Alfred Morrison Lay

Alfred Morrison Lay (May 20, 1836 – December 8, 1879) was a U.S. Representative from Missouri and a member of the Democratic Party whose single term in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history. He was born in Lewis County, Missouri, on May 20, 1836. In 1842 he moved with his parents to Benton County, Missouri, where he spent his early years. He attended private schools, receiving the foundational education that prepared him for advanced study and a professional career.

Lay pursued higher education at Bethany College in Virginia (now located in West Virginia), from which he was graduated in 1856. After completing his collegiate studies, he turned to the study of law. He read law in the customary manner of the time and was admitted to the bar in 1857. Soon thereafter he commenced the practice of law in Jefferson City, Missouri, establishing himself as a young attorney in the state capital.

Lay’s legal abilities led to his early appointment to federal office. He was appointed United States district attorney for the western district of Missouri by President James Buchanan and served in that capacity until his resignation in 1861, at the outset of the Civil War. With the coming of the conflict, he enlisted as a private in the Missouri State Guard, a pro-Confederate militia force. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of major, reflecting his growing responsibilities and leadership within the Guard. When the command disbanded, he returned to Missouri and continued his military service by joining the Confederate States Army, where he served as a captain of ordnance.

Following the Civil War, Lay resumed the practice of law in Jefferson City, Missouri, rebuilding his legal career in the postwar period. He became active in state affairs and participated in the political and constitutional reordering of Missouri during Reconstruction and its aftermath. In 1875 he served as a member of the Missouri state constitutional convention, contributing to the framing and revision of the state’s fundamental law at a time of significant political and social transition.

Lay’s prominence in legal and political circles led to his election as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress. Representing Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives, he served from March 4, 1879, until his death later that year. As a member of the Democratic Party representing Missouri, Alfred Morrison Lay contributed to the legislative process during his one term in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents during a period marked by the continuing adjustment of the nation to the consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Alfred Morrison Lay died in office in Washington, D.C., on December 8, 1879, while still serving in the Forty-sixth Congress. His death placed him among the members of the United States Congress who died in office in the nineteenth century. He was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in Jefferson City, Missouri, closing a career that had encompassed legal practice, military service for the Confederacy, participation in Missouri’s constitutional convention, and service in the U.S. House of Representatives.