There was a saying among the Alexanders, in the 1920s and 30s, "If you see someone in southeast Rochester -- speak to him -- you may be related."

   Today, they say, "If you see someone around town and he smiles or looks familiar -- speak -- he may be related," because there are a number of Alexanders or kinfolk in the area, descendants of Joseph and Hannah Alexander, early pioneers.

   The couple was from Ramsbury, England, a village on a quiet spot on the river Kennet, with two parallel streets and homes with thatched roofs, fences and flower-boxes. It still is, according to Dr. Fay K. Alexander of Philadelphia, Pa., a grandson, who visited there in 1959.

   JOSEPH WAS A carpenter by trade, had a strong personality, and was a man of many talents, and, almost unheard of in the early 1800s, a "free thinker." He had 11 brothers and sisters, all of whom came to the United States, plus his father John, who is interred in Oakwood Cemetery.

   They settled in Albany, N. Y., Watertown, Wis. Pine Island and Rochester and areas now unknown. One sister, Belinda, married Otis Skinner of Skinner satin fame. Jane, another sister, married Samuel Darknell of Pine Island and a store in the village still shows the name on its ornate front. Darknell was a farmer as well as a merchant, naming his farm, "Spring Water Dairy Farm."

   Joseph and Hannah came to the United States soon after their marriage in 1844, arriving in Albany then they went to Watertown and in 1854, finally settled in Rochester.

   Before the National Homestead Act of 1862, the Rochester pioneers preempted land by the section, at $1.25 per acre. Joseph claimed two one-quarter sections and other small areas in 1854. His two one-quarter sections were from Silver Creek in northeast Rochester, bordering Broadway, to the Bear Creek area.

   THERE WERE FEW families in this green valley, surrounded by its seven hills, and head quarters seemed to be George Head's tavern. He and Joseph decided to make it look like a booming settlement, putting into effect their scheme immediately. Joseph sawed stacks of lumber which they piled in front of the tavern. The plan worked and Joseph was made the first recorder of claims. By 1858 he had the first sawmill where he manufactured sofas, cabinet ware, chairs, bedsteads and tables, "at the shop at the old stand on the east side of the river (Bear Creek) at the Sash and Door Factory"

   He was a deeply religious man and, as there were no ministers in the area, he was called upon to perform marriage ceremonies. He built a home for a man named Brown who died soon after the home was built and it was he who made the first coffin for the man and then performed the funeral services.

   A LETTER FROM his son Henry, written in fine script, to a member of the family, says, "Dad went to Winona and staid seven or eaight days to talk Bible or religion to a rich lumber man there." Joseph also conducted revival meetings and headed his hand bills, "Free Thought--Free Speech." He turned his hand to the nursery business and, as stated in an "ad," "for sale -- 30,000 apple grafts."

   Joseph Alexander and his daughter Mary Ann are Included in the Mayo Clinic's history of medicine, "Medicine and its Practitioners in Olmsted Country Prior to 1900," by Mrs. Nora H. Guthrey of Rochester. It states, "In the late afternoon, the party (with whom he caught a ride from La Crosse to Rochester) crossed the Olmsted County line and stopped for the night at a camping ground by a stream. 'At the spring I found several of the campers sick and as I had some medicine with me, and also understood what herbs to administer to the sick, this was my first practice in Minnesota. At no time did he claim to be a member of the regular medical profession, although he had an extensive practice and sometimes used the title 'doctor.'

   "AFTER HIS DEATH his daughter, Mary, carried on the practice, combining it with practical nursing and midwifery." Some of the first claims Joseph recorded John Bamber, James Smith, James Bucking, F. Prodgen, A and James Stephson, G. Bradley, George Wolford, R. Welch, W. Goldsworthy (with whom he formed a partnership in the furniture business), M. Preen and J. Aire.

