Abraham Lincoln & Cassius Marcellus Clay

Abraham Lincoln and Cassius Marcellus Clay. . Cassius Marcellus Clay, Kentucky's leading antislavery activist, was born here on October 19, 1810. Although his immediate family owned many slaves, Cassius argued that slavery hurt Kentucky's economic development by limiting competition. He believed in gradual emancipation and had freed most of his own slaves by 1845., Editing an antislavery newspaper, The True American, Clay frequently spoke to Northern audiences about emancipation. In 1851, he ran for governor of Kentucky on an emancipation ticket, but garnered few votes. He became a visible target in the argument over slavery and fought several duels because of his views., He helped create the Republican Party and was nearly nominated vice president in 1860. During that election he vigorously campaigned for Abraham Lincoln, who appointed Clay minister to Russia in 1861. Prior to his appointment, Clay traveled to Washington, D.C., and, amid rumors that Confederate forces were going to strike government property, he organized volunteers for the “Clay Battalion” to protect the capital., After returning to the United States in 1862, Clay was appointed major general in the Union army. His military career, however, was unsatisfactory, and he resigned a year later., Clay later took credit for Lincoln's stance against slavery and for the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1863, Clay returned to his Russian diplomatic post, serving until 1869. There, he helped facilitate the purchase of Alaska., Clay died at White Hall on July 22, 1903, and is buried in Richmond Cemetery in Richmond, Kentucky.,

I shall never forget [Abraham Lincoln's] long, ungainly form, and his ever sad and homely face. He, too, was a native Kentuckian; and could bear witness, in his own person, to the depressing influence of slavery upon all the races. , Cassius Marcellus Clay

, The True American , By 1845, Clay was frustrated that many of his antislavery articles were not being published in Kentucky. He then established The True American, a Lexington-based newspaper that called for the gradual emancipation of slaves. Although most subscribers were outside Kentucky, it gave Clay a public voice and stirred up controversy., Many Kentuckians condemned the newspaper, and Clay received death threats. “Your life can not be spared,” one wrote. “Plenty thirst for your blood–[and] are determined to have it.” Because of these threats, Clay fortified the paper's office, lined the front doors with sheets of iron, and protected the building with two small cannons and other weapons. If attacked, Clay was prepared to escape through a trap door before igniting the building with hidden kegs of black powder., In August 1845, while Clay was sick in bed with typhoid fever, a group of Lexington citizens entered the office, seized Clay's press, and shipped it to Cincinnati. Clay resumed editing the newspaper two months later, but it ceased publication after Clay left to fight in the Mexican War., Captions (left to right) , . Cassius Marcellus Clay, Kentucky emancipationist and minister to Russia during Abraham Lincoln's administration. Courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society , . A broadside of The True American, August 15, 1845. Courtesy of the Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Ky., Timeline , . 1809 Abraham Lincoln born at Sinking Spring farm, in present-day Larue County, Kentucky. , . 1816 Lincoln family moved from Kentucky. , . 1841 Abraham Lincoln visited his friend Joshua Speed at Farmington, the Speed family plantation, in Louisville, Kentucky. , . 1842 Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd of Lexington, Kentucky. , . 1847 The Lincoln family visited Lexington, Kentucky, en route to Abraham's only term in Congress. , . 1860 Abraham Lincoln elected President of the United States in November. , . 1865 Abraham Lincoln assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.