action? It could not have been from his sire, as he was a son of Duroc,
so said, but it may have come from Seagull’s dam, as we know nothing
of her breeding; or it may have come from old Black Jin, the dam of
Silvertail. If from neither of these we must then conclude it came
from Messenger himself, or rather, through him from some of his pacing
ancestors. It is altogether probable that the strong infusion of pacing
blood in Messenger’s veins was the real element that made him a trotting
progenitor when every other imported English horse failed in that respect.
Silvertail, the great-grandam of Hambletonian, was a dark brown mare
with white hind feet and a white face. She had a great many white hairs
in her tail and hence she was called Silvertail. She was foaled in 1802
and was bred by Mr. Jonas Seely, Sr., of Sugar Loaf, Orange County, New
York. She was got by imported Messenger in 1801, the year he stood at
Goshen, New York. Her dam was a great, slashing black mare called “Jin”
that Mr. Seely had used in his business many years, but her origin and
breeding cannot now be found. She must have been a real good one or Mr.
Seely would not have taken her to Messenger. In the summer of 1806, as
was his custom, he was down at New York with a drove of cattle, and his
son Jonas, then a lad of eight or ten years old, went along to help
drive the cattle and to see the city. He was detained two or three days
longer than he expected and it was very important that he should reach
home at a certain time. On the morning of that day he found himself in
Hoboken, with his son, and no means of getting home except on Silvertail.
So he took the boy up behind him and went home that day, seventy-five
miles, by sundown. She was fully sixteen hands high and of very fine
style. Her head, neck and ear were bloodlike, and her resolution and will
were remarkable even in old age. Her step, at the trot, is not known to
have been much developed, but she could gallop all day long. On several
occasions she carried her master to Albany in a day. Besides the famous
One Eye she produced several superior foals that brought high prices, in
those days, but we have only the one line tracing to her as a producer.
She died the property of Ebenezer Seely.
In searching for the particulars of this pedigree of Hambletonian and
in tracing it back to old “Black Jin,” I was necessarily brought into
contact with a great many people, some of whom were helpful and some were
not. As a matter of course I met with the usual number who professed to
“know it all,” but really knew nothing that was reliable. As the whole
tracing was in the Seely family, the public may wish to know what kind
of people they were. Jonas Seely, first, of Oxford in Orange County, was
a large farmer in the last century and an extensive cattle feeder and
drover. As there were no railroads or steam boats in those days, much
of his time was given to driving cattle, either in collecting them from
the interior or in taking them to market in New York. He had use for
good horses and he had a fancy for the best. His business brought him
into contact with the butchers of New York, and we find he sold many of
his horses as well as his cattle to them. These same business relations
were continued under his successor. He left a large family of sons who
seemed to take to the horse as a duck takes to water. Jonas, second, was
one of his younger sons and succeeded to his father’s business as well
as to the homestead. He was born 1797 at Oxford, and his father removed
to the farm at Sugar Loaf when he was a child. He was a thrifty and
successful farmer. For a number of years he was engaged with his partner
and lifelong friend, Ebenezer Pray, in buying and driving cattle from
the West to the New York market. In June, 1882, he passed away and there
ended an acquaintance and a friendship of nearly thirty years. He was a
strictly conscientious and truthful man, and died in the glorious hope of
a devoted Christian. His first visit to New York, in 1806, the wonders
he saw there, and especially the total eclipse that occurred while he
was there, and how he watched it from the Bull’s Head tavern, through a
piece of smoked glass, and the ride home the next day behind his father
on Silvertail, and how he ran down many a hill to rest himself, and how
tired he was when they reached home, are incidents that were all detailed
to me with the interest and vigor of yesterday.
When One Eye was about fifteen years old the elder Jonas gave her or
sold her to his son-in-law, Josiah Jackson, and in due time he bred her
to imported Bellfounder and she produced the Charles Kent mare. Mr.
Rysdyk thought the elder Jonas gave this mare to his son Charles and
that Charles sold her to Mr. Jackson, which is not material. After the
Kent mare had been battered about in New York for some years and finally
crippled, Charles Kent, a butcher, bought her and bred her to Webber’s
Tom Thumb, a Canadian horse that was quite a trotter. On one occasion
when Jonas II. and Mr. Pray were down in the city, Kent wanted to sell
the mare, and Mr. Pray urged Jonas very strongly to buy her and take her
home for a brood mare. He concluded to do so if she were not too badly
crippled, and they together went over on to the island to see her, when
she came again into the Seely family. In 1848 he bred her to Abdallah, in
1849 she produced a bay colt, and in the autumn of that year he sold her
with her colt to William M. Rysdyk, who had been employed on his farm for
the year, for one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and this colt proved
to be the great Hambletonian.
As it is now conceded, not only in this country, but throughout the
world, that Hambletonian, as a trotting progenitor, is far and away the
greatest horse that has ever been produced, a careful and true analysis
of the blood elements entering into his inheritance is a most interesting
and instructive lesson for all breeders. First we have the direct cross
from Messenger himself in Silvertail; second, we have the cross from a
son of Messenger on a daughter of Messenger in One Eye, making her equal
to a daughter of Messenger in blood; third, we have the out-cross from
Bellfounder, that was a total failure as a trotting progenitor, on this
double granddaughter of Messenger, and the result is a trotter in the
Kent mare and practically the only trotter that Bellfounder ever got;
fourth, we have the cross of a grandson and probably a double grandson
of Messenger on this trotter, and the produce is Hambletonian himself.
These crosses show a stronger concentration of Messenger blood than can
be found in any horse of his generation.
