The Biographical Dictionary of America/Alston, Lemuel James

ALSTON, Lemuel James, representative, was born in Granville county, N.C., in 1760; son of Solomon Alston, grandson of Solomon and Nancy (Hinton) Alston, and great-grandson of John and Mary (Clark) Alston. John Alston was a native of Bedfordshire, England, and settled in North Carolina about 1711. Lemuel removed to what is now Greenville, S.C., represented that district in the 10th and 11th congresses, serving 1807-11, and removed thence to Clarke county, Ala., in 1816, where he became chief justice, presiding over the Orphans and county courts from 1816 to May 1821. He married Elisabeth, daughter of Col. Joseph John and Elizabeth (Alston) Williams, and a second time Elisabeth, widow of Joseph John Williams, Jr., the half brother of his first wife. He died in Clarke county, Ala., in 1836.