Early partly-printed DS, signed “H. Clay,” one page, 7.75 x 12.75, May 1800. Court document from Woodford County, Kentucky, which has been filled out entirely in the hand of Henry Clay, then only 23 years of age and at the very nascency of his legal career. The document reads, in part: “Uriah Collins assignee of Joseph Crockett complains of William Walker in custody, &c. of a plea that he render to the plaintiff the sum of Twelve pounds which to the said plaintiff he owes and from him unjustly detains.” Signed neatly at the conclusion by Clay. In very good to fine condition, with scattered light foxing and toning. An impressively early document from the emerging legislator and soon-to-be statesman. After apprenticing himself to Kentucky attorneys such as George Nicholas, John Breckenridge, and James Brown, Clay established his own law practice, frequently working on debt collections and land disputes. Clay soon established a reputation for strong legal ability and courtroom oratory.
A first cousin of the famed Davy Crockett's father, Colonel Joseph Crockett (1742–1829), a native of Virginia, served on the frontier before and during the American Revolution. In 1776 he enlisted in a company of minutemen of the Continental Army, was later a lieutenant colonel of the Illinois regiment, and continued in military service until February 1781. An acquaintance of Thomas Jefferson, Crockett surveyed most of the land around Monticello. In May 1782, Crockett wed Elizabeth Moore Woodson, the widow of Jefferson’s relative Tucker Woodson. They moved to Kentucky in 1784, where they established a farm on 1,900 acres on Hickman Creek in Jessamine County. Crockett was a representative to the Virginia Assembly in 1786 and 1790 and served in the newly formed Kentucky House until 1795. From 1800 to 1804, he was a member of the Kentucky Senate.
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