Alexander, Henry

Henry Alexander was a slave from Mayslick, KY  who purchased his freedom when he was 21 years old. Listed in the 1840 U.S. Federal Census as a free man, he worked as a merchant.

Henry and his wife Lucy Alexander had a daughter, Maria Ann Alexander, who graduated from Oberlin College with a Literary Degree in 1854 and taught for a while in Covington, KY. Maria married Mifflin W. Gibbs, and the couple moved to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Mifflin Gibbs was the first elected African American municipal judge in the United States. Harriet A. Gibbs was one of the couple's five children.

For more see F. Fowler, "Some undistinguished Negroes," The Journal of Negro History, vol. 5, issue 4 (Oct. 1920), p. 485.