Camp Russell A. Alger (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

Camp Russell A. Alger
Named for Secretary of War Russell A. Alger, the camp was established in May 1898 on a 1,400-acre farm called Woodburn Manor. Some 23,000 men trained here for service in the Spanish-American War. The large military population greatly affected the lives of the residents of the small communities of Falls Church and Dunn Loring. The camp was abandoned early in August 1898 after an epidemic of typhoid fever. The War Department began the sale of land in September 1898.

Erected 1998 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number B-14.)


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Here follows an excerpt from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website:

ALGER, Russell Alexander
1836 – 1907

3 US Congresses Served

Senate Years of Service
57th – 59th (1902 – 1907)

State / Territory
Michigan

Position
Senator

Party
Republican

ALGER, Russell Alexander, a Senator from Michigan; born in Lafayette Township, Medina County, Ohio, February 27, 1836; worked on a farm; attended Richfield Academy, Summit County, Ohio; taught country school; studied law in Akron, Ohio; admitted to the bar in March 1859; moved to Grand Rapids, Mich., and engaged in the lumber business; moved to Detroit; served in the Union Army during the Civil War 1861-1865; brevetted as a major general, United States Volunteers; resumed the lumber business; elected Governor of Michigan in 1884; declined renomination in 1886; presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1888; was appointed Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President William McKinley on March 5, 1897, and resigned August 1, 1899; appointed and subsequently elected as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of James McMillan, and served from September 27, 1902, until his death in Washington, D.C., January 24, 1907; chairman, Committee on the Pacific Railroads (Fifty-ninth Congress); interment in Elmwood Cemetery, Detroit, Mich.