Matthew Clay (March 25, 1754May 27, 1815) was a Virginia lawyer, planter, Continental Army officer and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives and the Virginia House of Delegates representing Pittsylvania County.
Early life
Born to the former Martha Green and her husband, Charles Clay, who was the son of Henry Clay of Chesterfield County. His uncle (father's brother) was the grandfather of Henry Clay, who became famous after moving to Kentucky (i.e. Henry Clay was a first cousin). One historian believes Mathew Clay was born in the part of Cumberland County that in 1777 became Powhatan County, and notes that nothing is known about his schooling, other than that his brothers Charles Clay (1745-1820) and General Green Clay (1757-1828), who were born in that area were well educated. Other siblings included Rev. Eleazer Clay and Thomas, Henry and Martha Clay. His father had also patented much land in what became eastern Pittsylvania County, which Matthew Clay would ultimately inherit from a sibling (but at the time of Mathew's birth was in Halifax County).
Military service
During the American Revolutionary War Clay joined the Ninth Virginia Regiment on October 1, 1776, as an ensign and probably fought in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania campaigns (but was on detached duty so not present at the disastrous Battle of Germantown). After Clay was promoted to second lieutenant in May 1778, his depleted regiment became part of the First Virginia Regiment, and by year's end he was its quartermaster. However, Clay was not with the regiment when it was sent south, then captured when Charlestown surrendered in 1780. In February 1781 Clay was reassigned to the Fifth Virginia Regiment, but the unit existed only on paper and was ultimately dissolved. He was mustered out January 1783, entitled to more than 2,660 acres of western bounty land.
Personal life
On December 4, 1788, Mathew Clay married Mary Williams of Pittsylvania County, who died on March 25, 1798, after giving birth to two sons and two daughters. Her gravestone names her father and husband, as well as a daughter Sally and a son Joseph, whereas Clay's will named his children as Joseph, Martha and Amanda Anne. Matthew's daughter Mary was a victim of the Richmond Theatre fire of 1811. Clay remarried, to Ann Saunders of Buckingham County, who bore one daughter before dying on July 10, 1806. As indicated by his will discussed below, Clay may also have had children out of wedlock, and directed his sons who were his executors to provide for three girls and one boy when they reached legal age for their gender.
Career
Immediately after the Revolutionary War, Clay worked in Richmond, as a clerk for the state solicitor general. His brothers Charles Clay and Green Clay both won election to and served in the Ratification Convention of 1788, where they opposed ratification of the federal constitution unless a Bill of Rights was added. Then Mathew Clay moved to Pittsylvania County to farm a land he inherited from a brother. Clay would both farm and practice law there for the rest of his life. His home was near Chestnut Level.