Martha Alexander, wife of John Alexander, was born in Warrenton, Virginia, between 1820 and 1825, and died in Alexandria in 1886. Her maiden name was possibly Luckett, although a primary record was not found.

The 1870 US census recorded Martha Alexander in the household of her daughter and son-in-law, Eliza and Paul Riddick (spelled Reddick). Martha, 45, was working as a cook in a hotel. For unknown reasons, Martha's husband John was not enumerated in this household.

According to the 1880 US census, Martha Alexander was born in Virginia around 1820. Both she and her husband John Alexander were enumerated with the family of Paul Riddick, 30, and Eliza Riddick, 31 (spelled Redeck). Paul Riddick was working as a hack driver. The household also included the four young Riddick children.

The 1880 census showed Martha Alexander's extended family residing on North Pitt Street, probably near Princess. The location of the family residence was styled as "East Pitt," likely referring to the east side of North Pitt Street.

In 1881, the family was possibly living at a different address nearby. City directory listings (Ancestry) show both Paul Reddick [sic], hostler, and John Alexander, laborer, residing at "h e s Pitt nr King," meaning that their home was on the east side of Pitt near King Street.

A hand-written entry about Martha Alexander's death was found in the Alexander, Luckett, Riddick Family Bible (thanks to Abigail Ogden, Find A Grave contributor 49176255, for providing image). A Virginia death record (Ancestry) shows an erroneous date of death for Martha Alexander, but correctly gives her husband's name as John Alexander.

Death notices appeared in the Alexandria Gazette (27 August 1886) and in the Evening Star (Washington, DC, 28 August 1886; both papers via Newspapers.com). The death notice in the Evening Star cites "her late home near the jail." At that time, the Alexandria jail was at the corner of Princess and North St Asaph, a block from North Pitt.

The Virginia death certificate for Eliza Alexander Riddick (Ancestry) shows that her parents were born in Warrenton, Virginia.

Place of burial unclear

Wesley Pippenger's Tombstone Inscriptions of Alexandria, Virginia, vol 5, p 418, has this entry in his St Paul's Cemetery reading, listed under "Location Not Determined:"

"ALEXANDER, Martha. Our mother / MARTHA ALEXANDER / died Aug. 27, 1886 / aged 65 years. (Avery, p. 255; stone not found)"

The language of this entry suggests that Martha Alexander's grave was marked with an inscribed stone when the creator of the underlying source, Carrie White Avery (1870-1925), was conducting her research. However, Avery might have recorded the cemetery in error. Pippenger did not find the stone at St Paul's in 2005.

Abigail Ogden, Find a Grave contributor 49176255, provided the following information:

"Per the historian at St. Paul's, 'Martha Alexander was not a member of St. Paul's and she is not buried at St. Paul's. Wesley Pippinger likely cited the information from "Epitaphs, St. Paul's Episcopal Church cemetery, Alexandria, Va." by Carrie White Avery, a researcher for the Daughters of the American Revolution (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHM-SSVV-S?mode=g&cat=329966). She mistakenly attributed many gravestones to St. Paul's that are in surrounding cemeteries belonging to other denominations and the city. Back in the late 1970s, a committee checked each of Mrs. Avery's attributions against known church membership files so we can say with certainty that Martha is not in our cemetery.'"

The FamilySearch source cited above is a typescript, not Avery's original manuscript (FHL film 007902458, image 75/1883, page 4 of typescript). The typescript lacks the phrase "our mother." Wesley Pippenger worked from a more thorough source by Avery, her manuscript, housed at the Library of Congress.

Research suggestions

Martha Alexander's maiden name was possibly Luckett, although primary documents were not found.

Martha Alexander was not listed in any volume of Pippenger's Tombstone Inscriptions of Alexandria, Virginia, except for the St. Paul's listing in volume 5.

Researchers should consider searching for records for Bethel Cemetery and possibly Union Cemetery. Two men named John Alexander are buried in Bethel Cemetery; one of them might be Martha's husband, although conclusive information was not found. These men are buried in Section D and Section L of Bethel.

Martha Alexander's daughter Eliza Riddick is buried in Bethel Cemetery, close to St Paul's Cemetery.

Pippenger himself noted some errors in Avery's manuscript: he found that Avery's list of St Paul's burials mistakenly included some graves actually located at the Union and Home of Peace cemeteries. (Home of Peace, a Jewish cemetery, is an unlikely location for Martha Alexander's grave.)

Thanks to Abigail Ogden, Find A Grave contributor 49176255, for Bible image and burial information; and to Judi McGarvey, Find A Grave contributor 47550134, for lookups and analysis.