Legal document written by Henry Clay

DOCUMENT WRITTEN BY HENRY CLAY
SIGNED BY ROBERT TODD

Early 1-page legal document written by Henry Clay, signed by Robert Todd (father of Mary Todd Lincoln), John Monroe and Henry Payne.

The document is written totally in Henry Clay's hand, but is not signed by him. N.D. (ca. 1840s).

The document reads in part: "McCurdee vs Harrisons. In the case in support of the plea of justification the defendant offered the following warrants, acknowledgements of service . . . The plaintiff objected to the readings of the said papers ad proved that they were all in the handwriting of Hezekeah Harrison. . ."

Henry Clay, American (truncated) lawyer and statesman responsible for the Missouri Compromise, was Secretary of State and Whig candidate for president. Robert Todd, father of Mary Todd Lincoln, and thus Lincoln's father-in-law, was a state senator and a very successful merchant. Both he and Clay lived in Lexington, Kentucky. They were obviously acquaintances, and may have shared the same political views. Even though her father owned slaves, it is known that Mary Todd found the whole institution abhorrent. Her father was quite insistent that Mary have a first-rate education, and sent her to private schools.

This document is a Rosetta Stone into the kind of social and political milieu in which Mary Todd Lincoln came of age. It further sheds light on the kind of connections that Mary Todd and her family had to help Abraham Lincoln with his political career. Fine. (Inventory #: 7422)