Correction: Henry Clay and the Great State of Kentucky

Abstract

To the Editor. —I am writing to correct a statement made by Dr Martensen 1 in his otherwise excellent appreciation of Oliver Wendell Holmes, in which he refers to Carolina Senator Henry Clay's Fugitive Slave Act. Henry Clay, the Great Compromiser, although born in Virginia, spent his entire and very productive political career representing the state of Kentucky in both houses of Congress, first as one of the longest-serving speakers of the house, and then twice serving in the Senate, being brought out of retirement in 1849 by the threat of a country divided over the hot question of slavery. He was forced to retire because of health again in 1852, dying a few months thereafter. John Calhoun was the noted South Carolina senator, who although an ally of Clay in the early days, rather bitterly parted company with Clay because of the latter's attempts to gain a settlement