Death of Judge Pat Dyer, prosecutor of the famous peonage case here in 1906

One of the first bits of research I recall doing for someone outside the Southeast Missourian office after being hired by the newspaper four decades ago concerned something known as the "famous peonage case". That was the first research I did for the late Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr., but not the last.

I've often wondered why the great man asked me to pull the stories about the 1906 trial in Cape Girardeau, but I never asked him. Perhaps it pertained to some other case in which he was involved. Or, perhaps, he was just curious. He would have been 15 in 1906. No doubt, he remembered talk of the arrests of two prominent Scott County landowners and five New Madrid County farmers in June of that year on charges of violating the civil rights of 50 Blacks by holding them in virtual slavery on a farm in New Madrid County. Their trial in September of the same year ended in conviction, and that conviction was later upheld on appeal and by the U.S. Supreme Court.

My memories of the case returned to me recently when I ran across the announcement of the death of Judge David Patterson "Pat" Dyer in 1924. Dyer had been the lead prosecutor in the peonage/civil rights trial.

Judge David Patterson Dyer (Wikipedia: Public domain)

Published Tuesday, April 29, 1924, in the Southeast Missourian:

DEATH CLAIMS JUDGE D.P. DYER OF US COURT

By United Press

ST. LOUIS — Federal Judge David Patterson Dyer died this afternoon at his home here at the age of 86 years. His illness was attributed principally to age.

Judge Dyer, born in Virginia and reared in Lincoln County, Missouri, was a farm youth, a school teacher and a self-made lawyer successively.

He was appointed to the Missouri bench by President Roosevelt.

Dyer served in the Civil War as colonel of the 49th Regiment of Missouri Volunteers, which saw service late in the war around Mobile, Alabama.

As United State District Attorney for Eastern Missouri in the late '70s just after his appointment by President Grant, he took a leading part in prosecuting the famous "whisky ring" cases.

He was nominated by the Republicans for governor of Missouri in 1880, but was defeated.

Judge Dyer formally retired from the bench in 1919 but continued to assist in disposition of cases until he was taken ill Sunday, two days ago.

The death of Judge Dyer brings profound sorrow to his many friends in Cape Girardeau and throughout this district. For many years Judge Dyer presided at federal court (in Cape Girardeau) and during this time he made hundreds of friends. He presided at the first term of federal court held in the federal or post office building (in Cape Girardeau) and continued holding sessions until several years ago when Judge C.B. Faris was named to succeed him.

On several occasions Judge Dyer spoke to the Chamber of Commerce in Cape Girardeau, business men recalling the stirring address he made at a meeting during war time.

Published Wednesday, April 30, 1924, in the Southeast Missourian:

JUDGE DYER GAINED DISTINCTION BY PROSECUTION OF PEONAGE CASE WHICH HE WON IN COURT IN CAPE

Hundreds of Cape Girardeans today mourned the passing of David Patterson Dyer, Judge of the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, who died at his home in St. Louis Tuesday.

In the 17 years that he sat on the Federal bench, Judge Dyer came to Cape Girardeau each year until 1919, when he retired from active duty except in emergency cases, and in his many visits made scores of friends who deeply regret the passing of the able jurist. His acquaintance was not limited to the courtroom, but include many of the leading business and professional men of Cape Girardeau.

His frankness and outspoken nature, in the courtroom and out, won for him the respect of everyone who knew him here, and his semi-annual visits to Cape Girardeau to hold court were looked forward to by many with a pleasant anticipation.

Judge "Pat" Dyer liked Cape Girardeau immensely, and especially did he like the "eats" he obtained here on his regular trips. He always stayed at the home of Mrs. J.L. Pott, 233 N. Ellis St., because she arranged to give him several meals of hog jowl, greens and cornbread, the jurist's favorite dishes. Judge Dyer was also pleased with home-cure ham and bacon of a local company, and for years ordered these two products each month from here for use in his home in St. Louis. In the summer months, which he spent in the woods in Wisconsin, he always ordered an extra supply of the meat for his use.

Judge Dyer perhaps is best remembered by Southeast Missourians for his vigorous prosecution as district attorney in 1906 of the famous peonage cases. The trial was held in the Common Pleas Court building here and hundreds heard Judge Dyer in his prosecution of the accused persons, which resulted in the conviction of several men. It was the first peonage case in the United States, and Judge Dyer won considerable fame over his conduct of the cases for the government. Friends say that his vigorous prosecution had much to do with his appointment a year later as the federal judge of this district.

Close friend of Nall

In the many years that Judge Dyer presided over the Federal Court, Walter Nall was the clerk, and in addition was the jurist's close personal friend. When Judge Dyer retired in 1919, and Judge C.B. Faris was appointed, Nall was superseded, and last year he passed away.

Judge Dyer and Nall always made regular trips to this place on the Steamer Cape Girardeau during the summer months, in addition to the times they came here to hold court.

