William C. Alexander was born in Morgan, Illinois in 1845, the son of Marcus L. and Celia G. (Brown) Alexander. He was believed to have resided in Scotsville, Kentucky prior to and during the American Civil War. He enlisted as a private in the Union Army with the 52nd Kentucky Infantry on August 28, 1863. He survived the war and relocated to Newton, Illinois to attend and later teach part-time at the Academy located in that city. During the 1870's, Alexander continued to teach in Newton and Oblong, Illinois. He also served as deputy circuit clerk for Jasper County during the same decade. By the mid 1880's he had moved west to Hutchinson, Kansas where he founded a real estate and loan company called Rugg and Alexander. E. S. Brown is believed to have been his cousin from Scotsville. Mamie Plummer was a resident of Franklin, Kentucky during the early 1880s and Mary Rutland was her Aunt.