|
Cassius Marcellus Clay, a cousin of Henry Clay, was born October 19, 1810 in Madison county, Kentucky to a well-to-do family. He attended Transylvania University, and then Yale University.
His colorful and violent career as an outspoken abolitionist in a slave-holding region included owning and publishing an emancipationist newspaper in Lexington, Kentucky, and has been chronicled in both his autobiography and in a much later biography.
Clay was an early financial supporter in the founding of Berea College.
Under President Abraham Lincoln, Clay served as Ambassador to Russia, where he was influential in the negotiations to purchase Alaska.
Clay died July 22, 1903. Survivors included his daughter, the women's rights activist Laura Clay. His family home, Whitehall, is now maintained by the state of Kentucky as Whitehall State Historic Shrine.
External Links
Whitehall http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/parks/whthall.htm
Cassius M. Clay biography http://www.ket.org/trips/whitehall/clay_1.htm (maintained by Kentucky Educational Television)
|
