Harold Alexander

Brief Life History of Harold

When Harold Alexander was born on 5 September 1930, in Stanislaus, California, United States, his father, David William Alexander, was 22 and his mother, Myrtle Estelle Stanage, was 25. He lived in Modesto Judicial Township, Stanislaus, California, United States in 1940. In 1953, at the age of 23, his occupation is listed as missionary in Guadeloupe, Commewijne, Suriname. He died on 29 June 2020, in Villers-Saint-Paul, Oise, France, at the age of 89, and was buried in Coulterville, Mariposa, California, United States.

Photos and Memories (1)

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Family Time Line

Harold Alexander
1930–2020
Lois Ilene Wagler
1930–1977

Sources (5)

  • Harold Alexander, "United States Census, 1940"
  • Harold Watson Alexander, "California Birth Index, 1905-1995"
  • Harold Watson Alexander, "France, Insee Social Security Death Index, 1970-2022"

Spouse and Children

World Events (8)

1931

The Star-Spangled Banner is adopted as the national anthem.

1934 · Alcatraz Island Becomes Federal Penitentiary

Alcatraz Island officially became Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on August 11, 1934. The island is situated in the middle of frigid water and strong currents of the San Francisco Bay, which deemed it virtually inescapable. Alcatraz became known as the toughest prison in America and was seen as a “last resort prison.” Therefore, Alcatraz housed some of America’s most notorious prisoners such as Al Capone and Robert Franklin Stroud. Due to the exorbitant cost of running the prison, and the deterioration of the buildings due to salt spray, Alcatraz Island closed as a penitentiary on March 21, 1963. 

1954 · Algerian War with France

From November 1, 1954 to March 19, 1962 France was at war with Algeria. It started when a simple protest march to demand Algerian independence turned into a massacre. Algeria gained their indpendence from France.

Name Meaning

Scottish, English, German, and Dutch: from the personal name Alexander, classical Greek Alexandros, which probably originally meant ‘repulser of men (i.e. of the enemy)’, from alexein ‘to repel’ + andros, genitive of anēr ‘man’. Its popularity in the Middle Ages was due mainly to the Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great (356–323 BC ) - or rather to the hero of the mythical versions of his exploits that gained currency in the so-called Alexander Romances. The name was also borne by various early Christian saints, including a patriarch of Alexandria (c. 250–326 AD ), whose main achievement was condemning the Arian heresy. The Gaelic form of the personal name is Alasdair, which has given rise to a number of Scottish and Irish patronymics, for example McAllister . Alexander is a common personal name in Scotland, often representing an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name. In North America, the English form of the surname has absorbed cognates from other languages, e.g. Spanish Alejandro , Italian Alessandro , Arabic or Assyrian/Chaldean Iskandar and Iskander , and their derivatives, e.g. Greek patronymic Alexandropoulos.

Jewish: from the adopted personal name Alexander (see 1 above) or shortened from the eastern Ashkenazic (originally Slavic) patronymics Aleksandrovich or Alexandrowicz.

History: A number of Scotch-Irish families of this name landed at New York in the early 18th century. By 1746, six of them were established in NC. Others came in through Philadelphia, for example Archibald Alexander, who came from Londonderry in northern Ireland in 1736 and established himself in VA. — The Revolutionary general William Alexander (1726–83) was always known as ‘Lord Sterling’ to his compatriots, although his claim to the title was denied by the College of Arms in London. His father, James Alexander, was a Jacobite who had fled to New York after the failure of the Jacobite rising in 1715. The claim to the title arose in connection with their ancestor Sir William Alexander, a courtier and poet at the court of King James VI of Scotland (James I of England), who created him Earl of Stirling in 1633.

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

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