Alexander McIntyre was born on August 14, 1792 in Cummington, Massachusetts, a small farming community settled in 1762 and named for Colonel John Cummings, the original landholder. Alexander was the son of Alexander McIntyre Sr. and Elizabeth Robinson. His mother Elizabeth was the sister of Gain Robinson, a suspect.
Alexander Moved to Palmyra in 1800
In 1800 Alexander McIntyre Sr. and his wife Elizabeth Robinson McIntyre, and their two sons—Thomas Henry McIntyre and Alexander McIntyre (age eight)—moved to Palmyra with the Gain Robinson family. At the time, Elizabeth was pregnant with her daughter Esther Robinson.[1] Alexander McIntyre Sr. and his brother-in-law Gain Robinson were listed in the 1800 US Federal Census as being residents of Palmyra.[2]
The McIntyre family did not remain in Palmyra long. They settled in Newark, New York, a distance of nine miles from Palmyra. In 1808, when Alexander was age sixteen, he was employed as a clerk in Newark. He also taught music in town and “made excursions to traffic” among the Native Americans living near Niagara Falls.[3] By 1811, Alexander had returned to Palmyra with the intention of being trained by his uncle, Gain Robinson, as an allopathic doctor. (This meant that Alexander would be trained in the system of medicine that combats disease by use of drugs and/or surgery).[4] Alexander studied under the tutelage of his uncle with Durfee Chase, the brother of Willard Chase, and Philander Packer. Durfee Chase became a physician in Palmyra. Philander Packer turned his interests to farming. Alexander’s path crossed many times with Durfee Chase until ending in a dramatic public altercation. On March 10, 1811, Alexander was awarded a medical license signed by Gain Robinson, who was then president of the Medical Society of Ontario County, New York.[5]
In 1811, Alexander set up his medical practice in Palmyra and in 1812, entered a partnership with Gain Robinson in a drugstore in town. They sold drugs and medicines, dry wood, paints, and groceries.[6] Products were sold for varying prices depending on whether the purchase was made in cash, on credit, or in trade. The price of any product was determined by the customer’s ability to haggle. On December 1, 1812, Alexander advertised, “Aromatic Snuff for the Catarrh and Headache.”[7]
War of 1812
Alexander’s work as a doctor and a druggist was interrupted on June 18, 1812 when the US Congress declared war on Great Britain.[8] John Swift, founder of Palmyra, was appointed brigadier general of a military unit composed of Palmyra’ residents age eighteen to forty-five years called to colors in the emergency.[9] John Swift and other citizen/soldiers of Palmyra fought in battles at Niagara, Pultneyville, and Sackets Harbor in the War of 1812.[10] Numbered among the soldiers called to colors and serving with John Swift was Alexander McIntyre. He fought in the Battle of Lundy’s Lake (known as the Battle of Niagara Falls)—one of the bloodiest battles of the war and one of the deadliest battles ever fought in Canada. Alexander was at the surrender of Fort Erie and at the Battle of Fort George when Brigadier General John Swift fell.[11] On July 12, 1814 the following note was written—
John Swift was the first pioneer, the first moderator of the first town meeting, the first supervisor, the first pound master, the first captain of Palmyra died in the War of 1812. In 1814 he led a detachment from Queenstown Heights down the river to Fort George. There he surrounded and captured a picket guard of the enemy of sixty men. Instead of commanding the prisoners to ground their arms and march away from him, he suffered them to retain their muskets. One of the captives inquired, “Who is Gen’l Swift?” Most unadvisedly he stood forth and said, “I am Gen’l Swift.” In an instant the inquisitive prisoner put a ball through his breast. Dr. Alexander McIntyre was by his side when he fell. He was aged fifty-two years and twenty-five days.
The father of Alexander, Alexander McIntyre Sr., died in Quebec, Canada, as a prisoner of the British. The Treaty of Ghent ended hostilities of the War of 1812 by formal ratification on February 17, 1815.
