Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)John M. Jackson
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The collection is open for research.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], M. Clair Alexander Diary, Ms1988-102, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The M. Clair Alexander Diary was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 1988.
The processing and description of the M. Clair Alexander Diary commenced and was completed in May, 2021.
Major Clair Alexander was born in Novia Scotia, Canada, May 3, 1858. He appears in the 1871 Canadian census among the children living in the Annapolis home of Sarah Alexander. Alexander immigrated to the United States ca. 1875; in the 1880 census, 22-year-old carpenter Clair Alexander appears as a resident in the Easton (Bristol County), Massachusetts, home of his brother-in-law, Simeon French. By 1910, Alexander was living in Brockton (Plymouth County), Massachusetts with niece Lucy Taylor and several lodgers. The census for that year records his occupation as carpet cleaner. Alexander continues to be listed as a resident of Brockton through 1930. Major Clair Alexander died in Brockton in 1933.
This collection consists of a single diary maintained by M. Clair Alexander, a young man living in North Easton, Massachusetts, and working as a carpenter in 1880. In entries that grow more brief and sporadic as the year progresses, Alexander documents the weather, his daily carpentry work, social activities and local events. In the back of the diary are entries for Alexander's cash accounts.
The guide to the M. Clair Alexander Diary by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).