[2] His education was acquired in his native city, he was graduated from St. John's College in 1826, and he spent the next four years reading law privately, but apparently he did not take the bar exam.

The brothers shared a deep devotion to the Whig party, and William often sent Alexander detailed accounts of the actions of the House of Delegates in Annapolis.

Alexander was active in the congregation of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Baltimore, and wrote a concordance to the Book of Common Prayer as well as two volumes of religious poetry.

While carrying out his surveys for this task, Alexander located several canal route proposals including Zekiah Swamp and the richest coal deposits in the state.

[1] He published a number of works including his report on a new map of Maryland (1835), a treatise on international coinage of Great Britain and the United States (1857) and an opinion on the location of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Wheeling, Virginia (1850).