PAPERS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE. XLI. THE CLAYTON FAMILY. BY HENRY F. HEPBURN, ESQ., L.L. B. OF PHILADELPHIA, PA. Read before the Historical Society of Delaware, Feb. 15, 1904. THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE, WILMINGTON, THE CLAYTON FAMILY. It is well to start with the family history at the foundation, and then follow it up through its various changes to the present time. We will start about 912, when Rollo made peace with the King of France, and the Dukedom of Normandy was confirmed. In that settlement after a thirty years war, the King of France agreed to confirm Rollo's title as Duke of Normandy, and give him his daughter in marriage; the Duke agreeing to do homage to the King, to become a Christian and marry the King's daughter. But when the time came for the Duke to do homage, he refused to kiss the King's foot, and no persuasion or entreaty could induce him to perform that part of the ceremony. It was finally compromised by permitting Rollo to kiss the King's foot by proxy, but when the courtier lifted up the King's foot, he raised it so high that it tumbled the King out of his chair, which created great laughter among those present. Yet the King bore this indignity, well knowing that Rollo's army was too strong to meet in battle. From that time Normandy began to flourish, and during the time of its first six dukes, it was one of the richest provinces in the world, notwithstanding its many wars. When "William the Conqueror', who was the seventh Duke, came upon the stage of action, Normandy was divided into two classes, the nobility, who were the descendants of Rollo's followers, and the peasants who were the descendants of the French; so that we find a class of cultured people, who had |