Everything about Alexander Martin totally explained
Alexander Martin (
1740 –
10 November 1807) was the
Federalist governor of the
U.S. state of
North Carolina from
1782 to
1784 and from
1789 to
1792.
Martin was born in
Hunterdon County, New Jersey, the son of a Presbyterian minister. His parents were of Irish descent. He attended the College of New Jersey (later known as
Princeton University), graduating with an B.A. degree in
1756 and an M.A. in
1759. He moved to
North Carolina around
1761 and became a practicing attorney in
Guilford County.
In
1774, Martin was elected to the
Assembly in North Carolina. He was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the
Continental Army in 1775, and in 1776 was promoted to colonel in command of the
2nd North Carolina Regiment. He helped defend against the first British attempt to take Charleston, and then fought at the battles of
Brandywine and
Germantown. He was accused of cowardice and court-martialed for his conduct at Germantown. Although acquitted, he was compelled to resign his commission. He returned to North Carolina, where he served in the
North Carolina Senate during periods from
1778 to
1782, in
1785, and from
1787 to
1788.
In
1782, the General Assembly elected him
North Carolina Governor; he served until
1785. Martin was elected to be a delegate to the
Confederation Congress in 1786 but resigned without attending a session. He was a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention of 1787, but he left before the document was signed. He was elected Governor by the legislature once again in 1789, 1790, and 1791.
Martin was elected to the
United States Senate and served there for a single term from
1793 to
1799. As an Anti-Federalist member of Congress, he opposed the
Jay Treaty but supported the
Alien and Sedition Acts. Also an advocate for education, Martin served on the Board of Trustees of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from
1790 until his death in
1807.
The General Assembly refused to appoint him to a second term in the U.S. Senate; Martin then retired to his North Carolina farm. He did return to politics during the last years of his life, serving from
1805 to
1807 as
Speaker of the North Carolina Senate.
Sources
- Purcell, L. Edward. Who Was Who in the American Revolution. New York: Facts on File, 1993. ISBN 0-8160-2107-4.
- Sobel, Robert and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. ISBN 0-930466-00-4.
- Williams, Max R. "Martin, Alexander"; American National Biography Online, Feb. 2000.
Further Information
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