BASHAW (GREEN’S).—This was a black horse, fifteen and a half hands high,
bred by Jonas Seely, the breeder of Hambletonian; foaled 1855, and
given when following his dam to his son-in-law, Colonel F. M. Cummins,
of Muscatine, Iowa. He was got by Vernol’s Black Hawk, then known as
the Drake colt, son of Long Island Black Hawk, and his dam was Belle,
the first foal of the Charles Kent mare, that was out of One Eye. In
the spring of 1857 he was sold to Joseph A. Green, of Muscatine, and he
remained his till 1864. He had one white hind foot and a large, full
star in his forehead. He was a smooth, handsome horse in every respect.
His head, neck, ear and eye were all good, and free from coarseness.
His back and loin had very few equals even among those that are called
most perfect at these points. His hip was of great length, and in
his buttock there was quite a resemblance on a reduced scale to his
kinsman, Hambletonian. His limbs and feet both in shape and quality were
admirable, and his disposition docile and kindly. In walking his gait
was slinging, but loose jointed and slovenly, and he was therefore not a
pleasant driving horse. But at the trot, whether going slow or fast, his
style was very taking and his action remarkably perfect. While owned by
Mr. Green he was handled by good, careful men, but they had no experience
in developing and driving a trotter, and knew nothing about that kind
of horsemanship. Under these circumstances many a horse would have been
spoiled, but his gait was always perfect and his popularity as a trotter
never waned. He never was started in what might be called regular races,
but at State fairs and the principal county fairs he was always in
demand and always won. He was, perhaps, the best natural trotter that
I have ever seen. He was able to show about 2:28, but I think he never
won a heat on a half-mile track in better than 2:31, and when sixteen
years old he was able to win in 2:35. In 1864 Mr. Green sold him to some
parties in St. Louis, Missouri, and they to Mr. Beckwith of Hartford,
Connecticut, and while in his hands he was matched against Young Morrill,
but went amiss and paid forfeit. He made the season of 1865 at Hartford.
The following winter Mr. Green repurchased him and he was returned to
Muscatine, where he remained till January, 1877, when he was sold to
George A. Young, of Leland, Illinois, and died January, 1880.
He left seventeen trotters in the 2:30 list; twenty-four sons that were
the sires of fifty-nine standard performers, and thirty-four daughters
that produced forty-four standard performers. As his sire never amounted
to anything either as a trotter or a getter of trotters, it is fair to
conclude that whatever merit he possessed was inherited from the same
source that made Hambletonian greater than all others.
BELLE, the dam of Bashaw, 50, was a brown mare about fifteen and
three-quarter hands high, with tan muzzle and flanks and some white feet.
She was rather short in the body and neck, but she was very stoutly built
and had been a fine road mare. She was bred by Charles Kent, the butcher,
and I think was following her dam when Mr. Jonas Seely bought her. She
was foaled 1843 and was got by Tom Thumb, a Canadian horse, and a trotter
that was brought into Orange County by William Webber and left excellent
stock. Her dam was the Charles Kent mare, the dam of Hambletonian. She
produced as follows:
1848. Bay gelding, by Abdallah.
1849. Bay filly Seely Abdallah, by Abdallah.
1851. Black colt Seely’s Black Hawk, by Long Island Black Hawk.
1853. Bay filly, (taken West) by Hambletonian.
1855. Black colt Green’s Bashaw, by Vernol’s Black Hawk.
1857. Bay filly by Black Hawk Prophet, son of Vermont Black Hawk,
in Iowa. This filly was ringboned, and given away.
Nothing is now known of the gelding by Abdallah. The filly of 1849 by
Abdallah, called Seely Abdallah, was owned by Mr. Charles Backman, and he
had her produce for two or three generations.
The black colt by Long Island Black Hawk of 1851 was sold to Ebenezer
Seely, and kept as a stallion. This Mr. Seely died in Chemung County,
and the horse died there in the spring of 1859. The filly of 1853 by
Hambletonian was one of a pair of Hambletonian fillies bought and taken
to Iowa by Mr. Green in 1855. They developed a very fine rate of speed.
CHAPTER XXII.
HAMBLETONIAN’S SONS AND GRANDSONS.
Different opinions as to relative merits of
Hambletonian’s greater sons—George Wilkes, his history
and pedigree—His performing descendants—History and
description of Electioneer—His family—Alexander’s
Abdallah and his two greatest sons, Almont and
Belmont—Dictator—Harold—Happy Medium and his dam—Jay
Gould—Strathmore—Egbert—Aberdeen—Masterlode—Sweepstakes—Governor
Sprague, grandson of Hambletonian.
There is hardly a prominent sire by Hambletonian that has not been
claimed by his admirers to have been the “greatest son” of the most
renowned of trotting progenitors, and if a poll of the horsemen of the
country could be taken to-day as to what horse was the greatest son of
Hambletonian, probably a dozen names would be found to have thousands
of supporters each. As with all questions that are largely matters of
opinion, and that cannot be decided absolutely by figures, the relative
rank of horses as progenitors must always remain open to disputation
according as thinkers approach the subject from different points of view
and of interest. I shall not enter into any discussion as to the relative
merits of the great sons of Hambletonian with a purpose to reach any
deduction as to which was or is the greatest; but shall refer the reader
to the table given in the preceding chapter, and content myself with
briefly giving the history of the more renowned sires of the Hambletonian
line, with such statistics as may be necessary to gauge their rank as
progenitors.
[Illustration: GEORGE WILKES.
A Great Son of Hambletonian.]
