Autobiography and reminiscences

Dedication

IN MEMOEY OF MY WIFE, WHO FOR MORE THAN FIFTY- FIVE YEARS WAS MY LOVING AND FAITHFUL COMPANION, THESE REMINISCENCES ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

David P. Dyer

Foreword

At the age of eigiity-four years, there is little left for one to do except to "take an account of stock," — review the labor, incidents, failures, successes, joys and sorrows of a long life, — "balance the books" and then cahnly count, as they pass, the few remaining days allowed hiin by a gracious Providence, observing the shadows as they lengthen and serenely speculate upon the beauties and glories of the future world as they may appear to him at the final sunset of life.

It has been suggested to me by friends that it might be of interest to others, especially to my children and their descendants, to have in writing some of the incidents, occurrences, struggles, successes, failures and disappointments that in a measure mark the pathway of my long life. In addition to all of these, the fact of employment as I wait for the summons that sooner or later must come, appeals very strongly to me, as does the further thought that I may be recording some things of interest as they relate to others whom it has been my pleasure to know. Most of the persons of whom I shall speak have long since passed to the great beyond. The object, therefore, of this effort on my part is to record a brief autobiography of myself for the benefit of my children and their descendants, and a succinct account of men that I have known and measures that have come to my attention, with such observations as may possibly be of in-

12 Foreivord terest to those who honor me by reading these pages. Much of what follows pertains to ofl&cial positions held by me and the successes or failures that accompanied them. The cases mentioned are of a public character and reference thereto may serve some good purpose.

David P. Dyer St. Louis February 12, 1922

Contents

I. Earliest Recollections ... 19

II. Boyhood in Lincoln County . . 32

III. Education 44

II

Farm Life in Missouri — First Impressions of Slavery — The Block — Religion on the Frontier — The Pioneer's ''Good Times" — Master and Slaves.

I was but six years old at the time of my father's death, and consequently my recollections of him are very vague. My mother was very ill when he died, but recovered her health in a few weeks' time and assumed the duties and shouldered the burden that had fallen upon her. Remaining with her in this new but now desolate home, made so by the death of the master and the great disaster caused by the flood, were six children, James, Jane, Elizabeth, Louisa, Matilda, and myself. The six older children, namely, George, Joseph, Mar}% Martha, John, and Sarah, were married and in homes of their own. James and Jane did not remain long after the death of my father, but married and moved away. This left the four younger children, three sisters and myself, at the home with our mother. The neighborhood Avas sparsely settled, as said elsewhere, there being not a mile of railroad in the State, and the closest point to a navigable river, the Mississippi, was sixteen miles.

There was one water-mill and one "horse-mill" in the neighborhood. The water-mill ran only two or three months in the year, and then only as the waters of Big Creek furnished the power. This mill would grind wheat and corn, but the flour made from the wheat was bolted by hand. The ''horse-mill" was located some six miles from our home and the power used at that was two horses attached to a sweep. The burden of taking the grain to the mills and bringing back the meal and flour, most generally fell upon me after I reached the age of twelve j^ears.

The family consisted of mother and four children and seven or eight slaves. My father made a will in which he gave to each of his eleven older children one or two slaves and certain personal property. To my mother he gave the place and seven or eight negroes — one man, three women and two or three younger slaves. This property was to be hers during her lifetune and at her death to vest in me, the youngest child.

On the farm were cultivated corn, wheat, and tobacco. Tobacco was the staple principally relied upon to furnish the means necessary to buy family supplies. However, in addition to the tobacco, some wheat, bacon, oats, poultry, butter and eggs were sent to market and sold. St. Louis, sixty miles away, was then, as it is now, the market for that section of the State. It took five days to make the trip, two in going, one day in St. Louis and two to return. After I reached fourteen years of age, the marketing for the succeeding four years fell upon me. Only two or three such trips were made in the year. In the winter I stood upon the streets in St. Louis and sold turkeys, geese, ducks, and chickens, and with the proceeds of such sales bought sugar, coffee, molasses, salt, etc. On one occasion I made the trip without spending a single cent. The Missouri Eiver at St. Charles was frozen over and wagon and team crossed without difficulty. The feed for the horses was carried in the wagon, as were the meat, bread and coffee that I used. At night I slept in the wagon or on the ground, as the weather permitted. These details are given for the purpose of showing the opportunities of that day and this. Then fiYQ days, now less than five hours to make the trip ; then over heavy and unimproved roads, now in comfortable coaches.

