Brief Life History of Dorcas
When Dorcas Clay was born on 18 May 1773, in Chesterfield, Virginia, British Colonial America, her father, Eleazer Clay, was 28 and her mother, Nancy Jane Apperson, was 22. She married Charles Graves on 12 February 1791, in Chesterfield, Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 2 daughters.
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Family Time Line
Sources (2)
- Dorcas Clayton, "Virginia, Vital Records, 1715-1901"
- Dorcas Clay in entry for Charles Graves, "Virginia, County Marriage Records, 1771-1989"
Spouse and Children
Parents and Siblings
Siblings (10)
+5 More Children
World Events (1)
1775
Patrick Henry made his "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" speech in Richmond Virginia.
Name Meaning
English (Midlands and Yorkshire): from Old English clǣg ‘clay’, applied as a topographic name for someone who lived in an area of clay soil, a habitational name for someone who lived in a district known as (the) Clay, such as the one in east Notinghamshire, or as a metonymic occupational name for a worker in a clay pit (see Clayman ).
Americanized form of German Klee .
History: The relatively common English name Clay had several American forebears in the 18th century. Henry Clay, born in Hanover, VA, in 1777, secretary of state for President John Quincy Adams, was descended from English ancestors who came to VA shortly after the founding of Jamestown. The revolutionary war officer Joseph Clay, also a member of the Continental Congress, was a native of Yorkshire, England, who emigrated to GA in 1760 and was a founder of the University of Georgia.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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