GEORGE WILKES was one of the first of Hambletonian’s sons to attract
attention, by his performances on the turf, to the value of his sire;
and as a progenitor he must be accorded a place in the first rank of all
trotting sires. This horse was bred by Colonel Harry Felter, Newburgh,
New York, was foaled 1856, and was got by Hambletonian out of the fast
road mare Dolly Spanker. (This mare was afterward registered on what
seemed excellent evidence as by Henry Clay, out of a daughter of Baker’s
Highlander, but more recent investigation has thrown serious doubt upon
this pedigree, the subject being fully discussed in the chapters in
this work on “The Investigation of Pedigrees.”) After the travail that
brought the little brown colt into the world, Dolly Spanker died, and
the orphaned youngster, like Andrew Jackson, owed his life to woman’s
kindly care. He was fed by the women of the farm on Jamaica rum and
milk sweetened with sugar, and soon grew lusty, though he was always an
undersized horse, never much, if any, exceeding fifteen hands in height,
though he was so stoutly and compactly made that he gave the impression
of being larger than he really was. He was of that order that has been
paradoxically described as “a big little horse.” In color he was a very
dark brown, and his flanks and muzzle shaded into a deep tan, or wine
color. From a detailed description of him published in the _Spirit of the
Times_ in 1862, I extract the following:
“He is about 15.1, but all horse.... His traveling gear is just
what it should be—muscular shoulders long strong arms, flat
legs, splendid quarters, great length from hip to hock, and
very fine back sinews. He stands higher behind than he does
forward, a formation we like.... He is very wide between the
jaws.... His coat is fine and glows like the rich dark tints of
polished rosewood.... His temper is kind. We had the pleasure
of seeing him at his work, and unless we are greatly mistaken
he will make an amazingly good one. He has a long and easy way
of going, striking well out behind and tucking his haunches
well under him.”
Though from the fact that this writer stated that Wilkes “was as handsome
as Ethan Allen,” we might suspect him of a tendency to “paint the lily,”
it will be noted that this was written before the horse had any great
reputation to speak of, and it may be accepted as a substantially correct
description as far as it goes. In describing his action Charles J. Foster
wrote that “his hind leg when straightened out in action as he went at
his best pace reminded me of that of a duck swimming.” He was then the
property of Z. E. Simmons, who had purchased him as a three-year-old for
$3,000, and another horse.
George Wilkes, or Robert Fillingham, as he was first named, was a trotter
from colthood. At four years old he was matched against Guy Miller, but
his party paid forfeit, the reason therefor being afterward alleged
that they found Fillingham possessed of so much speed that they decided
to “lay for bigger game.” The late Alden Goldsmith, a most competent
judge, saw the colt trot at this time and then thought he was the fastest
horse he had ever seen. He won a race in August of his five-year-old
year, taking a record of 2:33, and the next year sprang into wide fame
by defeating the then popular idol, Ethan Allen, in straight heats, over
the Union Course, the fastest heat being in 2:24¾. In October of that
year he started in harness against General Butler, under saddle. Though
Butler was no match for George Wilkes in harness, with a saddle on his
back, and Dan Mace in the saddle, he was almost unbeatable in his day,
but it took him four heats to beat Wilkes, who forced him out in the
first heat in 2:21½, a record he never after surpassed. Then William L.
Simmons and John Morrissey matched Wilkes against Butler, two-mile heats
to wagon, the latter having previously beaten the great George M. Patchen
a heat in record-breaking time under similar conditions. In preparation
for that match George Wilkes was sent a trial over the Centerville
Course, concerning which there has been much discussion and probably much
romance. Charles J. Foster wrote thus:
“It was a close, sultry day and the stallion was short of
work.... He went the two-mile trial and I have no doubt it was
faster than trotter ever had before, or has since, in any rig.
But it ‘cooked his mutton,’ as the saying is, and for a long
time he was George Wilkes no more.”
It is said that ever after this trial, whatever it may have been, George
Wilkes was inclined to sulk in his races. He raced with fair success
in 1863 and 1864, and at the beginning of 1865 was classed among the
very best out. He was sent against Dexter and Lady Thorn, being beaten
by both; but in 1866 he twice defeated Lady Thorn, the last time in a
notable wagon race over Union Course in 2:27, 2:25, 2:26¾. Afterward
in the same year Lady Thorn defeated Wilkes in four successive races,
and she beat him again in their only meeting the following year, but in
1868 he defeated the mare in a hard-fought race, she winning the first
and second heats and making the fourth heat dead. George Wilkes made
his record of 2:22, October 13, 1868, over the Narragansett Course at
Providence in a winning race with Rhode Island and Draco. He was kept on
the turf with indifferent success until 1872, racing frequently against
Lucy, Lady Thorn, and American Girl, all of whom outclassed him, at least
in the afternoon of his racing career. Just how fast a trotter George
Wilkes was it is impossible definitely to determine, so many and varying
have been the representations on that point. It has been claimed that
he went a quarter in twenty-nine seconds to an eighty-five pound wagon.
William L. Simmons some years ago stated that of his own knowledge George
Wilkes trotted a mile and repeat as a six-year-old at the Centerville
Course in 2:19¼, 2:18½, and that Sam McLaughlin drove him a half-mile to
wagon over Union Course in 1:04½. These statements I give for what may
be deemed their worth, contenting myself with the remark that it is safe
to conclude that George Wilkes would have trotted well within the 2:20
mark, if he had been managed with a view to bringing out his highest
racing capacity, instead of being handled solely for the purpose of smart
betting and match-making manipulations.
