- James Brown Clay
James Brown Clay (
November 9 ,1817 –January 26 ,1864 ) was a Democratic Party member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromKentucky .Born in
Washington, D.C. , while his father,Henry Clay , was serving in theUnited States Congress , James Brown Clay was named for the husband of his maternal aunt, James Brown. His brothers wereHenry Clay, Jr. andJohn Morrison Clay . Clay attended a boys’ school associated withKenyon College ,Gambier, Ohio (founded by family friend BishopPhilander Chase ). Later, Clay attendedTransylvania University ,Lexington, Kentucky . He worked at acountinghouse inBoston from 1832 to 1834 before studying law and being admitted to the bar. He practiced law with his father in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1843, Clay married Susan Maria Jacob, sister of a three-time mayor ofLouisville, Kentucky ,Charles Donald Jacob . The couple eventually had ten children.Clay served as
chargé d’affaires toPortugal from August 1, 1849, to July 19, 1850. He farmed inMissouri in 1851 and 1852 before returning to Lexington. Clay had been a life-long member of the Whig Party — the party of his father. But when the Whig Party disintegrated following Henry Clay’s death, James B. Clay joined the Democratic Party. In fact, he was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1857-March 3, 1859). Clay did not run for renomination in 1858 and declined an appointment by PresidentJames Buchanan to a mission toGermany . Clay served as a member of thePeace conference of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., an attempt to prevent the impendingAmerican Civil War . During the Civil War Clay supported the Confederacy and was commissioned to raise a regiment. His ill-health fromtuberculosis prevented him from doing so. Clay died inMontreal, Canada , where he had gone for his health. He is interred at his family plot inLexington Cemetery .ee also
*
Henry Clay
*Ashland (Henry Clay home)
*Clay family
*Henry Clay, Jr. References
* This article incorporates facts obtained from the
public domain Biographical Directory of the United States Congress .* On Clay's service as American chargé d’affaires to Portugal, see Sara B. Bearss, "Henry Clay and the American Claims against Portugal, 1850," "Journal of the Early Republic" 7 (Summer 1987): 167–80.
External links
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000483 James Brown Clay's official Congressional biography]
* [http://www.filsonhistorical.org/news_v5n4_browsing.html The Filson Historical Society]
* [http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/text/clay.html Clay Family Papers at the Library of Congress]
* [http://www.henryclay.org/ Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate]
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