I would try to encourage the hardwood mix of your region. Throw seeds from your woods in there, and go heavier on the trees you like best for firewood. Locust is a pioneer species (one of the first to come up in fields), and also dense firewood, so it seems good. Red maple can grow in dry or wet sites. I like it for firewood (silver maple isn't good). Oak is inclined to drier or medium moisture areas, though it's great firewood. I don't think of oak as liking clay, but seedlings sprout by the dozens from acorns every year in our yard, which is mostly dense clay.
Sweet gum is incredibly easy to get going in south central Indiana where I live; not sure how it goes up by you. We just threw the gumballs in an area we wanted to have trees, and away then went, mixed in with oak, hickory, redbud, and maple. Sweet gum does well in drought, and it does well in semi-swampy areas. But, I don't like it as firewood, at all, though it has BTUs.
Hickory and oak both came up in our mixed area in volume, no attempt to make it happen (but very near seed trees). Redbud is real easy to get going, and drought resistant. It is so-so firewood. You might consider apple -- get both the firewood and fruit. Native black cherry grows pretty fast, is a natural species in most any northern woods. Good firewood and can be ready to burn in less than 9 months.
In moist clay I suspect white oak will do much better than red oak.
To get faster growth, thin out excess seedlings, vines, and non-natives. I'd try to get grape vines out of there as soon as you notice them (when very young). And any honeysuckle, which is virtually all non-native and loves to be a pioneer.
Ash seeds in everywhere in our yard, but these days I don't know if any of these grow to maturity.
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