Alexander became a Young Man of “high standing” in Palmyra
Mason. When the war ended, Alexander McIntyre (age twenty-three) went back to Palmyra. He returned to his medical practice and partnership in the drugstore. More important to his status as a “high standing” member of Palmyra’s community, through a stringent selection process he became an initiate of the Mount Moriah Masonic Lodge No. 112. Within a few months, he was appointed secretary of the masonic lodge. Through the years, Alexander filled many important offices in masonry in Palmyra. When he received the degree of master mason, he was given a Holy Bible. The highest rank given him was high priest of the Palmyra’s Eagle Chapter No. 79 of the Royal Arch Masons.
It should be noted that Alexander McIntyre was not one of the original members of masonry in Palmyra. The history of the Mount Moriah Lodge dates back to 1802 when ten master masons in the Palmyra vicinity, whose masonic affiliation was known, signed a petition to form the Mount Moriah Lodge. The Mount Moriah Lodge No. 112 was chartered on July 9, 1804. (The number 112 was symbolic of the location of King Solomon’s Temple on Mount Moriah). The location of the early lodge room in Palmyra was expected to be built atop the highest elevation in the community much like Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. If this had happened, the lodge would have been built atop what we call the Hill Cumorah. Instead, the lodge room was constructed next to the Western Presbyterian Church (today where the Catholic Church is located).
Marriage. Alexander courted Ann Beckwith, daughter of George Beckwith—a suspect. Ann Beckwith was born on April 11, 1797 in East Haddam, Connecticut. At the time of their marriage, Ann was a member of the Female Bible Society of the Western Presbyterian Church.[12] Conveniently, Alexander also worshiped in the Western Presbyterian Church, the second of four churches constructed on “God’s corner” in Palmyra. This is the very location where Joseph Smith heard, “Lo here! Lo there!” Alexander never became a deacon, elder, or trustee in the Western Presbyterian Church. Notations next to his name on church records have the word “member.” Alexander married Ann Beckwith on December 20, 1818 in Palmyra. They became the parents of eight children, four children were adopted.
By marrying Ann Beckwith, Alexander joined a very prominent family network in Palmyra that included Nathaniel and George Beckwith and Reverend John Clark of the Zion Episcopal Church of Palmyra. Clark was shown the “Egyptian Caracters” by Martin Harris. Clark was also the man who claimed that while Martin Harris was away from home, his wife seized “the manuscript and put it into the hands of one of her neighbors for safekeeping.” Clark contended that Lucy Harris “put these 116 pages into the hands of someone who would publish them and show that they varied from the Book of Mormon,” but Clark concluded “she had to deal with persons standing behind the scene and moving the machinery that were too wily thus to be caught.”
Was Alexander McIntyre “too wily to be caught?”
Military. On April 8, 1822, Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York appointed Alexander a surgeon’s mate in the 39th Regiment of Infantry in Ontario County, New York. In the same infantry was Thomas Rogers II, colonel; Nathaniel Beckwith, captain; Durfee Chase, ensign; and George Beckwith, lieutenant—all suspects. Alexander took the oath of military office subscribed by law before Heman Norton, deputy clerk.[13] Alexander was appointed a surgeon of the 39th Regiment of Infantry on January 1, 1824.[14] On June 18, 1824, he took the oath required by law before his uncle-in-law Nathaniel H. Beckwith, Lieutenant Colonel of the 39th Regiment of Infantry.[15] The following year on July 24, 1827, Alexander was honorably discharged from the 39th Regiment. His honorable discharge was signed by Nathaniel Beckwith.[16]
Land owner and community leader. Alexander had money and set up real estate partnerships. He was granted a deed to acreage in Palmyra from Elisha Ely and Seymour Scovell.[17] In 1822, Seymour Scovell granted a deed to Alexander McIntyre and John Edgar Mowatt.[18] In addition, on April 4, 1826 Alexander was elected a commissioner of highways in Palmyra.[19]
Was Alexander McIntyre a man of “high standing” in Palmyra? It could rightly be said of Alexander that he had his hands in many pies and was succeeding on all fronts. In the 1820s, he was a medical doctor, a partner in a drugstore, a “rising star” in masonry, a member of the Western Presbyterian Church, appointed by the New York governor to military positions, owned tracts of land in Palmyra, and was elected to a local political office.