The most interesting and enjoyable meetings of neighbors were at '4og rollings," *'corn shuckings" and ^*hog killings.'' Here the neighbors joined together to help each other. While the men were engaged in this work, the women were spinning or quilting, and when the day ended, a hearty and joyous gathering was held around the dinner table and fireplace. It is a question as to whether the people were not happier then than now. In the old time, friendships were stronger and more sincere. There was less selfishness and more of the milk of human kindness in the make-up of people than now. Families were strongly united, and it was a disgrace and reproach to countenance divorce. Men and women married each other for love — now in many cases for money and position. These comments may be a little out of place here, but the facts as I knew them when a boy made a deep impression upon me, and I have tried through life to emulate the stern integrity and the unselfish friendship that characterized the people of the early days.

The opportunities offered for obtaining an education, however, were the most meagre. It was while attending the country school that an incident occurred in the neighborhood that had much to do with forming my future political opinions. Slavery was a recognized institution in the State, and men, women, and children were treated as chattels and bought and sold at public and private sale. My mother had fallen heir to several by the terms of my father's will. Neither she nor my father ever sold one. Brought up as I was with the institution, I never questioned the right or the wrong of slavery until the incident of which I am about to speak, occurred.

I saw a family sold in Troy when I was a boy, probably ten or twelve years of age. It consisted of husband, wife, and three children. The sale was conducted by a little sharp-nosed man by the name of Joe Shelton. The father of the family was first placed upon the block and sold to a trader from the South. The wife and mother was then sold to a different person, as were the two daughters, aged about sixteen and fourteen, and the baby boy about five years old. When the baby was put up for sale to the highest bidder and the father held him in his arms while Shelton asked for bids, the tears coursed their way down the black face of the good and unoffending father as the auctioneer proceeded. This child, this baby, was sold awaj^ from the father and mother. I can still hear that tiny thing calling out, *'I want my maimny!" As I stood there and witnessed the wreck of this family, I for the first time understood and appreciated the iniquity of the institution. I went home that night and told my mother what I had seen. I said to her that a just God would not countenance such a wrong — that the preaching of Mr. Wright and others that slavery was right and that it was a divine institution, could not be true, and as for me, if the time ever came when byword or act I could aid in striking a blow that would end it, the blow would be struck. I thank God that I kept the promise.

This was but one of the harrowing incidents of this accursed institution.

The country in and about the place my father bought was sparsely settled. The pioneers came mostly from Virginia and Kentucky, with now and then a family from a State farther south. In politics they were mostly Democrats, and in religion Primitive Baptists. Thomas Jefferson Wright (himself a Kentuckian) was the elder in charge of a congregation that met for worship two or three times each month in a log house then known as Sandrun Church. My father and mother were both members of this church and so continued up to the time they died.

Elder Wright officiated at the funeral of my father in October, 1844. He was a Southerner by birth, and his convictions on any subject were strong and generally expressed with great vigor. He believed in the institution of slavery, not only from a legal but from a religious and moral standpoint. He would preach sermon after sermon upon the subject and seek to prove by the Bible the correctness of his position. The right to own slaves and the doctrine of baptism by immersion were the two principal things that he sought to establish by the Bible. He (representing his church) was opposed to missions, temperance and secret societies of all kinds, and Sunday schools.

He and the church membership were bitterly opposed to all churches that did not believe in baptism by immersion or that allowed or tolerated Sunday schools. The community was, as before stated, composed chiefly of Baptists, but after a while the Methodists made perceptible inroads into the "settlement. ' ' They accepted into the church those baptized by sprinkling and those who believed in temperance societies and Sunday schools. This assault upon the Baptist citadel became so pronounced that notice had to be taken of it. Heated and angry discussions took place between the adherents of the two faiths. Finally Elder Wright made known from the pulpit at one of his monthly meetings that 'Hhe Sunday after the first Saturday of next month" he would pay his particular respects to the Methodists. This announcement had the effect of bringing together at Sandrun Church the largest assembly ever known in that community. Not only did the Baptists turn out, but the Methodists as well. The old double log house was not large enough to hold the crowd, and many stood outside but in hearing distance of the preacher. The Methodists had come early and got seats under the very drippings of the sanctuary.

