The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-08
A NOTED TAVERN.
1t Was Once Kept by the Mother of
Henry Clay.


Versailles Q<y.) Correspondence of the ST.
Louis Globe-Democrat.
Nothing is more interesting 10 the stu
dent of history than to trace the obscure
causes which have led to great events.
Comparatively few people are now living
vino know that the mother of Henry Clay
once kept tavern" in Versailles, and few
er still have ever had it occur to them
that. had not this been the case Clay
would most probably not have come to
Kentucky al all
The Watkins family arrived in Yer
salles about the close of the eighteenth
century, bringing with them quite a reti-
nue. of slaves. ! may say right here that
there is little foundation for the popular
idea that Henry Clay's boyhood was spent
in the atmosphere of poverty, obscurity
and absolute want The mother of the
Mill Boy of the SaShes," Elizabeth Hud-
son, was member Of wealthy Virginia
family, and in wedding the Rev. John
Clay (after whose death she married Hen
ry Watkins, she married into family
of equal prominence with her own The
Clays and Hudsons probably lived in the
rather gorgeous style of the Virginia gen
try, and if the Rev. John Clay was poor
it was no doubt due to the devastation
wrought by the revolutionary war. 1t Is
extremely unlikely that his poverty could
nave been so great as the story books
would have us believe.
Henry Clay did not accompany his moth
er and stepfather to Kentucky. but re-
mained in Richmond, Va. as deputy in
the clerks office. and engaged in prose-
cutting his legal studies The Watkinses
shortly took charge of the only hosiery
in Versailles, and Watkins Tavern" be-
came famous in the surrounding coun-
try They had a two-story stone house
mn f1a@
Court square by Henry Metcalfe, al that
time stonemason, and afterward Gov
ernor of kentucky. Such places were a
sort of political headquarters and a rem
devious for the discussion of the news
of the day, at a time when news trav-
eied only by stage coach, The Marshalls
the Crittendens, the Blackburns, the Claws.
the Watkinses and other prominent men
no doubt planned campaigns at Watkins
IaNern, and here Gen. Lafayette was
entertained in 1926.
Mrs. Clay-Watkins was very attractive.
While not beauty, she was comedy. with
dark hair and eyes and rosy cheeks Her
manners were very engaging and she was
a most entertaining cOnversat ionalist. She
had well-rounded and shapely figure ana
possessed great vigor of mind and body
Her first husband, Rev. John Clay, evil
IDENTIFY realized fully his wife's charms for
in making his will he more than once
StNeS uJ SCtlOnS III case my beloved Wlfe
should intermarry betwixt this and then"
And sure enough. at 80, the mother of nine
children, she married Henry Watkins IAN
elegant and accomplished gentleman" Of
3d. for whom she afterward bore seven
children.
Mrs Watkins was full of spirit, as a
story told by one of her grandsons, T. B.
Watkins of Lexington proves. He says
that the day after the burial of Rev John
Clay, the British colonel, Tarleton, made a
raid into Virginia. and his men devastated
her place. Mrs. Clay reprimanded Tarle-
ton so severely that he emptied a sack of
coin on a table and told her to take that
for her losses. AS soon as Tarleton left
Mrs. Clay scraped the money off into her
apron and threw it into the fire, saying
thai her hand should not be polluted with
British gold" She seems to have been a
noble woman much reverenced by those
who knew her well, and with striking in
dividuality and an mperious will
About the year 1915 the Weaknesses gave
up their tavern in Versailles and settled
upon farm, which they owned, three
miles south of town. Here Mrs. Watkins
died in 1929 at the age OF 80 years. Her
remains were buried in a country grave
yard close by, and rested there until 1851
when they We're removed TO Lexington by
her son Henry The Henry Watkins
farm" which is still a point of great IN
terest is now the home of Mr.. Robert Nc
Council The last vestge of the Watkins
residence has given place to more mod
ern improvements