Henry Clay Payne

Henry Clay Payne (November 23, 1843 – October 4, 1904) was U.S. Postmaster General from 1902 to 1904 under Pres. Theodore Roosevelt. He died in office and was buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was also a chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Biography

Payne was born in Ashfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts, on November 23, 1843, though his birth is sometimes listed incorrectly as September 23. He spent his youth in Massachusetts, and attempted to enlist for the Union Army, but he was rejected from service due to poor health. In 1859, he was graduated from the Academy of Shelburne Falls. In 1863, he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he found work as a dry goods merchant.

In 1872 he began his political career with the Young Men's Republican Club of Milwaukee County. He worked his way up to become secretary and then chairman for the organization. In 1876, Payne was appointed Postmaster of Milwaukee, a position he held for the next ten years. He transferred his organizational skills to his next position as president of Wisconsin Telephone Company in 1885, and successively served as director for the First National Bank of Milwaukee and president of the Milwaukee and Northern Railroad, The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company and the Milwaukee and Cream City Traction Company. In his duties as president of Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light, Payne instituted free park concerts at many of Milwaukee's parks, including Lake Park. In 1893 he was elected president of the American Street Railway Association in recognition for his service to the street railways of Milwaukee, and later in August 1893, he was appointed receiver for the bankrupt Northern Pacific Railway.

Henry Clay

Henry Clay, Sr. (April 12, 1777 – June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer, politician, and skilled orator who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives. He served three non-consecutive terms as Speaker of the House of Representatives and was also Secretary of State from 1825 to 1829. Clay ran for the presidency several times, but lost each election.

Clay was a very dominant figure in both the First and Second Party systems. As a leading war hawk in 1812, he favored war with Britain and played a significant role in leading the nation to war in the War of 1812. In 1824 he ran for president and lost, but maneuvered House voting in favor of John Quincy Adams, who made him Secretary of State. Opposing candidate Andrew Jackson denounced the actions of Clay and Adams as part of a "corrupt bargain." Clay ran for president again, and lost the general election in 1832, as the candidate of the National Republican Party, and in 1844 as the candidate of the Whig Party. He was a strong proponent of the American System, fighting for an increase in tariffs to foster industry in the United States, the use of federal funding to build and maintain infrastructure, and a strong national bank. He opposed the annexation of Texas and "Manifest Destiny" policy of Democrats, fearing it would inject the slavery issue into politics. This cost him votes in the close presidential election of 1844. Clay later opposed the Mexican-American War.

Henry Robinson Clay

Captain Henry Robinson Clay, Jr. was a World War I flying ace credited with eight confirmed aerial victories.

Though born in Plattsburg, Missouri on 27 November 1895, Clay later lived in Fort Worth, Texas.

He was one of the first contingent of American fliers shipped to England to gain seasoning with the Royal Flying Corps. While assigned to 43 Squadron, he claimed a win, but it went unverified. He then transferred to the 148th Aero Squadron. He scored eight times between 16 August and 27 September 1918; on the latter date, he shared in the destruction of a Halberstadt reconnaissance plane with Elliott White Springs. In total, Clay destroyed five Fokker D.VIIs, considered the best fighters in the war, and drove another down out of control; he shared in the destruction of two German reconnaissance planes. Clay was promoted to command of 41st Aero Squadron, but the war ended before it could see action.

He died during the great influenza epidemic, on 17 February 1919.

Honors and awards

Henry Clay (cigar)

Henry Clay is a brand of cigars named after early American politician Henry Clay (1777-1852). The cigars are currently manufactured in the Dominican Republic.

History

The Henry Clay brand was first created in the 1840s by the Cuban tobacco magnate, Spanish emigrant Julian Alvarez. The name was proposed by Alvarez when he was in the service of an employer and he maintained it once he was in business for himself.

The Cuban business interest of Alvarez eventually was transferred to a British company named Henry Clay and Bock & Co. Ltd. which was founded in 1888. Henry Clay and Bock & Co. Ltd. would become a component of the Tobacco Trust that, along with other trusts, was an object of the anti-trust legislation of the United States.

The brand is currently in the possession of the Spanish company Altadis, a division of Imperial Tobacco.

In popular culture