Josephine Russell Erwin Clay (December 7, 1835 – March 29, 1920) was one of the first significant woman

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

breeders in America and a writer. She was also known as ''Josephine Deborah Russell'', ''Mrs. Eugene Erwin'', ''Josephine Erwin'', ''Mrs. John M. Clay'', and ''Josephine Clay''.

Life as Mrs. Erwin

Born in

Fulton, Missouri Fulton is the largest city in and the county seat of Callaway County, Missouri, Callaway County, Missouri, United States. Located about northeast of Jefferson City, Missouri, Jefferson City and the Missouri River and east of Columbia, Missouri, ...

, she was a daughter of William Henry Russell. In 1853 Josephine Deborah Russell married a grandson of

Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...

named Andrew Eugene Erwin. Prior to the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the couple had three daughters. During the war, Erwin served in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

, rising to the rank of Colonel and commanding of the 6th Missouri Infantry Regiment. In 1863 Josephine Erwin brought the couple's nine-year-old daughter, Lucretia (Lula), to join Andrew Erwin who was part of the force defending Vicksburg. Andrew Erwin was killed in the

Battle of Vicksburg The siege of Vicksburg (May 18 – July 4, 1863) was the final major military action in the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Major General Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed th ...

, one week before the end of the Union siege. On July 18, 1863, the pregnant Josephine Erwin met with General

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

to obtain passes allowing Lula and her to return to Missouri. Josephine Erwin bore her fourth daughter in 1864, but the girl died shortly after her birth.

Racing and breeding thoroughbreds

The

Clay family The Clays were an influential nineteenth-century U.S. political and business dynasty. The Clays are of English stock, and there are quite a few Clay families still in England, and also in other parts of the world. Alphabetical list of American Cl ...

invited her and her three surviving daughters to move to

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

and supervise the household of

John Morrison Clay John Morrison Clay (also called ''John M. Clay''; February 21, 1821 – August 10, 1887) was a Kentucky thoroughbred breeder, a son of statesman Henry Clay, and a husband of Josephine Russell Clay and the brother of Henry Clay, Jr. and James B ...

's youngest son, a bachelor. John had inherited a portion of his father's estate, Ashland. To distinguish John's lands from Ashland proper, which went to his brother

James Brown Clay James Brown Clay (November 9, 1817 – January 26, 1864) was an American politician and diplomat who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Kentucky's 8th congressional district from 1857 to 1859. Early life and ed ...

, John's farm was variously called Ashland-on-the-Tates-Creek-Pike, Ashland Stock Farm, and Ashland Stud. Josephine and John were married in 1866. They had no children, but poured their time and energy into training and racing horses for about twenty years. John Clay traveled the racing circuit throughout the East, South, and Midwest. Josephine ran Ashland Stud. Their famous race horses included Skedaddle,

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

, Star Davis, Sauce Box, Squeeze 'em, and

Victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

. In 1873, Victory was bought by General

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point ...

, who called him Vic and rode him at the

Battle of Little Big Horn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northe ...

in 1876. It is believed Vic died in the battle.

Focus on breeding

Following her husband's death in 1887, Josephine Clay focused on breeding and selling yearlings. She inherited from John Clay twelve brood mares, all descendants of

's brood mares

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

and Margaret Wood. Through 1900, Josephine Clay built her stock to more than fifty brood mares and two stallions and gained recognition as the first woman to own and operate a successful

farm. She gained national recognition when

Riley Riley may refer to: Businesses * Riley (brand), British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 * Riley Motor, British motorcar and bicycle manufacturera 1890–1969 * Riley Technologies, American auto racing constructor and team, founded by Bob ...

, a horse she had bred, won the 1890

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

. In 1903, Josephine Clay dispersed her stock due to her failing eyesight and new laws in New York and other states prohibiting betting on horses. She died at her home and is interred at

Lexington Cemetery Lexington Cemetery is a private, non-profit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 833 W. Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky. The Lexington Cemetery was established in 1848 as a place of beauty and a public cemetery, in part to deal w ...

Writings

Josephine Clay was the author of several novels and short stories, including: *''John Logan'' *''Some Little of the Angel Still Left'' *''Uncle Phil'' *''The Sport of Kings''

References

Squib on Josephine Clay

The Josephine Clay Papers at the University of Kentucky

Discussion about the thoroughbred Vic

External links

Guide to the Josephine Russell Erwin Clay family papers, 1823-1901
housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center {{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Josephine Russell American racehorse owners and breeders Culture of Kentucky 1835 births 1920 deaths Henry Clay family People from Fulton, Missouri