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Sidney P. Clay Family Collection
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Sidney P. Clay was born in Madison County, Kentucky, in 1800. He attended but did not graduate from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1821. In 1822, he married Nancy B. Keen, with whom he had one daughter, and they moved to Bourbon County. She died shortly thereafter, and he remarried Isabella E.J. Reed, with whom he had four children, Sidney R. G. Isabella E., Elias D., and Green. Sidney Clay died in 1834.
Henry Clay was an American statesman and orator who represented Kentucky in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He was a dominant figure in both the First and Second Party System and the founder and leader of the Whig Party. Henry Clay was also a leading advocate of programs for modernizing the economy, especially tariffs to protect industry, a national bank, and internal improvements to promote canals, ports and railroads. Clay was a war hawk and, and was very much responsible for the War of 1812. Although his multiple attempts to become president were unsuccessful, to a large extent Clay defined the issues of the Second Party System. He was a major supporter of the mercantile American System, and had success in brokering compromises on the slavery issue, especially in 1820 and 1850.
The collection consists of correspondence, documents, pamphlets, and other miscellaneous material of Sidney Clay and his family, as well as some correspondence of the Reed family. There is correspondence between Sidney Clay and his father, General Green Clay, and his mother, Sally Clay, written while he was a student at St. Thomas's College in Springfield, N.Y., (1817), and at Princeton (1818-1820), as well as correspondence with his brothers and sister Cassius, Brutus, and Paulina, and his famous cousin, Henry Clay. There are letters of Sidney Clay written in Kentucky to his second wife, Isabella Reed Clay, as well as Reed family letters. Also included in the collection are wills and correspondence with other relatives and friends. In addition, there are typescripts of a large number of the original letters and a typescript containing selections from Sidney Clay's correspondence with editorial comments by his great grandson, Clay Judson. There is a letter from Henry Clay to General Green requesting a letter of recommendation for Clay's son to be given to Rev. John Witherspoon at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University.) Another letter is to Albert Baldwin Dod, a professor at the College of New Jersey, with an introductory letter for Clay's son. Other correspondents of Henry Clay include J. D. Hammond, J. G. Rowland, and John Scott.
Among the documents are 1818 circulars of Harvard and Princeton, describing the respective courses of study and expenses at these educational institutions, and a large broadside (1818) catalog of the officers and students of Princeton on which someone (Clay?) has identified the members of the Whig and Cliosophic Societies.
Gift of Alice Clay Judson Ryerson.
Biography written by Jessica Marati, '08. Additions to the collection, and biography of Henry Clay written by and Dina Britain.
No appraisal information is available.
People
- Clay, Brutus Junius, 1808-1878
- Clay, Cassius Marcellus, 1810-1903
- Clay, Green, 1757-1826
- Clay, Henry, 1777-1852.
- Clay, Paulina.
- Clay, Sally
Organization
- College of New Jersey (Princeton, N.J.)
- College of New Jersey (Princeton, N.J.). Class of 1821.
- Harvard university
Subject
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2002
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Collection Inventory
Consists of the correspondence of Sidney P. Clay and family members with individuals such as Margaret Reed, Andrew Todd, and Thornton Lewis, as well as others.
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
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Consists of Old Kentucky Letters: by Judson, Clay (great-grandson).
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
Physical Description1 box
1 folder
Consists of photographs of the portraits of Sidney P. Clay and Isabella Reed Clay.
Arranged by subject of photograph.
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Consists of "To the People of Kentucky..." by Green Clay, "Washington, the New Era" by Cassius M. Clay, and "Russia as a Friend," by Cassius M. Clay.
Not arranged according to any arrangement scheme.
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Consists of Harvard and Princeton circulars, report cards, and miscellaneous documents.
Arranged by subject of document.
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