Thomas B. Alexander was reared on the home farm, and acquired his education in the common schools. He subsequently went to Rhode Island, where he worked for some time in a woollen-mill. Still later he came to New London, and engaged in his present business, in which he has been quite successful. In politics he affiliates with the Republican party, and has been six times appointed Street Commissioner for terms of one year each. On October 14, 1855, he married Frances A. Hempstead, daughter of Edward and Fannie (Whittlesey) Hempstead. Mrs. Alexander's great-great-grandparents were Joshua and Lydia (Burch) Hempstead, both of whom lived and died in New London. Her great-greatgrandfather Joshua was born here in the old historic Hempstead House, which is still occupied by one of the family. Edward Hempstead, the grandfather, was a native of Stonington, Conn. Mrs. Alexander's father was a farmer, who died in middle life. Her mother lived a widow many years, dying at the advanced age of eighty-three. They had ten children, all of whom lived to grow up, marry, and rear families. Seven of the number are still living, namely: Sarah, wife of A. J. Bliven, of Colorado; Eunice Crary, now the wife of William Cranston, of New London; Henry S., of Waterford, Conn.; Hiram, a resident of Ledyard; Mary Anne, wife of William Hancock, of Mystic; Simeon, who resides at Clarke Falls Corner, R.I.; and Frances A., now Mrs. Alexander. The subject of this sketch has one daughter, Jennie A., who was graduated with honor, at the age of seventeen, at the Young Ladies' High School, before it became the Williams Memorial. She married Stanley A. Smith, a yard-master of the Central Vermont Railroad. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and traces her ancestry back, maternally, to Sir Robert Hempstead, and paternally to John Alden of the "Mayflower," In 1888 Mr. Alexander built his present fine residence at 29 North Main Street.