McDowell, Henry Clay, 1832-1899.

Ashland was the Lexington, Kentucky home of Henry Clay. The property was purchased by Henry Clay McDowell from the state of Kentucky in 1882. McDowell's wife, Anne, was a granddaughter of Henry Clay. The estate had been sold near the end of the Civil War by Susannah Clay, widow of Henry's son, James B. Clay. McDowell was himself a lawyer who had been appointed an assistant adjutant general during the war and subsequently served as United States Marshal for Kentucky. During his residence at Ashland, he engaged in agricultural pursuits and the administration of the Lexington and Eastern Railway Company, of which he was president. He was also director of the Kentucky Trotting Horse Breeders Association.