When the hour for the service to begin arrived, Mr. Wright entered the church and, with head erect, marched into the pulpit. He looked every inch a conqueror. I was a mere lad at the time, but I recollect the occurrences of the day as if it were but yesterday. He first lined out from the only hymnal in the church the familiar hymn, the first lines of which read, ''Go read the third of Matthew, go read it through and through." He then asked Thomas Riddle to ' ' raise the tune. ' ' The song was sung with an impressiveness and enthusiasm rarely witnessed in a religious congregation. After the song a short prayer was said, and then he opened the Bible and turned to the third chapter of Matthew (the Baptist platform) and began to read it. He read the whole chapter but laid strong emphasis on the following verses :

''5 Then w^ent out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,

6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

14 But John forbade Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

15 And Jesus answering said unto him. Suffer it to he so now : for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffereth Him.

16 And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him :

17 And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

When he had finished reading the chapter, he repeated with great emphasis the words "And Jesus went up straightway out of the water. ' ' He took off liis glasses and, with the proud air of a victor, pointed his finger at the Methodists and said in a loud voice, ^^StraigJitway out of the water, and not out of your sprinkling pots — not out of your sprinkling pots!" This was practically the end of the service, for the enthusiasm of the Baptists, their vociferous applause at what they considered the "death blow" to the Methodists, would allow nothing further to be said. In the opinion of the Baptists the battle was won and nothing remained but to give burial to the Methodists.

The Primitive Baptists, popularly called "Hardshells," were a plain, sincere and honest folk. There was a man by the name of Jennings who had come into the neighborhood and married a widow by the name of Cahal. He became very unpopular for some reason, and finally joined the Baptist church and was baptized in Big Creek by Mr. Wright. One of the neighbors who was hostile to Jennings, instructed his servants not to water the horses below the place where Jennings was immersed, for fear the water would make the horses sick.

Another amusing incident that happened in the neighborhood grew out of the fact that Willis Jones attempted to preach. He was a good man, but very ignorant. He had no education and could neither read nor write intelligently. He believed he heard a call to preach from the Master, and responded as best he could. The Baptists believe that all of their preachers are called by God, and so my mother, a firm believer in the tenets of the church, when joked about Jones, said, "Some one was calling hogs and Willis mistook the call and answered."

Aside from the Baptist and Methodist, there were no other religious organizations in the neighborhood- Troy was then, as now, the county seat of Lincoln County and situated five miles north of Sandrun Church.

The amusements provided for the younger set consisted of gatherings at neighbors' houses, where games were played and frequently dances indulged in. The music for the dances was furnished by negro fiddlers, and was of a character ^'not to be sneezed at." There were three of these fiddlers in the neighborhood — Rube and Ming, who belonged to Billy Clark, and Sneb, who belonged to Boyd. I have never heard any sweeter music than that drawn from those old fiddles. I can still hear (or imagine I can) old Ming as he would play, sing, and call the figures, *' Ladies in the center, and all hands round!" ''AH four forward, and do-si-do I" ''Swing corners, and all promenade!" The dances would continue all night long, and with old Ming half asleep and the fiddle still going he would sing as an accompaniment, "Hop light, ladies, day is a 'breaking, don't you see the morning star?"

Those were good old days, and everybody happy. The hat was passed around for the benefit of the fiddlers, and everyone was expected to contribute not less than ten cents and not more than twenty-five. This was all the expense attending these parties. These dances were "pulled off" most generally at the homes of Harvey Brown, Jacob Geiger, and Macon Hill. The young men and young ladies went to these homes on horseback — usually two on a horse — the man before, and the lady behind. If the horse objected to

*' carrying double" it was good to see with what tenacity the young woman held on to the man to keep from falling off. The man seemed pleased with the situation, and the woman did not object. In the winter when the snows were deep, every young fellow in the neighborhood had a sleigh or, as it was then called, a ' ' jumper. ' ' This ' ' jumper ' ' was easily constructed. Two saplings of sufficient length were cut down for runners. Holes were bored in the larger part, standards inserted and braces placed, upon which a box sufficiently large for two persons was fastened, and the forward or smaller parts of the saplings were used as shafts. These were fastened to the hames on the horse with lines made of rope, and, with a large cow bell on the horse, the gayest trips possible were made from house to house in that sparsely settled territory.

In the evenings, after the stock had been fed and supper eaten, the negroes in their cabins, the banjo was taken down from the wall and a regular "walk around" took place.