George Wilkes was taken to Lexington, Kentucky, by William L. Simmons,
his owner, in 1873, and in his declining years made a reputation so great
in the stud that his brilliant turf career is almost forgotten. After
having trotted against the best in the country for twelve successive
years, proving his fitness in the fiery ordeal of turf contest, he, in
the nine remaining years of his life, fulfilled the purpose of his being,
and demonstrated the truth of heredity by getting trotters in plenty able
to do and outdo what he had in his day done.
George Wilkes got a few foals before going to Kentucky, of which the most
notable was May Bird, 2:21, the first trotter to bring him reputation
as a sire. Of the others got in the North, Young Wilkes, 2:28¼, a sire
of some reputation, and Wilkes Spirit, who also figures in the table of
sires, are the only ones to earn places in the records. Early in the
eighties George Wilkes began to assume high rank as a sire, May Bird,
Kentucky Wilkes, Prospect Maid, So So, Joe Bunker and others bringing
him into prominence. Every year added to his roll of honor and soon
he was among the leaders. Blue Bull had surpassed Hambletonian in the
number of trotters to his credit in the 2:30 list, but at the close of
1886 George Wilkes was even with the Indiana sire, in 1887 he passed
him, and for some seasons led all sires of 2:30 performers. George
Wilkes got seventy-two trotters and eleven pacers to acquire standard
records, of which the most noted were Harry Wilkes, 2:13½, Guy Wilkes,
2:15¼, and Wilson, 2:16¼; and ninety-four of his sons and eighty-one of
his daughters have produced, as shown in the table of Hambletonian’s
sons, 1801 standard performers. The following table embraces the sons
of George Wilkes that have twenty or more standard performers to their
credit:
LEADING SONS OF GEORGE WILKES.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Total No. produced in two generations.
-----------------------------------------------------------+
Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. |
----------------------------------------------------+ |
Producing daughters. | |
----------------------------------------------+ | |
Producing sons. | | |
----------------------------------------+ | | |
Standard performers. | | | |
----------------------------------+ | | | |
Year foaled. | | | | |
---------------------------+ | | | | |
Name. | | | | | |
---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------
Red Wilkes, 2:40 | 1874 | 127 | 62 | 41 | 267 | 394
Onward, 2:25¼ | 1875 | 120 | 64 | 32 | 275 | 395
Alcantara, 2:23 | 1876 | 98 | 29 | 15 | 115 | 213
Bourbon Wilkes | 1875 | 67 | 14 | 12 | 45 | 112
Simmons, 2:28 | 1879 | 64 | 13 | 6 | 35 | 99
Wilton, 2:19¼ | 1880 | 61 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 69
Jay Bird, 2:31¾ | 1878 | 57 | 10 | 10 | 68 | 125
Alcyone, 2:27 | 1877 | 55 | 27 | 9 | 117 | 172
Guy Wilkes, 2:15¼ | 1879 | 52 | 10 | 5 | 49 | 101
Ambassador, 2:21¼ | 1875 | 48 | 8 | 3 | 33 | 81
Gambetta Wilkes, 2:26 | 1881 | 48 | 11 | 6 | 32 | 80
Baron Wilkes, 2:18 | 1882 | 47 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 65
Adrian Wilkes | 1878 | 38 | 6 | 7 | 25 | 63
Wilkes Boy, 2:24½ | 1880 | 37 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 45
Young Jim | 1874 | 37 | 11 | 19 | 43 | 80
Brown Wilkes, 2:21¾ | 1876 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 39 | 71
Young Wilkes, 2:28¼ | 1868 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 41
Favorite Wilkes, 2:24½ | 1877 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 44
Woodford Wilkes | 1882 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 35
Wilkie Collins | 1876 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 31
Lumps, 2:21 | 1875 | 20 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 36
The King, 2:29¼ | 1874 | 20 | —— | —— | —— | 20
Jersey Wilkes | 1881 | 20 | —— | 2 | 2 | 22
---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------
Among the other seventy-one producing sons of George Wilkes: that do
not come within the scope of this table are many most promising sires
of rapidly growing prominence, and indeed this family is branching out
wonderfully in every direction. This family is an emphatically improving
one. In extreme speed, in racing capacity, and in form the third Wilkes
generation is better than either the second or first. Of trotters, such
as Beuzetta, 2:06¾, Ralph Wilkes, 2:06¾, Hulda, 2:08½, Allerton, 2:09¼,
the once sensational Axtell, 2:12, and many others of the first rank
by sons of George Wilkes sustain this judgment. The pacing instinct is
rampant in the Wilkes blood, as is attested by the fact that twenty-five
per cent. of the performing get of George Wilkes’ sons are pacers,
and frequently pacers of extreme speed, including such as Joe Patchen,
2:03, and Rubenstein, 2:05, while John R. Gentry, 2:00½, Online, 2:04,
and Frank Agan, 2:03, are by grandsons of Wilkes. Like his sire, George
Wilkes got many sons greater than himself—and after all that is the true
test of greatness in a progenitor.
[Illustration: ELECTIONEER.
A Great Son of Hambletonian.]
ELECTIONEER has for some years led, far and away, all sires of trotters
in the numbers of performers to his credit in both the 2:20 list and
2:30 list, and is generally conceded to have had no equal as a producer
of early speed—that is, of colts and fillies that trotted fast at tender
ages. In many respects this was the most remarkable horse of any age,
for besides being phenomenally prolific in transmitting speed at the
trot, and in getting early trotters, he possessed in a higher degree than
any sire that has yet lived the ability to control running blood in the
dam, and to impress his own instinct and action upon his progeny out of
any and all kinds of mares. In speaking on his pet hobby of producing
trotters from thoroughbred running mares, Governor Stanford once said
to me: “None of my stallions but Electioneer can do it;” and of all the
hundreds of stallions that have been mated with thoroughbred mares in
the hope of getting a trotter of extreme speed, Electioneer alone was
able to do it. Palo Alto, 2:08¼, is so far faster than any other trotting
horse out of a thoroughbred dam—the one solitary instance on record of a
half-bred trotter of extreme speed—that he is significant in one way, and
one only, and that is as an evidence of the phenomenal prepotency of the
blood of his sire in controlling instinct and action.
