Lawrence Stirling Alexander, M.D.

Mary Lavonia Adickes Alexander Lawrence Stirling Alexander, MD

Lawrence Stirling Alexander (John¹, Philip², Philip³, William⁴ , Robert⁵, Robert⁶) was born September 15, 1842, in Centerville, Virginia, the son of Robert Alexander, M.D. and Elizabeth Ann Clark.

In the Civil War, he served as a surgeon in Moseby's 43rd Battalion in Alexandria, Virginia. He later became a surgeon in a hospital in Warrenton, Virginia.

He was married on September 1, 1868, to Mary Lavonia Adickes, born August 19, 1845, in Yorkville, South Carolina, daughter of Henning Frederick Adickes and Mary Lavonia Withers. Dr. Alexander and Mary Lavonia Adickes Alexander had eight children.

Prospects were not good for raising a family in Virginia after the war, so he secured a position as physician at St. Joseph's Academy, a Catholic girls school. Although they were Episcopalian, he was able to have his daughters educated at the Academy.

Family History by Lucy Alexander
Transcribed by Lane Reynolds Dye

The following is a transcription of a family history written by Lucy Alexander which was found in her studio apartment in Carnegie Hall in New York City after her death. It came into my possession via my great aunt Lucy Davis and my mother. Although some of the original manuscript was typed, most of it was written in a sprawling longhand on the backs of rejection letters from music publishers and sheets of letterhead from the Converse College Alumnae Association which listed Aunt Lucy as a member of its board of directors. Although the manuscript itself is undated, one of the rejection letters is dated May 1, 1947. Notes in brackets are mine.

- Lane Reynolds Dye

In order to better understand the elements making up a personality, one must have some knowledge of the situation surrounding that person, of the influences and surroundings that have affected him. The situation for my parents, as for many others in the South after the devastation of the Civil War, was not all that could have been desired for a young couple starting out to build a home and family. The south was completely impoverished at this period, and providing a home without some resources was extremely difficult.

Father had served in the medical corps of the southern army. After receiving his medical degree he started practicing medicine in Virginia in the locality where he had been raised. His father had been a physician before him in Culpepper. On a visit to South Carolina, staying with his Clarke Cousins, he met Mother. They were married in 1868.

The first few years of their marriage were spent in Virginia where the three oldest children, Fredericka, Eugene, and Elise were born. They then moved to York, South Carolina (or Yorkville, as it was then called) where my mother's family lived and where the next four children were born: Helen, Florence, and the first set of twins, Blanch and Annie Lee.

As Florida was thought to offer better prospects for building up a practice, Father decided to move there. He went there and settled in St. Augustine, about a year before Mother and the six daughters moved there from S.C. The only son, Eugene, had died of diphtheria when he was two years old. His death was a great sorrow that left its mark throughout the lives of Mother and Father. The little locket with "Gennie's " hair was Mother's most prized possession until her death.

This period of establishing a home in a strange place must have been a very difficult time. It takes time to secure the confidence in a community that is necessary for a physician to build up a practice, but with an already large family to be provided for, the task must have been extremely difficult. During the year after Father's left for Florida, Mother taught school to help with the family finances. However, the Fates were possibly keeping as watchful eye, for in spite of the hardships they managed to open up certain avenues that aided in the ordeal. One such instance appeared to have more than chance as its directive. This was the moment in which Father secured the practice at the Catholic boarding school for girls, St. Joseph's Academy.

Having heard that the attending physician there was moving away from St. Augustine, Father decided to apply for the position. Since he was a member of the Episcopal Church, his chances for being chosen for such a position in a Roman Catholic school were small. He wrote a note to the Mother Superior - if he were not able to secure a personal interview with her, to present the note and ask that it be given to her. When he arrived at the convent door and asked to speak to the Mother Superior, the nun who had opened the door told him that would be impossible as she was at that time holding prayers with the other nuns But when he explained that it was urgent, she said she would take his letter to her immediately. She went into the chapel and slipped it into the hands of the Mother Superior as a prayer was being offered for guidance. The Mother Superior immediately turned and addressed the nuns saying, "We need pray no longer. Our prayers have been answered." They were gathered there to pray for guidance in selecting a new physician for their school.

Father remained for thirty years, until the time of his death, as their doctor as well as for the Bishop and priests in the cathedral. As the convent school had boarders from all over the state, a large number of nuns were connected with it, and since the great percentage of the population being Spanish descent, were Catholic whose children were almost exclusively enrolled at St. Joseph's Academy. This fortunate episode served to make the way much easier in building a practice. Not only did this incident lead to contacts in the community but it furnished the means for giving the many daughters in our family a better education than others of our acquaintance.

We, one and all, went to the convent school. I had music as well there and some of the others had art courses. Although we were practically the only Protestants attending there, we were always treated with the greatest consideration, were excused from all religious studies, and no attempt was made to convert us to Catholicism.

In spite of this introduction to the community which materially aided in establishing a practice, conditions were always difficult financially for our family. St. Augustine was not a wealthy town. There were few industries except for some small cigar factories and fish markets. Orange growing was more profitable further south in the state. The main income of the town was derived from the tourist trade, as St. Augustine, with its narrow Spanish streets and quaint old Spanish houses, was one of the show places of the nation. One street was so narrow that two persons standing by he walls of the houses on the opposite sides of the street could reach across and shake hands with each other. There was the added attraction of the old Spanish fort, Fort Marion, which was built in the 16th century. Our home was about three blocks to the north of Fort Marion on the Sebastian River. This is where my twin sister Laurie and I were born about three years after the move to Florida. Laurie died when we were only six days old, leaving the family as it then remained at seven daughters.

As it was at that time in the South considered that only men should have the responsibility of the expenses of a family, the entire burden of providing for the large household of women remained upon poor Father's shoulders until all of the daughters were married, except for the short periods when some of us were staying in South Carolina or Virginia. When one considers the number of pairs of shoes alone that are needed yearly for such a family, the number of hats and coats and dresses, as well as all the various other necessities, it is a veritable miracle that we were so well provided for. Added to that, and probably the heaviest burden, was the feeding of such a family. Our table was seldom confined to our own immediate family. Living in an attractive resort town, we continuously had relatives visiting at our home for months at a time, and some of the grandchildren stayed for several years with us. ...

Excerpt from
Recollections of William Lennox Kirkland

My grandfather [Lawrence Stirling Alexander] was apparently the only doctor in town and I lived with his family - my grandmother [Mary Adickes Alexander] and several of their daughters. He had served in the Civil War as a surgeon with Mosbey's Guerillas and after the war moved to Florida from Manassas, Va. He was without doubt a unique and colorful character with a penchant for drinks and strong black cigars made in the local Minorcan boiler shops. He never went out of the house without being dressed to the hilt - in black broadcloth Prince Albert, heavily starched collars and cuffs, and a top hat.

At that time there was no hospital and illness was attended at home. He used a horse and buggy to visit patients and I went with him on many occasions. The stable was in the back yard, approached from a side street. The horse, a fat plug named George, was not allowed to urinate in the stable, which was kept as clean as the dining room. How George was trained is still a mystery, but he was. I never knew of him to use the stable. After a visit to patients at dinner time or in the evening, as the rig approached the lane leading to the stable, my grandfather would stop the horse and talk to George. When he said, "Come down," George, the horse would spread his hind legs and urinate. We could then go on to the stable after a few kind words for George.

The nuns at the convent, you would think, would be shocked by my grandfather's language, on the other hand, they seemed to enjoy and encourage it. He was so polite and gracious, it never seemed to offend.