Editing Henry Clay (section)

==Marriage and family==
{{See also|Clay family}}
On April 11, 1799, Clay married Lucretia Hart (1781–1864) at the Hart home in [[Lexington, Kentucky]]. Her father, Colonel Thomas Hart, was an early settler of Kentucky and a prominent businessman.{{sfn|Eaton|1957|p=12}} Hart proved to be an important business connection for Clay, as he helped Clay gain new clients and grow in professional stature.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=41–42}} Hart was the namesake and grand-uncle of Missouri Senator [[Thomas Hart Benton (politician)|Thomas Hart Benton]] and was also related to [[James Brown (Louisiana politician)|James Brown]], a prominent Louisiana politician, and [[Isaac Shelby]], the first [[governor of Kentucky]].{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=12–13}} Henry and Lucretia would remain married until his death in 1852; she lived until 1864, dying at the age of 83. Both are buried at [[Lexington Cemetery]].<ref>[https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/lexington/lce.htm Lexington Cemetery and Henry Clay Monument], [[National Park Service]]</ref>

[[File:Henry Clay and wife (cropped).tif|thumb|left|Henry Clay and Lucretia ({{nee|Hart}})]]
Clay and Lucretia had eleven children (six daughters and five sons):<ref name="Gatton"/> Henrietta (born in 1800), Theodore (1802), Thomas (1803), Susan (1805), Anne (1807), Lucretia (1809), [[Henry Clay Jr.|Henry Jr.]] (1811), Eliza (1813), Laura (1815), [[James Brown Clay|James]] (1817), and [[John Morrison Clay|John]] (1821). By 1835, all six daughters had died of varying causes, two when very young, two as children, and the last two as young mothers. Henry Jr. was killed while commanding a regiment at the [[Battle of Buena Vista]] during the [[Mexican–American War]]. Clay's oldest son, Theodore Wythe Clay, spent the second half of his life confined to a [[psychiatric hospital]]. When a young child, Theodore was injured by a blow to his head that fractured his skull. As he grew older his condition devolved into insanity, and from 1831 until his death in 1870 he was confined to [[Eastern State Hospital (Kentucky)|an asylum in Lexington]].<ref name="Gatton">{{cite journal |last1=Gatton |first1=John Spalding |title="Mr. Clay & I got stung": Harriet Martineau in Lexington |journal=The Kentucky Review |date=Fall 1979 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=55–56 |url=https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1344&context=kentucky-review |access-date=May 16, 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|p=402}} Thomas (who had served some jail time in Philadelphia in 1829–1830)<ref name="Gatton"/> became a successful farmer, James established a legal practice (and later served in Congress), and John (who in his mid-20s was also confined to the asylum for a short time) became a successful horse breeder.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=285–286}}

Clay was greatly interested in gambling, although he favored numerous restrictions and legal limitations on it. Famously, he once won $40,000 (approximately $970,000 as of 2020).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Webster |first1=Ian |title=$40,000 in 1802–2020 |url=https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1802?amount=40000 |website=in2013dollars.com}}</ref> Clay asked for $500 (approximately $12,000 today) and waived the remainder of the debt. Shortly afterward, Clay fell into a debt of $60,000 (approximately $1.5&nbsp;million today<ref>{{cite web |last1=Webster |first1=Ian |title=$60,000 in 1802–2020 |url=https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1802?amount=60000 |website=in2013dollars.com}}</ref>) while gambling with the same man, who then asked for the $500 back and waived the rest of the debt.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heidler |first1=David S. & Jeanne T. |title=Henry Clay: the Essential American |publisher=Random House |page=45}}</ref>
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?326946-1/henry-clays-estate Guided tour of Ashland, The Henry Clay Estate, June 22, 2015], [[C-SPAN]]}}
They initially lived in Lexington, but in 1804 they began building a [[plantation complexes in the Southern United States|plantation]] outside of Lexington known as [[Ashland (Henry Clay estate)|Ashland]]. The Ashland estate eventually encompassed over {{convert|500|acre}}, with numerous outbuildings such as a smokehouse, a greenhouse, and several barns. There were 122 enslaved people at the estate during Clay's lifetime, with about 50 people needed for farming and the household.<ref name=":1" /> He planted crops such as corn, wheat, and rye, as well as [[hemp]], the chief crop of the [[Bluegrass region]].{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=275–277}} Clay also took a strong interest in [[thoroughbred racing]] and imported livestock such as [[Arabian horse]]s, [[Maltese donkey]]s, and [[Hereford cattle]].{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=277–278}} Though Clay suffered some financial issues during economic downturns, he never fell deeply into debt and ultimately left his children a large inheritance.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=279–280}} After the deaths of Anne and Susan, Clay and Lucretia raised several grandchildren at Ashland.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|p=288}}