Dr. Alexander McIntyre and the Joseph Smith Sr. Family
Smiths-1823. On November 15, 1823, Alexander was one of five physicians to assist the Smiths when Alvin Smith contracted bilious colic. Alexander was viewed as the Smith’s family doctor. Lucy Mack Smith wrote,
On the 15th of Nov. 1823, about 10’clock in the morning, Alvin was violently attacked with the bilious colic; and coming to the house in much distress, desired his father to go immediately for a doctor. Mr. Smith [Joseph Smith Sr.] went without delay for Dr. McIntire; but, not finding him at home, brought one Dr, Greenwood; who, upon his arrival, administrated a heavy dose of calomel, though much against the will of the patient. This calomel lodged in his stomach—we became alarmed, and called in five other skillful physicians; (one of these was Dr. McIntyre) who administered the most efficient and powerful medicine in order to remove the dose which was first given; but all in vain.
Smiths-1827. Four years later in the fall of 1827, soon after Joseph Smith had received the plates from the angel Moroni, a company of men approached Alexander. They had resolved to take the plates from Joseph Smith and wanted Alexander to lead them. According to Lucy Mack Smith, Alexander told the men that they were a pack of devilish fools and refused to lead them. Not only did he refuse, he informed the Smiths that forty men were forming a mob to waylay Joseph when he returned to Palmyra.[20]
Why was Alexander McIntyre asked to lead the mob in the first place? Was it because of his military prowess? His highest title in the military was “surgeon.” Being named a surgeon does not suggest that he was a leader in battle. Could it be that members of the mob had heard his negative comments about the Smiths? On the one hand, Alexander was the Smith’s trusted doctor. On the other hand, he was bad-mouthing the Smiths. Clark Braden paraphrased Dr. McIntyre in 1884 as saying, “Joseph Smith, senior, was a drunkard, a liar and a thief, and his house a perfect brothel. That Joe [meaning the Prophet Joseph Smith] got drunk, stole sugar, got beaten for it, and told the doctor who dressed his bruises that he had a fight with the devil.”[21] Two years later in 1886, Wilhelm Wymetal repeated part of the paraphrased account by writing, “Dr. McIntyre . . . testifies that Joseph Smith Senior was a drunkard, a liar and a thief, and his house a perfect brothel.”[22]
We suspect Alexander would not have been asked to lead a mob if the mob didn’t think he would accept their invitation.
1829. On August 11, 1829, about a year after the theft of the 116 pages, Alexander executed a mortgage with Allison Post and Waldron B. Post of New York City for property in Palmyra on Church Street that butted up to property belonging to the William H. Cuyler heirs.[23] The property he purchased had a home on it built in 1815. The yellow house with white trim located at 109 West Main Street was his home. (The home is privately owned and not open for tours). The home is right next door to the George Beckwith house, another suspect. The home is across the street from the Western Presbyterian Church and where the Masonic Lodge once stood. By making that purchase, Alexander plants himself in the middle of our likely suspects.