Electioneer was a dark bay horse, foaled May 2, 1868, bred by Charles
Backman, at his Stonyford Stud, Orange County, New York. He was got by
Hambletonian, out of Green Mountain Maid, by Harry Clay, 2:29, grandam
the fast trotting mare Shanghai Mary, pedigree not established, but in
all probability a daughter of Iron’s Cadmus, the sire of the famous
old pacer and brood mare Pocahontas, 2:17½. (In Chapter XXIX., on the
investigation of pedigrees, the history of Shanghai Mary is fully given.)
Green Mountain Maid, the dam of Electioneer, has been called by Mr.
Backman, and with justice, “the great mother of trotters.” In all she
bore sixteen foals, fourteen of which were by the not remarkable horse
Messenger Duroc. Electioneer was her second foal and the only one by
Hambletonian. Of the other fifteen, nine have records of 2:30 and better,
another has a record of 2:31, another, Paul, was a very fast road
horse, and two died young. Of her four sons kept entire, Electioneer,
Mansfield, Antonio, and Lancelot, all are sires of trotters, and her
daughters already figure as producers. The figures would seem to point to
the daughter of Shanghai Mary and Harry Clay, 2:29, as perhaps the most
wonderful of all great trotting brood mares. She was a brown mare, barely
fifteen hands high, with a star and white hind ankles, and was finely
formed, with an exceptionally beautifully outlined and expressive head.
She had very superior trotting action, the trot being her fastest natural
gait. A writer who made a very close study of her history said, on this
point, in _Wallace’s Monthly_:
“Her education was limited to a single lesson when three
years old; but previously she had been regularly developed on
somewhat the same plan since adopted for early training at
Palo Alto, and was probably one of the fastest trotters out of
harness that ever lived.”
As a matter of fact Green Mountain Maid, while in no sense vicious,
was so highly strung, wild and uncontrollable, that her training was
abandoned with the “one lesson” referred to, and she never wore harness
again.
Green Mountain Maid was a money producer as well as a speed producer. Mr.
Backman paid four hundred and fifty dollars for her when she was carrying
her first foal, and the writer above quoted states that up to that date
(1889) Mr. Backman had received sixty-eight thousand eight hundred
and thirty dollars for such of her progeny as he had then sold. This
remarkable mare died June 6, 1888, and a fitting monument marks her grave
by the banks of the Walkill.
At maturity Electioneer was of that shade of bay that many might call
brown, and stood precisely fifteen and one-half hands at the wither
and an inch higher measured at the quarter. Many of his get, notably
Sunol, are pronouncedly higher behind than at the wither. In general
conformation, Electioneer was a stout and muscular horse, standing on
fairly short legs. His head was well proportioned, of fair size, and
a model of intelligent beauty. The forehead was broad and brainy, the
eyes large and softly expressive, and the profile regular, with just
the faintest suggestion of concavity beneath the line of the eyes.
Electioneer’s neck was a trifle too short for elegance of proportion,
but not gross. His shoulder was good, the barrel round, of good depth
and proportionate in length and well ribbed, and the coupling simply
faultless. The quarters were marvelous, and Mr. Marvin did not overstate
the case when he said they were the best he had ever seen on any
stallion. They were the very incarnation of driving power, and recalled
Herbert Kittredge’s portrait of Hambletonian, except that there was
nothing gross or meaty about the buttocks of Electioneer. They were the
perfection of muscular endowment and development. The arms and gaskins,
like the quarters, were full with muscle laid on muscle, and the legs and
feet were naturally excellent. In the last years of his life he went over
on his knees a bit, but that was not strange considering his age, and the
fact that he had seen considerable track work. Indeed as long as he was
at all vigorous he was daily exercised on the track, and in view of his
great success in the stud, this fact has a special significance.
As a three-year-old Electioneer was worked some on the Stonyford farm
track to wagon, and Mr. Backman, whose word is good enough authority for
all who know him, stated that he showed a quarter to wagon in thirty-nine
seconds in that year. Little else is known of his history at Stonyford.
He was bred to a few, very few mares, and was evidently not greatly
esteemed by Mr. Backman. In the autumn of 1876, ex-Governor Stanford, who
was just establishing his great breeding farm, Palo Alto, in the Santa
Clara Valley, California, visited Stonyford to purchase stock—principally
brood mares. The governor was a great believer in what I may call
horse-physiognomy, or to be more exact, he believed in the importance of
the right psychical organization, what we commonly call brain force, in
horses, and was attracted by the physical evidences thereof as indicated
in the head. Electioneer pleased him in this regard, and in his general
make-up, and when the governor’s purchase was completed Electioneer went
along, being put in at twelve thousand five hundred dollars. He with the
other Stonyford purchases arrived at Palo Alto Christmas Eve, 1876.
Though Electioneer never took a record, he was emphatically a developed
horse. I do not know whether he was ever driven a full mile or not—Mr.
Marvin never drove him one—but it has been stated that one of the other
trainers drove him a mile in time somewhere between 2:20 and 2:25.
