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Family tree▼ Facts and Events
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References
- ↑ Henry Clay and His Wife Lucretia, in Simpson History.
"Henry Clay (1777-1852) was an American statesman known as "The Great Compromiser." Clay was a congressman, senator, speaker of the house, and secretary of state. He was a major promoter of the Missouri Compromise in 1820, the compromise tariff of 1833 that ended the Nullification crisis, and the Compromise of 1850, all efforts to balance the rights of free and slave states. He was twice the unsuccessful Whig candidate for president. His wife, Lucretia Hart Clay, was the daughter of Colonel Thomas Hart. They had eleven children -- six daughters and five sons."
In Lucretia's great granddaughter's journal, it is noted, "Henry Clay, a young lawyer, came to Lexington in 1797. Although penniless and almost friendless in the midst of a distiguised Bar, he was full of courage and of hope. Very soon he was a constant and welcome visitor at the hospitable home of Colonel Hart where two charming unmarried daughters and the first piano brought to Lexington, made an attractive social center; and when young people gathered at her home, Lucretia played for them to dance. Two time-stained piedes of music, The Lexington Grand Waltz and The Ashland Quadrilles, dedicated to Mrs. Henry Clay by Professor Wilhelm Iucho, are tributes to her musical ability." (Simpson, Letter to)
"Clay surely did not choose Lucretia because of her 'good face, form, or personal appearance' since she, like her husband, lacked physical beauty. Far more important were her amiable disposition and family connections, for the marriage placed Clay among the best and most influential economic and political circles in Kentucky. He now had impeccable connections that allied him to some of the most eminent families in the state. He married as well as his highest expectations could have demanded. Dark-eyed and dark-haired, lively and plain-looking indeed, 'a very plain and unadmired woman' by eastern standards - she nonetheless captured Clay's fancy. In describing her, all observers, even the most sophisticated and cynical in Washington, said she was 'kind,' 'good,' and 'above all discreet.' During the many years she lived in the capital it was reported that she never made a single enemy." (Remini)
"After a brief courtship Lucretia agreed to marry young Henry Clay. She was eighteen at the time of her marriage, and the wedding took place in her home on Mill Street in Lexington. It proved to be a successful marriage, and Lucretia made a dutiful and loving wife. A spirited woman, she nonetheless tolerated her husband's swearing and his periodic gambling and drinking bouts. In fact, she was once asked if she minded her husband's habitual gambling. 'Doesn't it distress you,' sniffed a Boston matron, 'to have Mr. Clay gamble?' Lucretia looked surprised at the question. 'Oh! dear, no!' she replied very innocently, 'he most always wins.'" (Remini)
"Lucretia also proved to be a most competent manager and businesswoman, selling milk, butter, and cured hams to earn additional money when necessary. Because of her husband's frequent absences from home, she necessarily took over the management of their property. She made a practical study of agriculture when they later moved to a plantation. She supervised the overseer and became something of an 'oracle' among farmers in the vicinity where they lived. It was reported that every time Clay left home he gave her a large check with which to manage their home. Upon his return she invariable returned the check to him with the remark that she had found no use for it. Lucretia loved her home and all the domestic chores associated with running it. She hated the social whirl in Washington that so attracted her husband later on." (Remini)
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