Alexander Martin

Alexander Martin

Alexander Martin (1740 -- 10 November 1807) was the Federalist governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1782 to 1784 and from 1789 to 1792.

Martin was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey and attended the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), graduating with an B.A. degree in 1756 and an M.A. in 1759. He moved to North Carolina around 1761 and became a practicing attorney in Guilford County.

In 1774, Martin was elected to the Colonial Assembly in North Carolina; he fought in the Continental Army at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown. He was dismissed from the army for cowardice int the battle of Germantown in 1777 and returned to North Carolina, where he served in the North Carolina Senate during periods from 1778 to 1782, in 1785, and from 1787 to 1788.

In 1782, the General Assembly elected him North Carolina Governor; he served until 1785. Martin was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He was elected Governor by the legislature