We left Holmes and his regiment far in the rear and reached St. Louis a week in advance.

Here we were mustered out of the service on the fifth of August. All were glad to get home and the only regret expressed was for the seventy comrades that were left asleep in the soil of Alabama.

I returned to my home in Louisiana and again resumed the practice of law.

In all the undertakings of life there is a sad side and a happy one. Fortunate indeed is the man who can appreciate a good story and laugh at its telling. Shortly before the death of Mr. Lincoln at the hands of an assassin, my friends, Senator Henderson and Representative Robert T. Van Horn of Jackson County, called at the White House and talked with him. In the course of the conversation Senator Henderson (as I was told) said, "Mr. President, now that the war is about over and no further prospect of serious fighting, Mr. Van Horn and I came to ask you to appoint a young Missouri Colonel, now serving in Alabama, a Brigadier General; this Colonel is David Patterson Dyer." Mr. Lincoln made some inquires about me and then said, "The name of Dyer reminds me of an incident that happened in the State of Illinois when the first railroads were being built. One of these roads ran though a tract of land owned by a man named Dyer. It was decided to locate a depot on the land and to map out a town. The first question that came up was to find a name for the town. Various suggestions were made as to name but none seemed to suit until it was finally with much unanimity, agreed to call the town 'Diarrhea.""

This was as near as I came to being a Brigadier General. When Mr. Henderson told me what had taken place, I said, "The story is worth more than a commission.'

The legislature met in an adjourned session at Jefferson City, in December 1865, and continued in session until March 1866, when I resumed my seat as a representative from Pike County. Thomas C. Fletcher was the Governor, George Smith of Caldwell County the Lieutenant Governor and President of the Senate.

Governor and Mrs. Fletcher entertained most liberally. The Mansion was the mecca for the young and old at the Capitol. His immediate family consisted of Mrs. Fletcher, Miss Honey (Mrs. Fletcher's maiden sister), a young son named Edward and a daughter Ella. Miss Ella was about fifteen years old and a most beautiful girl. She had a young friend about her age, Miss Julia Vogdes, a daughter of Major and Mrs. A. S. Vogdes. Major Vogdes was employed in the Adjutant General's office. These two were inseparable friends and were constantly together at the Governor's Mansion. They were sweet, beautiful girls and were loved and admired by all who came in contact with them.

Frequent balls were given at the Mansion and not only members of the legislature and other officers with their wives attended, but the best men and women of the City of Jefferson and other localities were most frequently present. The young women made a charming group and would compare favorably with the most beautiful in the State. Two sisters, Misses Fannie and Tessie Lathrop of Columbia, Missouri,

daughters of President Lathrop of the State University, were frequent guests of Governor and Mrs. Fletcher and were greatly admired. These two women are sisters of Mr. Gardner Lathrop, at present the distinguished solicitor of the Santa Fe Railroad with headquarters in Chicago. Miss Fannie married a son of Governor Smith and Miss Tessie married Professor Ripley of the State University. Miss Ella Fletcher several years later married Perry Bartholow, and Miss Julia Vogdes married George D. Reynolds, Esq., who for many years served with great distinction on the bench of the St. Louis Court of Appeals. He died recently while in that service.

In addition to these young women there were many more who attended the balls at the Mansionnotably Miss Mollie Siebert, a niece of Mrs. Thomas L. Price, Miss Gussie Thompson of St. Louis, the Misses Bolton, Lansdown, McCarty, and other residents of Jefferson City. Although these gatherings were in the very shadow of the civil strife that had waged in the State for four long years, they went far toward removing and obliterating the passions and animosities of the period and served to give hope for the then not promising future.

Not until the last man who figured in State affairs at that time is dead, will the warmth and hospitality of the old McCarty Hotel kept by Burr McCarty, a southern sympathizer, be forgotten. It was the home of Broadhead, Vest, Philips, Brown, Sturgeon, Orrick, Bittinger, Van Horn, Craig, Rhea, Ridgely, Anderson, Thompson, Kayser, myself and others, when we had occasion to visit the State Capital. Of all those men named I am the only one that survives.

If it were possible to give the happenings at that old hotel, the stories told, the reminiscences recited, the sharp reparteé, the dances, and the games indulged in, these would make an interesting volume. It can not be possible—at least, let us so hope-that these old friends shall not meet and know each other in the great hereafter.

The State Constitution, formulated and adopted in 1865 and popularly known as the "Drake Constitution," became the subject of bitter and acrimonious discussion throughout the State during the summer and fall of 1866. The provisions that attracted the most debate and against which the severest criticisms were leveled, were those prescribing the qualification of voters, lawyers and ministers of the gospel. These provisions, contained in Section III of the Drake constitution, became not only the subject of bitter denunciation by public speakers but also the basis for court proceedings. All of these were attacked on the ground that they were in conflict with provisions of the Federal Constitution and therefore unconstitutional and void. The contentions were in part upheld, especially those relating to ministers of the gospel and lawyers. The provision presenting the qualification of voters was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. That is, the decision of the State Court upholding that provision was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in an opinion where the Justices were evenly divided.

In November of that year, I was again a candidate for the State Legislature from the County of Pike but was defeated by Thomas J. Forgey. When the

legislature met in the following December, I was chosen Secretary of the State Senate. In this capacity I served during the winters of 1866-7 and 1867-8. Sessions were held each year.

One provision in the Constitution of 1865 vacated certain offices in the State and authorized the Governor (Governor Fletcher, a republican) to fill the vacancies. This provision was severely attacked also and had the effect of alienating many republicans in the State. The Governor removed many judges of the Supreme and Circuit Courts who had been elected in 1864. The judges so removed were democrats (so-called) who had supported McClellan against Lincoln in 1864 for the presidency. Honorable Thomas J. C. Fagg of Pike County, a republican, was elected Judge of the Pike Circuit embracing Pike, Lincoln, Warren and Montgomery.

Honorable Gilchrist Porter of Hannibal, Marion County, was chosen Judge of that Circuit without opposition, at the same election. He had supported McClellan against Lincoln. He always professed to be a Union man, but had opposed the emancipation of slaves. He was removed and John I. Campbell of Hannibal, was appointed in his place. After this the Governor promoted Judge Fagg to the Supreme Court of the State. This, of course, left a vacancy to be filled in the Pike Circuit. Porter at one time resided in Pike County, and in 1852 and 1854 represented the district in Congress. I knew him well. He was not only a good lawyer and a good judge, but absolutely clean and upright as a citizen.

The day after Judge Fagg was appointed to the Supreme Court, I received a letter from Judge Por