Browse Items (877 total)
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Letter from Henry Clay to J. Morrison Harris, Baltimore. Washington, 17 September 1850
Clay agrees to recommend Harris for the office of the U.S. District Attorney in California. He is afraid that the president will want the appointment to be made from the residents of that state. -
Letter from Henry Clay to J. Morrison Harris, n.p. [Baltimore]. "Ashland," 4 October 1850
Notes that he did not receive Harris' last letter in Washington but received it in Lexington. He also notes that he did not enclose a letter to the Secretary of the Interior but will if it would "afford" him any help. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Alexander H.H. Stuart, Washington. "Ashland," 4 October 1850
Letter of recommendation for J. Morrison Harris for a public job in California. Clay notes that Harris was a member of the Baltimore Bar and that he was a "personal and political friend." -
Letter from Henry Clay to Charles Lobdell. Lexington, Kentucky, 11 November 1850
Despite his rule not to send his autograph, he thanks Lobdell for his compliments and since Lobdell wants to follow Franklin's profession, he hopes he will "emulate his virtues, and attain to his fame and greatness." -
Letter from Henry Clay to Messrs. Grinnell Minturn & Co. Washington, D.C., 25 March 1850
Clay's son James informs him that he has shipped two pair of Portuguese pigs from Lisbon in care of Grinnell Minturn & Co. Clay is anxious for their safety and suggests their route to Thomas Smith in Louisville and their care enroute. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Reverend James Pratt, n.p. Senate Chamber, Washington, D.C., 3 January 1850
Clay believes that the person to whom Pratt has referred in a previous letter, calling himself John Randolph, is an imposter. Clay writes that he also subscribed to the man's promised Biography of the late John Randolph of Virginia, but believes him to be untrustworthy. -
Letter from Henry Clay to E. Benson, n.p Washington, D.C., 21 April 1850
States that his son Thomas's saw mill, at the mouth of the Ohio, has a quantity of walnut logs. Has heard that such planking commands high prices in New York. Requests the current prices and desired specifications for walnut planking. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Hamilton Fish. Washington, D.C. 23 February 1851
Comments on a dispute between Fish and Mr. Maxwell and on Mr. Beckman, a New York state senator. "I believe that the substantial preservation and vigorous enforcement of the Fugitve slave law, involve the safety, if not the existence, of the Union " Advises Fish as to how to proceed with his campaign for the U.S. senate and comments on Fish's support of Seward at the beginning of Gen. Taylor's administration, "by which that senator was enabled to control a large amount of the public patronage." -
Letter from Henry Clay to The Honorable A. H. H. Stuart. Ashland, 22 October 1850
Recommending Col. William Henry Russell of California for an Indian agency in that State. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Hon. William Proindexter Thomasson. Ashland, Lexington, Ky., 25 January 1845
Congress appears to be full of embarrassment with the variety of Texas propositions, a defaulting Clerk &c. The Texas issue seems uncertain. The lower house of the Legislature at Frankfort has passed "a stringent and very good Election Law." The Kentucky Legislature will probably adjourn about the 10th prox. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Octavia Walton LeVert. n.p., n.d. ca. 1844
Clay hopes Mrs. LeVert will escape the yellow fever epidemic; he expresses his friendship for her and his hope of seeing her. Clay complains of the constant press of business and tells where the defense against the corrupt bargain charge levelled against him by Jackson can be found in print. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Zebulon T. Davis. New Orleans, Louisiana. 7 March 1849
Clay has received Davis' letter stating his wish for a government appointment and wishes him success with his application. He has long known Davis' father, who has sustained the Whig cause in Alabama with great zeal and fidelity. Davis may use this letter to promote his object. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Thomas B. Stevenson, Cincinnati, Ohio. Lexington, Kentucky. 21 July 1849
Believes that the new regulations for Canada by Great Britain will lead to her independence. The United States would benefit from free trade with Canada. Elaborates on these views. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Thomas Ewing, Washington, D.C. Lexington, Kentucky. 7 April 1849
Recommends Nicholas Dean for Marshall of the Southern District of New York. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Col. John Francis Hamtramck, Shepherdstown, Virginia. Ashland, Lexington, Kentucky. 19 September 1848
Since the Philadelphia Convention passed over Clay for the Presidential nomination, he has written to many people that he "would not consent to any further use of my name in connection with that office, and that I would not consent to accept a nomination, if it were tendered to me." -
Letter from Henry Clay to J. Morrison Harris, n.p. [Baltimore]. "Ashland," 14 September 1848
Clay expresses his opposition to the nomination of a "mere Military man" for president; worries about the "impulse" of war to make heroes, then make them president; notes that Zachary Taylor was "devoid of all Civil experience;" discusses his feelings towards supporting Taylor and internal Whig politics; claims he has a November 1847 letter from the General stating he would step aside if Clay were nominated by the Whigs; and believes that Taylor was "incompetent to execute wisely the duties of the Presidential office." -
Letter from Henry Clay to Capt. John Perin, Hanover County, Virginia. Ashland, Lexington, Kentucky. 12 September 1848
Clay thanks his friends in Hanover for their thoughts, but he cannot accept the nomination of those meeting at the Slash Church for the presidency. "I deplore the condition of the Country, and not the less because it has been produced not only without any agency of mine, but against my solemn warnings and publicly expressed convictions." -
Letter from Henry Clay to Philip R. Fendall, n.p. Ashland, 28 October 1848
Discusses a debt due him from Columbia College and the approaching presidential election. Believes the outcome of the election is "as uncertain as the cast of the die." Thinks the popular vote will be close between Cass and Taylor, yet the electoral difference may be large. Indications are Cass will get Ohio; therefore Taylor must take Pennsylvania in order to win. Fears Taylor will be "cheated out of Penna., as I was in 1844, " and thus lose. Clay thinks "deplorable consequences" may result and laments the situation. -
Letter from Henry Clay to Adam Beatty. Lexington, Kentucky. 28 May 1848
Clay has recommended Beatty to the Governor for appointment to the Senate to replace Crittenden. The Governor seems to favor Mr. Kincaid of Lexington, but agreed to consider Beatty. -
Letter from Henry Clay to J. Morrison Harris, Baltimore. "Ashland," 18 August 1848
Clay discusses the outcome of the Whig Convention in Philadelphia; notes that he wished the results were different; that he will take no partisan part in "the nomination of the merest military person presented as a Candidate for the Presidency;" and states that he cannot vote for Lewis Cass or Martin Van Buren.