John Dillingham, May 17, 2007 at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library
John Dillingham’s speech about Alexander Doniphan.at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library.
Thank you for the opportunity and honor to be here tonight as a guest of the Civil War Roundtable of Western Missouri and for, perhaps, a first-time meeting at the Truman Library. Mike Calvert, as President, you’re very fortunate to have Beverly Shaw. Her follow-through for months has been tremendous.
Tonight, we’re going to introduce some of you for the first time to Alexander W. Doniphan, known by his friends and family as Will. To us, he is a citizen soldier, a lawyer, an orator, a legislator, and educator; but to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he is a Savior. Who is Doniphan? Why would I, from Clay County, be asked to speak on this man born 200 years ago next year?
If you believe in fate, or are curious about unusual situations, may I submit the following to set tonight’s stage:
Doniphan’s father was Joseph Doniphan, first teacher at Boonesborough, where my dad’s third great-grandfather enabled me to be a member of that society—both there at the same time on the Kentucky River below Lexington.
Recently, I visited Doniphan’s obelisk in Fairview Cemetery, Liberty, where to my surprise, I find in the adjoining family plot, my great-grandfather’s close friend, Civil War Regimental Surgeon Doctor John Marshall Allen, whose name our family now carries. His brother D.C. Allen was Doniphan’s close friend.
As I stood on the Missouri Speaker of the House’s dais several weeks ago in Jefferson City, I reflected on the fact that in an earlier Capitol building in 1858, my great-great-grandfather—waiting for a national civil war to break out, fueled by our border wars—served from Clay County in a seat occupied by Doniphan three years earlier. They had to have known each other.
Lastly, speaking here tonight, the coincidence that Doniphan’s grandfather was also Alexander, perhaps the namesake, born in 1716, died in 1768 in Stafford, Virginia. He had a younger brother named Anderson Doniphan. Their father was Mott Doniphan, who was Alexander W. Doniphan’s great-grandfather and Harry S. Truman’s fourth great-grandfather. So, standing on this stage, the week after the President’s 123rd birthday, is it fate that this first-ever meeting is featuring a distant cousin?
Our friend, Congressman Ike Skelton likes to remind me that Doniphan was admitted to the Lafayette County Bar in 1830. There is a bronze, granite historical marker to this effect next to the street on the site of the old courthouse in Lexington, east of the current downtown. In 1833, he moved to Liberty to join David Rice Atchison, later first Circuit Judge of the New Platte Purchase, first U.S. Senator from western Missouri, and Acting President of the United States for one day. I understand Peter Burnett was a member of the firm or very close. He would later become the first governor of California. Not too shabby for a law firm, north of the Missouri River.
Again, who is Doniphan? Where does one start for a man who died when Harry Truman was three? Missouri boasts of some thirty generals with a strong connection to our state, a majority during the Civil War. What if I told you the Dictionary of Missouri Biography, and a recent book by the University of Missouri Press, lists the most famous as Alexander “Will” Doniphan, Governor Sterling W. Price, President Ulysses S. Grant, John J. Pershing, and Omar N. Bradley. From the Mexican War to World War II—not bad company!
Missouri Life said, “In his era, he was a superstar.” Doniphan led about 800 ragtag Clay/Platte men on a 3,500-plus mile land trek and another 1,000 by water, the First Missouri Mounted Volunteer Regiment, to victory in the Mexican War from 1846 to 1847. Rumor has it he read books on infantry tactics and on how to be a general, borrowed from his commander, during his trip south. Remember, he was an attorney, not a West Pointer.
He defeated larger Mexican forces at El Brazito and Sacramento and occupied Santa Fe, El Paso del Norte, and Chihuahua. Always the lawyer, he led the committee, during a month-long stay in Santa Fe, that created a new government for the New Mexico Territory by melding legal concepts of Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. law to create a new code which, I understand, is the foundation of today’s New Mexico Constitution. He also helped pave the way for the annexation of the territory that became New Mexico and Arizona. All in one year!
For those heroic military efforts, since the troops assembled and left from our neighbor Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, General Doniphan hangs in Fort Leavenworth’s Hall of Fame, along with our Nation’s greatest; this for leading the longest march in U.S. military history. This includes being next to my friend Colonel Roger Donlan, the first Medal of Honor recipient in Vietnam, who lives at Leavenworth.
