Alexander W. Monroe 1905. Alexander W. Monroe was born on December 29, 1817, in Hampshire County, Virginia (now West Virginia), and was the oldest child of Robert and Elizabeth Monroe. His parents were of Scottish descent. Monroe's great uncle, Dr. John Monroe, was an early physician and Baptist minister in Hampshire County. Monroe had four younger brothers and two sisters: Robert W. Monroe, James W. Monroe, J. Walker Monroe, Marion Monroe, a Mrs. Snapp, and Sarah Ann Monroe Garrett. His brother, Robert W. Monroe, was later appointed by United States President Grover Cleveland as an Indian agent in Idaho. At the age of
James Forsyth (college president) served as a judge and a member of the Board of Enrollment in Rensselaer County. He was a longtime trustee of the Troy Female Seminary, which became the Emma Willard School, and Rensselaer. He was president of Rensselaer from 1868 to 1886. James Forsyth (college president) James Forsyth (September 8, 1817 – August 10, 1886) was an attorney, businessman, and the seventh president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was born in Peru, New York. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1839 and was admitted to the bar in 1842. The following year, he moved to Troy, New York