1890-93 Regular Issue 15¢ Clay - U.S. #227

U.S. #227 1890-93 Regular Issue 15¢ Clay

• Issue Date: February 22, 1890
• Issue Quantity: 5,548,710
• Printed by: American Bank Note Company
• Method: Flat plate
• Watermark: None
• Perforation: 12
• Color: Indigo

Death Of Henry Clay

Esteemed statesman Henry Clay died on June 29, 1852, after nearly 50 years in politics.

Henry Clay was born on April 12, 1777, in Hanover County, Virginia. The seventh of nine children, Clay began working as a secretary at the Virginia Court of Chancery at a young age. From there, he went on to work for the attorney general, where he developed an interest in and began studying the law. He was admitted to the bar in 1797.

That same year, Clay moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where he quickly became well known for his legal skills and courtroom speeches. Over the years, many of his clients paid him with horses and plots of land. So by 1812, Clay had a 600-acre plantation known as Ashland.

In 1803, Clay was made a representative of Fayette County in the Kentucky General Assembly, even though he wasn’t old enough to be elected. In this role, he supported moving the state capitol from Frankfort to Lexington. While he personally supported the gradual end of slavery in Kentucky (Clay had up to 60 slaves at his own plantation), he wasn’t able to promote the idea due to opposition from the slaveholding elite.

Clay’s popularity rose quickly in the coming years, so that when a Senate seat needed to be filled, he was selected and sworn in on December 29, 1806. Once again, he was under the required age, but no one objected. He served the last two months of that term before returning to Kentucky in 1807. After that, Clay was elected Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

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