His brother Cassius Marcellus Clay also was a politician in the state, and they both joined the Union Democratic Party at the time of the American Civil War.

His father, who had interests in tens of thousands of acres of land, distilleries and ferries, was considered one of the wealthiest men in Kentucky and had become an influential politician.

In 1827 Brutus Clay settled in Bourbon County, where he became deeply involved in agriculture and breeding livestock.

[2] The widower Clay married again on November 8, 1844, to Ann Field (1822–1881), a sister of his first wife Amelia.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress