Alex was born in 1960 in North Dakota, the eldest of four sons. He has two daughters, Jennifer and Elizabeth, and two granddaughters, Chyann and Madeleine.
At the age of 18, Alex moved from the Midwest to Washington, DC, where he accepted a job with the FBI. His tour of duty included positions in the Intelligence Division, the Director’s Office, and Foreign Liaison operations. In 1982, he left the Federal Government and joined the private sector, becoming personal secretary to the senior female partner of one of Washington’s largest corporate law firms. For the next 15 years, his career continued in the secretarial and administrative areas of the private legal sector, while his education continued through a Nebraska college.
He currently resides in West Virginia, where he occupies himself as a professional historian and genealogist, specializing in New England families in the 17th and 18th Centuries. He has seven published genealogical works to his credit and has also been published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register and The Connecticut Nutmegger. He presently edits and publishes Executive Papers, which focuses on the families of the Presidents and First Ladies of the United States, and is the editor of several other organizational newsletters and magazines.
Memberships
Other Notes
Alex has been interested in genealogy since the age of seven, and as a teenager he began officially documenting his ancestry. His love of genealogy and history led to his eventual founding of a number of lineage societies, including The Hereditary Order of the Families of the Presidents and First Ladies of America (2003), the Order of First Families of Connecticut 1633-1662 (2004), the Registry of Infamous and Famous Relatives in American Families (2007), the Order of First Families of Vermont 1609-1791 (2010) and the Order of American Cousins of the Present and Future Sovereigns of Great Britain (2014). He has held the presiding office of each of these organizations and continues to be a part of their growth and administration to the present through other offices. Presently, he is the national presiding officer of Flagon and Trencher: Descendants of Colonial Tavern Keepers. He also has been the Governor General of The Hereditary Order of First Families of Massachusetts, Plymouth Hereditary Society and The Order of Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, all of which he assisted in reviving in 2004. He is a Founding Officer or Founding Member of several societies, including the National Society of Saints and Sinners, Descendants of Sheriffs and Constables of America, Hereditary Society of Teachers, Society of Descendants of Lady Godiva, and The Order of First Families of New Hampshire. At the state level, he is a former President of the DC Society of the War of 1812, and a former office manager for the DC Society Sons of the American Revolution which awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal in 2004. Finally, Alex also belongs to more than 50 lineage organizations, including the National Gavel Society and several groups focusing on royal descent. Beyond these things, he has led numerous seminars to introduce adults to research and documentation techniques in genealogy. His current work includes finalizing two monographs, one of which is the entire ancestries of the First Ladies of the United States.
Among Alex’s other interests are teaching Partner Dance to adults, professional singing and recording for public charitable functions, playing Bridge, and perhaps his greatest love, Acting, which he now does professionally and for which he has received several awards in West Virginia, including Best Actor. He has had speaking roles in three feature films and has done several local television commercials as well. He also soon will be publishing his complete photographic portfolio – 40 years of his work, including many pieces previously published and which have won awards.