Alexander McIlhenny
Alexander McIlhenny | |
|---|---|
Entry for Alexander McIlhenny in the ledger of "men enlisted in the U.S. Army prior to the peace establishment May 17, 1815" | |
| Member of the Maryland House of Delegates from the Frederick County district | |
| In office 1826–1826 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Barnes, John C. Cockey, William P. Farquhar, Thomas Sappington |
| Succeeded by | Nicholas Holtz, David Kemp, Isaac Shriver, Francis Thomas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 10, 1778 Adams County, Pennsylvania |
| Died | January 25, 1835 (aged 56) Near Uniontown, Carroll County, Maryland, United States |
| Occupation | Military officer, legislator, lawyer, justice of the peace/judge, farmer, etc. |
Alexander McIlhenny (November 10, 1778 – January 25, 1835) was an American military officer, Maryland state legislator, occasional federal judge (?), farmer, and diarist. He served as chief of staff to brigadier general Daniel Bissell during the War of 1812. McIlhenny represented Frederick County in the Maryland House of Delegates in 1826. During the fraught 1828 U.S. presidential election McIlhenny wrote a public letter describing his recollection of an Andrew Jackson scandal that occurred during their military service in colonial-territorial Mississippi. He served as a justice of the peace and did legal work in his community (executing deeds, etc.), and was seemingly impressed into sitting as a judge in cases before the U.S. circuit court in Baltimore in 1830. McIlhenny's preserved diaries describe his career, family life, and the society and economy of Maryland and southern Pennsylvania during the early 19th century.