It is a just tribute to the negro to say that they were faithful, obedient and loving to the whites, and there was no lullaby ever sung to the white child that was sweeter than that which the *^old mammy" would sing. Surely, the good Lord will not forget them in the great hereafter.

An incident showing devotion to the wife and child by an old negro was never better exemplified than in that which I am about to relate. Christopher Carter was a neighbor of our family and owned a negro man by the name of John. John had a common-law wife by the name of Paulina, who belonged to my mother. Marriage between negroes was prohibited by law, and it was only by voluntary cohabitation that semblance was given to legality. These two persons, John and Paulina, were the father and mother of several children, all of whom under the law belonged to my mother. When the California gold excitement of 1849 was at its height. Carter's three sons, George, Tom and Rolla, determined to cross the plains to California in search of gold, and with the permission of their father, took John (the slave) with them. Thus it was that the husband, without his consent, was taken away from the wife and children and made to work in the gold fields for his young masters. Had John seen proper to avail himself of his rights to freedom under the laws then existing, he could have remained in California a free man. This he did not prefer to do, but trusted to his master to take him back to slaver}^ and his wife and children in Missouri. After being in California a year, the youngest of the Carter boys, Rolla, was taken very sick. It was thought best to send him home by water in care of the faithful old John. The two went on board ship at San Fj^ancisco and started for New York via Panama. This sick man was carried on the shoulders of John across the isthmus and placed in a vessel on the Atlantic side. In the course of time the vessel reached New York and the two passengers made their way from New York to Missouri. I was twelve years old when they returned, and I can never forget the joy that was overflowing in the cabin when John embraced his wife and children. Here was a husband so devoted to wife and children that he pre-

Boyliood in Lincoln County 43

f erred tliem with slavery to freedom without. Monuments have been erected to many who are not so deserving as old John.

Carter owned another negro man by the name of Fred. He also had a wife at my mother's home, and her name was Rachel. These two were also father and mother of several children. Carter became involved in debt and had to sell Fred to get money to pay off his indebtedness. Fred was sold to a "negro trader" from the South. Thus it was that another family was separated for all time. One of the children followed my fortunes in the Civil War and took care of my horses while I was Colonel of the 49th Missouri Infantry. All of that family of negroes are dead, and only tw^o years ago I contributed to the funeral expenses of the last one of them.

I have probably devoted more space to what I consider great wrongs done to the negroes than I should, but I confess that my sympathy for them has much to do with it all.

Ill

John B. Henderson, a Sketch — Schools of the Time

— Meagre Facilities for Education — St. Charles

College, 1855 — Read Law while Teaching.

In the neighborhood where my father settled, was a family by the name of Henderson. They came to Missouri from Pittsylvania County, Virginia, a short time before vaj father settled in the State. The two counties of Henry and Pittsylvania joined and composed a part of a Senatorial District represented by my father in the State Senate of Virginia. The Henderson family consisted of husband, wife and four children when they settled in Missouri. The wife did not live long after coming to the neighborhood. The husband was addicted to the use of liquor and when in his cups was very quarrelsome. While under the influence of liquor he got into a fight with a neighbor, and in it lost his life. He left four children, two boys and two girls, without a dollar in the world. The children were named John, James, Ann, and Mary, and they were left as I have said, without means and without relatives.

The County Court of Lincoln County appointed Carey Duncan guardian for them, and it became his dutv to find homes for them among the people of the neighborhood. The oldest, John Brooks Henderson who, as will be seen hereafter, became greatly and justly distinguished, was apprenticed to Oliver Sinionds of Troy, the county seat of the county, to learn the trade of a cabinet maker. The remaining three were given homes with other families. John was a red-headed, quick-tempered fellow, and from the beginning took a dislike to Simonds. After working for a month or so, he and Simonds got into a fight, in which the boy got the best of it. Simonds saw Duncan and told him to find another place for John, and this he did by ** binding him out" to old Billy Browning on a farm. This was the beginning of a career hardly surpassed anywhere in the history of the United States.

If ever there was a self-made man in this country, John Brooks Henderson was that man. He rose from absolute poverty to affluence, and from an uneducated youth to a great scholar, from a student of law while he taught a country school to one of the leading lawyers of the State — from a tyro in debate to a convincing orator. He became a senator of the United States and served with great distinction. He it was who drew the 13th Amendment to the Federal Constitution. He and Abraham Lincoln were great friends. In his public service he reflected great honor upon the State of Missouri as well as upon the whole country. I give particular mention to Henderson here for the reason that Lincoln County was always proud of him and justly claimed him as the greatest man the county ever produced.

