Brutus J. Clay II

Brutus Junius Clay II (February 20, 1847 – June 2, 1932) was an American businessman, political figure and diplomat.

Brutus J. Clay II
United States Minister to Switzerland
In office
July 1, 1905 – March 1, 1910
PresidentTheodore Roosevelt
Preceded byDavid Jayne Hill
Succeeded byLaurits S. Swenson
Personal details
Born
Brutus Junius Clay II

(1847-02-20)February 20, 1847
Madison, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedJune 2, 1932(1932-06-02) (aged 85)
Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Pattie Amelia Field
Lalla Rookh Fish Marsteller
Alma materUniversity of Michigan

Biography

The son of Cassius M. Clay and Mary Jane Warfield Clay, Brutus Junius Clay II was born in Madison County, Kentucky, on February 20, 1847.[1] He received a civil engineering degree from the University of Michigan in 1868,[2] and worked as a wholesale and retail grocer. He lived at a Richmond, Kentucky home he called Linwood,[3] and was also the owner and operator of lumber mills, stone, kaolin and potters clay quarries, gas and oil wells, and other businesses. In addition, he owned farms in Illinois and Kentucky, and a Mississippi cotton plantation.[4]

Active in politics as a Republican, In 1897 he was offered appointment as Minister to Argentina by President William McKinley, but declined.[5] In 1900 he was a U.S. Commissioner at the Paris Exposition.[6] In 1904 he was a Delegate to the Republican National Convention.[7]

In 1905 he was appointed Minister to Switzerland, serving until 1910.[8][9][10][11]

Clay died in Richmond, Kentucky, on June 2, 1932.[12][13] He is buried in Richmond's Richmond Cemetery.[14]

Family

Brutus J. Clay II was married twice. On February 20, 1872 he married Pattie Amelia Field (1848-1891). On January 15, 1895 he married Lalla R. Fish Marsteller (1860-1942).[15]

He had no children with his second wife. With his first wife, Clay's surviving children included:

Belle Lyman Clay, b. November 4, 1872

Christopher Field Clay, b. December 19, 1874

Orville Martin Clay, b. May 7, 1879

Mary Warfield Clay, b. September 26, 1882

Charlotte Elizabeth Clay, b. May 31, 1889[16]

His other family relationships included: nephew of Brutus Junius Clay; grandson of Green Clay; grandnephew of Matthew Clay (1754-1815); second cousin once removed of Henry Clay; third cousin of James Brown Clay; third cousin once removed of Clement Comer Clay; and fourth cousin of Clement Claiborne Clay.

Other

In 1892 Clay donated a home in memory of his wife to be used in founding Richmond's first hospital. The Pattie A. Clay Infirmary, later the Pattie A. Clay Hospital, relocated several times and is now part of Baptist Health Richmond.[17]

Clay's home, now known as the Brutus and Pattie Field Clay House, is on the National Register of Historic Places.[18]

References
  1. Lashé D. Mullins, Charles K. Mullins, A History of White Hall: House of Clay, 2012, page 43
  2. University of Michigan, The Michigan University, Books 1844-1880, 1880, page 103
  3. Zachary F. Smith, Mary Rogers Clay, The Clay Family, Issue 14, 1899, pages 174-175
  4. H. L. Motter, editor, Who's Who in the World, 1912, 1911, page 285
  5. University of Michigan Alumni Association, The Michigan Alumnus, Volume 20, 1914, page 479
  6. American Chamber of Commerce in Paris, Yearbook, 1901, page 104
  7. Republican National Committee, Official Proceedings of the Thirteenth Republican National Convention, 1904, page 90
  8. New York Times, To Be Minister at Berne: Brutus J. Clay of Kentucky Appointed by the President, March 3, 1905
  9. Thomas William Herringshaw, American Statesman, 1907, page 157
  10. United States Department of State, Register of the Department of State, 1918, page 83
  11. Christian Science Monitor, Ex-Minister is on Way Home, March 15, 1910
  12. University of Michigan Alumni Association, The Michigan Alumnus, Volume 41, 1935, page 372
  13. New York Times, Brutus J. Clay Dead: A Former Diplomat; Appointed Envoy to Switzerland by Roosevelt, Honored Also by McKinley, June 2, 1932
  14. Junius Brutus Clay II at Find A Grave
  15. L. R. Hamersly & Company, Men and Women of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries, 1910, pages 354-355
  16. James T. White & Company, The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume XIV Supplement 1, 1910, pages 442-443
  17. Baptist Health Richmond, History of Baptist Health Richmond, 2013
  18. Go Historic.com, Brutus and Pattie Field Clay House, Richmond, retrieved October 1, 2013
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
David Jayne Hill		 U.S. Minister to Switzerland
1905–1910		 Succeeded by
Laurits S. Swenson
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