Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/264

 CLAY

CLAY

government for his capture, and he surrendered his person and was incarcerated in Fort Monroe from May, 1865, to April, 1866. Upon his release he returned to the practice of law at Huntsville, Ala. He was married in 1843 to Virginia, daugh- ter of Dr. Payton R. Tunstall, of Baldwin county, Ala. He died in Huntsville, Ala., Jan. 3, 1882.

CLAY, Clement Comer, senator, was born in Halifax county, Va., Dec. 17, 1789; son of Wil- liam Clay, a revolutionary soldier. His mother was a Miss Comer, whose mother was a Claiborne. He was graduated at the East Tennessee univer- sit}" in 1807, was admitted to the bar in 1809, and in 1811 settled at Huntsville, Ala., where he prac- tised his profession. He served as a volunteer in the Creek war in 181 3, gaining promotion to the rank of adjutant. He was a member of the ter- ritorial council, 1817-18, and of the constitutional convention in 1819. He was circuit judge and chief justice, 1819-23. He returned to the prac- tice of the law in 1823, was elected to the state legislature and served as its speaker in 1828. He was a Democratic representative in the 21st, 22d and 23d congresses, 1829-35. In 1835 he was elected governor of Alabama, and in 1837 was chosen to the United States senate to fill the un- expired term of John McKinley, appointed to the supreme bench. He resigned in 1841 and devoted his time to the codification of the laws of Ala- bama, which he published in 1842^3. In June, 1843, he was appointed a justice of the supreme court. He was married to a sister of Gen. Jonas M. Withers of Mobile, Ala. He died at Hunts- ville, Ala., Sept. 7, 1866.

CLAY, Green, soldier, was born in Powhatan county, Va., Aug. 14, 1757; son of Charles, grand- son of Henry and great-grandson of Charles ClaJ^ who, with his brothers Henry and Thomas, immi- grated to America with Sir Walter Raleigh and settled in Virginia. He was educated as a sur- veyor, went to Kentucky about 1777 and engaged in locating lands, thereby acquiring an extensive estate. He was a delegate to the Virginia legis- lature, and a member of the convention that rati- fied the Federal constitution in 1789. He was a conspicuous political factor in the state constitu- tional convention of 1799, and was a member of the state legislature from its first session, serv- ing as president of the state senate. He was a member of both branches of the Kentucky legis- lature, serving at one time as speaker of the lower house. As major-general of militia he marched in 1813 with 3000 state troops, to the relief of General Harrison at Fort Meigs, and afterward defended the fort against an assault by Tecumseh and General Proctor. At the close of the war he returned to his home and engaged in agricultural pursuits. He died on his plantation in Madison county, Ky., Oct. 31, 1826.

CLAY, Henry, statesman, was born in Hanover county, Va., April 12, 1777; son of the Rev. John and Elizabeth (Hudson) Clay, and fourth in descent from Thomas Clay, who, with his broth- ers Charles and Henry, immigrated to America with Sir Walter Raleigh and settled on the James river. His father was a Baptist preacher wlio died in 1781. His mother was a daughter of George Hudson, a man of considerable repvite in Vir- ginia, and when she was left a widow with no income, save what could be earned from the cul- tivation of a small farm, she set out to support and educate her son, sending him to the district school and encouraging him to industry in labor- ing on the farm and contributing as he could to their support. The neighborhood in which they lived was known as " The Slashes," and the boy's journeying to and from the mill on horseback w^ith corn to be ground into flour, gave him his subsequent sobriquet, "The millboy of the Slashes." His mother was married to Cai^tain Henry Watkins of Richmond and removed to Kent Vicky about 1792. The stepfather had pre- viously secured for Henry a situation in a store in Richmond, Va., but before leaving the boy dependent upon his own resources found for him more congenial employment in the office of the clerk of the high court of chancery, then filled by Peter Tinsley. The attention of Chancellor Wythe was attracted to the boy and he made liim his i^rivate secretary and directed his efforts toward improving his education. His jjrogress was rapid and in 1796 he entered, as a law stu- dent, the office of Robert Bi-ooke, attorney-general of Virginia. Upon being admitted to practice in 1797, by the Virginia court of appeals, he removed to Lexington; Ky., in November, where he opened a law office and continued a practice of debating, begun in Riclunond, by joining a class of the young barristers of Lexington, of which club he soon became the acknowledged leader. His law practice included capital criminal cases and nu- merous land claim suits. His eloquence directed public attention to him as an available political leader, and his advocacy of gradual emancipation as a feature of the proposed state constitution, and his denunciation of the alien and sedition laws commanded immediate attention. He was married in April, 1799, to Lucretia, daughter of Col. Thomas Hart, a prominent Kentuckian, and made for himself a home on 600 acres of land near Lexington, thereafter known as "Ashland." His fortune grew with his popularity as a lawyer and advocate, and in 1803 he was elected a mem- ber of the lower house of the state legislature, where his eloquence attracted general attention, it being said that when Clay spoke in the house the senate became empty. He further distin- guished himself by fighting a duel with Colonel