Lt. Col. Henry Clay, Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Clay_Jr

Henry Clay, Jr. (April 10, 1811 – February 23, 1847) was an American soldier and statesman from Kentucky. He was the second son of Senator and Congressman Henry Clay and Lucretia Hart, brother of James Brown Clay and John Morrison Clay, and was born on his family's estate of Ashland, in Lexington.

After graduating from Transylvania University in 1828, he gained an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy and graduated from West Point in 1831. Returning to Kentucky, he read law and was admitted to the bar in 1833. Clay followed in his father's footsteps as a member of the Kentucky State House of Representatives from 1835 to 1837.

In 1832, Henry Clay, Jr. married Julia Prather (1814-1840) with whom he had five children.

When the Mexican-American War neared, Clay raised a regiment, the 2nd Kentucky Volunteers. Colonel Clay led his regiment in support of Zachary Taylor's invasion force in 1846. He was killed in action, while leading a charge of his regiment in the Battle of Buena Vista on February 23, 1847. His body was brought home and interred in Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Clay County, Iowa is named in his honor.

Daughter Anne Brown Clay (1837-1917) married Major Henry Clay McDowell (1832-1899). In 1883, they purchased her grandfather's Ashland estate. Their son, Thomas Clay McDowell was a major participant in Thoroughbred horse racing as a breeder, owner, and horse trainer who won the 1902 Kentucky Derby with Alan-a-Dale.