From: WRFC71A@prodigy.com (MRS BEULAH A FRANKS) Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 23:04:37, -0500 Subject: KY-F: Lexington Landmark/Fayette Co TUESDAY SALE AFFECTS LEXINGTON LANDMARK When the auctioneer calls for the opening bid of the late Miss Laura Clay's home at the corner of Second and Mill streets Tuesday, one of Lexington's oldest, most historic landmarks will be offered for sale. The two-story, brick residence, an adjoining structure and two vacant lots at the rear will be sold to settle Miss Clay's estate. The older house was built 147 years ago and many of Kentucky's most noted persons have lived there. It was the home of Col. Thomas Hart, a member of the famous Henderson Company, which was one of the first groups to colonize Kentucky; of John Bradford, early settler of Lexington and founder of the Kentucky Gazette, first newspaper west of Pittsburgh; of Gen. John Hunt Morgan, organizer of the Lexington Rifles and one of the most daring leaders of all American wars and of Miss Laura Clay, daughter of the noted Cassius M. Clay and nationally-known champion of woman's suffrage. There Henry Clay, eloquent orator and renowned statesman, married Lucretia Hart, daughter of Colonel Hart. There General Morgan wed Rebecca Gratz Bruce, a member of another of Kentucky's prominent families. The old house, an early American type, was constructed in 1794, when Colonel Hart came to Kentucky to assume control of a large tract of land in Lexington. Five years later Henry Clay married the colonel's daughter, Lucretia, and 18-year-old girl of "great dignity" who "attracted attention and inspired respect." The wedding ceremony was performed under the archway in the house. Thomas Hart Jr., acquired the property on Feb. 10, 1802, for 1,200 pounds. It remained in his possession until March 20, 1806, when John Bradford, the first printer of the west, who had established a newspaper in Lexington in 1787, bought it for $5,000. A plaque on the Second-street side of the house reads: This House Was the Home of John Bradford 1749-1830 A Pioneer Settler of Lexington First Printer of Kentucky Co-Founder of The Kentucky Gazette A Prominent, Public-Spirited and Useful Citizen. The tablet was erected in Bradford's honor by the John Bradford Club of Lexington on April 19, 1926. On Dec. 28, 1833, three years after Bradford's death, the house passed into possession of John Bruce for $4,400. Evidently the Bruce family had moved into the residence immediately after Bradford died, for in June, 1830, Rebecca Gratz Bruce, who was to become Mrs. John Hunt Morgan was born there. The Bruce baby was named for Rebecca Gratz, who was the inspiration for Sir Walter Scott's Rebecca of "Ivanhoe." Scott has never seen Rebecca Gratz but she was described vividly to him by Washington Irving. The Bruce's and Gratzes were close friends and business partners. On Nov. 21, 1848, the dashing John Hunt Morgan, who reportedly could have had his choice of the belles of that period, was wed to the the beautiful Rebecca Gratz Bruce in the same house in which Henry Clay had taken marriage vows 51 years earlier. The Morgans lived in the house for some time, the period of which is not known. Referring to Morgan, Ranck's "History of Lexington" states that "just before the late war (War Between the States), he lived on the corner opposite his old home, in the house now occupied by Mrs. Ryland." His old home still stands opposite the Laura Clay estate. Mrs. Ann E. Ryland, a sister-in-law of Cassius M. Clay, became the fifth owner of the house on June 2, 1869. She bought if for $10,000, the largest price ever paid for the property. "Cash" Clay, in his autobiography, "The Life of Cassius Marcellus Clay, Memoirs, Writings, and Speeches," wrote that it was to Mrs. Ryland's home that his wife, Mary Warfield Clay, moved when a breach arose between the two. Evidently the late owner of the residence, Miss Laura Clay, moved from White Hall to Lexington with her mother. The older citizens of Lexington recall it was during Mr. Ryland's ownership in the 1880's that an addition was built to the old house. This section, a three-story, three-apartment brick, will be separately sold at Tuesday's auction. A solid partition separates the two structures. The property passed from Mrs. Ryland to Miss Clay and her sister, Mrs. Anne W. Crenshaw of Richmond, Va. Miss Clay acquired her sister's half interest for $3,500 on March 31, 1899. Ever since the latter part of the 19th century, Miss Clay, who died June 29 at the age of 92, had lived there. More than half of her life was passed in the old residence. The 147-year-old house and its addition has been modernized with a furnace, gas and electricity. The two-story structure contain seven rooms, four baths and a basement. Each apartment in the addition consists of five rooms with a bathroom. A spacious lawn behind the two houses, bordered by a brick wall which also was built in the late 18th century, will be sold in two lots. Each is 50 by 101 feet. >From the scrapbook of Annie Page Wiley The Lexington Leader, Lexington, Ky., September 8, 1941 ------------------------------ USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genelaogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities as long as this message remains on all copied material. 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