Alexander Starne was born on November 21, 1813, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended public schools until he was sixteen and then became a clerk at the T. W. Dyott drug store. After working there for seven years, he moved to Alton, Illinois, in 1836. He soon relocated to Griggsville, where he opened a general merchandise store. Starne was elected Commissioner of Pike County in 1839 and served for three years. He was then elected as a Democrat to the Illinois House of Representatives, where he served two two-year terms.[1]
In 1861, Starne was elected a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention. The next year, he was elected Illinois Treasurer, a position he held for one year under Republican governor Richard Yates Sr. Starne moved to Springfield, the state capitol, where he spent the rest of his life. Starne was selected as an at-large delegate to the 1864 Presidential Election, supporting George B. McClellan, the eventual nominee. He supported John D. Caton as vice presidential nominee. He was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1870 and served two two-year terms. Starne was also the longtime owner of the West End Coal Mines as Starne & Sons.[1]
He married Rebecca Hatch on September 23, 1840. She died six years later and Starne remarried to Elvira S. Swetland. He had one daughter by his first marriage and three sons and one daughter by his second. He died on March 31, 1886, and is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery.[1]
