Clay family papers, 1780-1959
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Clay family papers, 1780-1959
- Creator
- Clay family.
- Extent
- 97.6 cubic ft.
- Subjects
- Blair, Francis Preston, 1791-1876.
- Clay, Amelia Field, 1812-1843.
- Clay, Ann Field, 1822-1881.
- Clay, Brutus J. (Brutus Junius), 1808-1878.
- Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1810-1903.
- Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1846-1913.
- Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1895-1959.
- Clay, Green, 1757-1828.
- Clay, Junius Brutus, 1871-1904.
- Clay, Mary Blythe Harris, 1860-1944.
- Clay, Pattie Amelia Field, 1848-1891.
- Clay, Samuel Henry, 1873-1895.
- Dudley, Sally Lewis Clay, 1776-1867.
- Field, Christopher Irvine, d. 1867.
- Field, Ezekiel, 1782-ca. 1857.
- Lewis, Martha Clay, 1761-1844.
- Washington globe.
- Bourbon County (Ky.).--Circuit Court.
- Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.
- Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
- Slavery--United States.
- Slavery--United States--Anti-slavery movements.
- Agriculture--Kentucky.
- Livestock--Kentucky.
- Kentucky--Genealogy.
- Kentucky--Politics and government.
- United States--History--War of 1812.
- United States--Politics and government.
- Mexican War, 1846-1848.
- United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
- Diplomatic and consular service, American--Soviet Union.
- Daybooks.
- Manuscripts (for publication)
- Memoranda.
- Photoprints
- Arrangement
- Organized into series, primarily focusing on individuals: General Green Clay; Martha Clay Lewis; Brutus J. Clay; Cassius M. Clay I; Cassius M. Clay Jr.; Junius B. and Samuel Henry Clay; Mary Harris Clay; Ezekiel H. Field; Jones and Goss Court Records; F. P. Blair, Sr. Letters; Cassius M. Clay III; Mississippi Papers (two subseries). Bound volumes and oversize materials are grouped together at the end.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- This branch of the famous Clay family of Kentucky (cousins to the statesman Henry Clay) was founded by Green Clay, who emigrated from Virginia to Kentucky in 1777. Clay was a surveyor, and through his position as Deputy Surveyor of Kentucky, he accumulated a vast estate. He also started a tradition of public service which his descendants maintained, retaining a role in Kentucky and national political and cultural affairs up through the twentieth century.
- Scope and Content
- These are the personal and business papers of the Clays, a prominent Bluegrass family. Included are materials relating to General Green Clay, his sister, Martha Clay Lewis, his sons Brutus and Cassius Marcellus, Brutus' son Cassius M. Clay, Jr. and his wife Mary Harris Clay, and their children, Junius Brutus, Samuel Henry, and Cassius M. Clay III. Also included are papers of Ezekiel Field, who was Brutus Clay's father-in-law, a collection of papers relating to a levee fund in Louisiana administered by Brutus's brother-in-law C. I. Field, and a collection of letters to Francis Preston Blair, editor of the Washington GLOBE during the administrations of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.
- As the family's main business was agriculture, the collection contains many letters dealing with farming, livestock and slavery. There are also several large subgroups of miscellaneous volumes relating to the various family members. These include bank books, livestock books, daybooks for the family's mills, ferries, lumberyards, stock farms, mineral springs, etc., school notebooks, and memoranda books. Included as well are the two-volume manuscript draft of Cassius Clay's revised MEMOIRS, some Bourbon County Court records dating from 1816-1839, and family photographs.
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Table of Contents
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