On a lighter note, I learned that on Doniphan’s victorious return, Major John Dougherty provided from Multnomah, on the location today of the new Staley Farm Development, two buffalo for a big barbecue. I called my friend Ollie Gates, upon learning this important news, to suggest the first barbecue in Kansas City, was in the Northland.
His reputation as a leader formed back in the 1830’s. While in his late twenties, he served on the committee that later saw Congressional approval of the Platte Purchase, adding six counties west and north of Clay County to the Missouri River. I’ve heard it’s the only time in U.S. history where Congress added onto a state. In addition, Doniphan played an important state ratifying role as a freshman member of the Missouri General Assembly in 1836.
I understand his early legal work, since Atchison was occupied, was in Jackson County, on the so-called Mormon problems. I’d like to interject that Missouri Governor Boggs issued the infamous Extermination Order of all Mormons in 1838 and not until 1976 under Governor Kit Bond was it lifted. I told my friend Tony Sarver that here in Missouri, it was legally open season for 136 years. In their later years, Doniphan and Atchison both competed for the U.S. Senate at the Lexington Convention as Whigs and Democrats. But, as twenty-five-year-olds, they hunted and fished together, gambled in taverns with friends, and saw each other in court.
Atchison organized a Liberty Blues militia company. Doniphan became an officer as well. Apparently they “drilled three times per year, marched around in the sun for a while and then settled down for a picnic and not just a little drink,” according to one source.
One observation, if successful in a parallel to the removal of Native American1 tribes of Platte, a so-called Mormon Reservation would be created, and Platte would be free for non-Mormon settlement. Doniphan recalled later that the Mormons broke their agreement and formed a settlement in Daviess County. Reportedly, there were 10,000 Mormons in 1838 in this area—a very large population at that time.
Atchison, now commanding general in northwest Missouri, called out 400 Clay or Platte County men to quell disturbances in Daviess County. Clay County Commander Doniphan was sent to Caldwell County to secure Mormon prisoners’ release. Following a “friendly chat” with Joseph Smith Jr., the Mormon Prophet, and success, he also secured releases in Daviess County. Both men were retained by the Mormons for assistance in their Jackson County troubles. With their lands taken and followers forcibly driven out, Doniphan led an effort of compromise. As Captain of the aforementioned Liberty Blues, he provided court appearance and physical protection for the Saints. Even though only partially successful, he was approved and hired again after the Mormon War of 1838.
When Mormons came to Clay from Jackson County in 1834, Doniphan spoke for reason against mob violence. He later joined with Atchison asking the Mormons to leave Clay County to avoid civil strife. In 1836 in the Missouri General Assembly, Doniphan introduced a bill organizing Caldwell County out of northern Ray County, as a place for the Mormons to live. “All was quiet for a few months” according to [Stephen C.] LeSueur in The Mormon War.
In the fall, as Mormon soldiers prepared to march, Doniphan rode to Far West with sixty men, but his advice for calm was not followed. Governor Boggs mobilized the state militia, replaced Atchison with Samuel Lucas and ordered the Mormons to be exterminated. Doniphan prevented Missouri soldiers from shooting Mormon prisoners. A kangaroo “court martial” ordered execution of Joseph Smith Jr. and other leaders and General Lucas ordered now Brigadier General Doniphan, of the mobilized state militia, to carry out the order at 9 a.m. the next morning. Doniphan, answered by note, “it is coldblooded murder. I will not obey your order. My brigade shall march for Liberty tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock; and if you execute these men, I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God!”
I have to add some personal levity; it’s a real conflict of interest asking a lawyer to execute his client. Today the historic Liberty Jail in Liberty is a shrine operated by the Latter-day Saints that tells the story of Joseph Smith and five Mormon leaders who were saved because Doniphan refused a direct order to execute these leaders. I think one can safely say the church was saved for the worldwide mission we see today. Not only the LDS, but also here in Independence with the Community of Christ church.2 Several revelations from Joseph Smith occurred while imprisoned in Liberty before his so-called escape and journey to Nauvoo, Illinois.
It was an honor and inspiration for me several years ago to receive the Doniphan Award on a small stage that serves as the roof to that small jail that was so significant from 1838 to 1839. I’m pleased to announce that a longtime Liberty Councilwoman and educator will receive the Doniphan Award this Saturday night, Juarenne Hester, to strains of the Doniphan March. President John F. Kennedy did a profile in courage on Doniphan, highlighting this significant time that perhaps saved the Mormon Church. Peter Lawford, President Kennedy’s brother-in-law, portrayed Doniphan in a movie.
