from The History of Hendricks County (Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1914)--page 254-256
One of the largest and most influential families in Hendricks County, Indiana, is the Clay family. They have traced their ancestry back to the Highland clans of Scotland, and from thence to Virginia, Kentucky and Indiana. Two of the most conspicuous members of this family were Henry Clay and Cassius M. Clay of Kentucky. Many members of this family are scattered throughout the central and western states of this country, and one of the most prominent branches of the family in the state is found in this county. Wherever they have been found, they are always numbered among the representative citizens of their respective communities.
John Jay Crittenden Clay was born December 17, 1853, in Eel River Township, in this county, the son of James H. and Susan (Fleece) Clay, his father a native of Bourbon County, Kentucky, his birth having occurred there January 20, 1819. James H. Clay was the son of Littleberry and Arabella (McCoun) Clay, and he was married July 29, 1841, to Susan Fleece, his marriage taking place shortly after his father and wife arrived in this county. They came to Indiana about 1840, settling in the southern part of Eel River Township where Littleberry Clay bought a section of land. A few years later he went to Missouri, but James remained in this county. Susan Fleece was born in Boyle County, Kentucky, near Danville, and came here with her parents, Charles Fleece and wife, in the early history of the county. Her parents settled west of North Salem near Eel River where they entered government land when that part of the county was a total wilderness. James H. Clay followed the vocation of a farmer for the remainder of his life and was a resident of this place about forty years, and here his death occurred. At one time he owned nearly a section of land, but before his death he divided it among his children, nine of whom grew to maturity: Mrs. Arabella Waters; Mrs. Mary Catherine Rose; Samuel C., of Lebanon; Mrs. Sallie Rogers, of Amo; James A., of Indianapolis, John J.C., whose history is here delineated; Nicholas, deceased; Arthur E., of Indianapolis, and Joseph F., living about six miles southwest of North Salem; one daughter, Lillie, died in infancy.
John J.C. Clay grew to manhood on his father's farm and received such education as was afforded by his home schools. When he was about eighteen years of age he learned the carpenter's trade and followed this vocation for the next for years. However, farming offered better opportunities for financial returns and he decided to engage in agricultural pursuits. Early in his career he turned his attention to the buying, feeding and breeding of livestock, and has been one of the largest shippers in the county. He has gradually added to his landed possessions until he is now the owner of over fifteen hundred acres of land in the northwestern part of Hendricks County and the northeastern part of Putnam County.
Early in life Mr. Clay was married to Mattie J. Walker. In fact, he was only a youth of nineteen when he assumed the responsibilities of married life. Mrs. Clay was reared in Eel River Township, the daughter of David and Mary Walker. Her father came to this state from North Carolina. One son was born to the first marriage of Mr. Clay, Charles C., who is now living in North Salem. Mr. Clay's first wife died in 1875, and in 1881 he was married to Mary E. Ballard, the daughter of George and Margaret (Polk) Ballard. Margaret Polk was born in Wayne County, Indiana, on May 9, 1831, and came to Marion County in this state in childhood with her parents. She was married June 12, 1849, to George Ballard, and her death occurred November 25, 1898. George Ballard was born in Scott County, Indiana, January 14, 182, and moved to Marion County in 1834, where he lived most of the remainder of his life, following the trade of a carpenter. He lived a part of the time in the city of Indianapolis, but spent his declining years at North Salem, where his death occurred in 1912. He and his wife were both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Clay have two children living and one deceased: Edna Coral, born in 1882, is the wife of Taylor Owen, and lives in North Salem; James Henry, born in 1885, married Ina Sparks, and is a farmer in this township.
Mr. Clay and his wife are both loyal and earnest members of the Christian Church, and are zealous in the support of the various organizations of that denomination. He has spent most of his life in North Salem, from which point he ships a large amount of livestock annually. Personally, Mr. Clay is a man of unblemished reputation and the strictest integrity, and his private life has always been above reproach. He is a vigorous, as well as an independent thinker and has the courage of his convictions upon all subjects which he investigates. He is essentially cosmopolitan in his ideas, a man of the people and a fine type of the strong American manhood which commands the respect of all classes by reason of genuine worth. Thus he has so impressed his individuality upon the community as to win the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens and become influential in leading them to better things.