Marzelle Lifford Alexander (1897-1949)

Portrait from the Mississippi Official and Statistical Register, 1923.

  The annals of the Mississippi legislature yield a new, unusual name in one-term state representative Marzelle Lifford Alexander of  Jasper County. Elected to the Mississippi legislature at the age of just 22, Alexander was still a student in law school when he took his seat in state government. Born on October 6, 1897, in Pineville, Mississippi, Marzelle Lifford Alexander was the son of Julius Anderson and Laura (Smith) Alexander. Alexander's name is also given as Marzell Liffard but is presumed to be a spelling error, as his 1917 draft registration (presumably filled out by Alexander himself) gives the spelling as it is in the title to this article.

  A student at the Baxter School and the Montrose College, Alexander graduated from the latter in 1917 and was later employed by the Montrose Saw Mill prior to his entering the University of Mississippi to study law. While engaged in his law studies Alexander ran for and was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1920, and during his one four year term held seats on the following committees: Census and Apportionment, Education, Insurance, Pensions, and Public Buildings and Grounds.

  After earning his law degree Alexander established his practice in Bay Springs and in 1920 was a delegate from Jasper County to the State Democratic Convention. Little else is known of Alexander's life after 1920, excepting notice of his death at age 51 on February 13, 1949. A lifelong bachelor, Alexander was later interred at the Montrose Cemetery in Jasper County.