Robert Smith Todd-- Part 4: After the War

He was the father of Mary Todd Lincoln.

After the War of 1812, Robert ran a dry goods store with a partner.  Doing this, he made trips to New Orleans to buy French brandies, Dutch gin and green coffee, which they sold in Lexington.  He used these while entertaining friends at his home and he became acquainted with many prominent persons.

Later, he became a partner in a cotton manufacturing company near the Ohio River and by 1835 was serving as the president of  the Lexington branch of the Bank of Kentucky.  In 1827, he was appointed trustee of Transylvania University, alongside with Henry Clay and Charles A. Wickliffe.

Robert Todd was a close friend of John J. Crittenden and served as a justice of the peace and sheriff.  He spent  over twenty years as a clerk of the Kentucky House of Representatives in Frankfort and also served terms a a Kentucky representative and senator.

A Very Prominent and Successful Man.  --Brock-Perry

Robert Smith Todd (Mary Lincoln's Father)-- Part 2: Militia and War of 1812

After graduating from Transylvania College, he began studying law, first by apprenticing himself in the office of clerk of Fayette County and then with noted jurist George Bibb, chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals (and later U.SD. senator and Secretary of the Treasury in the 1840s.

He was admitted to the bar in  on September 11, 1811, however, he never practiced law and chose instead to go into business.

Even before the War of 1812 began, Robert Todd  was active in a company of the Kentucky militia that eventually  merged into the Lexington Light Artillery of the 5th Kentucky Regiment.  During the winter of 1811-1812, he asked for a commission as an officer from Senator Henry Clay.

--Brock-Perry

Green Clay's Family: Henry Clay Was a Cousin

From Wikipedia.

Without a doubt, the most famous relative of Green Clay was a cousin by the name of Henry Clay.

April 12, 1777 to June 29, 1852

American lawyer, planter and statesman.  Represented Kentucky in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.  Created the Whig Party.

As Speaker of the House in Washington, D.C., Henry Clay was a leading War Hawk and helped lead Congress into the declaration of war against Britain in 1812.

In 1814, he helped  negotiate the Treaty of Ghent.

He was very powerful throughout the first half of the 19th century and had a lot to do with any and all U.S. government decisions, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850.

--Brock-Perry

Green Clay of Kentucky: First-Born Daughter, Husband and Grandchild

From Find-A-Grave.

Green Clay's first-born was ELIZABETH LEWIS CLAY SMITH  who married John Speed Smith, another important person in Kentucky history. (1798-1887)

JOHN SPEED SMITH:--  U.S. Congressman, lawyer.  (1792-1854) During the War of 1812 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and became a colonel.  Served as aide-de-camp for General William Henry Harrison, later U.S. president.

During the rest of his career he, at various times was  a Kentucky State House of Representatives member, Kentucky senate and U.S. Congress.  Also U.S. District Attorney for Kentucky.

GREEN CLAY SMITH--  Son of Elizabeth and John Speed Smith.  (1826-1895)  Union brigadier general and U.S. Congressman from Kentucky.  Lieutenant in Mexican War.

In Civil War, colonel of 4th Kentucky Cavalry.  Promoted to brigadier general July 1862.  Resigned March 1863 and elected to U.S. Congress.  Later served as governor of Montana Territory.

--Brock-Perry

Brig. Gen. Green Clay of Kentucky-- Part 1: American Revolution and War of 1812

His name was mentioned in connection with Fort Meigs in Ohio at the 1873 Reunion.

From Wikipedia.

August 14, 1757 to October 31, 1828.

Was an American businessman, planter and politician from Kentucky.  He served in the American Revolution and was commissioned a general in the Kentucky militia in the War of 1812.  At one time he was believed to be the wealthiest man in the state, owning tens of thousands of acres of land, many slaves, several distilleries, a tavern and ferries.

He was born in Virginia and served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.  Afterwards he joined the westward migration into Kentucky where he became a surveyor.  He used this to acquire land.

He was a cousin of U.S. Congressman  and statesman Henry Clay and  Alabama governor Clement Comer Clay.

--Brock-Perry

Richard M. Johnson-- Part 2: Killed Tecumseh

Richard M. Johnson was the only vice president ever elected by the U.S. Senate under Amendment 12.  He was also U.S. Representative and Senator from Kentucky.  His political career began and ended in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, he allied with fellow Kentuckian Henry Clay as a member of the War hawks, those who supported having a war with Great Britain.

