Alexander Chapman Lansdon was born in Russellville, Kentucky,
on July 18, 1834. He was the son of Zachariah
Lansdon and Frances Hambleton. The
family moved to Illinois sometime between 1834 and 1838. The federal census of 1850 records the
Lansdons living in Eden, Schuyler County, Illinois.
By 1861, Alexander was in California. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in Company B (Old), 2nd California Cavalry in San Francisco on September 21, 1861. As a member of the historic California Column, he marched from Los Angeles County, California, to the Río Grande River early in the war. Private Lansdon re-enlisted in Co. B (New), same regiment, at San Francisco on July 1, 1864. He was promoted to sergeant five months later and saw service at posts in New Mexico and Nevada.
On November 17, 1865, Lansdon was wounded in a fight with Indians at the Black Rock Mountains in Nevada. He was court-martialed for an undisclosed reason and dishonorably discharged at Fort Churchill, Nevada, on April 20, 1866.
Around 1872, Alexander returned to New Mexico, where he met Maria Francisca Garcia. She had previously been in a relationship with a Captain George A. Burkett, by whom she had three children born between 1867 and 1872: Camilla, John C. and Mary Inez. Coincidentally, Burkett had been stationed at one of the posts where Lansdon had served, although there is no evidence that they were there at the same time. Since no marriage record for Captain George A. Burkett and Francisca has been located, it is not known whether they were ever formally married. At any rate, Lansdon and Francisca set up housekeeping in 1872 and remained together until his death many years later.
By 1880, Alexander and Francisca had left New Mexico for Arizona, initially living in Bisbee where Alexander worked in the copper mines. Later, they settled in the small community of Dos Cabezas. Their household included Francisca's three children from her alliance with Burkett, as well as three more children she had with Lansdon: James, Lola, and Marguerite (Maggie). After the mine where Lansdon was working played out, the family moved to Willcox, where Alexander found work as a carpenter. He and Francisca had a fourth child, Henry, born in Willcox in 1889.
Early in 1898, the Lansdons moved to Phoenix so that Alexander could seek medical attention for a throat affliction, likely the result of years of mining. They lived with Francisca's oldest son, John C. Burkett, who lived on West Lincoln Street between 5th and 6th Avenues.
Alexander died there on February 12, 1899, and was laid to rest in Rosedale Cemetery. Francisca passed away on September 4, 1901, and was also buried in Rosedale.
-by Donna Carr
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