Happy Birthday Henry Clay

By ArtYeaman - Thu, 04/12/2007 - 8:24am

Happy 230th Birthday to Clay County Namesake:
Secretary of State Henry Clay born April 12, 1777

CHRONOLOGY

1777 - Born: Hanover County, Virginia (April 12)
1781 - Father dies
1791 - Mother moves to Kentucky
1792 - Goes to work for George Wythe
1796 - Studies law under Robert Brooke
1797 - Admitted to bar; moves to Kentucky
1799 - Marries Lucretia Hart
1803 - Elected to state legislature
1805 - Law professor at Transylvania University
1806 – Family develops “Ashland” 672 acres Lexington, KY --- Sent to U.S. Senate at age 29
1807 - Elected to state legislature and Speaker of the House
1809 - Elected to U.S. Senate
1811 - Elected to U.S. House of Representatives and Speaker of the House
1814 - Peace Commissioner at Ghent, Belgium
1816 - Presides at formation of American Colonization Society
1819 – Attacks General Jackson in House Speech
1821 – Appointed chief counsel for the Bank of United States for KY & OH. Authors the second Missouri Compromise, Develops the “American System” – buy homemade textiles
1824 - Appointed Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams
1826: Duel with John Randolph
1828 - Rejects offer of appointment to Supreme Court
1829 - Returns to Lexington to farm and practice law
1831 - Elected U.S. Senate; nominated for Presidency
1832 - Authors Compromise Tariff Act
1836 - Elected President of American Colonization Society
1842 - Resigns as U.S. Senator
1844 - Nominated for Presidency
1849 - Returns to U.S. Senate
1850 - Authors Compromise of
1850 “ I know no South, no North, no East, no West My Allegiance is to theUnion” 1851 - Resigns from U.S. Senate
1852 - Dies in Washington D.C. (June 29)

July 6, 1852: Springfield, Illinois -- Abraham Lincoln delivered a eulogy for Henry Clay, Lincoln stated: “He loved his country partly because it was his own country, but mostly because it was a free country; and he burned with a zeal for its advancement, prosperity and glory, because he saw in such, the advancement, prosperity and glory, of human liberty, human right and human nature. He desired the prosperity of his countrymen partly because they were his countrymen, but chiefly to show to the world that freemen could be prosperous.”

December 31, 1858: The State of Florida carved out a portion of Duval County to form CLAY COUNTY – named in honor of: Secretary of State HENRY CLAY

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