of the western counties to join the command of Gen. Waddel. He was ordered to wait at Salisbury for the military to gather, and was delaying his march to join the Governor until a supply of ammunition should reach him. The wagons which were bring powder had reached a point near where Concord now stands, on their way from Charlotte, and encamped for the night. A plan was at once formed for the destruction of the powder. Nine men of Rocky River (the descendents of some of those men are now living in that congregation) and William Alexander of Sugar Creek, as their leader, bound themselves by an oath to stand together in the undertaking and to keep each other's part in it a secret, blackened their faces and disguised themselves as Indians and about daybreak captured the convoy. The band permitted the drivers and their teams and the guard to go unharmed, and then made a pile of the powder on the ground, laid a train for some distance and set fire to it." "He first entered the service of the United States as captain of a company, in 1776, under Col. Adam ALEXANDER, General RUTHERFORD commanding, and marched to the head of the Catawba River, and across the Blue Ridge Mountains, against the Cherokee Indians, who were completely routed and their towns destroyed, compelling them to sue for peace. In 1780, he commanded a company under Col. Francis LOCKE, and marched from Charlotte for the relief of Charleston, but finding the city closely invested by the British army,the regiment fell back to Camden, and remained there until their three months' service had expired. He again served a four months' tour as captain, under General SUMTER, and was in the battles of Rocky Mount,Hanging Rock, and in the skirmish at Wahab's (now written Walkup's.) He also served six weeks as captain under Col. Thomas POLK, in the winter of 1775-6, known as the "Snow Campaign."against the Tory leader, CUNNINGHAM, in South Carolina. He again served a three months' tour as captain in the Wilmington expedition, Gen. RUTHERFORD commanding, immediately preceding the battle of Guilford, but was not in that action, on account of an attack of small-pox. He again marched with Gen. RUTHERFORD's forces against the Tories assembled at Ramsour's Mill, in Lincoln County, but the action having taken place shortly before their arrival, the assisted in taking care of the wounded and in burying the dead. He again entered the service as captain,for ten months, under Gen. SUMTER, in Col. Wade HAMPTON"s regiment in South Carolina, and was the first captain who arrived with his men at the place of rendezvous. He was also in the fight at the Quarter House, Monk's Corner, capture of Orangeburg, battle of Eutaw, and in numerous other minor but important services to his country." The preceding is a direct transcription from the Petition for a Revolutionary Pension, # S-6496."Capt. ALEXANDER resided on the public road leading to Concord, six miles east of Charlotte, where he died on 19 of December, 1836, aged about 87years."
(Information found on Worldconnect.genealogy. rootsweb.com Added by Barbara Darst on 8 Dec 2008
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