Alfred Morrison LAY, Congress, MO (1836-1879)

LAY, Alfred Morrison, a Representative from Missouri; born in Lewis County, Mo., May 20, 1836; moved with his parents to Benton County in 1842; attended private schools, and was graduated from Bethany College, Virginia (now in West Virginia), in 1856; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1857 and commenced practice in Jefferson City, Mo.; appointed United States district attorney for the western district of Missouri by President Buchanan and served until his resignation in 1861; enlisted as a private in the Missouri State Guard and was subsequently promoted to the rank of major; returned to Missouri when the command disbanded; served as captain of ordnance, Confederate Army; resumed the practice of law in Jefferson City, Mo.; member of the State constitutional convention in 1875; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-sixth Congress and served from March 4, 1879, until his death in Washington, D.C., on December 8, 1879; interment in Woodlawn Cemetery, Jefferson City, Mo.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present