It was this committee which met in Charlotte on the 31st of May, 1775, and passed a series of rules and regulations for the internal government of the county—­a necessary sequel, as previously stated, of the more important meeting of the 20th of May preceding.  This statement is strongly corroborated by a communication published last summer in the “Charlotte Observer,” by D.A.  Caldwell, Esq., one of Mecklenburg’s most aged, intelligent and worthy citizens.  The portion of the communication most pertinent to our subject reads thus: 

“I was born and raised in the house of my maternal grandfather, Major John Davidson, who was one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration.  I have often heard him speak of the 20th of May, 1775, as the day on which it was signed, and the 31st of the same month as the time of an adjourned meeting.  The ‘20th of May’ was a household word in the family.  Moreover, I was present (and am now the only surviving witness of the transaction) when he gave a certificate of the above dates to Dr. Joseph McKnitt Alexander, whose father, John McKnitt Alexander, was also a signer, and the principal secretary of the meeting.  This certificate was called forth by the celebrated attempt of Thomas Jefferson to throw discredit on the whole affair.  A certificate to the same effect was given on that occasion by Samuel Wilson, a brother-in-law of Major Davidson, and a man of undoubted integrity.  Mr. Wilson, although not a signer, was present at the signing on the 20th of May.  I often heard my grandfather allude to the date in later years, when he lived with his daughter, Mrs. William Lee Davidson, whose husband was the son of General Davidson, who fell at Cowan’s Ford.”

Under the administration of Abraham Alexander as Chairman of the Committee of Safety, the laws passed by that body of vigilant observers of the common good were strictly enforced; and each citizen, when he left the county, was required to carry with him a certificate of his political standing, officially signed by the chairman.

Abraham Alexander was a most worthy, exemplary and influential member of society; was, for many years, a Ruling Elder of the Presbyterian Church, and lies buried in the graveyard of Sugar Creek Church.  On his gravestone is this brief record: 

     “Abraham Alexander,
     Died on the 22nd of April, 1786,
     Aged 68 years.”

     “’Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end
     be like his.’”

Adam Alexander was chiefly known by his military services.  He was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of a battalion of minute men, with Thomas Polk as Colonel, and Charles M’Lean as Major, by the Provincial Council held at Johnston Court-house, on the 18th of December, 1775; and Colonel of Mecklenburg county, with John Phifer as Lieutenant Colonel, and John Davidson and George A. Alexander as Majors, by the Provincial Congress, held at Halifax on the 4th of April, 1776.