Commissioned as a colonel in the Kentucky Militia, he commanded a regiment of mounted volunteers from 1812-1813.  He and his brother James served with General William Henry Harrison in the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada and some reports had him killing the famed Shawnee Chief Tecumseh at this battle which he later used to his political advantage.

--Brock-Perry

Nathaniel G.S. Hart-- Part 2: Killed at River Raisin Massacre

Mathaniel Hart attended Princeton and studied law under Henry Clay.  His wife was the sister of Henry Clay's wife.

The Lexington Light Infantry" was called "The Silk Stocking Boys" and were part of the 5th regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia.  The unit left for the Northwest in August 1812 and became a part of the Army of the Northwest under General James Winchester.

In January 1813, they were sent to Frenchtown , Michigan Territory, as part of the American attempt to recapture Detroit from the British.  At the First Battle of Frenchtown on January 18, 1813, the Americans drove the small British force away.  On January 22, the British counter-attacked and the result was an American defeat with 397 killed.

Nathaniel Hart was wounded and one of the 547 Americans who surrendered.  he was shot and scalped by Indians the following day.

Battle of New Orleans' Ephraim Brank-- Part 2: War Hawks

Even though the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war, had been signed near the end of 1814, the war wasn't officially over until the United States Senate ratified it and it was signed by President Madison.  Because of the slowness of travel, that didn't happen until February 16, when the Senate ratified it.  President Madison signed it the next day.

The war ended, essentially, in a tie.  Both sides were where they were at the beginning.

But, it was over.

Kentucky's Henry Clay was a leader of Congress's War Hawks, meaning those pushing for a war with Britain.  They were especially strong on the western states where the British stood in the way of expansion plans with their backing of the Indian resistance.

--Brock-Perry

Marking the End of the War of 1812-- Part 2: Treaty Signers

The Treaty of Ghent was signed by both British and American officials on December 24, 1814.

Those signing it for the British were:

Anthony St. John Baker, secretary of the British delegation
William Adams, Admiralty lawyer
Henry Goulbourn, member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary of War and the Colonies.
Admiral Lord Gambier, Royal Navy and governor of Newfoundland.

Signing for the Americans:

John Quincy Adams, minister to Russia
Albert Gallatin, Secretary of Treasury
Christopher Hughes, Secretary of the U.S. Commission
James Bayard, lawyer and U.S. senator
Johnathan Russell, U.S. Representative in England
Henry Clay, Speaker of the House of Representatives and leader of the War Hawks.

--Brock-Perry

Home of Kentucky's William Brown to be Torn Down

From the Nov. 17, 2014, State Journal, Frankfort, Kentucky "200 Year Old Home of Congressman and War of 1812 veteran to be demolished."

The Harrison County Fiscal Court voted to demolish the home of U.S. Congressman and War of 1812 veteran Colonel William Brown.  It sits in the middle of Flat Run Veterans Park and they want a swimming pool on the site.

The home looks rough on the outside but structurally sound.

During the War of 1812, he commanded a Kentucky regiment and worked closely with Henry Clay on the Missouri Compromise..  he and his family had connections to the Todd/Lincoln families as well.

I would hate to see it torn down, especially for a pool.

--Brock-Perry

Treaty of Peace and Amity Between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America

This is the official name of the Treaty of Ghent.

  It had 11 articles and written by Henry Clay.

The three British commissioners who signed and affixed their seal were Sir James Gambier, Henry Goulburn and William Adams.

The American commissioners were John Quincy Adams, J.A. Bayard, Henry Clay and Albert Gallatin.

--Brock-Perry

U.S. Navy "Subscription" Ships-- Part 3: USS John Adams

Yet another "Subscription" ship that saw service in the War of 1812 (and even the Mexican and Civil War), was the 30-gun frigate USS John Adams, built by the people of Charleston, South Carolina, and commissioned in 1799. Before the War of 1812, it served in the Quasi War and First Barbary War.

It was converted to a corvette or sloop of war before the War of 1812. At the outbreak of the war, the ship was in Boston undergoing repairs and moved to New York for completion which didn't happen until 1814.

It carried U.S. peace commissioners Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell to Europe under a flag of truce where it arrived in Norway. Returning, it carried dispatches concerning the Treaty of Ghent which ended the war.

After the War of 1812, the John Adams participated in the Second Barbary War, Mexican War and even the Civil War. (I'll write about its service in the last war in my Civil War Navy Blog.)

 Wikipedia says not to get the USS John Adams confused with the USS Adams.

--Brock-Perry