Cassius Marcellus Clay
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Cassius Marcellus Clay, nicknamed "The Lion of Whitehall" (October 19, 1810 – July 22, 1903) was an emancipationist from Madison County, Kentucky, a much younger first cousin, once removed, of famous politician Henry Clay.
He attended Transylvania University, and then graduated at Yale College in 1832, where he was a member of Skull & Bones; three years later was elected to the Kentucky General Assembly.
He opposed the annexation of Texas, supported Henry Clay, and served in the Mexican-American War. He was an opponent of slavery and supported Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. In 1861, after the outbreak of the Civil War, President Lincoln nominated Clay for the post of ambassador to Spain, but Clay declined the appointment.[1] From 1861 to 1862, and from 1863 to 1869, he was Minister to Russia, where he was influential in the negotiations to purchase Alaska. In 1886 he published his speeches, edited by Horace Greeley. In 1896 he was prominent as a "gold" Democrat.
His colorful and violent career as an outspoken emancipationist in a slave-holding region included owning and publishing the True American, an antislavery newspaper in Lexington, Kentucky (moved to Cincinnati, Ohio), and has been chronicled in both his autobiography and in a much later biography.
Clay sponsored his friend Rev. John G. Fee's abolitionist ministry in Madison County, Kentucky, and indirectly contributed to Fee's founding of the town of Berea and of Berea College.
Clay died July 22, 1903. Survivors included his daughter, the women's rights activist Laura Clay. His family home, White Hall, is now maintained by the Commonwealth of Kentucky as White Hall State Historic Shrine.
The world-famous professional boxer Muhammad Ali was originally named Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. after his father, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr., who was named for the emancipationist.
[edit] References
[edit] Books
- The Life, Memoirs. Writings, and Speeches of Cassius Marcellus Clay (Cincinnati, 1896), his autobiography
- The Writings of Cassius Marcellus Clay (edited with a Memoir by Horace Greeley. New York, 1848).
- The Other Cassius Clay (Kalamazoo: Brian Tice, 2002), an original Clay Freedom's Champion (Turner
[edit] External links
- http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/CHR_CLI/CLAY_CASSIUS_MARCELLUS_1810_190.html On-line version of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
- http://www.bartleby.com/65/cl/Clay-Cas.html On-line version of the Columbia Encyclopedia 6th Edition
- http://www.forbes.com/2001/12/19/1219pow.html Forbes article on the origin of boxer Muhammid Ali's birth name
- Whitehall
- Cassius M. Clay biography (maintained by Kentucky Educational Television)
| Preceded by John Appleton |
United States Ambassador to Russia March 28, 1861 – June 25, 1862 |
Succeeded by Simon Cameron |
| Preceded by Simon Cameron |
United States Ambassador to Russia March 11, 1863 – October 1, 1869 |
Succeeded by Andrew G. Curtin |