Smiths-1830. In 1830, a young gentleman came to the Smith home claiming that Hyrum Smith owed a small debt to Dr. McIntyre, and he had come to collect the debt on the doctor’s orders. When Hyrum left for Colesville, New York, he owed a small debt to Alexander McIntyre for one of three reasons: 1) masonic dues, 2) a medical bill, or 3) a drugstore bill. The debt called for coincides with Alexander selling his drugstore and issuing calls for payment of outstanding debts.[24] Lucy Mack Smith paid Hyrum’s debt in corn and beans. She was subsequently visited by several men seeking payment, as if she hadn’t paid the debt. Not believing that the debt had already been paid, there was talk of taking her stored corn when William Smith arrived home and forced the men to leave.[25]
In December 1830, Joseph Smith warned his brother Hyrum to “beware of the freemasons.” He went on to explain, “McIntyre heard that you were in Manchester and he got a warrant and went to father’s to distress the family but [Samuel] Harrison overheard their talk and they said that they cared not for the debt, if they could obtain your body. They were there with carriages. Therefore, beware of the Freemasons.”[26] This is curious for Hyrum was a Freemason and Joseph became a Freemason on March 15, 1842. Perhaps Joseph’s advice meant to beware of the Freemasons in Palmyra, especially Alexander McIntyre.
Alexander lived out his Days in Palmyra
On May 30, 1832, the Wayne Sentinel reported a “default on Alexander’s mortgage situation of $640.20, and thus, the property was to be sold at public venue in the village of Palmyra.”[27] This suggests that four years after the loss of the 116 pages, Alexander had lost his financial base. He had also lost the friendship of longtime associate Durfee Chase, who had trained in medicine with him. On September 25, 1832, E. B. Grandin wrote in his diary, “In afternoon attended Chase auction. In evening also. I saw a knockdown between McIntyre and Chase.”[28] Following the knockdown, Alexander expelled Durfee Chase from the Royal Arch Chapter for “un-masonic conduct.”
Alexander continued to practice medicine. On May 27, 1833, E. B. Grandin wrote, “Sunday. At home all day with wife—she has the swelling in her side—was very painful. Dr. McIntyre came to assist.”[29] On August 29, 1837, Mary Durfee wrote, “N. D. vomited blood & Hoyt & May & McIntyre were called. They gave opium & lavender & ether wrap his limbs in mustard seed cataplasms. Applied warm bricks & bottles. A dangerous case.”[30] From 1835-1838, 1842-1843, and 1847-1848, Alexander was president of the Wayne County Medical Society.[31] He ran his medical office in his later years with his son Dewitt McIntyre. Like his uncle Gain Robinson before him, Alexander trained medical doctors such as J. P. H. Deming.
He divested himself of real estate, granting a deed to Joseph King in 1836[32] and a deed to Henry Child and deed to Lewis Codman in 1842[33] and Joseph Hall in 1843.[34] He maintained his membership in the Western Presbyterian Church and paid $140 for a pew for himself and his heirs forever on March 7, 1847.[35]
In 1849, Alexander contracted a fatal disease that afflicted him for the next ten years. For three of those years, he was confined to his room. Early in his sickness, he deliberately turned from all temporal interests, laid aside his medical books and periodicals, and fixed his thoughts on eternity. The bible and hymnbook occupied much of his time. It is assumed that the bible was the one he received when he became a master mason.
In the 1850 US Federal Census, Alexander was listed as age fifty six, having the following people living with him: Ann McIntyre age 50; Eliza Lampson age 27; Dewitt C McIntyre age 23; Samuel B McIntyre age 21; John Tonhay age 19; Catharine Johnson age 19; and William P Lampson age 28.
Near the end of his life Alexander McIntyre said,
I shall probably die in a week or ten days. For two years or more, I have been giving my thoughts exclusively to a preparation for eternity; and through Jesus Christ, I trust my reflections and sufferings have been blessed in bringing me to that frame, in which I may hope to meet my departed companion in heaven. Whatever God may design to do with me, I resign myself into his hands, as clay in the hands of the potter, to be molded as he shall see fit. [36]
He was also heard to say, “What were Paul’s sins compared with mine! Well, Doctor, you can be no more than the chiefest of sinners . . . I have no hope save in the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. I lie at the foot of the cross. It is all that I can do.”[37]
His spouse Ann Beckwith McIntyre proceeded him in death by four years. She died on August 20, 1855 in Palmyra. There is some evidence that Alexander married a second time to Sophia Beschard of Lime, New York, but the source is suspect.
