Let me start with my mother's version of her family which is the hardest part because she didn't talk about it, so...........the following is mostly my memory and research from her side of the family.
My great grandfather was a tailor in the Court of Alexander II in Russia around 1850 or thereabout. His name was either Hyman or Herman and it was the custom to take the name of the monarch who you worked for or was indebted; that's how the Alexander family started so I was told. Somehow as a young man he left or escaped and walked to the nearest Jewish village which were called "shtetels" and was taken into their homes. He used his tailoring skills to make the men black suits which they needed. This would take several months and when everyone was happy they would give him money and he would make it to the next shtetel. This was repeated many, many times in the next several years until he reached a shtetel where he met and married my great grandmother Anna. After having 8 children he took his family to England and boarded a ship to the United States. The next part gets a little hazy. Some of the family says my grandmother, the youngest baby was born in England, some say on the ship and yet I have a birth certificate that states, New York, U.S.A. (no way to validate so that is how it is, take your choice). The family settled in upstate New York in the town of Utica where he was very involved in starting the Jewish Community Center. It has been passed down to me that my Great Grandfather worked very hard and brought over to the United States every Jewish person from my Great Grandmother's village.
WOW WHAT A MAN -be proud of your heritage!