However they may be, Mr. Marvin in his book settles the question as to
his having been a fast, trained trotter. He says:
“Electioneer is the most natural trotter I have ever seen.
He has free, abundant action; it is a perfect rolling action
both in front and behind, and he has not the usual fault of
the Hambletonians of going too wide behind. Certain writers
have said that Electioneer could not trot, and have cited him
as a stallion that was not a trotter yet got trotters.... I
have driven, beside Electioneer, a quarter in thirty-five
seconds.... He did this, too, hitched to a one hundred and
twenty-five-pound wagon, with a two hundred and twenty-pound
man, and not a professional driver, either, in the seat. In
this rig he could carry Occident right up to his clip, and
could always keep right with him; and it was no trick for
the famous St. Clair gelding to go a quarter in thirty-four
seconds. Without preparation you could take Electioneer out any
day and drive him an eighth of a mile at a 2:20 gait. He always
had his speed with him.... That Electioneer could have beaten
2:20 if given a regular preparation is with me a conviction
about which no doubt exists.”
Mr. Marvin is a conservative and reliable man; he knew whereof he wrote,
and his testimony must be accepted as conclusive both as to Electioneer’s
having been a naturally fast trotter, and as to his having had his speed
developed. Undeveloped horses do not trot quarters in thirty-five seconds.
When in 1880 Fred Crocker, one of the seven foals got by Electioneer in
his first year’s service in California, astonished the world by trotting
to a two-year-old record of 2:25¾, his sire became instantly famous, and
that fame has increased rapidly and steadily from that day to this. It
was not allowed for a moment to wane or lag. After Fred Crocker came an
ever-surprising procession of young record breakers. In 1881 Hinda Rose
made a yearling record of 2:36½, and Wildflower a two-year-old record
of 2:21. In 1883 Hinda Rose lowered the three-year-old record to 2:19½,
and Bonita the four-year-old record to 2:18¾. In 1886 Manzanita lowered
the four-year-old record to 2:16; in 1887 Norlaine, granddaughter of
Electioneer, lowered the yearling record to 2:31½; and in 1888 Sunol
put the two-year-old record at 2:18, and the year following took a
three-year-old record of 2:10½, the fastest to that date. Sunol captured
the four-year-old record in 1889, and the world’s record, 2:08¼, in 1891,
but what made this the brightest year in all the history of Palo Alto was
that Arion lowered the two-year-old record to 2:10¾—the most remarkable
of all trotting performances—Bell Bird the yearling record to 2:26¼,
and Palo Alto the stallion record to 2:08¾. Electioneer has now to his
credit one hundred and fifty-four standard performers, and in this and in
the 2:20 list he has a long lead over all other sires. He died at Palo
Alto, December 3, 1890, and I am informed that his skeleton has been
articulated and mounted for the museum of the Stanford University. The
following table gives the sons of Electioneer that up to the close of
1896 had ten or more standard performers to their credit:
LEADING SONS OF ELECTIONEER.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Total No. produced in two generations.
-----------------------------------------------------------+
Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. |
----------------------------------------------------+ |
Producing daughters. | |
----------------------------------------------+ | |
Producing sons. | | |
----------------------------------------+ | | |
Standard performers. | | | |
----------------------------------+ | | | |
Year foaled. | | | | |
---------------------------+ | | | | |
Name. | | | | | |
---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------
Saint Bell, 2:24½ | 1882 | 47 | 1 | —— | 1 | 48
Sphinx, 2:20½ | 1883 | 43 | —— | —— | —— | 43
Chimes, 2:30¾ | 1884 | 32 | 3 | —— | 3 | 35
Anteeo, 2:16¼ | 1879 | 28 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 40
Norval, 2:14¾ | 1882 | 24 | 1 | —— | 1 | 25
Egotist, 2:22½ | 1885 | 18 | 1 | —— | 1 | 19
Anteros | 1882 | 16 | —— | 2 | 2 | 18
Elector (2170), 2:31 | 1879 | 16 | —— | —— | —— | 16
Albert W., 2:20 | 1878 | 15 | 1 | —— | 1 | 16
Eros, 2:29¼ | 1879 | 14 | 3 | —— | 4 | 18
Antevolo, 2:19½ | 1881 | 13 | —— | 1 | 11 | 14
*Bell Boy, 2:19¼ | 1885 | 11 | 1 | —— | 1 | 12
Fallis, 2:23 | 1878 | 10 | 1 | —— | 3 | 13
Palo Alto, 2:08¾ | 1882 | 10 | —— | —— | —— | 10
---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------
* Died at 5 years old.
In considering this table it is necessary to remember that the
Electioneer family dates from 1878, and that no family of anything
approaching so late a date makes a showing that will bear comparison with
this. In considering the rank of families this question of age is always
vital. Electioneer’s first crop of foals at Palo Alto—1878—numbered
seven, and of these two are represented above, while another was the
famous gelding Fred Crocker. The next numbered but twenty-one, and of
these Eros, Elector, and Anteeo are in the table, and ten are in the
2:20 list. His third and fourth crops (1880 and 1881) numbered sixteen
and twenty-three respectively, and the forty of 1882 was the greatest
number he ever got in one year. I am informed that in all Electioneer
got less than four hundred foals at Palo Alto; and that, since the first
one saw light in 1878 this family should in eighteen years make the
showing it has with nearly fifty per cent. of its members in the 2:30
list, and four hundred and ninety-three of the second generation also
there, is certainly remarkable. Electioneer has to his credit in the
2:15 list the following trotters: Arion, 2:07¾, Sunol, 2:08¼, Palo Alto,
2:08¾, Helena, 2:12½, Belleflower, 2:12¾, Utility, 2:13, Quality, 2:13¼,
Conductor, 2:14¼, and Norval, 2:14¾, an “extreme speed list” greater
than to the credit of any other sire, while among the get of his sons
are such trotters as Azote, 2:04¾, Fantasy, 2:06, Little Albert, 2:10,
Lynne Bel, 2:10½, Copeland, 2:11½, Athanio, 2:11¾, Cobwebs, 2:12, etc.,
etc. Sixty-five of his sons have sired four hundred and thirty-seven
performers, and forty-three of his daughters have produced fifty-six
performers. With all these facts kept in view the study of the above
table will prove interesting and instructive in forming an estimate of
the merit of Electioneer as a trotting progenitor.