The jurist was eccentric in many ways. When he first went to St. Louis, he took his meals for many years at the old Moser Hotel, a place which catered especially to rural visitors. Southern (Blacks) were used as waiters in this place, and when the hotel was closed, Judge Dyer took one of the waiters, who had long been his favorite, and made him his personal valet. This man remained with Judge Dyer.

Judge Dyer married Miss Lizzie Chambers Hunt of Pike County in 1860. She died Jan. 1, 1916, at the age of 77 years. He is survived by three sons and three daughters. The sons are Horace L. Dyer (who was assistant to his father during the peonage trial), D.P. Dyer Jr., and E.H. Dyer. The daughters are Mrs. A.F. Fay, Mrs. E.W. Hunting and Miss Elizabeth Dyer.

'Might not be back'

Judge Dyer, who retired formally from the bench in 1919, had continued to act as judge, to relieve his successor, Judge Faris, of the burden caused by the overcrowding of the docket, and he served in this way even after the appointment of a second active judge, Judge Davis. He was on the bench in St. Louis Thursday, and was at his office Saturday. On both days, he remarked that he wished to leave his work in good shape, as he "might not be back." Thursday he signed 200 naturalization certificates.

In his work as relief judge since the prohibition law has been in effect, Judge Dyer handled many liquor law violations, and his policy was to assess fines, of moderate size in most instances, rather than jail sentences. Because this was a more lenient policy than that of Judge Faris, it was noticed that many violators waited until Judge Dyer was on the bench, then went into court and pleaded guilty.

The judge replied from the bench to criticism of his leniency, saying that it was necessary to clear the docket, and that many of the cases were petty ones. He would occasionally give the defendant a sharp scolding, and he frequently expressed the belief that alien law violators should be "sent back on the next boat to where they came from." He also handled many naturalization cases, giving two days a month to this work, and lecturing the new citizens, sometimes for 15 to 30 minutes, on the duty of loyalty and law observance.

Born in Virginia

Born on a plantation in Henry County, Virginia, Judge Dyer traced his ancestry back to those hardy pioneers who came to America to begin a new life. He first saw the light of day in February 1838. Three years after, with his "home folks," including his four brothers and seven sisters and a host of slaves, he came to Missouri and settled in Lincoln County, five miles from Troy, the county seat.

In 1844 his father died, leaving him to guide the family ship safely over the shoals of life. But the rugged characteristics that marked these Virginia pioneers quickly revealed themselves.

"Pat," as he was known in his younger days, began his schooling in a little log cabin presided over by a teacher whose lack of intellectual attainments was more than compensated by his excessive discipline. It was there that the young Virginian got the first taste of the strict discipline which later marked the conduct of his own federal court.

Mingling with the slaves on his mother's plantation, Judge Dyer grew to know their many characteristics, and there the desire was born that the slaves should be free. This desire was carried out years later in manhood, especially in the years immediately preceding the Civil War, when he was vehement in his demand for emancipation for the slaves.

The days when he, at the age of 14 years, made trips to St. Louis, more than 60 miles away, with a two-horse wagon loaded with bacon, wheat, oats, turkeys, ducks and chickens, were often recalled by the federal jurist in reminiscent moments.

In 1855 Judge Dyer entered St. Charles College, where he remained one year and then returned to the school house where he had begun his education and taught school for a year at the munificent salary of $20 a month, out of which he was compelled to board himself.

Studies law

At 19, he decided that school teaching was too prosaic an existence, especially in those days of political agitation and secessionist rumblings, and he moved to Bowling Green, Pike County, where he entered a law office. Four years later he was admitted to the bar. In 1858 he was so interested in the series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglass that he rode 60 miles to hear them speak at Quincy, Illinois. The vivid impressions created by Lincoln in that address began to shatter the ideas of the young Virginian and a few years later at the outbreak of the war, he joined forces with the president and supported him, casting his first Republican vote.

In supporting Lincoln, Judge Dyer was opposed by every member of his own family with the exception of his mother, who, however, could not see why he should want slaves freed.

Judge Dyer was elected circuit attorney of the district in which he lived in 1860. Two years later he was sent to the state Legislature and in 1864 was re-elected. His service to the Legislature was marked from the beginning by his bitter denunciation of the secessionist and his pleadings for freedom for (Blacks). While serving his last term in the Legislature, he recruited the 49th Regiment of Missouri Volunteers and as colonel of the regiment commanded it in battles in Missouri and in the South.

Following the close of the war, in 1868 he was elected to Congress and served one term, being defeated in 1870 as a result of a split in the Republican party. He then moved to St. Louis where he maintained a private practice for years. In 1880 he was defeated for governor and since that time never sought another elective office. He was a delegate at large to the Republican convention in 1888 and again in 1900.

In 1902 he was named district attorney for the Easter Federal District of Missouri and in 1907 was elected to the judgeship, which he held until the time of his death.

Judge David Patterson Dyer is buried in Bellefountaine Cemetery in St. Louis, along with his wife.