Augustus Henry “Gus” Doxsee was born in Stark County, Ohio on May 22, 1847, the youngest of four children born to Cornwall and Sarah Doxsee. In 1849, the family moved west to Illinois. The 1850 census lists their Mercer Co. household as follows: Cornwall (41, Farmer, b. New York), Sarah (41, b. PA), Mary (18, b. Ohio), Isaac (10, b. Ohio), Johnathan (7, b. Ohio), Augustus (3, b. Ohio).

Over time, the family lived in multiple locations in Mercer and Rock Island counties. They were joined by at least two other Doxsee households who also moved from Ohio to the area, the families of Alfred and Ransom. Alfred was a farmer in Mercer County before his death in 1891. Ransom

According to several sources, Cornwall owned and operated a farm, convenience store, and school at his home on Knoxville Road in Milan. The Doxsee School was in operation until the 1950s.

Little is known about the family beyond the fact that the family experienced great tragedy during the American Civil War.

In 1864, just after his 18th birthday, he officially mustered into the 140th Illinois Infantry. Yet according to newspaper accounts of the time, his service began much earlier—at just 14, serving for a total of three years. He was the only son of Cornwall Doxsee to survive the war.

In 1873, Gus married Anna (or Ann) Crummy, an Irish immigrant who had settled in Leland, Illinois, as a child. Together, they raised at least nine children, losing one in infancy. They made their home near Cable, just south of Sherrard in Mercer County, Illinois.