William Patterson Alexander

William Patterson Alexander (July 25, 1805 – August 13, 1884) was an American missionary to the Kingdom of Hawaii. His family continued to influence the history of Hawaii. Life William Patterson Alexander was born in Paris, Kentucky on July 25, 1805. His father was James Alexander (1770–1821) and mother was Mary Rose Depuy (1765–1841). He attended Centre College in Danville, Kentucky and then Princeton Theological Seminary. He was a distant cousin of Archibald Alexander, the founder of the Presbyterian seminary. On October 25, 1831, he married Mary Ann McKinney, who was born January 5, 1810, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was ordained October 13, 1831. They sailed on the Whaleship Averick, under Captain Swain, from New Bedford, Massachusetts, November 26, 1831, and arrived at Honolulu, May 17, 1832. Alexanders and the rest of the fifth company from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions arrived in April 1832 to the Hawaiian Islands. They were sent on a scouting mission to the Marquesas Islands (at the time called "Washington Islands") with Reuben Tinker and Samuel Whitney. On July 2, 1833, they then traveled back to establish a Marquesas mission with Richard Armstrong, Benjamin W. Parker with their wives via Tahiti. However, they abandoned the Marquesas to European missionaries and arrived back in Honolulu on May 12, 1834.