At the top is Capt. William Alexander’s kepi - a French style military hat with a flat top and brim. At right is A Bible and Book of Common Prayer with George Cobham’s name printed on the inside. Alexander, above, and Cobham were friends and enlisted together. When Cobham was killed in 1864, Alexander ensured that his friend’s body and personal effects were returned to family in Warren. It’s not clear how Alexander received these texts — which are in near pristine condition - but it wouldn’t be surprising for the books to have been an acknowledgment of his care from Cobham’s family.

If there’s anything I’ve learned as a result of writing these stories for the last, now, several years, it’s that you never know what’s going to come next.

In a literal sense, sure, I don’t know what will grace this page in a month or two but that’s not what I mean. Let me rephrase — sometimes things fall from the sky.

This is one of those times.

By now, the name William J. Alexander shouldn’t really be a surprise.

A Civil War officer who held several county offices — most notably, register and recorder where his picture can today be found at the courthouse — I wrote extensively in this space a few years ago and then again a couple weeks ago when a family member let me check out his sidearm.

Anyone who knows me (and probably anyone who reads these stories if I’m honest) knows my historical interest centers on the Civil War. I’ll spare you the diatribe on why but will say I joke (only partly) that my retirement plan is passing the Gettysburg battlefield guide test.

So holding a firearm that was quite likely discharged in anger on the slopes of Culp’s Hill there boggles my mind.

It got boggled again — another relative of Alexander has his uniform — the 160 year old kepi, greatcoat and trousers.

Such textiles would catch my attention regardless of whose they were. But to have the provenance linking directly back to “Capt. Will?” I know enough to know that it’s a unique situation.

The ribbons and medals attached to them? An absolute bonus.

At the top is Capt. William Alexander’s kepi - a French style military hat with a flat top and brim. At right is A Bible and Book of Common Prayer with George Cobham’s name printed on the inside. Alexander, above, and Cobham were friends and enlisted together. When Cobham was killed in 1864, Alexander ensured that his friend’s body and personal effects were returned to family in Warren. It’s not clear how Alexander received these texts — which are in near pristine condition - but it wouldn’t be surprising for the books to have been an acknowledgment of his care from Cobham’s family.

So here’s the quick family tree that brings these items from Alexander, who died in 1904, to John Bowler’s possession 2021.

Alexander’s youngest son, James Herbert Alexander, married the mother of Norton Bowler, John Bowler’s father, when Norton was 12, though he didn’t formally adopt Norton until Norton awas 41.

John Bowler said he was cleaning out the attic when his father died in 1975 and found the uniforms.

The kepi and greatcoat are fragile now – that shouldn’t really be surprising – and are appropriately preserved.

So I want to share the photos I have of his uniform.

But to do that, I knew I needed to come up with something new to write about. So I started digging in 19th and early 20th century newspaper accounts, searching for Alexander.

That effort was a success.

I was first introduced to Alexander when I was in the bell tower of the Warren County Courthouse. It’s a long-standing tradition that county employees sign their names up in the rafters. Many, frankly, don’t stand out.

But Alexander’s? It’s painted in an absolutely giant font on one of the rafters. It’s difficult to miss. And it was done right about the time the courthouse opened – it was one of the oldest I could find.

He was seeking election as Register and Recorder in the fall of 1875 and on the same page of the Oct. 26, 1875 Warren Mail, there are three ringing endorsements.

“Capt. Alexander did gallant service in war, is a thorough Republican and every way qualified for Register & Recorder.”

“The Valley of Brokenstraw forms a large part of our County. The people of that section ask for the election of Capt. Alexander for Register and Recorder. Vote for the Captain who went promptly to the front when we needed defenders.”

“Our County has been fortunate in its selection of Register and Recorder. If you would up the good selections, vote for William J. Alexander.”

He seems to have won that election.

During his career, he was heavily involved in the preeminent veterans organization — the Grand Army of the Republic. Medals on his coat show his involvement in that group.

But there’s also a ribbon that shows that “Capt. Will” traveled to Adams County for the 25th anniversary reunion held at Gettysburg in 1888 (I had seen pictures of these ribbons but never “in person,” if you will).

“The veterans, averaging in their fifties, began arriving in Gettysburg in the last week of June 1888,” according to a National Park Service blog post on the event.

“Over the next several days, thousands of Union veterans once again descended upon the town, but just a little more than three hundred Confederates were able to attend…. One newspaper estimated that there were up to 30,000 veterans, soldiers and civilians, on the battlefield. It was noted that no gathering since the battle “has equaled that of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the great event.”

They note that 1,000 tents were erected on the battlefield to house the members of the Pennsylvania GAR.

(Here’s the link to that article as there’s much more there than I can include here: https://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/the-grand-reunion-of-1888/)