ANTONY A

Biographical Information - Wilcox / Jones Township

ANTONY A. CLAY,

Rasselas P.O., Penn., was born in Vienna, Austria, February 17, 1839, when his father, the late Hon. John Randolph Clay, was United States secretary of legation to that country. He was educated in the city of Philadelphia, and in 1861 entered the three-months service of his country as quartermaster, with the rank of captain, on the staff of Gen. Pleasanton, of Philadelphia. September 1, 1861, he entered in Company K, Fifty- eighth P.V.I., as first lieutenant under Col. J. Richter Jones, and was afterward promoted to adjutant and captain.

He served during the entire service with the regiment, and on staff duty, acting as assistant adjutant- general and provost- marshal for the subdistrict of Central Virginia until mustered out, in 1865. He has resided in Elk county since 1866, and has had charge of large tracts of land in this and adjoining counties, and has also been engaged in lumbering and farming. In 1886 he was the Democratic candidate for the State legislature, and was elected by 1,142 majority, the largest majority ever given to any candidate for assembly in the county. He was again elected in 1888, by 746 majority, and was one of a commission of three senators and four members of the house appointed to investigate the charitable and correctional institutions of the State.

He married, in 1864, Miss Sybella S., daughter of John Seckel; of Philadelphia, Penn., and they have four daughters, viz.: Estella A., Syhella G., Ethel B. and Margaret. Capt. Clay is a member of Wilcox Lodge, No. 571, F. & A.M., and of the Military Order of Loyal Legion of the United States, also of Lucore Post, G.A.R., of St. Mary's. His father, Hon. John Randolph Clay, was born in Philadelphia, Penn., and was educated at the University of Virginia, after which he studied law with Hon. John Randolph, of Roanoke, Va., for whom he was named, and was admitted to the bar of Virginia. He accompanied John Randolph to Russia, when he was appointed United States minister, and was secretary of legation, and was afterward appointed secretary of "Legation and Charge d'Affairs" at Vienna, Austria, and later minister to Peru, where he served eighteen years. He served altogether in the diplomatic service of the United States for thirty consecutive years. He married an English lady, Miss Frances Gibbs, daughter of Dr. John Gibbs, of Exeter, England. Mrs. Clay died in Vienna in 1840, and Hon. John Randolph Clay died in London, England, in 1885.

The present home of Capt. A.A. Clay was first occupied by the father of Col. A.I. Wilcox, and later by Gen. Kane, until Capt. Clay purchased it, in 1866. His family are members of the Episcopal Church.

Captain Clay shown to the left at his "Upland" Estate in Rasselas

Picture Courtesy of Ray Allegretto

Source: Page(s) 745-759, History of Counties of McKean, Elk and Forest, Pennsylvania. Chicago, J.H. Beers & Co., 1890.
Transcribed February 2007 by Nathan Zipfel for the Elk County Genealogy Project
Published 2007 by the Elk County Pennsylvania Genealogy Project