The second of five children born to General A.J. and Evelina (nee Martin) Alexander, 6-year-old "Midge" was their only surviving child at the time of her death. Born during the summer of 1868 at Fort McDowell in Arizona Territory, where her father, a cavalry commander, had been posted, she had initially been named "Myra Madison Alexander". In 1870, however, she was re-named "Emily Upton Alexander" in memory of her aunt, the young wife of Civil war hero General Emory Upton, who had died that year. The name change was made at the request of the little girl's grieving maternal grandparents, but hardly made a difference to her, as she had been called "Midge" since babyhood. (The name "Myra Madison Alexander" was later given to another daughter born to the Alexanders in 1872, but the infant did not survive.) Midge and her Apache nanny, "Patty", figure largely in her mother's journals, later published as "Diary of a Cavalry Wife", and she was a great favorite with family and friends at "Willowbrook", the Throop-Martin estate on Lake Owasco, near Auburn, New York. Sadly, she died in March 1875, just 4 months before her 7th birthday, having been stricken with an undiagnosed illness shortly after she and her parents had arrived at Fort Union, New Mexico, near the Santa Fe Trail. Her death was a devastating blow to General and Mrs. Alexander, and to all who had known and loved her. A brother, Upton Alexander, was born later that year and lived to adulthood. 2005 & 2013 GRAVE PHOTOS, front & rear views: Nikita Barlow
The second of five children born to General A.J. and Evelina (nee Martin) Alexander, 6-year-old "Midge" was their only surviving child at the time of her death. Born during the summer of 1868 at Fort McDowell in Arizona Territory, where her father, a cavalry commander, had been posted, she had initially been named "Myra Madison Alexander". In 1870, however, she was re-named "Emily Upton Alexander" in memory of her aunt, the young wife of Civil war hero General Emory Upton, who had died that year. The name change was made at the request of the little girl's grieving maternal grandparents, but hardly made a difference to her, as she had been called "Midge" since babyhood. (The name "Myra Madison Alexander" was later given to another daughter born to the Alexanders in 1872, but the infant did not survive.) Midge and her Apache nanny, "Patty", figure largely in her mother's journals, later published as "Diary of a Cavalry Wife", and she was a great favorite with family and friends at "Willowbrook", the Throop-Martin estate on Lake Owasco, near Auburn, New York. Sadly, she died in March 1875, just 4 months before her 7th birthday, having been stricken with an undiagnosed illness shortly after she and her parents had arrived at Fort Union, New Mexico, near the Santa Fe Trail. Her death was a devastating blow to General and Mrs. Alexander, and to all who had known and loved her. A brother, Upton Alexander, was born later that year and lived to adulthood. 2005 & 2013 GRAVE PHOTOS, front & rear views: Nikita Barlow
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