The terms of his apprenticeship were that Browning should furnish board and lodging and clothing and three months' schooling in the year in exchange for John's labor on the farm. Here the boy lived for two years and until he reached the age of eighteen. He had by great industry acquired what was then considered a fair education. He went to the adjoining county of Pike, where he made the acquaintance of Matthew Givens in the lower part of that county. Here, through the influence of Givens, he was employed to teach a country school, and continued as such teacher for a year. He began to study law while teaching, and before he was twenty years of age was admitted to the bar by Judge Ezra Hunt, then Circuit Judge.

He opened a law office in Louisiana, Missouri, where he continued to reside for many years. He soon became prominent in his profession and by the time he was twenty-three years of age, the voters of Pike Coimty elected him as one of their representatives in the State Legislature and he became at once prominent and influential. He impressed himself and his views upon the body and took an active part in the legislation of the day, especially that which authorized and established a State bank and branches. One of these was located at Louisiana and Henderson became its president, and Benjamin P. Clifford its cashier.

After he had been admitted to the bar in Pike County by Judge Hunt, he went back to Troy to attend a term of the Circuit Court. One evening during the week he went out to ^' Billy Browning's," to visit with the family of his former master and to stay over night at the place that had been his home during the time of his apprenticeship. He arrived after the supper had been served. This story I heard Mr. Henderson tell many times.

Mrs. Browning ordered her son Arthur, who was not very bright, to prepare a supper for John. The supper was served in a kitchen that stood in the yard some thirty feet from the residence. Among the ** eatables and drinkables" that Arthur served, was a quantity of sweet milk that was contained in a yellow crock. Upon inspection, Henderson discovered that the milk was very rich and covered with thick cream. After drinking all of the milk that was in the crock, he said to Arthur, ''You are all more liberal than you were when I lived here! Then you skimmed the milk Avith a feather, but now you give it full of cream!" Arthur, in a drawling sort of way, said, "That's true, but we would not have given you this milk with cream on it, if it hadn't been that a rat got drownded in it this afternoon. ' ' After this information the milk refused to stay down and Henderson was no better off than when he began the supper.

In 1860, the year preceding the war he was a candidate for Congress from the Pike County District. He was an ardent "Douglas Democrat" and was nominated by a convention that met in Mexico, Audrain County. On the day he was nominated, another convention of delegates representing the Bell-Everett or American party met in Mexico in a hall separate from that of the Democratic party, and there nominated as its candidate, Honorable James S. Rollins of Boone County. Thus it w^as that two of the greatest men in the State were pitted against each other for Congress. The canvass that ensued was the most noted that had ever taken place in the State.

By mutual arrangement between the two, joint discussions were held in each county of the district. I was a candidate for Circuit Attorney at the same time, and had the pleasure of hearing the two in joint discussion at Middletown, Montgomery County, and at Cottleville in St. Charles County. I was a partisan of Mr. Henderson, supporting him as best I could, and cast my first vote for Congressman, for him. He was a strong man on the stump and gave blow after blow with precision and force. Rollins was the more polished orator of the two and by his eloquence swayed the populace as very few orators could do. He was a handsome man, with most gracious manners, and his words were spoken with an ease that charmed all listeners.

James S. Rollins was elected in November by a small majority, and took his seat in the next Congress. He was a candidate for re-election in 1862 against Honorable Arnold Krekel of St. Charles County. He was again successful. In 1864 he was succeeded in Congress by the Honorable George W. Anderson of Pike.

The opportunities offered in the neighborhood for an education were very limited. About one mile south of my home was a school-house built of logs. It was about twenty feet square, with a door in one side and a chimney place opposite. This chimney was built of stone gathered from the hill-side, and the fireplace was of sufficient size to take large pieces of wood. On the third side of the room, a log in its entire length had been left out for the purpose of making a window. Beneath this window a writing desk was made of a long plank about eighteen inches wide. It was on this desk — this plank — that the children were taught to write. The seats were made of logs split in half and supported by legs driven into angered holes. The interstices or cracks between the logs in the house were filled by mortar made of earth, lime and straw. In winter, with a blazing fire going, and the door shut, the room was fairly comfortable. It was in this house, when I was about six years of age, I started to school. With me went my three sisters, Elizabeth, Louisa, and Matilda.