HENRY CLAY

PRESENTATION ITEMS

 

ca. 1840, 1929

 

 

 

 

Manuscript Collection Number 98 Folder 154

 

Accessioned:  Gift of Henry Clay Reed

 

Extent:  4 items ( .01 linear feet)

 

Content:  Two copies of engravings, a silk ribbon, and a letter

 

Access:  The collection is open for research.

 

Processed:  May 2005 by Colleen E. Lemke

 

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Table of Contents

• Introductory Note
  
• Contents List
  

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Introductory Note

            This collection contains presentation memorabilia related to Henry Clay, American Statesman, given to Henry Clay Reed, University of Delaware professor and historian, by Henry Clay Conrad, historian and State Archivist of Delaware.  Items include two copies of engravings of Henry Clay, a silk ribbon commemorating Clay, and a presentation letter (1929) from Conrad to Reed.  Reed had worked for Conrad at the Delaware State Archives.  In the letter, Henry Clay Conrad explains that he is sending two prints of Henry Clay engravings to Reed because both men are his namesakes; Reed later added the ribbon to the engravings and had all three pieces mounted for display.

            Henry Clay (1777 - 1852) was a U.S. senator and representative from Kentucky.  President John Quincy Adams appointed Clay secretary of state during his term, from 1825 to 1829.  Clay was also the unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Democratic Republican Party in 1824, of the National Republican Party in 1832, and of the Whig Party in 1844.

            Henry Clay Conrad, Esq., was born in Bridesburg, Pennsylvania, on 25 April 1852, to Aaron and Sarah Conrad.  He made a career in public service in Delaware.  From 1882 to 1885, he served as a member of the Wilmington City Council.  From 1897 to 1921, he also served the Delaware as city solicitor, Postmaster of Wilmington, Associate Judge of the Delaware Supreme Court, and founder of the Public Archives Commission.  It was during his tenure as State Archivist, from 1924 to 1930, that he met Henry Clay Reed.

            Henry Clay Reed, born in Tyrone, Pennsylvania in 1899, moved to Newark, Delaware, in 1924 to accept a position teaching at the University of Delaware.  He taught at the University of Delaware until his retirement in 1964, publishing many scholarly articles and two books on Delaware history.

 

            Related Collections:

MSS 499 Henry Clay Reed Papers

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Contents

Collection 98, Folder 154

 

 

            Engraving of Henry Clay as a young man.  Marked “Childs & Inman Liths.”

 

            Engraving of a bust of Henry Clay.  Inscription reads: “Engraved by W.H. Dougal, by permission for the Use of Congress, from a Bust by H.K. Brown of N.Y. in the possession of Cadwalader Ringgold, U.S.N. Daguerreotype by Whitchurst. Washington, D.C. 1852.”

 

            Campaign ribbon on ivory-colored silk, which reads: “Henry Clay / The people’s Choice/ The Pride of America. / Frelinghuysen. / Lower Merion / Delegation.”  n.d.

 

            Typed, signed letter from Henry Clay Conrad to Henry Clay Reed, dated May 13, 1929.