would receive the next available clerkship at the Virginia Court of Chancery. After Clay had worked at the Richmond emporium for a year, he obtained a clerkship that had become available at the Virginia Court of Chancery. Clay adapted well to his new role, and his handwriting earned him the attention of College of William & Mary professor George Wythe, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, mentor of Thomas Jefferson, and judge on Virginia's High Court of Chancery. Hampered by a crippled hand, Wythe chose Clay as his secretary and amanuensis, a role in which Clay would remain for four years. While Clay studied under Wythe, Wythe had a powerful effect on Clay's worldview, with Clay embracing Wythe's belief that the example of the United States could help spread human freedom around the world. Wythe subsequently arranged a position for Clay with Virginia attorney general Robert Brooke, with the understanding that Brooke would finish Clay's legal studies. After completing his studies under Brooke, Clay was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1797. Marriage and family On April 11, 1799, Clay married Lucretia Hart (1781–1864) at the Hart home in Lexington, Kentucky. Her father, Colonel Thomas Hart, was an early settler of Kentucky and a prominent businessman. Hart proved to be an important business connection for Clay, as he helped Clay gain new clients and grow in professional stature. Hart was the namesake and grand-uncle of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton and was also related to James Brown, a prominent Louisiana politician, and Isaac Shelby, the first governor of Kentucky. Henry and Lucretia would remain married until his death in 1852; she lived until 1864, dying at the age of 83. Both are buried at Lexington Cemetery. Clay and Lucretia had eleven children (six daughters and five sons): Henrietta (born in 1800), Theodore (1802), Thomas (1803), Susan (1805), Anne (1807), Lucretia (1809), Henry Jr. (1811), Eliza (1813), Laura (1815), James (1817), and John (1821). By 1835, all six daughters had died of varying causes, two when very young, two as children, and the last two as young mothers. Henry Jr. was killed while commanding a regiment at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican–American War. Clay's oldest son, Theodore Wythe Clay, spent the second half of his life confined to a psychiatric hospital. When a young child, Theodore was injured by a blow to his head that fractured his