Description:

Henry Clay Laments the Death of His Son in the Mexican-American War

1p of a bifolium, measuring 7.757" x 9.875", Ashland, dated September 28, 1847. Signed at the conclusion "H. Clay". The letter is addressed to Nicholas Dean Esq. and Clay thanks him for sending him the poetic verses written about the death of his son. Reads in part:

"I received, with great pleasure, your friendly letter under the date the 12th Ulto. and the first instant, transmitting the beautiful and pathetic verses of Miss Frances Jane Crosby, on the melancholy subject of the death of my lamented son. I thank you for them. Considering the most unhappy privation under which she labors, they are a very remarkable production. I request you to present to her my grateful acknowledgments for them, and my fervent prayers that she may live long and enjoy every blessing…I was most anxious for a greater opportunity of individual intercourse with you than I found it possible to enjoy amidst the shining scenes of that animated place. It is one of my misfortunes, in respect to such an intercourse, that I am wholly cut off from it by the crowds which press around me, wherever I go. But I cannot avoid feeling gratitude for the sentiments towards me which prompt these manifestations, however inconvenient they some times are." Flattened mail folds with separations starting at the center horizontal fold. Light foxing throughout. Boldly signed. 

Henry Clay, Jr. (1811-1847) was an American politician the third son Henry Clay and Lucretia Hart Clay. He was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1835 and served one term. A graduate of West Point, he served in the Mexican— American War, having raised his own regiment, the 2nd Kentucky Volunteers. He was commissioned a lieutenant colonel and fought in support of Zachary Taylor's forces. At the Battle of Buena Vista on February 23, 1847, Clay Jr. was killed while leading a charge of his regiment.

Frances Jane Crosby, better known as Franny Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns and gospel songs, with more than 100 million copies printed. Crosby believed that treatment she received for an illness at two months of age left her blind for life, the privation to which Clay refers in this letter, but modern scholars believe it is more likely that she was congenitally blind. It should be noted that Clay's use of the word "pathetic" has a different meaning to what today would be interpreted. As early as the 1590s, it meant "affecting the emotions or affections, moving, stirring," a meaning that is now obsolete in this broad sense. The specific meaning "arousing pity, sorrow, or grief" or other tender feelings is from 1737. The colloquial sense of "so miserable as to be ridiculous" did not appear until around 1937.

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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