The Washington Herald, Washington, D.C.

Wednesday, June 24, 1908

James W. Zevely Weds

Former Washingtonian Takes Miss Janie Clay as Bride

Mexico, Missouri, June 23 – Miss Janie Clay, the only daughter of Col. and Mrs. Green Clay, of Mexico, and James William Zevely, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, were married at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church here tonight.  The ceremony was performed by Rev. Leslie M. Potter, of Kirkwood, Missouri, and was witnessed by about 200 guests, many of whom were from other states.

Miss Clay is a tall, slender blonde of pronounced beautify, a graduate of an Eastern college, and an expert horsewoman.

She is a member of an old Southern family, and her father, Col. Green Clay, has served in the Missouri senate on two different occasions.

Mr. Zevely was special agent of Indian Affairs for the Interior Department under ex-Gov. Francis, and was reappointed.  He also served as Missouri State Librarian.  He is now a practicing attorney of Muskogee.

Among the guests were Samuel G. Blythe, of Washington, and Louis Seibold, of The New York World.

The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Sunday, December 22, 1912

A great number of newspapers in Oklahoma and the adjoining states have been boosting Col. J. W. Zevely, of this city, for the position of Secretary of the Interior.  Col. Zevely is a Missourian, but is by marriage a Kentuckian, having married, some four years ago, Miss Clay, daughter of Green Clay, from Paris, Kentucky, and Mexico, and a niece of Ezekiel Clay, one of the best-known men in the Bluegrass.

Mrs. Zevely and the Colonel spend much of their time in Kentucky, and Mrs. Zevely never lets a summer go by without making a visit to her Kentucky relatives.  As Miss Janie Clay she was as well known as any of the Kentucky girls, and was always counted as one of the ‘fair daughters of Bourbon County.’

Besides having married a Kentucky, Col. Zevely has been for years the law partner of James M. Givens, born and reared in western Kentucky, and is perhaps closer to him, personally and politically, than any man living.

William Clay Zevely, January 29, 1911 – May 7, 1922.  ‘A perfect soul asleep.’  Paris Cemetery, Bourbon County, Kentucky.

The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.

Monday, May 8, 1922

Col. J. W. Zevely’s Son Dead

Funeral Tomorrow at Paris, Ky., Grandson of Senator Clay

William Clay Zevely, son of Col. J. W. Zevely, 2029 Connecticut Avenue, died yesterday at the Children’s Hospital, where he had undergone an operation for mastoiditis.  Col. And Mrs. Zevely will leave with the body at 4:35 this afternoon for Paris, Kentucky, where the funeral will be held tomorrow afternoon.  Interment will be at Runnymede, the old homestead near Paris of Mrs. Zevely’s father, the late Senator Green Clay, of Mexico, Missouri.

The Zevely’s are both natives of Missouri, but they have homes at Muskogee, Oklahoma, and in Washington.

James William Zevely, October 8, 1861 – June 10, 1927.  Paris Cemetery, Bourbon County, Kentucky.

The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

Sunday, June 12, 1927

Buried In Paris

Attorney to Harry F. Sinclair Dies at Home in East Hampton, L. I.

New York, June 11 – Funeral services for Col. James W. Zevely, 66 years old, will be held at Paris, Kentucky, it was learned today.  Colonel Zevely, personal attorney to Harry F. Sinclair, died at his home in East Hampton, Long Island, last night.  Burial will be beside the body of his son, Billy, 10, who died three years ago.  Mrs. Zevely, a daughter, Miss Jane Clay Zevely, and Earl W. Sinclair were at his bedside when Colonel Zevely died.  Mr. Sinclair arrived after his death.

The body is to be placed aboard Mr. Sinclair’s private car, Sinco, and is to leave for New York City tonight.  The car is to leave Now York tomorrow morning for Kentucky.  Mrs. Zevely and her daughter, Harry F. Sinclair and his brother are to accompany the body to Paris.

Born in Linn, Missouri, he received his education in the public schools, the Christian Brothers’ College in St. Louis and the University of Virginia.  Following his graduation from the Virginia University he was appointed Missouri State Librarian.  He began his activity in politics in 1888, when he was elected secretary of the Missouri Democratic Committee.

Colonel Zevely was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Muskogee, Oklahoma, from 1902 until 1917.  From Oklahoma he went to Washington, later coming to New York.

The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky

Wednesday, April 18, 1928

Left Good Estate

Associated Press

New York, April 17 – Col. James W. Zevely, attorney from 1917 for the Sinclair Consolidated Oil Corporation and attorney for Harry F. Sinclair, who thought so much of the Colonel that he named the pride of his stables Zev, left

His entire estate when he died last June 10, to his wife and daughter.

Janie C. Zevely and Jane C. Zevely, who live at No. 1107 Fifth Avenue, share equally in the Zevely holdings, which may exceed $500,000, it was estimated yesterday.  Daniel F. Cohalan of No. 43 Cedar Street, attorney for Mrs. Zevely, was named executor in the will, drawn November 12, 1924, and filed for probate yesterday.

Col. Zevely entered the Teapot Dome spotlight when his ‘loan’ of $25,000 to Albert B. Fall, then Secretary of the Interior became public.  He died in his home at East Hampton, Long Island, and his body was transported in a special train under the guidance of his friend Sinclair to Paris, Kentucky, where burial took place beside the grave of a son, James W. Zevely.

Janie Clay Zevely, February 22, 1886 – October 16, 1976.  Paris Cemetery, Bourbon County, Kentucky.