Smyrna times., 1870-06-01
The Death Of Henry Clay's Eldest Son
A SAD STORY OF LOVE AND N,nxrss

SAD STORY OF LOVE AND MADNESS
The Cincinnati Inquirer of Nav 18th c;vos
som, % particulars Of the death and weary l;fo
OF hgodore Clay, eldest son Of genrv CIav
VINO "ied recently IN the Lexington (Kvl In
m",, .,I ~ I, i!'I, aitef long confinement. The
record OF his blasted life is briefly thus.
Al thrty years of age Theodore CIay WIS =
promising lawyer. He was the IMAGE and tho
nope OF the statesman whose fame ,v9s on o,.on
to19ue' 1t Is true that there were whi>ners Of
"iid Hvlh@ and OF Indifferent morals that some
"hiI unged the talr rcpute and even darLrned
Ihe iuture prospects Of th. scion of = noI,Io
house. Still it was hoped that these wnro Lmt
the results OF youth. aud would be east asidn
"hen circumstances called upon the matured
man 10 assert himself and make his taIent folt
LII the community 'o''
=, II was at tins turning point in his life that
'eou1re clay hegan to pursue, with an un-
"earled perseverance that caused his friends
great uneasincSs. Young lady of Tov;n,.a1,
whom he had long loved hopeles>ly, The oh.
Ject OF his attachment, who is at the present
moment one OF the brightest ornaments of
NehtCckN society, repUIsed, firmly bur kindly
every attention offered by the Infatuated vouno
man, alter his meaning had become manifa.t
II was OF no use F.; he would not he refused. and
loIoWcd his talr fate in the streets bv dav and
wandered IN the nclghborhood of her homo bv
iiIE'' III an ANNOYING manner, until at last il
became evident that he was not MI tLoroi
10 use the soft phrase by which kindly noos.
antry express insanity Suhsrouent v;nlan,
demonstratlons tended to confirm the imnrass.
ioh' II being even related that he went 10 tho
mouse OF MT - and demanded his da,rbtnr
at Ine plSto point, until at last the wrptcbnd
tru'h c"u!d no longer be ignored and contina
ment IN the asylum became a stern necessity,
!, MS was accordingly done,-in IS32. we he.
leVe'-hls father providing for his s,lnrort at
that tlmt, and leaving $4,000 in his will. the
~ i"cu!nc ,. from ON which was secured to Theodore
!or ne nat HE, after thirty-eight years of
imprisonment IN what in the earlier d,vs of
his confinement he was wont to call ca ,,ooi
boarding house, hut having some of the biIgast
IO9iS he ever saw as boardrrS." " has inst closed
For nearly thirty years he was one of the
most noted Ot the inmates. not on}v his ,ro,j /
descent but his graceful manners and Hov ~
conversation rendering him an object of intar.
est to all visitors. He labored under tbc boL /
Iuclnatlon that he was George Wosbincton /
ana was iona OF assuming the traditional atti. /
tudes OF the father ct his country. At The or I
o"Slolal pals glVtn to the iumates-averarinr /
some hVe hundred in numher-he was alw.vs
exqul>tcly dressed, in the STYLE Of his Jav aHd
was the beau par crcclicuce During ALI tbosa
l0hg years despite his general gcntlonnss and
c,nIcertulneSs OF manner, he was restless and
dlScontented, and required close watchino-it
never IN tact, having been considered prudent
to allow him to go out into the grounds withont
attendants. About the year 1860 his cond;,
non began to grow worse. and he soon aftar
became pea demented, continuing in hopeless idiocy
un.l In.I Ie" Gays since, when death, greater
healer than time, placed him again ,non 1".r an
equality with the peers of his earI, na',Io"I
who had gone before him according to ;sUp lis ;n
scr will And so ends as sad srorv m as
-nc truth OF history ever commanded to be
r. l we Wo sons of Henry Clay yet survive bim-T
H. IL Gay, exminister to Honduras, now residing
,lJ ~ ms ~, place Mansfield" near Lexington,
ma John M, Clay, the horse raiser of Ken,
ucAy' ana one of the greatest turfmen living.