Public

POC-2019-03 – POC, 2019 Qtr 3, Vol. XVI Issue 3

Document

Record Summary

Evidence Category:

Published Source

Record Type:

Newsletter

Date:

3rd Quarter 2019

Individuals Mentioned:

Mary Akers, Stephen F. Austin, Elizabeth Clay Baker, Clay Batts, Galiena Boyajian, Ned Boyajian, Robert Boyajian, Camilla Clay Branson, Casie Clay Branson, Charles Clay, Finney Clay, Hannah Wilson Clay, Henry Clay, James W. Clay, John Clay, John M. Clay, John Stewart Clay, Jonas Clay, Lawrence Clay, Lemuel Clay, Lucy Clay, Luke Clay, Mary Clay, Mitchell Clay, Nestor Clay, Percival Clay, Phoebe Clay, Ralph Clay, Tacitus Matthew Clay, Thomas C. Clay, Thomas Clay, William Clay, William H. Clay, John Claye, Thomas Claye, Nina Clay Cole, Connie Collins, Lynda Davis-Logan, Pat Dunford, Lord Dunmore, Eric Dye, Amey Clay Green, Lucretia Hart, Lydia Hill, Marcia Hovenden, Barry Johnson, Dawn Clay Johnson, Kendra Johnson, Samuel Jordan, Brendan Kisling, Susan Mason, Martha McCartney, Mary Mitchell, Rebecca Pollard Myers, Gareth Neame, Leontyne Peck, Linda Pittano, Anna Powell, Mary Richardson, Bill Schultz

Repository:

Clay Family Society Digital Archives

Archive Reference:

Folder: 01_Pieces_of_Clay/2007-2025

Summary

Focused on Torment in Stone: The Mitchell and Phoebe Clay Statue, Clays Have Long History in Washington County (TX), Where Was Immigrant John Claye in 1622? – Casie (Clay) Branson President

Clay Line: Board

Asset

View Public Asset

Source Citation

Pieces of Clay, Clay Family Society, (Summer 2019): 5 pages; CFS Archive ID POC-2019-03.

Historical Context

Jamestown Settlement (1613): The earliest recorded ancestor, immigrant John Clay(e), arrived in Jamestown in 1613. Records place him at Jamestown in 1613 and at Jordan’s Journey in 1624. Historical accounts indicate that Samuel Jordan’s plantation, Jordan’s Journey, suffered no fatalities during the 1622 Native American attack.

West Virginia Branch (1781): Mitchell and Phoebe Clay lost three children and their home during an Indian attack around 1781. Mitchell Clay had received 803 acres of land from Lord Dunmore for his military service in the French and Indian War.

Texas Migration (1822): Nestor Clay (born 1799) and his brother Tacitus Matthew Clay moved to Texas in 1822 at the invitation of Stephen F. Austin. Rather than being part of the original “Old Three Hundred” colonists, they influenced early settlement by exploring and speculating land. Together with Austin and Luke Lesassier, they owned all the land around Independence (originally Cole’s Settlement).

Texas Plantation and Civil War: Nestor Clay built “Clay Castle,” a 74,000 square-foot farming plantation headquarters. Nestor was killed in a Native American raid before the Texas Revolution. His son, Tacitus Thomas Clay, later became the mayor of Independence and served as a Civil War captain alongside his cousin, Thomas C. Clay. Following Thomas’s death in 1892, his wife Bettie managed the 10,000-acre plantation for nearly 40 years until her death in 1931.

Lineage Connections: Modern members trace lines back to prominent ancestors, including Senator Henry Clay and Lucretia Hart, Henry Clay and Mary Mitchell, and Charles and Hannah (Wilson) Clay.