"Alexander-Miles"(May 18,1838-May 7,1918)

Was an African American Inventor who was known for being awarded a patent for an automatically opening and closing elevator door design in 1887.He was awarded the patent,U.S.Patent 371,207 on October 11,1887.
He was born in Ohio,probably in Pickway County near the town of Circleville,the son of Michael & Mary (Pompey) Miles.Alexander may have resided in the nearby town of Chillicote,Ohio,he subsequently moved to Waukesha,Wisconsin where he earned a living as a barber.After a move to Winnona,Minnesota,Alexander met and married Cadance J.(Shedd) Dunlap,of La Porte,Indiana,a widow with two children who was four years his senior and a native of
New York.Together they had a daughter named Grace.Shortly after her birth the family relocated to Duluth, Minnesota.
They moved to Chicago,Illinois by 1889,where Alexander was listed in the city
directories as a laborer.By 1900,he listed himself as an insurance agent.Around 1903,they moved again,to Seattle,Washington where he worked in a hotel as a barber.