William M. Alexander
*This date in 1852 is celebrated as the birth date of William M. Alexander, a Black small businessman, minister, and newspaper editor.
William Moncure Alexander was born to Moncure Alexander and Frances "Fannie" Alexander in Fredericksburg, Va. In the mid-1870s, his family moved to Richmond and situated itself among that city's Black elite. Through a second marriage, his mother birthed Joseph McGuinn, Warner T. McGuinn, and Robert A. McGuinn. In 1873, Alexander married Ms. Mary Ellen Smith of Richmond and moved with her to Baltimore. In 1875, after the death of her second husband, Fannie Alexander McGuinn relocated to Baltimore to join her son, William, and his new bride.
William’s step-brothers, Robert A. and Warner T., also migrated to Baltimore during the mid-1870s. The Alexander-McGuinn clan resided at 154 Preston Street. William attempted to make a living at several vocations during his early stay in Baltimore (1874 - 1879). Having been Baptists in Richmond (belonging to that city's Second Baptist Church) and once in Baltimore, the Alexander-McGuinn clan eventually placed themselves under the spiritual care of Rev. Harvey Johnson at North Street Baptist Church.
In 1879, Alexander enrolled at Wayland Seminary, Washington, D.C., and was ordained at Union Baptist Church. By the mid-1880s, Alexander began cultivating the Baptist faith among the growing Black populace of northwest Baltimore. The result was the founding of the Patterson Avenue/Sharon Baptist Church in 1885. He was a "race man" in every sense of the word. Ideas of race progress and uplift motivated his work no less than salvation. On June 22, 1885, Alexander joined J.C. Allen, P.H.A. Braxton, and W.C. Lawson at the home of Rev. Johnson, 775 W. Lexington St.
This meeting resulted from a civil rights organization, the Mutual United Brotherhood of Liberty of the United States of America (MUBL). Attendees at the meeting pledged "to use all legal means within our power to procure and maintain our rights as citizens of this common country." William Alexander's home at 154 Preston was a starting point for newly arrived Virginians -- probably cousins or other relatives. Furthermore, the extended family shared a second home with a move to 434 Orchard Street in 1882 and a third home, 525 McMechen, after 1889.
William Alexander remained active in his church and community. He was instrumental in the movement that placed his stepbrother, Warner McGuinn, on the city council. During his lifetime, Rev. Alexander was a savvy, if small-scale, businessman. He co-founded several business ventures: the Queen Commercial Enterprise, the People's Fraternal and Beneficial Society, the Southern Life Insurance Company, and the Northwestern Supply Company.
Out of a need to advertise the Northwestern Supply Company, Alexander began publishing a weekly newspaper in 1892, the Baltimore Afro-American. A few years later, he sold the newspaper to John H. Murphy, whose descendants published the paper more than a century later. After a short illness, Rev. William M. Alexander died on April 10, 1919. A public school was named in his honor as a tribute to his lifetime of service.