When our fourteen-month effort asking the Missouri Department of Transportation to name Missouri Highway 152 in honor of Alexander Doniphan in Clay and Platte Counties was successful, we broke with tradition and had the ceremony in Liberty at the Alexander Doniphan Elementary School. Five students enacted five different facets of his life while retired Circuit Judge Ken Elliott with that deep baritone voice portrayed, in top hat and coat, his hero, Doniphan. As he appeared from the back he said, “Thank you boys and girls for remembering this old soldier.”
Doniphan Highway parallels the military road, begun in 1827, in the area that later would become Platte County. It was built by soldiers, and ran from Fort Leavenworth to Barry, which today is on the Clay-Platte County line, but was originally the former state line. Settlers built the Clay County portion from Barry to Liberty, where the main street leading to the square is called Kansas. In 1827, Liberty was the Quick Trip of the day for families of the Fort, both for physical and social needs.
The school on the hill is there because of Founder Trustee Alexander Doniphan. William Jewell College was created in 1849. The Baptists wanted Boonville, but Doniphan had raised the money and suggested noted Columbia educator Dr. William Jewell, to be the first President of the school that would carry his name. Doniphan was successful and, ironically, was a Disciple of Christ, not Baptist.
I earlier had mentioned Doniphan’s father Joseph was the first teacher at Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky. Alexander Doniphan served as Clay County’s first Commissioner of Education. He served three terms in the Missouri House, in 1836, 1840 and 1854. Today, there is a Doniphan Society at William Jewell; a leadership institute for the Clay County Economic Development Council; a town named for him in Ripley County; a county in Kansas; and a road in El Paso, Texas and Liberty, Missouri.
Today, the Clay County Commission and the Clay County Millennium Historic Board are completing the fundraising necessary to place Alexander W. Doniphan in the Hall of Famous Missourians, close to his old partner David Rice Atchison. Missouri Speaker of the House, Rod Jetton, has been most supportive in this effort.
If the Civil War had not come along, Doniphan probably would be a person of national prominence. However, when he turned down a high command during the Civil Way and left the area to practice law and relocate in St. Louis, he fell from sight. His commitment to the Union prohibited him from taking up arms against it, and his allegiance to friends and institutions of the South prevented him from aiding in the putting down of the rebellion. In the end, he served as a state claims agent for the widows and orphans of killed soldiers.
After the war, he reestablished his law offices in Richmond, Missouri where he died. He was a Union man, who early had slaves, who believed in preserving the Union and favored neutrality for Missouri in 1861 and served as a delegate to the Washington Peace Conference, where President-elect Abraham Lincoln observed “and this is Colonel Doniphan who made the wild march against the Navajos and Mexicans,” he added, “You are the only man I ever met who in appearance came up to my previous expectation.” He was six-foot-four, muscular, imposing, with a shock of thick auburn hair.
In 1909, a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was named in his honor and organized in Liberty. In 1918, the State of Missouri dedicated a magnificent monument of bronze and granite at Richmond, in Ray County to his memory. In 1998, Roger Launius, Chief Historian for NASA, wrote Alexander William Doniphan: Portrait of a Missouri Moderate. Governor Mel Carnahan proclaimed Alexander Doniphan Day in Missouri on October 24, 1994, apparently on extermination day, 156 years later. I suggested recently to the Mormon Church that the sacred site of Far West, where the cornerstones for the Temple were laid, before Salt Lake became their home, that crowded Brigham Young University consider an eastern campus carrying the name of Alexander Doniphan University.
“The moderation that Doniphan’s life represented,” according to Launius, “speaks to the present crisis in American politics. As extreme positions seem increasingly to be advanced, less and less room in the middle for interchange and compromise seems possible. Doniphan was appalled by similar development in the 1850s and 1860s, and his perspective might instruct Americans today.…Doniphan’s career provides a useful means of exploring past perspectives and political situations.” As Launius observes, “his life may help provide information useful in developing a paradigm shift for present action, for clearly many of the general problems and issues with which he dealt have resurfaced in a variety of ways since his time.”
As you can tell, 120 years after the death of Alexander W. Doniphan, I think we can say, “he’s gone but not forgotten.” I hope you have enjoyed learning a little more about Mr. Truman’s cousin, Will Doniphan of Clay County. I think they would be pleased and proud of each other.
Thank you all for being here tonight.