[Illustration: ABDALLAH (ALEXANDER’S).
A Great Son of Hambletonian.]
ALEXANDER’S ABDALLAH was the founder of one of the very greatest of the
Hambletonian sub-families, and he stands in the records as a progenitor
of the first rank. This was a stout bay horse, about fifteen and one-half
hands high. Excepting a right white ankle he was a rich solid bay. The
only reliable portrait in existence of this horse was a drawing by
Herbert Kittredge, made from a photograph taken of Abdallah after he went
to Kentucky. The picture of Abdallah published in this work is a faithful
reproduction of the Kittredge portrait published in _Wallace’s Monthly_
for March, 1881, and in the absence of any reliable detailed description
of the horse this portrait must be taken as the best reflection we now
have of his individuality. He was bred by Lewis J. Sutton, of Warwick,
Orange County, New York, and was foaled 1852. Mr. Sutton had in 1851
a good road mare that he had got at Carl Young’s roadhouse in Third
Avenue, New York. This mare, Katy Darling, had been quite a trotter,
and had, it was said, won a match race on Union Course. Her reputation
as a trotter and her fine form caused Mr. Sutton to buy her when, as he
describes it, “she was standing on three legs,” in the hope of getting a
foal from her. He took her home in March, 1851, and in August bred her
to Rysdyk’s Hambletonian, then a two-year-old colt, and September 22,
1852, she produced the subject of this sketch. Two years later Mr. Sutton
sold Katy Darling to James W. Benedict, of Warwick, from whom she was
purchased by Hezekiah Hoyt, who took her to Muscatine, Iowa, where she
produced a chestnut colt that was gelded, by Hector, son of La Tourrett’s
Bellfounder. This gelding was her only foal other than Alexander’s
Abdallah, and Katy Darling died at Muscatine, the property of a Mr.
Stewart. A search was long kept up for the pedigree of this mare, and for
the full details of what is known of her history the reader is referred
to the different volumes of _Wallace’s Monthly_. The conclusion from all
the evidence found is that she was probably by a son of Andrew Jackson.
As a foal by his dam’s side Alexander’s Abdallah attracted much favorable
attention by his fine trotting action, and his persistency in cavorting
around at that gait. Among those who took great delight in watching the
little fellow trot was Mr. Hezekiah Hoyt, and when the youngster was
seventeen months old Mr. Hoyt, acting for, or in partnership with, Major
Edsall, bought the colt for five hundred dollars, a fine price at that
time. Major Edsall kept him until he was seven years old, and I am under
the impression that he won some local races during that time, when he
was known as Edsall’s Hambletonian. He was accorded a fairly liberal
patronage in Orange County, and his progeny showed so well that Major
Edsall sold him for three thousand dollars in 1859 to Joel F. Love and
James Miller, of Cynthiana, Kentucky. The Hambletonian family was just
then becoming popular, and the price paid indicates that this horse was
already regarded by good judges as one of Hambletonian’s best sons.
That he was regarded, moreover, as quite a trotter is indicated by the
fact that at the close of his second season in Kentucky—1860—Mr. Miller
matched him against Albion, a competing stallion, for two hundred and
fifty dollars a side. The affair caused quite a sensation at the time,
the Cynthiana horsemen going in crowds to Lexington to back Abdallah.
The latter was driven by “Jim” Monroe, and Albion by Warren Peabody,
and Abdallah won in the hollowest fashion, distancing Albion in 2:46.
As youngsters Abdallah’s first progeny in Kentucky showed very well,
and in the spring of 1863 he was purchased by R. A. Alexander, and made
the seasons of 1863 and 1864 at Woodburn. On the evening of February 2,
1865, Marion’s band of Confederate guerrillas raided Woodburn and took
away a number of horses, among them Alexander’s Abdallah and the then
famous young trotter, Bay Chief, by Mambrino Chief. Marion mounted Bay
Chief and, crossing the Kentucky River, the band encamped on the farm of
a Mr. Bush, in a rough, hilly region, twelve miles from Woodburn. Here
the next morning the Federal cavalry, that were sent in pursuit after
the raid, came up with the raiders, and after a sharp fight routed them.
Marion, on Bay Chief, was a conspicuous mark for Federal bullets during
the skirmish. Early in the fray Bay Chief was shot through the muzzle,
through both thighs, and one hock. In this condition he carried his rider
two miles in the retreat, when the horse was so weakened by loss of blood
that a Federal cavalryman overtook them. His piece being empty, the
soldier aimed a blow at Marion, but missing him, lost his balance, and
fell from his horse. The guerrilla leader quickly saw his opportunity,
jumped from Bay Chief, mounted the soldier’s horse, and escaped. Bay
Chief died about ten days later, despite all efforts made to save him.
