Alexander W. Terrell

Alexander W. Terrell (November 23, 1827 – September 9, 1912) was a U. S. minister to Turkey and a Confederate military officer.

Biography
Terrell was born in Patrick County, Virginia. In 1831, his Quaker family moved to Boonville, Missouri. He graduated from the University of Missouri and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He practiced law in St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1852, he moved to Austin, Texas. He served as a district court judge from 1857 until 1863 when he resigned to join the First Texas Cavalry Regiment of the Confederate military as major. He fought in several major battles as part of the Red River Campaign including the Mansfield, Louisiana, in the spring of 1864. In 1865, he obtained the rank of brigadier general, but the war ended before his promotion was officially confirmed.

Postbellum
He briefly chose to flee to Mexico after the war. After Reconstruction, he served in both the Texas Senate and House of Representatives, serving sixteen years in the state legislature. From 1893 until 1897, he was minister plenipotentiary to the Ottoman Empire during U.S. President Grover Cleveland's second administration. From 1909 to 1911, he was a member of the University of Texas board of regents. He was president of the Texas State Historical Association when he died in Mineral Wells, Texas, in 1912. Terrell County, Texas is named in his honor.