Eleaszer Clay was the uncle of the famous statesman Henry Clay. Historian David Benedict claimed that Eleaszer was reportedly worth 100 thousand dollars, and therefore was a powerful man. One of his positions was as Sheriff of Chesterfield County, Virginia. That was the place where several Baptist preachers were imprisoned. Through the bars of their jail house, those men were preaching the gospel to people on the street and God was saving souls. Sheriff Clay was concerned, but not as you might have expected. On July 21, 1773, he wrote to John Williams of Amelia County: “We wish you to come down and baptize those who are now waiting for an opportunity. The Lord is now carrying on a glorious work in our county.. The preaching at the prison is not attended in vain, for we hope that several are converted, while others are under great distress, and are made to cry out, ‘What shall we do to be saved?’” Despite the threat of being arrested, John Williams and William Webber came to Chesterfield and on this this day in 1773, baptized several and constituted the Chesterfield Baptist Church with twenty members. And who became their pastor? Eleaszer Clay.
Source: This Day in Baptist History III, by David Cummins
