is still living, aged _eighty-eight years!_ He
named one of his sons Julius Alexander, an intimate friend and junior
schoolmate. As he and Alexander grew up, they frequently heard the two
meetings of the 20th and 31st of May, 1775, spoken of as being
separate and distinct.

Having already attained a longevity seldom allotted to frail humanity,
may continued health, prosperity, and, above all, the consolations of
the Gospel, attend him in his remaining days upon earth!

P.S.--Thus the author wrote soon after the centennial celebration in
Charlotte, on the 20th of May, 1875, but before these sketches go to
the press, he is informed of the death of this veteran and worthy
citizen; passing away calmly and peacefully, at his home in Union
county, N.C. on the 9th of May, 1876, at the extreme old age of _one
hundred and eleven years three months and five days!_

SIGNERS OF THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

_Abraham Alexander_, the Chairman of the Mecklenburg Convention of the
19th and 20th of May, 1775, was born in 1718, and was an active and
influential magistrate of the county before and after the Revolution,
being generally the honored chairman of the Inferior Court. He was a
member of the popular branch of the Assembly in 1774-'75, with Thomas
Polk as an associate; also one of the fifteen trustees of Queen's
Museum, which institution, in 1777, was transformed into "Liberty Hall
Academy."

After the involuntary retreat of Josiah Martin, the royal Governor, in
June, 1775, from the State, its government was vested in--1. A
Provincial Council for the whole province. 2. A District Committee of
Safety for each county, of not less than twenty-one persons, to be
elected annually by the people of each county. The members of the
Provincial Council for the Salisbury district were Samuel Spencer and
Waightstill Avery. The members of the District Committee of Safety
were John Brevard, Griffith Rutherford, Hezekiah Alexander, James
Auld, Benjamin Patton, John Crawford, William Hill, John Hamilton,
Robert Ewart, Charles Galloway, William Dent, Maxwell Chambers. The
county committee, elected annually by the people in each county,
executed such orders as they received from the Provincial Council, and
made such rules and regulations as the internal condition of each
county demanded. They met once in three months at the Court-house of
their respective counties, to consult on public measures, to
correspond with other commit