officer of the Senate was Willard P. Hall of Buchanan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives was Reverend M. Marvin of Henry County. John Wilson of Platte was an able lawyer. He was the father-in-law of Honorable E. H. Norton, who became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State, and the father of O. H. P. Wilson, who afterwards became the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and then a member of Congress. His grandson, Francis Wilson, was recently the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

John Wilson's colleague was a man by the name of Wolff. The only failing that Wolff had was in drinking too much whiskey now and then, and getting on "sprees" that lasted for several days. On one occasion he was absent, without leave, for some time and no one seemed to know where he was. Finally a report came that he had died quite suddenly in St. Joseph. The report was accepted as true and his colleague, Mr. Wilson, prepared resolutions of respect, etc., and introduced them in the House. The resolutions referred to the ability and worth of Mr. Wolff, and concluded by declaring that his death was a great loss to the State. In offering the resolutions, Mr. Wilson spoke most feelingly and eloquently of his friend, but just in the midst of the speech Wolff suddenly appeared at the door of the House. His presence was hailed with much delight and with vociferous applause. Mr. Wilson was greatly surprised and seemed quite nonplused. He looked at Wolff for a moment and then turning to the Speaker

said, "Mr. Speaker, I withdraw all I have said about my colleague; he is a dd sight better man dead than he is alive.' 99

There was among the House membership two or three who were distinguished, not for learning and scholarship, but for possessing good "horse sense." One of these was William Monks of Howell County. He formed a dislike for some reason or other to Charles P. Johnson, a member from the city of St. Louis. Johnson was a young man of great promise, afterwards becoming Lieutenant Governor of the State and its leading criminal lawyer. On one occasion he asked for a few days leave from the House to attend to some private business. Monks at once arose and said, "Mr. Speaker, let him go. If he had made his desires known we could have spore him several days ago." Monks was a great character and lived to be an old man, dying only a few years ago.

During the winter of 1862 and the year 1863, there was comparative peace in the State. The Union forces had affairs well in hand and had driven the rebels out. Courts were quite regularly held and order was generally maintained, although the people suffered now and then from marauding parties, especially in the southern parts.

The war continued with increased violence in other

States and with varying success. In the early part of 1864, an additional and further call for troops was made from Washington. Missouri was required to furnish ten additional regiments of infantry to serve for one year. I was authorized to recruit and organize one of those regiments, thereafter known as the Forty-ninth Missouri Infantry. The head

quarters of the organization was located at Warrenton, Warren County. This place was within ten miles of the farm upon which my father settled in 1841, the one where my boyhood days were spent. The recruiting was very rapid and in a marvelously short time the regiment was organized. The recruits came mostly from my Congressional District, the Ninth, only one company coming from another locality.

Company A was commanded by Captain William Colbert; Company B by Captain Norman Porter; Company C by Captain John F. Dierker; Company D by Captain George Smith; Company E by Captain John E. Ball; Company F by Captain Abraham Kempinsky; Company G by Captain Joseph Humphrey; Company H by Captain Jesse M. Gentry; Company I by Captain Louis Benecke and Company K by Captain Fred Grabenhorst. Nearly a full company was made up of boys who had gone to school to me in Lincoln and Warren counties. The officers and privates of this regiment were men of the highest character, and came from greatly respected families. Today not a single one of the above named captains is alive. Each of the companies had a first and second lieutenant; of the total number of lieutenants, only one survives, Second Lieutenant John J. Spencer of Company H. Nearly all, with a very few exceptions, of the privates are dead also. In the nature of things, it will not be long before the last survivor will join his comrades in the world beyond the clouds.

After the organization of the regiment, I was commissioned Colonel, Edwin Smart, Lieutenant Colonel, and Israel W. Stewart, Major. W. R. Hardin was

the First Adjutant. He retired on account of disability and was succeeded by William Lansdown. William D. Bush was the Quartermaster; he recently died at the age of ninety-four years. The companies were stationed in various counties of the State to preserve order and to protect the loyal people from attacks by various organizations of the enemy, then threatening further trouble, in co-operation with the invasion of the State by a large body of Confederate troops under the command of Major General Sterling Price.

A band of organized "guerrillas" under the command of a desperado named Bill Anderson, terrorized a great portion of North Missouri and committed some of the most fiendish crimes ever perpetrated by man-more fiendish than any ever committed by savage Indians. His raids extended as far east in North Missouri as Danville, the county seat of Montgomery County, where he burned the court house and other buildings and murdered in cold blood old and peaceable citizens.

At Centralia, in Boone County, he and his band captured a passenger train going north on the North Missouri, now the Wabash Railroad, and took therefrom many invalid federal soldiers on their way to homes in the north to recuperate, and killed them in the most brutal and fiendish way possible. Some of them were struck down on the railroad track and the engineer forced to drive his engine over their prostrate bodies. This occurred in the afternoon of the 24th day of September, 1864.

Two companies of my regiment were stationed at Mexico, Missouri, some fifteen miles east of Centralia.

I was in St. Charles that evening and about dark learned of the massacre. Through the aid of Isaac H. Sturgeon, the president of the North Missouri Railroad, I was furnished an engine with an engineer and fireman. Starting late at night on this engine I reached Mexico about daylight. In addition to the excitement caused by the war of bullets, there was intense feeling among the people growing out of the contest between Mr. Lincoln and General McClellan for the Presidency. The day of my arrival in Mexico was fixed as the "great rally day" for the supporters of McClellan, most of whom were in sympathy with the south. Here I met the Honorable James S. Rollins, who had come by stage from Columbia to Mexico via Centralia. The stage was stopped and searched by the Anderson band and Major Rollins, although a Union man, was permitted to pass on his plea (false, of course) that he was a preacher of the gospel.

Rollins told me in detail of the slaughter of the Union soldiers at Centralia, but entreated me not to allow my soldiers (who were then going into two box cars to be taken to Centralia) to burn the town as the citizens there were in no way responsible. I gave him assurance that his request would be complied with as far as it was in my power. With an engine and two box cars I started with Company C, Captain John F. Dierker, to recover the bodies of the slain invalid soldiers. The men were in the cars properly armed and I took my place in the cab of the engine.

We had not gone more than seven or eight miles when the engineer discovered a woman standing on the track some distance ahead, and frantically wav