US Congressman. He was born the youngest of four children (he also had two brothers and one sister) in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, to Colonel Adam Alexander and his wife, Mary Sarah Shelby Alexander. He was educated locally in public common schools and then attended college at the prestigious Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, where he graduated from in 1787. Following his graduation from Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, he studied law and was eventually admitted to the bar and began his practice of law in Salisbury, North Carolina, shortly thereafter. He then decided to enter politics and was elected to a seat as a Member of the North Carolina House of Commons to represent the Salisbury District, serving in that capacity from 1796 to 1803. He also served as a Trustee of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, from 1799 to 1809. During this time, he decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected to fill the vacancy by the resignation of United States Representative Nathaniel Alexander (who also happened to be his cousin), who had been elected as the Governor of North Carolina. A Member of the Democratic-American Party, he then served North Carolina's 9th District and 10th District and as an At-Large Delegate in the United States House of Representatives from 1806 to 1809. After his term in the United States Congress expired on March 3, 1809, he was succeeded in office by United States Representative Joseph Pearson. After his time in public office, he resumed his practice of law until his death in Salisbury, North Carolina, on October 28, 1809, at the age of 42. He was buried at the Old Lutheran Church Cemetery in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina. He never married nor had any children.