‘Bicentenary of Grand Master Henry Clay’

     
On this date 200 years ago, Bro. Henry Clay was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky. To make a point about “Famous Freemasons,” here comes a list of fun facts about The Great Compromiser.

(With apologies to David Letterman.)

From the home office in Lexington, Kentucky: Top Ten Fun Facts About MW Henry Clay!

Courtesy Holt’s

10. Henry Clay’s name is appropriated for a historic cigar brand, originally a Havana launched in the 1840s, then a venerable Dominican with Broadleaf wrapper, and today in a variety of sticks, including from Honduras. (Clay’s father farmed tobacco in Virginia.)

9. At a national Masonic conference in 1822, he introduced a resolution to establish a “General Grand Lodge” of the United States—which was adopted.

8. He was a hero to a young Abraham Lincoln—until Lincoln actually met him.

7. According to legend, he famously exclaimed he “would rather be right than President,” and he was right! He sought the nation’s highest office multiple times and in several parties, but did not win.

6. With occasional interruptions, he served in the U.S. Congress, in both houses, from 1805 to his death in 1852.

5. He was made a Mason in Lexington Lodge 1, where he served as Worshipful Master in 1820—the same year he became Grand Master.

4. In death, he was given a Masonic obsequy by his Grand Lodge, which considered him still a member despite his not having been active in the fraternity for several decades. Upon the coffin was laid an apron given to him by Lafayette.

3. In 1821, he became the first lawyer to file a Friend of the Court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. He also is said to have invented the “temporary insanity” plea.

2. The hate triangle among Clay, Andrew Jackson, and John Quincy Adams shaped presidential politics for much of the early 19th century. The 1824 election was decided by the House of Representatives; Clay was Speaker, but did not have enough support to win the White House, so he agreed to back Adams, who was selected. Adams, who would become an outspoken anti-Mason, then made Clay Secretary of State, which then was considered the obvious office for a future president. In 1832, the election was between Jackson (Past Grand Master of Tennessee) and Clay. Jackson crushed him.

And the Number 1 Fun Fact About MW Henry Clay:

1. During the “Morgan excitement,” he disavowed ever having had anything to do with Freemasonry!

From Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia.