Rudolph Alexander was born on April 20, 1849, in Germany to William and Mary Alexander. The family emigrated to Sauk County, Wisconsin, where Rudolph was raised. His older brother, Richard, served in the Civil War, while Rudolph worked on the family farm. In 1882, Rudolph moved to South Dakota, settling in Faulk County. Over the years, he developed a prosperous 1,000-acre ranch near Miranda, specializing in cattle farming. On April 12, 1877, he married Mary Trueb, and they had six children: Louis, Annie, Edward, Ella, Edna, and Hilbert.
Rudolph Alexander was born in Germany on the 20th of April 1849 and is the third in order of birth among the eight children of William and Mary Alexander, all of whom are still living. The parents of the subject bade adieu to their fatherland and emigrated with their children to America, taking up their abode in Sauk County, Wisconsin, where the father engaged in agricultural pursuits, reclaiming a good farm and being one of the sterling pioneers of that section of the Badger State, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. Their eldest son, Richard, was about nineteen years of age at the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion, and in 1864 he enlisted as a member of a regiment of Wisconsin volunteers and served until the close of the war. Though a mere boy at the time, our subject was desirous of emulating the example of his brother, but his age prevented his being accepted as a volunteer. He was reared on the homestead farm and early began to assist in reclaiming and cultivating the land, while his educational advantages were such as were afforded in the somewhat primitive schools of the locality and period. After leaving school, he remained on the home farm for some time and later engaged in farming on his own responsibility in Sauk County, where he continued to reside until 1882, when he came to South Dakota. Arriving in March of that year and visiting various sections of the prospective state in search of a suitable location, the following summer he took up his residence in Faulk County, whose organization had been affected but a short time previously. Here, he took up a pre-emption claim near the present village of Rockham, and there continued to reside for about twelve years, bringing his farm under cultivation and meeting with excellent success on the whole, despite the misfortunes entailed throughout this section by droughts and grasshoppers in the earlier years. In 1895, he disposed of his property and purchased a portion of his present fine ranch from Frank Bacon. He has since added to its area by additional purchases in the locality until he now has a landed estate of one thousand acres, a significant portion of which is under a high state of cultivation while the remainder is used for grazing purposes. He runs an average herd of about two hundred head of Durham and Shorthorn cattle, while of late, he is also giving attention to the raising of the Hereford breed. His ranch adjoins the corporate limits of Miranda on the north, and he also owns considerable real estate in the village, while his residence is one of the finest in the county and his ranch buildings are large and substantial, affording ample accommodations for stock and farm products. As the line of the Northwestern Railroad is in close proximity to his ranch, he has the best of shipping facilities, and he has reason to be proud of his valuable ranch as well as of the success he has attained since casting his lot with the people of South Dakota. In politics, he is a staunch advocate of the principles of the Republican Party, though never a seeker of public office, and fraternally, he holds membership in the Knights of the Maccabees.
On the 12th of April 1877, Mr. Alexander was married to Miss Mary Trueb, who was born in Switzerland, where she was reared and educated, being a daughter of John Trueb, who came from Germany to America in 1857 and became a pioneer of Wisconsin. Of the children of this union, we enter the following brief record: Louis is now associated with his father in the management of the home ranch; Annie is the wife of Henry Metz, of Miranda; and Edward, Ella, Edna, and Hilbert remain at the parental home.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.