Nininger, Alexander Ramsey, 1844-1918.

Alexander Ramsey Nininger was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on August 2, 1864, the son of John and Catherine Ramsey Nininger and the nephew of Minnesota governor Alexander Ramsey. The family moved to Minnesota Territory in 1855, but Alexander was educated in Pennsylvania, at the Mount Joy Academy in Lancaster County, and at the Churchill Military Academy, where he served as the academy adjunct.

Nininger apparently fled from the academy in November 1861 to join the army and fight in the Civil War. He was mustered as a second lieutenant into the 84th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers in March 1862 and was discharged in January 1863 with a medical disability. Afterward, Nininger served as a clerk and inspector in the Mankato (Minnesota) provost marshall general's office (1863-1864) and as an assistant adjutant general in the U.S. Volunteers (1864-1866), serving in Tennessee and Alabama and mustering out with a brevet rank of lieutenant colonel.

Nininger was commissioned as a captain in the 28th U.S. Infantry in March 1867, serving in Kentucky and Arkansas during the early Reconstruction years. He was honorably discharged in October 1870 and returned to Minnesota, where he apparently pursued a business career. He also served as a U.S. Marshall for the northern district of Alabama during the early 1890s. Nininger died in 1918.

From the guide to the Alexander Ramsey Nininger papers., 1852, 1859-1897., (Minnesota Historical Society)