As of this writing (2018) there is little information available in the Kansas Methodist Archives on L. M. Alexander. According to the minutes of the Northwest Kansas Conference of the M. E. Church (1924), he was born in 1856 in Indiana and was first admitted Northwest Conference in 1902. His name is not listed in the GCAH Index to Conference Journal Memoirs. According to local newspapers from 1899 to 1915, a Rev. L. M. Alexander served in Kansas churches in Dresden, Almena (1905), and Glen Elder (1908). In 1912 he was asked to take the place of Rev. W. A. Pierce of Ada, Kansas, after Rev. Pierce was injured in an automobile accident. Rev. L. M. Alexander appears to have continued serving the Ada church through 1915. In the Northwest Kansas Conference Minutes for 1916, 1917, and 1918, he is listed as a supernumerary; in the minutes for 1919 it is reported that he has transferred to the Indiana Conference. Given his relocation to Indiana, it is possible that he is the Rev. Loran M. Alexander who is buried at the Vernon Cemetery in Vernon, Indiana. The birth year (1856) is the same as that listed in the NW Kansas Conference Minutes. The details of Rev. Loran M. Alexander are: born November 8, 1856, to Enoch Alexander (1836-1918) and Maria Emeline Miller Alexander (1825-1890); died July 12, 1923. The Rev. L. M. Alexander mentioned in the Kansas newspapers of that time indicate that he married (no name has been found for his wife) and that they had a son, Lancelot E. Alexander (1880-1966), and a grandson, Loran A. Alexander (1905-1978). One interesting fact about Rev. L. M. Alexander is that he is mentioned as having a notable musical talent. In a 1912 article from the Minneapolis (Kan.) Messenger, he is referred to as "a strong preacher and a fine singer." He also may have been the vocalist mentioned in an article from 13 years earlier, before his 1902 admittance to the NW Kansas Conference: “Protracted meetings will begin at the Methodist Episcopal church of Norton, with a Watch Meeting on New Year’s evening…. Rev. L. M. Alexander, of Illinois, a singing evangelist, will have charge of the singing and assist the pastor in conducting the services" (Norton (Kan.) Courier, December 28, 1899).

Note written by Sarah St. John

EDIT: A Loran Moorish Alexander with these same birth and death dates in Indiana is recorded in Glen Elder, Kansas in the 1910 census. L.M. Alexander is almost certainly Loran Alexander. (Sara DeCaro)