Description:

Henry Clay
Fayette County, KY, ca. 1797-1800
Henry Clay Handwritten and Signed Document from Early Legal Career
ALS

An early legal document written and signed by Henry Clay. 1p, measuring 7.5" x 12.5", Fayette County, Kentucky, n.d. [c. 1797-1800]. Signed "H. Clay", the document relates to an early case from Clay's legal career involving a dispute between Thomas Ging and William Essex. Accompanying the document is an engraved portrait of Clay. With flattened folds; toning and soiling at the folds. Some wear and small separations starting at the folds as well. Docketing on the verso along with a pencil notation in an unknown hand. Boldly signed by Clay.

In part:
"Thomas Ging complains of William Essex in Custody &c. that he render to the said Thomas the plaintiff the sum of thirty one pounds three shilling sterling money of Ireland, of the value of £41:10:8 current money of Kentucky, which to the said plaintiff he owes and from him unjustly detains. For this to wit that whereas the said defendant, on 5th day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety six, at Dublin in the Kingdom of Great Britain Ireland, to wit at the parish of Kentucky in the County aforesaid, by his certain promissory note sub- scribed with the proper hand and name of the defendant and to the Court now here shewn the date whereof is the same day & year aforesaid, promised to pay to the said plaintiff or bearer thirty one pounds three shilling sterling, for value received, seventy one days after the date of the said promissory note... Nevertheless the said deft altho' often re-quested the said sum of £31:3 of the value aforesaid, or any part thereof to the said plaintiff hath not paid but the same to him to pay hath hitherto refused and still doth refuse to the damage of the plaintiff..."

This document appears to have originated from around the time Henry Clay was first admitted to the Bar. Prior to his election to Congress in 1811, Clay had been a skilled attorney in Lexington, Kentucky, having moved there from Virginia in 1797. He worked in the Richmond emporium for one year and then accepted a clerkship at the Virginia Court of Chancery. Clay fell under the supervision of William & Mary professor George Wythe, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and judge on Virginia's High Court of Chancery. Wythe would go on to secure a position for Clay with the Virginia attorney general, Robert Brooke, with the understanding that Brooke would complete Clay's legal studies.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 7.5" x 12.5"
  • Medium: ALS

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