He boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a first class passenger together with his mother Mary and sister Sara. Alexander occupied cabin E-52.

A bachelor, Mr Compton and his family traveled extensively and owned various hotels in New Hampshire, Louisiana, and maintained a summer residence at the Laurel House in Lakewood, New Jersey.

When the Titanic was sinking Compton calmly reassured his mother and sister that he would follow them in another lifeboat. Mrs Compton desired to remain with her son rather than leave him. "Don't be foolish, mother. You and sister go ahead. I'll look out for myself."

Alexander Compton did not survive the sinking. His body, if recovered, was never identified.

He was memorialized on the family monument in Newark, New Jersey.