From New Bern to Lincoln's Assassination - A Curious Connection
by Claudia Houston, Historian, New Bern Historical Society
“You can’t make this up” describes our article this month. This story was inspired by an email we received from a computer history researcher in Bulgaria. His email concerned Dr. Joseph Bell Alexander, an inventor of note who was born in New Bern. While the article praised Alexander’s many inventions, this phrase, “…little is known about his family or social history” piqued our interest. Little did we know that this inventor had a connection with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
Joseph Bell Alexander was born in New Bern circa 1824 to Nancy Bell Slade and Frances Alexander, who were wed in Craven County in 1823. Frances Alexander was well known in town as the owner of a shoe and dry goods store. His father-in-law, Joseph Bell, owned several local businesses including the Washington Hotel. When Joseph Alexander was fifteen, his family moved to Mobile County, Alabama, and by 1850, Joseph was a clerk in the same store as his father. He was no longer in the Alexander household in 1860 but we could not document when he left, nor his whereabouts. It is a mystery as to when and where Joseph attended school and became a medical doctor.
Based on the article from our Bulgarian friend, Dr. Joseph B. Alexander was residing in Baltimore, Maryland when on March 15, 1864, he took out US patent No. 41898 for a calculating machine. This machine never went into production, but one known model survives at the Smithsonian. Documents demonstrate Dr. Alexander was a prolific inventor and submitted patents for a siphon bottle, bottle stopper, an automatic railroad switch and six patents for the improvement of oil burning lamps.
Prior to this move to Baltimore, in the late 1850’s, Joseph resided in New York City practicing medicine. We believe this is where he met Dr. Charles DeCosta Brown, his future partner. Dr. Brown studied and practiced medicine in Philadelphia after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, but he then moved to New York City and practiced dentistry instead. After the Civil War broke out, one of his patients, Edward M. Stanton, Secretary of War, suggested to Dr. Brown that he become a surgeon/embalmer for the government as there was a great need for them due to the war. Dr. Joseph B. Alexander and Dr. Charles D. Brown formed a partnership as embalming surgeons and on December 13, 1861 the Evening Standard, a Washington DC newspaper, ran this ad:
As the Civil War waged on, the federal government made Brown & Alexander the official embalmers for the Federal forces. On April 25, 1862, the Washington DC Evening Star, p. 2 reported:
Embalmers were in great demand during the Civil War and it became a lucrative profession. Doctors Brown and Alexander had offices in Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Frederick, Maryland and “other important points contiguous to the Army.” The charge for a private being embalmed was $25 and that of an officer, $50. The process allowed many men to be shipped home to their loved ones in good condition for viewing and burial.
When William Wallace “ Willie” Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln, died on February 20, 1862, his body was embalmed by Drs. Brown and Alexander. He was then placed in a vault at Oak Hill Cemetery in the Georgetown area.
When President Abraham Lincoln died on April 15, 1865, Dr. Alexander and Dr. Brown were contacted to provide the embalming. Willie Lincoln was disinterred, and his casket accompanied that of his father for the long funeral ride. The special funeral train traveled 1,666 miles in thirteen days across seven states and through 440 cities so that the American public might pay homage one last time. Father and son were buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois.
The July 5,1865 Evening Star reported the dissolution of Alexander and Brown's embalming business:
Brown returned to New York City to practice dentistry, and Alexander remained in Baltimore and DC to create inventions and file patents. In May 1866 he married Finella Maury Little, in Washington DC.
Sadly, despite his cleverness and early career success, we’ll never know what other creations New Bern’s native son could have gone on to invent. For on 12 Jul 1871 Dr. Joseph Bell Alexander died at the early age of 47 due to heart disease. He is buried at Congressional Cemetery, Washington DC.
For more information on this invention and others check out https://history-computer.com/joseph-bell-alexander-complete-biography/