Name: Dr. Henry CLAY III
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Birth: September 19, 1736 Cumberland County, Virginia
Death: January 17, 1820 Bourbon County, Kentucky Age: 83
Father: Henry CLAY Jr. (1711-1764)
Mother: Lucy GREEN (1717-)

Misc. Notes
Henry Clay's Station [1]
Dr. Henry Clay, who fathered one of three separate though related branches of Clays in the county, came to Bourbon County in 1787. He is reported to have built a stockade in the Clintonville District in 1787 then a stone house the following year (Grimes 1935). No primary sources were located for this information. His land entries include a 400-acre and a 1000-acre preemption on the Stoner Fork of Licking River (BrookesSmith 1976:37, Virginia Survey Book 1, p. 373). This tract is located, according to entry, 200 yards northwest of McMullen's Spring and includes a portion of the main Stoner channel. Henry Clay assigned this tract to Samuel Clay in 1783 and the patent was issued in 1784. McMullen's Spring is near where the Harrod's Creek Road crosses Stoner Creek. Henry Clay's reported stockade or station would not have been located on this tract since he transferred it to Samuel Clay three years before he permanently settled in Kentucky.

The stone house he built in 1788 (designated 15Bb77) is, still standing. It is located along a farm road which runs southwest from Winchester Road opposite the juncture of Winchester and Spears Mill roads (Figure IV-7 and IV-8). The L & N railroad track runs immediately southwest of the site. The Clay cemetery is north of the house. Henry and his wife, Rachel, are buried there along with other family members. Henry died in 1824, at the age of 84; Rachel was 81 when she died in 1820. Henry Clay Jr. inherited the house. An H. Clay is listed in the approximate location on the 1877 Beers and Lanagan map.

Grimes (1935) did not indicate if the station was built on the same location as the stone house. No trace of a log structure or foundations were found around the stone house although pasture coverage made surface survey difficult. The house, known locally as "the Fort", is a small structure of one-and-one-half stories with interior end chimneys. The lower floor has two rooms and stairs in the northeast corner lead up to a second floor. A frame shed with a brick chimney is a recent addition on the east side of the house. The front of the house faces west. Two windows pierce the west wall on the first floor. An irregular depression on the south end of the house is suggestive of another possible addition but no door is present to connect it to the stone house without having to come outside. Very little modification has been done to the stone section. The structure was being used to store hay at the time of survey.

Since Dr. Clay's stone house was not located on his land grant, he must have acquired his tract by purchase. In checking early deeds, a land transfer for 200 acres between Henry Clay, Sr. and Benjamin Bedford was found which coincides with the stone house location. Dated February 20, 1793, the deed was for 200 acres on which Henry Clay was then living, on the waters of Green Creek. The land was adjacent to James Parberry, a Bruce, and another Clay (Bourbon County Deed Book B, p. 333).

Time constraints, very dense grass cover and extremely hard, dried out soil rendered shovel probing impractical. The ground around the structure appears little disturbed and archaeological remains are probable although their density and character are unverified. However, the site is deemed worthy of further consideration.

HENRY CLAY, SR.-Will Book F, page 331-"Aged and infirm." Wife, Rachel; son, Henry Clay, Jr.; daughter, Rebecca Finch, land purchased of Col. Jas. Garrard; daughters Sally Martin and Tabitha Bedford, land in Montgomery County; daughters Elizabeth Bruce, Rachel Martin, Marv Anne Dawson, Martha Dedford, Henrietta Bedinger, Letty Bedford; sons, John and Samuel. Executor: Henry Clay, Jr. Written August 7, 1809. Proved February 1820. Witnesses-Jospeh McConnell, Samuel McConnell, Sampson McConnell, Geo. Thomas, Josiah Berryman. [2]


Spouses
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1: Rachel POVALL
Birth: 1739
Death: April 9, 1820 Age: 81
Father: Richard POVALL
Mother: Rachel POVALL (~1739-1820)
Marriage: April 7, 1753 Virginia
Children: Elizabeth (1755-)
John (1757-1814)
Rebekah (1759-)
Samuel (1761-)
Rachel (1763-)
Sarah (1765-)
Tabitha (1767-1864)
Mary Ann (1770-)
Mattie (1772-1864)
Laetitia (Died young) (1774-)
Henrietta (1776-)
Lettie (1782-1827)
Henry (1779-1863)


Sources
1. Stockading Up by Nancy O’Malley, pp. 52, 55
2. Kentucky Records, Volume I, BOURBON COUNTY WILL ABSTRACTS, Contributed by Mrs. William Breckenridge Ardery, Jemima Johnson Chapter, Paris, Kentucky), p. 27.

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Last Modified: May 5, 2001
Created: August 15, 2002