McIntosh, Alexander

Born: 1821-XX-XX New York

Died: 1899-02-02 Joliet, Illinois

Flourished: Joliet, Illinois

Alexander McIntosh grew up on a New York farm and attended the academy at Galway Center, New York, for his education. He moved to Joliet, Illinois, in 1845 and established the True Democrat newspaper in 1847. That year he also became a charter member of Powhan Masonic Lodge, No. 29, in Joliet. McIntosh taught at a private school in the town. Politically a Whig, McIntosh attended the Illinois State Whig Convention in Springfield in 1852 and held several county offices including assistant postmaster and revenue collector. From 1856 to 1859, he served as the circuit clerk and recorder of Will County. In 1860, he owned $4,000 in real estate and a personal estate valued at $10,000. In May of the same year, McIntosh served as a delegate to the Republican State Convention held in Decatur, Illinois. Having sold the True Democrat in 1856, McIntosh purchased the Wilmington Independent, a Republican newspaper, in 1861. Years later, a newspaper called him, "one of the most loyal editors Joliet ever had." In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln appointed McIntosh captain and quartermaster in the United States Army, where in 1864 he served under General William T. Sherman. McIntosh had one daughter who survived him.

The History of Will County, Illinois (Chicago: Wm. Le Baron, Jr., 1878), 352, 359, 391, 410, 463, 683; The Chicago Daily Tribune (IL), 3 February 1899, 2:3; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 9 July 1852, 2:3; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Joliet, Will County, IL, 443; Illinois Daily State Journal (Springfield), 12 May 1860, 2:3; Joliet News (IL), 13 April 1894, 1:1.