46 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



In Congress and out Major Lacey was a great worker 

 and one wonders how lie accomplished so much. His 

 work on the Indian committee of the house involved an 

 enormous amount of labor. The bill to prepare the In- 

 dian for citizenship and a complete civilized form of gov- 

 ernment, involved an enormous amount of labor. This 

 bill, known as the Curtiss act, became a law. Major 

 Lacey secured the passage of a bill to permit the allot- 

 ment to intelligent civilized Indians of their share of 

 tribal funds. Major Lacey was always a student. He 

 made addresses on many different subjects. Thus an ad- 

 dress on "Comets" at Penn College shows thoughtful 

 study of a subject about which he says little is known. 

 "The young men and women of today or of the future 

 stand pledged to unmask the secrets of nature in many 

 respects, and there is no mystery more interesting than 

 the one here discussed. You can catch hold where your 

 fathers left off, for their record is preserved, and thus 

 each generation can utilize what has gone before, and in 

 the end nature will kindly reveal her deepest mysteries." 

 He made numerous biographical addresses; the one on 

 Wm. Penn, delivered when Penn College conferred on 

 him the M. A. degree which he so richly deserved, was 

 widely distributed. His address on Chief Justices John 

 Marshall and Roger Brooke Taney show a wide range of 

 study of the opinions rendered by these eminent jurists. 

 The many patriotic addresses are full of inspiration and 

 patriotism and no one spoke more from his heart than 

 did Major Lacey. Take such addresses as the Shiloh 

 Battle Ground, the Northwest Iowa Veterans' Reunion, 

 and many others, which are gems of literature on this 

 subject. One of the most interesting of documents left 

 by Major Lacey is an autobiography written for Mrs. 

 Berenice Lacey Sawyer and Mrs. Eleanor Lacey Brew- 

 ster. Besides containing an account of his early life there 



