ALEXANDER GRAY.

During the War of 1812 a large number of young lawyers in every part of the country joined the army; some as privates and some holding subordinate positions. Among them was Alexander Gray, who reached the grade of captain. Where he was born, and where educated, is not known to us, nor have we been able to find any record that would show it. About the close of the war he came to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and from there to St. Louis, quite a young man, and entered upon the practice of the law, and became judge of the Circuit Court, and afterwards judge of what was then called the Northern Circuit, comprised of the counties of St. Charles, Montgomery, and probably Howard for there were then but few counties in the state, and none west of Howard.

He was a man of fine attainments, vain of his personal appearance, and on the bench presided with much dignity. Before taking a seat on the bench he had acquired considerable reputation as a lawyer, particularly a criminal lawyer. In the case of the government against Gentery, who was indicted for the murder of Carroll, a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and register of the land-office at old Franklin, he was retained on the part of the defense, and made a speech which attracted the attention of the bar throughout the territory, and gave him a high reputation as an advocate. He, however, became intemperate and dissolute in his habits, which caused his death sometime in 1826.

By reference to the journal of the General Assembly of Missouri Territory which held its session in 1820, in the old Missouri Hotel, on Main Street in St. Louis, it will be seen that Judge Gray administered the oath of office to the members.

He never married, and consequently left no descendants

to impart any information respecting his early life. He must have received, however, quite a liberal education; for he was a fine writer, and exhibited no little familiarity with the classics often quoting from Latin and Greek authors.

PEYTON R. HAYDEN.

This gentleman, whose residence was in Boonville, Cooper County, was one of the most eminent lawyers in the state. We made his acquaintance as early as 1840, and always entertained a very high opinion of his legal attainments. His reputation as a lawyer was co-extensive with the state, and his practice was equal to, if not greater than, that of any other lawyer in central Missouri.

He was a native of Kentucky, and born near Paris, Bourbon County, February 8, 1796. He received an ordinary English education, such only as could be obtained from the old-field schools of that state.

Having fixed upon the law as his profession, he entered, in 1811, the office of Judge Benjamin Mills, a prominent lawyer of that part of the state, and pursued his studies with great diligence until the fall of 1817, when he came to Missouri, first settling in Cape Girardeau County, but in the following spring removed to old Franklin, in Howard County, and taught school in the neighborhood during the entire year of 1818. Kit Carson, the celebrated mountainguide and explorer, was one of his pupils. While teaching he devoted his leisure time to his legal studies.

In the spring of 1819 he made a trip to St. Louis on horseback, procured from the Supreme Court a license to practice, and on his return remained overnight at a small log tavern in St. Charles, and there met for the first time Abiel Leonard. [The reader is referred to our sketch of Mr. Leonard for a very amusing account of this meeting, and what transpired between them on their way to old Franklin.] The town of Franklin at that time had a population of nearly 2,000, and prospectively was considered the most desirable place in the territory for a good lawyer, St. Louis not excepted. In 1819 Mr. Hayden married a sister of Judge

Wash. Adams, and immediately located in the village of Boonville, which continued to be his residence through life.

Cooper County was originally a part of Howard, and continued so until December, 1818, when it was organized as a separate county, and Boonville became the county-seat. The first Circuit Court was held at the house of William Bartlett, but the next year a court-house was erected. The new county embraced a very large territory, extending from the Osage River on the east and south to the territorial line on the west, and contained a population of about 7,000. Over this extensive country the lawyers traveled on horseback, and, as the people were poor, the fees of the attorneys were necessarily small, and most of them paid in what was called in those days," truck and turn-over." An old horse, blind in one eye and with little capacity to see out of the other, was considered a good fee. The lawyers who at that time regularly attended the Cooper court were George Tompkins, Hamilton R. Gamble, Peyton R. Hayden, John S. Bricky, Cyrus Edward, Andrew McGirk, Abiel Leonard, John F. Ryland, Dabney Carr, William J. Redd, John Payne, Duff Green, Charles French, and one or two others. Duff Green, who became distinguished as a political writer and editor at Washington City, left at an early day, and turned over his business to Mr. Hayden. Most of the above-named became distinguished in their profession, and six of them afterwards sat on the bench of the Supreme Court.

David Todd was judge of the Circuit Court. Mr. Hayden and Abiel Leonard took the lead at the bar, and were on opposite sides in almost every important case; and be it said to their credit that the utmost courtesy was observed between them, and they continued warm friends through life.

In his manner Mr. Hayden was rather dignified, but always kind, affable, and courteous in his intercourse with others - particularly with his brethern of the bar. In his movements he was graceful, easy, and polite, and if he met you a dozen times a day, would each time greet you with a bow and a smile. He was very fond of the society of ladies, and in their company was extremely graceful and entertaining.

He was also full of life and animation, had a good fund of humor, fond of anecdotes, and told them admirably. He was often the subject of them himself, and while many were unquestionably true, others were manufactured out of whole. cloth; but below we give a few that are very well authenticated. He indulged largely in profane language, but his profanity was not of that kind which shocks one's sensibility, for it never proceeded from anger or depravity of heart; for no man ever lived with better or kinder impulses, or with a more enlarged reverence for good morals and Christian virtues. His habits, moreover, were moral, studious, and in allrespects unexceptionable.

We have already stated that as a lawyer he ranked among the ablest of the state, and always enjoyed a most extensive practice, and had he been a financier, would have accumulated a large fortune; but he charged small fees, and frequently failed to collect them. He seemed to have but little knowledge of the value of money, and was often imposed upon by appeals for charity. He was a strong, vigorous, and argumentative speaker, never indulging in flights of oratory, but seldom failed to make a favorable impression on the minds of a jury. He prepared his cases with great care; was very methodical, and carried with him around the circuit. a book which he called "Hayden's Digest." It contained a synopsis of each case in which he was retained, with the authorities upon which he relied. He had it in court with him on all occasions. He never prepared his speeches in advance, and, hence, all his efforts were extempore; but he was fluent, and good at repartee. The younger members of the bar were greatly attached to him, for he was kind and indulgent to them, and ever ready to assist them with his advice and counsel.

Mr. Hayden died in Boonville on December 26, 1855, in his sixtieth year.

The following anecdote of Mr. Hayden was related to us by himself, though we have often heard it from others: The judges and lawyers, in going from one court to another, traveled together on horseback, the distance between courts