Alexander Warner

Alexander Warner was born on January 10, 1827, in Smithfield, Rhode Island.[1][2] He was the son of Thomas Warner and Amy (Collins) Warner.[2] His family moved to Woodstock, Connecticut, in 1834.[1] He attended Woodstock Academy in Woodstock and Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.[1][3] He then worked as a cotton twine manufacturer, owning and managing a cotton twine manufacturing factory.[1][3]

Warner was one of the first people to enlist in the American Civil War.[1] He was appointed major of the 3rd Infantry of Connecticut Volunteers on May 14, 1861.[1][3] On July 21 of that year, he and his unit fought in the 1st Battle of Bull Run.[1] The 3rd Infantry was mustered out on August 12, 1861.[1][3] On January 15, 1862, Warner was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 13th Connecticut Infantry Regiment and sent to Louisiana.[1][3] After the Union capture of New Orleans, the unit's colonel, Henry Birge, was made a brigadier general and Warner was promoted to colonel of the unit.[1][3] He then fought in the Battle of Georgia Landing, the Battle of Irish Bend, and the Siege of Port Hudson.[1][3] He then temporarily resigned due to ill health.[1] After returning to service, he raised the 5th Louisiana Infantry Regiment for defending the Union-controlled New Orleans.[1][3] He did this until resigning due to ill health on August 12, 1863.[1][3] After the war, he bought a large plantation in Madison County, Mississippi, where he employed freedmen and gave them monetary wages.[1]

After his wife died in 1902, Warner moved to his son's house in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, where he spent the rest of his life.[11] Warner died after a two-week illness in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, on September 6, 1914.[2] He was buried at Woodstock Hill Cemetery in Woodstock, Connecticut.[2][3][11]

Warner married Mary Trumbull Mathewson (1834–1902) on September 27, 1855.[1][2] Mathewson was the great-granddaughter of Declaration of Independence signer William Williams.[1] Together, they had two children: Benjamin Silliman Warner, born September 24, 1856, and Arthur McClellan Warner, who was born on April 13, 1860, and died in his childhood.[1][3]