Doniphan, Alexander W., soldier and statesman, was born in Mason county, Ky., July 9, 1808. Both of his parents were Virginians. When eight years of age, he was placed under the instruction of Richard Keene of Augusta, Ky., a well educated Irishman, and at the age of fourteen entered Augusta College at Bracken, Ky. After leaving college he read law with Martin & Marshall of Augusta, and in 1829 was admitted to the bar. The next year he located in Lexington, Mo., and in 1833 removed to Liberty, Mo., where he continued the active practice of his profession until 1860, gaining great fame as a criminal lawyer. During the Mormon war of 1838, Col. Doniphan was in command of a brigade of state militia. When the Mexican war began in 1846 he enlisted as a private but was at once elected colonel of the regiment. With his command he was sent on an expedition against the Navajo Indians in the Rocky mountains. (See Doniphan's Expedition.) On his return to Liberty at the close of the war, Col. Doniphan resumed his law practice. In 1853 he was appointed commissioner of schools and organized the first teachers' institute in Missouri. He took an active part in politics and in the legislature of 1854 was the Whig nominee for United States senator. In 1861 he was appointed a member of the peace commission that met at Washington, D. C., to try to avert Civil war. During the war he removed to St. Louis, and in 1868 to Richmond, Mo., where he resided until his death on Aug. 8, 1887.