   His bookkeeping accounts, the original ones, reveal the names of some of Rochester's early settlers -- R. Emerick, W. Woolson, Z. Roberts, L. Cobb, George Head, Henry Spain, O. H. Lindsley, Ed D. Waldon, E. Carpenter, Z. Y. Cowler, G, C. French, John Bell, M. Pomeroy, C. C Cottom, James Button, G. Cook, W. D. Hurlbut, N. Knapp, L. Hadley, G. C. Sherman, J. Kilroy, Ben Roberts and N. Hendricks.

   Joseph and Hannah had 13 children; Jabez H. (who died when a baby), Jabez Newton, George John, Mary Ann, Hannah Belinda, Joseph E., Elizabeth, Jane, Charles A., Ida, Mattie, Henry Edward and William.

   MANY OF THE brothers and sisters remained in Rochester. A brief genealogy tells: Jabez married Lucinda Dunnette, of their marriage, Walter, Blanche A. Doran, Evelyn A. Reifler, Goldie A. Pagenhart and Ruth A. Hansen. Elizabeth Alexander married Andrew Holm, of their marriage; Ida H. Harkness, Georgia H. Robran, Merton J. and William A. Holm. Jane married Elmer Gould, of their marriage, Charles and Lottie G. Houck. Mattie married Arleigh Howard, of their marriage, Minnie H. Peterson, Anna H. Alexander, Hazel H. Brown and Theo H. Maxness.

   Mary Ann married Merton W. Eastlick,, the hero of the New Ulm Sioux Uprising. He fathered one son, Merton W., before dying. His widow then wed Augustine Frederick Nelson, of their marriage, Lena N. Holloway, Anna N. Schnur, Harrietta N. Guyse, Sarah N. Kelly and Mattie N. Potratz. Mary Ann, who was her father's assistant also was midwife and nurse for Dr. William H. Witherstine, one of Rochester's early doctors, fondly called "Doc."

   WILLIAM MARRIED Florence Perkins, of their marriage, Fay Knight, M.D., and Marion A. Van Hook. George John married Hattie Thackery, of their marriage, Albert, Grace, Florence, Gertrude A. Barnes, Minnie A. Raymond and Nora A. Olson.

   Joseph married Delfene (Delphine) Van Hook, of their marriage, Laura A. Alexander, Todd, Genevieve, Mabel A. Fryer, Margaret A. Sayles, Eva A. Walker and Maurice Alexander.

   Charles married Anna Steeland, of their marriage, Walter, Arthur and Bert. Henry Edward married Alice Steeland, of their marriage, Maude A. Smart, Roy Joseph, Clifford H., Clinton C. and George K. Alexander.

   THE FAMILY TREE now contains such surnames as Roland, Hagaman, Postier, Peterson, Folkstad, Lebeck, Lynaugh, Kruger, McKnight, Hutchings, Dows, Reisinger, Chaddock, Paulson, Yates, Fox, Hales, Sayles, Walker, Lakes, Bokleman, Green, Christiansen, Raymond, Mohler, Smart, Young and Kriss, most of whom are area and Rochester natives.

   Anyone of them will speak if they see a smile on the face of a passer-by, "you never know ... we may be related." Many of the clan, as well as other natives, are revealed when they say "I'll meet you at the 'head of Broadway,' the present intersection of Fourth St. and Broadway.

   The 39th Alexander family reunion was held. Sunday at Slatterly Park, acres once preempted by Joseph, with 150 in attendance. Members came from Whittier, Calif.; Vienna, Va.; Black River Falls, Wis.; Superior Wis.; and Spring Valley, Pine Island, Kasson and Minneapolis.

   President of this year's reunion was Bert Alexander and treasurer, Mrs. Douglas Krueger. Elected for next year's reunion offices were George Alexander, president; James Smart, vice president ; Joe Guyse , grounds; and Mrs. Krueger treasurer. The reunion has been held for several years at Slatterly park on the last Sunday of July, as it will be in 1965. This reunion marked the 110th anniversary of Joseph and Hannah Alexander's arrival in Rochester.