On January 26, 1859, Alexander said, “I am sick, very sick, in two ways. The sore on my neck is bringing me slowly and certainly to death. I am sick with sin, and sin leads to death.”[38] Six months later on July 22, 1859, he died in Palmyra at age sixty-seven. He was buried in the Palmyra City Cemetery. On July 29, 1859, his Last Will and Testament was filed with the Wayne County Surrogate Court. The filing was a formal procedure that does not give details of his personal or real wealth.
Children of Alexander McIntyre and Ann Beckwith
1. Eliza Ann Beckwith McIntyre (March 14, 1820–July 14, 1904). She was born in Palmyra. She married William Perry Lamson on October 13, 1846.
2. Alexander McIntyre III (1821). He died as an infant in 1821.
3. DeWitt Clinton McIntyre (November 9, 1826–May 15, 1865). He was buried in the Palmyra City Cemetery.
4. Samuel Beckwith McIntyre (November 1, 1828–June 2, 1906). He was born in Palmyra. He married Anna Elizabeth Pomeroy (1836–1893).
It is believed that Alexander adopted four additional children—Elizabeth McIntyre, Abner McIntyre, Lucretia McIntyre, and Martha McIntyre
[1]The Great Physician: A Sermon on occasion of the Death of Alexander McIntyre, M. D., delivered in the Presbyterian Church, Palmyra, N. Y. July 24, 1850 by Horace Eaton, pastor of the Church (NY: Printed by John F. Trow, 377 & 379 Broadway, 1860).
[2] The Great Physician: A Sermon on occasion of the Death of Alexander McIntyre, M. D.
[3] The Great Physician: A Sermon on occasion of the Death of Alexander McIntyre, M. D.
[4] The Great Physician: A Sermon on occasion of the Death of Alexander McIntyre, M. D.
[5]Alexander McIntyre File, in Palmyra Community Library.
[6] “New Druggist Store,” Ontario Repository, February 26, 1811.
[7] Newspaper clipping, in Palmyra Community Library.
[8] Current, Williams, and Freidel, American History: A Survey, p. 200.
[9] Clark, Military History of Wayne County, New York, pp. 245–246.
[10] Cook, Palmyra and Vicinity, p. 15.
[11]The Great Physician: A Sermon on occasion of the Death of Alexander McIntyre, M. D.
[12] Betsy Lewis, comp., 1817 Female Bible Society Book of the Western Presbyterian Church, November–December 2003.
[13] “Alexander McIntyre File,” in Palmyra Community Library.
[14] “Alexander McIntyre File,” in Palmyra Community Library.
[15] “Alexander McIntyre File,” in Palmyra Community Library.
[16] “Alexander McIntyre File,” in Palmyra Community Library.
[17] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[18] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[19] “Alexander McIntyre File,” in Palmyra Community Library.
[20] Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, pp. 83, 112, 149, 174; Porter, “A Study of the Origins of the LDS Church in New York and Pennsylvania,” p. 74; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 4, [3]–[4], in Joseph Smith Papers; Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1845, pp. 181–184, in Joseph Smith Papers.
[21] Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 3:172.
[22] Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 3:172.
[23] Wayne Sentinel, May 30, 1832.
[24] Traces of Non-Rhodian shores.
[25] Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, pp. 83, 112, 149, 174.
[26] Joseph Smith to Colesville Saints, December 2, 1830; Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 3:456.
[27] Wayne Sentinel, May 30, 1832.
[28] E. B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[29] E. B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[30] Mary Durfee Diary, 1837–1838.
[31] Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 3:171.
[32] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[33] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[34] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[35] “Alexander McIntyre,” in Palmyra Community Library.
[36] The Great Physician: A Sermon on occasion of the Death of Alexander McIntyre, M. D.
[37] The Great Physician: A Sermon on occasion of the Death of Alexander McIntyre, M. D.
[38] The Great Physician: A Sermon on occasion of the Death of Alexander McIntyre, M. D.