1. Alexander Robinson Boteler was a nineteenth-century planter turned businessman, as well as artist, writer, lawyer, Confederate officer, philanthropist and politician from Shepherdstown in what was initially Virginia and became West Virginia in the American Civil War.
Alexander Boteler received a private education suitable for his class, even meeting General Lafayette during his tour of the United States.
Alexander Boteler graduated from Princeton College in 1835, then returned to Virginia.
In 1836 in New Jersey, Alexander Boteler married Helen Macomb Stockton, and they had a son Alexander Boteler Jr.
When Dr Boteler, his father, died in 1836, Alexander Boteler inherited a plantation and house and significant debts, which he paid off with the assistance of his wife's inheritance as well as his grandfather Robinson.
Henry Boteler sold his interest to his partner in 1835, but Alexander Boteler would buy the mill from Reynolds in 1846, and operate it until August 1861, when it was destroyed by Union forces.
Alexander Boteler became known as a progressive farmer, using a "wheat cutter" to harvest his major crop, as well as hotbeds to start market crops.
Alexander Boteler had livestock and experimented with grafting varieties of fruit and nut trees.
Alexander Boteler helped found the Jefferson County Agricultural Society and became its president in 1850.
Alexander Boteler lectured on farming techniques at the Ohio State Agricultural Fair, the Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Society, and the Agricultural Society of Hagerstown, Maryland.
In 1840, Alexander Boteler owned 13 slaves, which number grew by 1860 only to 15 slaves.
Alexander Boteler published an illustrated book, My Ride to the Barbecue in 1860 about a major civic event that he had hosted on September 11,1858, which reportedly had been attended by 5,000 people.
Alexander Boteler was fascinated by politics and was a member of several small and short-lived political parties.
Alexander Boteler briefly was the national secretary of the Know Nothing Party, and at other times a member of the Whigs, and in 1860 became the national secretary of the Constitutional Union Party.
Alexander Boteler unsuccessfully ran as a Whig against incumbent Congressman Charles J Faulkner in 1853 and 1855, but he defeated Faulkner in 1858.
Alexander Boteler represented Virginia's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1859 until resigning after Virginia voted for secession in April 1861.
In March 1861, Alexander Boteler met the newly elected President Abraham Lincoln and attempted to lobby him against a use-of-force bill.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Alexander Boteler sympathized with Virginia and his family's way of life.
Alexander Boteler enlisted in the Confederate Army and received a colonel's commission.
In 1861, Alexander Boteler was chosen by the Virginia Convention to be a representative to the Provisional Confederate Congress.
Alexander Boteler was a member of the three-man committee that designed the Confederate government's seal, which featured an image of George Washington.
Alexander Boteler's son fought in the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861.
Alexander Boteler convinced his captors to release him, but Union troops burned his cement mill on August 19,1861, as an alleged snipers' nest.
In February 1864, on General Stuart's recommendation, Alexander Boteler became a military judge, and remained such for the remainder of the war.
Alexander Boteler led projects to bring the Shenandoah Valley Railroad to Shepardstown, as well as to connect his hometown by telegraph to the wider world.
In 1871, Alexander Boteler helped found Shepherd College, in the vacant building built by his late son-in-law that Shepherdstown had hoped would remain the county courthouse.
Alexander Boteler benefited from legislation restoring political rights to Confederates in June 1872, and then unsuccessfully ran for Congress as an Independent in 1872 and 1874.
Alexander Boteler continued to write and sketch, although his books about James Rumsey and about temperance were never published.
In 1883, Alexander Boteler responded to a speech by Frederick Douglass at the dedication of Storer College in Harpers Ferry by publishing an article about his experience of that raid in Century Magazine.
Alexander Boteler was employed as a pardon clerk in the Department of Justice by Attorney General Benjamin H Brewster, serving until 1889.
Alexander Boteler died in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, on May 8,1892, months after his wife of five decades and was interred with her at Elmwood Cemetery.
Alexander Boteler's diary is in the William Elizabeth Brooks Collection in the Library of Congress.
The fairs continued annually after Alexander Boteler sold the acreage in 1889, but came on hard times in 1931, so the property was sold to a farmer circa 1941.