James Rankin Alexander (1828-1873) was born in Aug 12, 1828, in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina to Rankin Alexander and Margaret M. Alexander.

James R. Alexander married Frances Small Sanford on Dec. 8, 1858 in Tipton County. Frances, was the daughter of Robert Walker Sanford and Frances Downs, and sister to several Confederate soldiers.

Alexander enlisted on March 15, 1862 with Company I, 7th (Duckworth’s) Tennessee Cavalry in Tipton County, Tenn., as a 2nd Lieutenant, a rank given by election at the organization of the unit. His successor was P.A. Fisher.

On Dec, 4, 1862, near Vicksburg, Miss., his name appears on a receipt received on board Steamer Metropolitan and given by Maj. N. G. Watts, C.S.A., Agent for Exchange, for Confederate prisoners of war of 1st Tenn. Cavalry.

He was promoted to Captain on Jan. 1, 1863, by a vacancy caused by R? on Dec. 4, 1862, and appears on a roster taken near Abbeville, Miss., and dated May 28, 1864.

On May 11, 1865, Captain James R. Alexander, a Prisoner of War, belonging to the Army of the Department of Alabama, Miss., and East Louisiana, having been surrendered by Lt. Gen R. Sayles, C.S.A., to Maj. Gen. E. R. Canby, U.S.A., Commander of the Army and Division of West Mississippi, was made to sign a “Parole of Honor” #359, in which he states that he gives his solemn “parole of honor” that he will no longer serve in the Army of the Confederate States, or in any military capacity against the United States of America or render aid to enemies of the United States.

The 7th Tennessee Cavalry, also known as Duckworth’s Tenn., mustered in on Apr. 1, 1862 and mustered out on May 12, 1865. Led by Brigadier General James R. Chalmers, Cols. Edmund W. Rucker and William J. Jackson and Lieut. Cols. John G. Stocks and Raleigh R. White, the unit fought in the Battle of Corinth (Oct. 3, 1862) at Corinth Mississippi; Franklin (Nov. 30, 1864) at Franklin, Tenn., and Nashville (Dec. 15-16, 1864) at Nashville, Tenn. The 7th TN Cav., had approximately 217 soldiers, with 90 of its soldiers from the Covington, Tipton County area.

The 1870 U.S. Federal Census lists the former 41-year old Confederate soldier living in District 1 in Tipton County with his wife Frances, four children – two sons, James Evan (9), William B. (7) and two daughters, Annie Lee (4) and Frances Small (2). Also, living in the home was his mother-in-law, 61-year-old Frances Downs Sanford, and a family of black laborers, 30-year-old M. Alexander and his wife 20 year-old Pleasant and son 2-year-old Gussie Alexander.

He died on April 9, 1873, in Tipton County, Tenn., and is buried in R. H. Munford Cemetery in Covington .