Dubois, Alexander M.

Born: 1812-01-11 Baltimore, Maryland

Died: 1883-09-16 Carlinville, Illinois

Flourished: Macoupin County, Illinois

Alexander M. Dubois was a merchant, businessman, justice of the peace, and county circuit court clerk. Dubois received his education at an academy in Ellicott's Mills, a village near his hometown of Baltimore. He left school at age sixteen and found employment at one of the prominent commercial establishments in Baltimore, rising through the ranks from clerk to principal accountant. Finding his employment options limited in Baltimore, Dubois moved west in 1833, settling in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he secured employment as an accountant in a wholesale grocery business. Dubois remained with this firm until the summer of 1834, when the proprietor of the business retired. Seeking opportunity further west, he moved from Cincinnati to Carlinville, Illinois, arriving in Carlinville shortly after July 4, 1834. Dubois entered into partnership with another merchant to operate a general store, but the venture proved unprofitable, and he sold his interest in 1836. In 1837, Dubois won election as justice of the peace, serving in that capacity until the expiration of his term in 1839. In October 1837, he married Elvira G. Hamilton, daughter of the Reverend John T. and Elizabeth H. Hamilton and granddaughter of the Reverend Gideon Blackburn. In 1841, he received appointment as clerk of the Macoupin County Circuit Court. He served as clerk under appointment until 1848, when the office became elective. Elvira Dubois died in 1839, and in October 1844, Dubois married Amelia McClure, with whom he had three children. In 1848, he won election as clerk of the Macoupin County Circuit Court. Amelia Dubois died in July 1851, and in October 1853, Dubois married Sarah T. Fishback, with whom he had seven children. He won reelection as circuit clerk in 1852 and 1856, and he retired at the expiration of his term in 1860. In 1860, Dubois was living in with his family outside of Carlinville and owned real property valued at $5,000 and had a personal estate of $2,000. After his retirement from the circuit court, Dubois managed the banking firm of Chesnut & Dubois. He also served as trustee and treasurer for Blackburn College. In politics, Dubois adhered first to the Whig Party and later to the Republican Party. He was a Presbyterian.

History of Macoupin County, Illinois (Philadelphia: Brink, McDonough, 1879), 98; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Macoupin County, 27 October 1853, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916, Macoupin County, 16 September 1883, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Macoupin County, IL, 47.