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Ashland’s Star: Henry Clay

Posted on July 27, 2015 by Wendy

If you love Ashland, you’ll love this. Curator Eric Brooks leads a fascinating video tour of Ashland, focusing on Henry Clay. This was done for C-SPAN in June. Ashland has amassed an impressive collection of Henry Clay artifacts and Eric explains them perfectly:

http://www.c-span.org/video/?326946-1/henry-clays-estate

Popular image of Clay at Ashland

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Posted in Artifacts, Henry ClayTagged American architecture, American history, antebellum, Ashland, Eric Brooks, Federal architecture, Henry Clay, Henry Clay Memorial Foundation, historic house museum, historic preservation, Kentucky, Lexington Kentucky, mansion

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Ashland Restoration Raises Interpretive Questions

Giving the Impression that Henry Clay “may return at any moment”

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Mrs. Seay's efforts paid off in September of 1960 with the visit of an entourage of high-level United States government women. The most celebrated was Pat Nixon, then Second Lady of the U.S. and doing a bit of campaigning for her husband's presidential bid. Mrs. Seay via the Lexington newspapers extended an invitation to the reception party in Pat Nixon's honor as it was “open to anyone who wishes to attend…on the lawn of Ashland, historic home of Henry Clay.” Along with Pat Nixon was Lorraine Shevlin Cooper, wife of U.S. Senator from Kentucky, John Sherman Cooper, seen in the photo with Nixon and Henry Clay (in Ashland's Drawing Room). Famous Kentuckian Pearl Carter Pace was there as well (photo of Pace at her desk). She had been the first female sheriff in the Commonwealth. In 1953 she brought national attention to Kentucky when President Eisenhower appointed her to the War Claims Commission (later the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission). Near the end of his administration, Eisenhower elevated her to the commission chairmanship, making Pearl Carter Pace the third highest-ranking woman in his administration. Also part of this momentous visit to Ashland were wives of five of President Eisenhower's Cabinet members and of the Atomic Energy Commission. #Ashland #HenryClay #PatNixon #PearlCarterPace #Lexingon #Kentucky Ashland, The @henryclayestate

Ashland's director from 1950 to the 1980s was Lorraine Seay, universally known as Mrs. Seay. She understood Henry Clay’s importance and that of his historic home, so she embarked on a writing campaign, inviting prominent guests to Ashland. In 1955, Mrs. Seay proudly told the Lexington Herald-Leader that among Ashland’s 70,000 visitors in its first five years were “a vice president, senators, governors, a general, persons from all 48 states and many foreign countries." More about particular invitees to come. #Ashland #HenryClay #MrsSeay Ashland, The @henryclayestate

We turn our attention to some famous 20th-century guests at Ashland. At Ashland’s dedication as a public museum on April 12, 1950 (Henry Clay's birthday), thousands gathered for the ceremony on the back lawn. Keynote speaker and fellow Kentuckian, U.S. Vice President Alben Barkley declared: “This fine mansion now will rank alongside Mount Vernon, Monticello, the Hermitage, and other public memorials to great men of this nation….generations to come will thank you for preserving this shrine.” BUT the vice-president’s wife, Jane Hadley Barkley, “stole the show” that day, as the Lexington Leader relayed: “Mrs. Barkley was on hand for the event, too, to the great delight of some 3,000 Central Kentuckians who didn’t bother to disguise that they had come to see the charming ‘Veepess’ as much as to witness the dedication….[during Mr. Barkley’s speech] The crowd gave its attention largely to her…” “Shivering Crowd Attends Dedication of Clay Home. Charming ‘Veepess’ Takes Spotlight Away from Main Program.” ~Lexington (Ky.) Leader, 13 April 1950 #Ashland #HenryClay #AlbenBarkley #JaneHadleyBarkley #20thcentury #Lexington #Kentucky #American #history #housemuseum Ashland, The @henryclayestate

It has long been maintained that the McDowells (Clay's granddaughter and husband) entertained President Rutherford B. Hayes at Ashland. My research as to when - and any other details - is coming up short at the moment, but here's what we know: 1) Hayes was a Whig (then a Republican) and idolized Henry Clay. His first vote was for Clay. He would have naturally been interested in visiting Ashland. 2) Hayes dedicated a portrait of his wife to the McDowells that hangs at Ashland today. It is a reproduction print of the official First Lady portrait of Lucy Webb Hayes by Daniel Huntington, 1881. The inscription says: "To Mr. & Mrs. H.C. McDowell With Kind Regards, Rutherford B. Hayes." 3) If it was presented upon a visit to Ashland, that visit would have taken place in 1883 or after (McDowells moved to Ashland early that year). Lucy Webb Hayes would die in 1889, her husband in 1893. Will have to keep digging on this one! #Ashland #HenryClay #RutherfordBHayes #LucyWebbHayes

Theodore Roosevelt and Major McDowell (Henry Clay's grandson-in-law) corresponded and met multiple times. Roosevelt formed the Boone and Crockett Club in 1887, an American nonprofit organization advocating fair chase hunting in support of habitat conservation. McDowell was elected to membership in the club in 1889. We know that Roosevelt visited the McDowells at Ashland. In a March 15, 1888 letter, Roosevelt says that he is working on his book about the early west and would like to do himself "the honor of calling upon" McDowell at Ashland. The resulting book, "The Winning of The West," cites Henry Clay many times. #Ashland #HenryClay #TheodoreRoosevelt #American #history Ashland, The @henryclayestate Many thanks to UK Special Collections and their online archive of the Henry Clay Memorial Foundation Papers. https://exploreuk.uky.edu/

In 1883 Henry Clay's granddaughter Anne and her husband, Major H.C. McDowell, purchased Ashland, bringing the estate back into the family. That summer, one of the most distinguished guests in Ashland's history paid a visit: U.S. President Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886) came to Lexington (this may have been on his journey to Yellowstone Park). On July 31, 1883, a local committee greeted the president at the Phoenix Hotel and escorted the delegation out to Ashland to have lunch with the McDowells and to tour the Ashland farm. #Ashland #HenryClay #McDowells #ChesterAArthur #American #history Ashland, The @henryclayestate

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