People Enslaved at Ashland

Born in Hanover County, Virginia around 1788, Aaron Dupuy was first recorded in Henry Clay’s account books in 1799, when Clay leased out his labor. At just 14 years old, Aaron was hired out again—this time to Clay’s brother-in-law. It was during this period that Aaron met Charlotte, an enslaved woman working in a downtown Lexington tailor’s shop.

Aaron and Charlotte married in 1806, and their union was a rare act of family-building under enslavement. Aaron spent much of his life as Henry Clay’s personal valet and coach driver, even traveling abroad with Clay’s son James.

While his wife and children were eventually freed, Aaron himself remained enslaved until at least 1865. He died on February 6, 1866, shortly after emancipation, while living with another of Henry Clay’s sons. His obituary noted that he was survived by his wife Charlotte, daughter Mary Anne, and grandchildren.

Aaron was defined by his intelligence, cleverness, independence, and self-sufficiency. His story is one of endurance and loyalty to his family.

Born in Maryland around 1788, Charlotte “Lotty” Dupuy was brought to Lexington, Kentucky as a teenager and forced to labor in a tailor’s shop. There, she met Aaron Dupuy, who was enslaved by Henry Clay and hired out to a local nail factory. Determined to stay with him, Charlotte persuaded her enslaver to sell her to Clay—who paid $450 for her in 1806.

At Ashland, Charlotte served as a cook, housekeeper, and caretaker. She and Aaron had two children, Charles and Mary Anne, and created a family under constant threat of separation. In 1829, while living with the Clays at Decatur House in Washington, D.C., Charlotte did something extraordinary: she sued Henry Clay—then Secretary of State—for her freedom and that of her children.

Though the court denied her claim, Charlotte’s resistance did not end there. After refusing to return to Ashland, she was jailed and later sent to New Orleans, separated from her family for over three years. Eventually, she was freed in 1840, along with her daughter. Her son was freed in 1844. Her husband Aaron remained enslaved until Emancipation.

Charlotte died in her 89th year on April 10, 1877 and was likely buried with husband in downtown Lexington.

Charlotte’s fight for freedom challenged one of the most powerful men in America—a legacy of courage that still echoes at Ashland.

Born around 1807, Charles Dupuy was the son of Aaron and Charlotte Dupuy. Like his father, Charles served as a personal valet to Henry Clay, accompanying him on trips to Washington, D.C., and taking on duties of trusted proximity.

In 1844, Henry Clay manumitted Charles—four years after freeing Charles’s mother, Lotty, and sister, Mary Anne. Charles continued working for Clay as a paid employee until 1848. A local newspaper noted that he earned $10 per month for his labor.

By 1850, Charles was living in Washington, D.C., with his wife Amelia and their six children: Charlotte, Charles A., William A., Virginia, David, and Sarah. Census records place the family among the city’s free Black population. However, Charles’s name disappears from records after that, and his father’s 1866 obituary makes no mention of him.

Charles’s journey from enslavement to freedom, from Ashland to Washington, reflects a life of service, transition, and quiet perseverance—one of many stories still unfolding.

Mary Anne Dupuy was the daughter of Aaron and Charlotte Dupuy, and the sister of Charles. While records don’t detail her exact role at Ashland, it is likely she assisted her mother in the household and helped care for the Clay grandchildren.

In 1840, Mary Anne was freed alongside her mother Charlotte. However, her young son, Henry, was excluded from the Deed of Emancipation. After her manumission, little is known of Mary Anne’s life, though she is mentioned as a surviving family member in her father’s 1866 obituary.

Mary Anne lived at the intersection of enslavement and freedom—marked by a legacy of love, loss, and the unrecorded resilience of so many women like her.

Born in 1833, Henry Dupuy was the son of Mary Anne Dupuy and the grandson of Aaron and Charlotte. Though his mother and grandmother were freed in 1840, Henry—just a child—was not. At the age of 15, in 1848, Henry Clay sold him to a man in Louisville. The bill of sale identified Henry as “mulatto,” suggesting his father was either mixed race or white—though his identity remains unknown.

Clay placed a condition on the sale that Henry be freed at the age of 28. Whether that promise was honored is unknown. The last reference to Henry appears in an 1850 family letter, where he is described as “tall but…not…stout.”

Henry’s life reminds us how even children were treated as property—sold, forgotten, and left to vanish into the silence of history.

Born in 1792 at Poplar Hill in Fayette County, Kentucky, Lewis Richardson was enslaved at Ashland from around 1837 until his escape in January 1846. Throughout his life, Richardson resisted enslavement through both defiance and flight. His final escape followed a brutal lashing after he returned just one hour late from visiting his wife, who was enslaved on another farm.

Fearing sale to the Deep South—or worse—Lewis fled via the Underground Railroad and reached Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada. On March 13, 1846, he gave a speech there, recounting his escape and his life at Ashland. It was published in the abolitionist newspaper Signal of Liberty. In it, he described the cruelty of plantation life, the scarcity of food and clothing, and shattered any myths of Ashland as a “benevolent” estate. He was 53 years old at the time.

His speech remains one of the few firsthand accounts from someone enslaved at Ashland. Nothing is known of his life or death after that day in Amherstburg, nor of the fate of the wife he left behind.

Lewis Richardson escaped bondage—and told the truth. His words outlived him, and they continue to speak for the countless others who never got the chance.

Enslaved by Henry Clay from around 1830 until his death in 1844, Thomas Todd—known as Tom—was a skilled shoemaker and husband to Jane, who was also enslaved at Ashland. Together, they had at least one son. Some records suggest that Tom was hired out for his trade, and others note that he cultivated a small hemp plot to earn income for himself.

On or about June 5, 1844, Tom died by suicide. According to one account, he hanged himself in a corn crib and was later discovered by fellow enslaved people. Though the exact reasons are unknown, sources point to deep emotional distress. He had reportedly received a severe whipping and was possibly despondent after seeking help from Lucretia Clay regarding stolen savings—only to be dismissed.

Following his death, Jane remained enslaved at Ashland. She later remarried and became a cook for the Clay family.

Tom Todd’s story is a stark reminder that even those with skill, family, and purpose could be broken under the weight of slavery. His death is not just a tragedy—it is a testimony.