Nationality American Name Eugene Clay Died June 22, 1923 | Residence Marietta, Georgia Role Alexander S. Clay's son Parents Alexander S. Clay | |
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Children Eugene Herbert Clay, Jr. Alma mater University of Georgia, Mercer University Education Mercer University, University of Georgia | ||
Eugene Herbert Clay (October 3, 1881–June 22, 1923) was the mayor of Marietta, Georgia, and one of the ringleaders in the lynching of Leo Frank.
He was born in Marietta, Georgia to Senator Alexander S. Clay and Frances (White) Clay. Clay attended the University of Georgia and the Mercer University, graduating in from the latter with an LL.B. He was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity.
He served as the mayor of Marietta, Georgia from 1911 to 1912. He was twice elected Solicitor General of the Blue Ridge Circuit and served on the State Democratic Committee. In 1915, he helped plan the lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish-American factory superintendent whose murder conviction and extrajudicial hanging in 1915 by a lynch mob drew attention to questions of antisemitism in the United States. He married Virginia Hudson of Pocahontas, Virginia on December 27, 1919. He also had one son, Eugene Herbert Clay, Jr., by a prior marriage. In the fall of 1920, he was elected to the Georgia Senate. He was president of the Georgia Senate as of 1922. He died in Marietta, Georgia.