Joseph Clay, Jr.

Biography

Joseph Clay Jr. was a merchant whose trade took him through Boston’s busy wharves and across the Atlantic, where he built relationships that kept the Massachusetts economy supplied with the goods it needed. He balanced commercial ambition with civic duty, serving on harbor committees and aiding efforts to regulate the new nation’s shipping.

Clay also labored for the public good by helping to fund charitable societies and lending his name to educational causes that would uplift future generations of citizens. The quiet dignity of his resting place at Granary Burying Ground reminds visitors that commerce and character were twin pillars of the era.