Clay-Ashland is a township located 10 miles (16.1 km) from the capital city of Monrovia

Monrovia

Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately...

 in Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

. The town is in the St. Paul River District

St. Paul River District

St. Paul River District is one of four districts located in Montserrado County, Liberia....

 of Montserrado County

Montserrado County

Montserrado County is a county in the northwestern portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has four districts. Bensonville serves as the capital with the area of the county measuring , the smallest...

. It is named after Henry Clay

Henry Clay

Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...

 — a slaveowner and American Colonization Society

American Colonization Society

The American Colonization Society , founded in 1816, was the primary vehicle to support the "return" of free African Americans to what was considered greater freedom in Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 as a place for freedmen...

 co-founder who favored emancipation in theory but advocated a gradual approach to ending slavery — and his estate Ashland in Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

.

Established in 1846, Clay-Ashland was part of a colony called Kentucky In Africa

Kentucky In Africa

Kentucky In Africa was a colony settled by freed African-American slaves in present-day Montserrado County, Liberia.A Kentucky state affiliate of the American Colonization Society was formed in 1828, and members raised money to transport Kentucky blacks — freeborn volunteers as well as slaves set...

, because it was settled by African-American immigrants primarily from the U.S. state of Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 under the auspices of the American Colonization Society.

History

A Kentucky state affiliate of the ACS was formed in 1828, and members raised money to transport Kentucky blacks — freeborn

Freeborn

"Freeborn" is a term associated with political agitator John Lilburne , a member of the Levellers, a 17th-century English political party. As a word, "freeborn" means to be born free, rather than to be born in slavery or bondage or vassalage...

 volunteers as well as slaves set free on the stipulation that they leave the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 — to Africa. The Kentucky society bought a 40 square miles (103.6 km²) site along the Saint Paul River

Saint Paul River

The Saint Paul River is a river of western Africa. Its headwaters are in southeastern Guinea. Its upper portion in Guinea is known as the Diani River or Niandi River, and forms part of the boundary between Guinea and Liberia. The river then enters Liberia about north of Gbarnga and crosses...

 and named it Kentucky in Africa. Clay-Ashland was the colony's main town.

Notable residents have included William D. Coleman, the 13th President of Liberia, whose family settled in Clay-Ashland after immigrating from Fayette County, Kentucky

Fayette County, Kentucky

Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 295,083 in the 2010 Census. Its territory, population and government are coextensive with the city of Lexington, which also serves as county seat....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 when he was a boy. Moses Ricks, a successful farmer and Baptist missionary who founded the still-running Ricks Institute in 1887 to provide a Christian education to indigenous youth in Liberia, also grew up in the town. Alfred F. Russell, the 9th President of Liberia, also resided in Clay-Ashland.

The True Whig Party, which dominated Liberian politics for more than a century, was founded in Clay-Ashland in 1869.