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 Alexander
Doniphan might be called a Man for All Seasons or perhaps the
quintessential Renaissance Man. His many talents and abilities stretching
across so many areas of endeavor would so qualify him. Of ability granted
to him in the largest measure was his talent for eloquent expression.
His
teacher, Dr. Bascom, at
Augusta
College
was considered the
greatest pulpit orator in the
Union
in his day and Doniphan
building on his natural abilities honed his skills under his tutelage.
His voice
has been described as having a thrilling note of sincerity, a vast store
of feeling. Compelling magnetism
D.C. Allen, early
Liberty
resident said of him
“Men who had been to Congress used to say that Webster and Clay could
not sway men as could old Alex Doniphan. His burning eyes, his gestures,
and his tall figure, everything about him was like a flame. Before a great
audience he brought into play the whole range of his stores of thought,
sentiment, eloquence, and wit, transported his hearers from grave to gay,
from tears to mirth, with a certain divine ease and rapidity, and molded
their opinions and hearts to his will with a thoroughness only possible to
the greatest orator. H.H. Crittenden, another admirer of Doniphan the
orator said. “I have heard many distinguished orators in my time, in the
Senate, in the House, in the pulpit and on the stump, but have never heard
one who surpassed Doniphan in his style of speaking, in the resonance of
his voice, and as graceful a delivery as ever won the attention or acclaim
from a listening Senate or assemblage.”
Enormous
crowds met him wherever he spoke and the people never wearied of listening
to his voice. When the news of the secession of
South Carolina
reached him he
distributed handbills calling the people of the County together that he
might advise them what course
Missouri
should pursue. Although
the ground was covered with snow six thousand of his neighbors assembled
in the open air and stood for three hours while he pleaded with them to
remain loyal to the Constitution and the
Union
.
Since
Doniphan invariably spoke extemporaneously and probably without notes only
limited fragments of his speeches have been preserved for posterity. A
family historian in the Doniphan Family History states that of his entire
oration only two remain complete; both delivered on social or festive
occasions.
Doniphan
honed his skills as an orator in his career as a criminal lawyer, in his
political career, but also in his service to the advance the cause of
education.
Doniphan
early display the value he placed on an education by using his inheritance
from his father to attend
Augusta
College
, graduating at the age
of 18. Probably his most notable contribution in the field of education
was on behalf of
William
Jewell
College
in
Liberty
. When he learned that
Baptists of Missouri were talking of establishing a college he began
Homeric efforts to ensure its location in
Liberty
, then a rather wild
frontier town, a jumping off place to the west. He attended every meeting
of the citizens called to deliberate upon this proposition, helped
organize the county by township for a campaign to raise money, adjourned
his law practice, mounted his horse, and along with E. M. Samuel, Judge
JTV Thompson, and Alvan Lightburne rode through sunshine and rain from
town to town and farm to farm with a subscription list is his pocket, and
at $28 a subscription raised more than $31,000 in total in subscriptions,
more the largest amount of any county. With his polished oratorical skills
he convinced the assemblage gathered to make this decision to choose
Liberty
. Then in an
unselfishness and conciliatory gesture, through another, Doniphan made the
proposition that the college bear the name William Jewell in recognition
of this man’s tireless work to beget a college.
In 1853 an
act was passed by the Missouri Legislature provided for the organization,
support and governance of the public school and insured that twenty-five
per cent annually of state revenue be set aside to support them. This
necessitated that the County of Clay County appoint a commissioner of
common schools for the county. By a single unanimous vote with no thought
for anyone else the people of the county asked Doniphan to accept the
position and petitioned the county court to appoint him. He accepted the
appointment saying he ought to do so because the people of the county had
done everything they could for him. While only serving in this position
for one year he gave an impetus to the public school system in the county
which never waned. During his tenure a teacher’s institute was
organized, the first one in
Missouri
and an extensive
building program of schools was instituted.
Doniphan’s
fame as an orator and his contributions to education probably would have
been enough to secure him a place in
Missouri
and
Clay
County
history, but that is
only a part of the story with more to come.
*
This is a major excerpt from a speech delivered by Juarenne Hester.
|
Alexander
Doniphan might be called a Man for All Seasons or perhaps the
quintessential Renaissance Man. His many talents and abilities stretching
across so many areas of endeavor would so qualify him. Of ability granted
to him in the largest measure was his talent for eloquent expression.