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Show r mnWm wXMM. Tbe Old WatKlns inn at Versailles, Ky.jnfl Its Hlstoii Nothing Is more Interesting to the Indent of hlilory thsu to trare h0 iibsruie causes which have led to gret events Comparatively few people " now living who know that the mother of Henry Ola) once "kept tavern" In Versalllei. y . nnd fewer still have, ever had It occur to them that, htd this not been the case. Clay wUuld most probably not have como to Kentucky t all Tho Watklns family nrrlted In Versailles! Ver-sailles! about tin close of the eighteenth century, bringing with them quite a rctlnuo of slaves I may so) right here that there It Utile foundation for the popular Idea that llenr) Cln)'a boy hood wat tpent In the atmosphere ot poterty, obscurity and absolute want Tho mother ot 'Mill Hoy ot tho Blathca," Kllzabeth Hudson, wat a member of n wealthy Virginia fanllr. and in wedding tho Ite. John Clay (after whose death she married Henry Watklns), the married into a family of equal promlnenco with her own The C!a)s and lludsons probably lived In tho rather gorgeous tt)lo ot the Virginia Vir-ginia gentry, and If tho llev. John Clay wat poor. It waa no doubt duo to the devastation wrought by the revolutionary revolu-tionary wnr. It la extremely unlikely that hla poverty could have been ao great as the atory booka would have us believe. Henry Clay did not accompany hit mother and itepfathcr lo Kentucky b"t ttmalned In Itlchmond. Vn . as deputy In the tlerk s omoe. and engaged engag-ed In prosecuting hla legal studies 1 he Walklntea short!) took charge of the only hostel,, ln Versatile, and ' Watklni' Tarein become famous In the surrounding muntr) 1he)hnda two nory stone house built nt the cornel cor-nel of Main itreei and Court square b) Henry Metraltr al ihst time a stone-inaton stone-inaton and afterward governor of Ken-luckv Ken-luckv Such pines were a sort of no-litbal no-litbal headquarters and a render wins for the discission of the news of tho day nt n time when news traveled onl) by ''age coarh The Marshall!, the I iPtl'il'iPlllPl H' wf ESS! I "rftwiifflimiyAgj&y Till: WATKINS TAVERN AT VCUBA ll.l.KH "i Crlttrndcni.ths lllarkburnt the Clays, tho Watklniti ind other prominent men, no doubt, planned campaigns at "Watklns' Titern, ' and hero tlen Lafn)ettv n entertained In 1S20 Mrs. Clay-Wilklnt wat very attractive. attrac-tive. While not a beauty, the wat comely, with ihik hair and eyet and rosy cheeks, iler manners wero very engaging, and lbs wat a most entertaining enter-taining conrrrutlonallst Hho had a well-rounded tna shapely figure, and I posieited reaf-rtWr of mind and 1 bod) If" rtnt husband, llev. John Clay evKcnlly realized fully hit wife's charms, for In making bit will, be I more U mre gives directions "In esse or beloved wife should inter-marry inter-marry betwixt thla and then " And sure enough at 31, the mother ot nine I children, she married Mr lleury Watklns Wat-klns "an elegant and accomplished gentlemsn" of 23, for whom sbo afterward after-ward bore seven children Mrs Watklni was full ot spirit, as a story told b) one of her grandsotia, Mr. T II. Watklns. of Islington, proves Ho M)a that the day after the burial of lUv. John Clay, the llrltlib colonel, Tarlelon. made a raid Into Virginia, and his men devastated her place Mrs Cla) reprimanded Tnrleton ao severely thai he emptied a sack of mln on a tablo nnd totd her to take that for her louses As soon as Tnrleton left Mrs. Clay scraped the money off Into her apron and threw It Into the fire saying that her hand "should not bo polluted with llrlllsh gold " She seems to ha lieen a noble woman, much reverenced by those who knew her well, nnd with striking Individually and nn Imperious, will About the )ear 1815 the Watklnst-i gave up their tavern In Versailles and settled upon n farm, which they owned, threo mile south of town Hero Mrs. Watklns died In 1829. at the ago nt 89 curs Her remains were burled In a country grave) ard closo by, and rested thero until IS6I, when they were removed re-moved to Islington by her son Henry. The "Henry Watklns' farm," which la still a point of great Interest, Is now tho homo ot Mrs. Robert McCnnnell. The last veitlgo of tho Watklns residence resi-dence has given place to more modern mprnvrmenti'ki",""'l'" DANIUI. M. IIOWMAN. There is no policy llko politeness, since a good manner often succeeds I where tbo best tongue hat failed. I Magoon |