Meanwhile, Alexander’s Abdallah had been found, safe and sound, by a
Federal soldier in Mr. Bush’s stable. The soldier refused to give him up
to Mr. Alexander’s men, and declared he would send him North and keep him
until he got a large reward for his return. The horse was barefooted and
in no condition for hard usage. And so they rode him off, and after going
some forty or fifty miles he gave out, and they turned him loose on the
road. He was found next day in a pitiable condition by the roadside, and
brought back as far as Lawrenceburg on his way home, where he was taken
with pneumonia and died a few days later.
Just how great a loss this was to the trotting breed was not realized
until long after—until in fact Goldsmith Maid had conquered all before
her, and made a record as a campaigner never equaled, and until his two
great sons, Almont and Belmont, rose to pre-eminent places in the list of
great sires. Other sons of this remarkable progenitor have taken rank as
sires, and his daughters proved of the highest excellence as brood mares;
but Almont and Belmont have each established such large, important, and
popular sub-families that this work would be incomplete without some
brief sketch of each.
Alexander’s Abdallah got Goldsmith Maid, 2:14, Rosalind, 2:21⅔,
Thorndale, 2:22¼, Major Edsall, 2:29, and St. Elmo, 2:30. Fourteen of
his sons have produced one hundred and fifty-five standard performers,
and twenty-nine of his daughters have produced forty-four standard
performers, among them being the noted campaigners, Favonia, 2:15, and
Jerome Eddy, 2:16⅔, the latter also a successful sire. The following
table gives the families of his most prominent sons:
LEADING SONS OF ALEXANDER’S ABDALLAH.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total No. produced in two generations.
------------------------------------------------------------------+
Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. |
-----------------------------------------------------------+ |
Producing daughters. | |
-----------------------------------------------------+ | |
Producing sons. | | |
-----------------------------------------------+ | | |
Standard performers. | | | |
-----------------------------------------+ | | | |
Year died. | | | | |
----------------------------------+ | | | | |
Year foaled. | | | | | |
---------------------------+ | | | | | |
Name. | | | | | | |
---------------------------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+-----
Almont, 2:39¾ | 1864 | 1884 | 37 | 95 | 72 | 609 | 646
Belmont | 1864 | 1889 | 58 | 63 | 48 | 560 | 618
Hambletonian (Wood’s) | 1858 | 1885 | 24 | 12 | 13 | 49 | 73
Major Edsall, 2:29 | 1859 | 1886 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 87 | 90
Thorndale, 2:22¼ | 1865 | 1894 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 47 | 57
Jim Munro | 1861 | 1882 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 38 | 46
Abdallah Pilot | 1865 | 1881 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 20
---------------------------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+-----
ALMONT was bred at Woodburn Farm, was foaled 1864, and was by Alexander’s
Abdallah out of Sally Anderson, by Mambrino Chief; grandam Kate, a
wonderfully fast pacer by Pilot Jr. Colonel R. P. Pepper informed me
that he knew Kate as well as any of his own horses, and that her speed
at the pace was “simply terrific.” Kate, whose dam was called the
Pope mare, pedigree unknown, had several foals, among them the “catch
filly” that was the dam of Clay Pilot, sire of The Moor, that got the
great brood mare Beautiful Bells, 2:29½, and Sultan, 2:24, the sire of
the world-famous Stamboul, 2:07½. Thus the blood of this pacing Pilot
Jr. mare figures in three great sub-families, the Almont family, the
Beautiful Bells family, and the Sultan family. Almont was a beautiful
cherry bay, very rich in shade, and without any white whatever. He
was fifteen hands two and one-quarter inches high at the wither,
somewhat higher behind, and stoutly and symmetrically made all over.
He could not be called a handsome or highly finished horse, but he was
emphatically a well-made one. He had very excellent feet and legs,
and these he reproduced with great uniformity, as well as his very
intelligent and even disposition. He was trained early at Woodburn,
and, like his sire, started but once and distanced his competitor in
2:39¾, this being in his four-year-old form. He soon after showed 2:32
over the slow Woodburn track, and was sold to the late Colonel Richard
West for eight thousand dollars and put in the stud. In 1874 the late
General W. T. Withers, Lexington, Kentucky, bought him for fifteen
thousand dollars, and a half dozen of years later he was very generally
regarded as the greatest of living sires, and his prestige made the
name of Fairlawn Farm of world-wide renown, and made his owner rich.
The fact that ninety-five of his sons have sired standard performers,
a greater number of producing sons than is to the credit of any other
horse, Hambletonian alone excepted, indicates the high rank Almont must
be accorded as a progenitor. In considering his success it is well for
breeders particularly to note that good judges considered Almont capable
of showing a 2:20 gait any day, and that, like Electioneer, he always was
daily given regular and ample track exercise. His gait has been described
as bold and open, without an excess of knee action, but with immense
display of power behind. Almont died of spasmodic colic, July 4, 1884, in
the fullness of his fame, and at an age when, had he been more discreetly
used in the stud, he should have been at his prime as a stock horse.
Almont was hardly a sensational horse in his day, the performance of
Westmont at Chicago in 1884, when he paced a mile with running mate
in 2:01¾, being the one sensational performance to the credit of his
progeny. This lightning streak of pacing speed that so often crops
out in the Almont family can be readily accounted for by the student
of breeding. As has been noted, his grandam Kate, by Pilot Jr., was a
phenomenally fast pacer, and, as we have indicated, her blood proved
potent in more than one line. In addition to this there was a strong
tendency to pace among the progeny of Alexander’s Abdallah. St. Elmo
was first shown at fairs in Kentucky under saddle and as a pacer, and
many others of Abdallah’s get were known to naturally pace. When we
reflect that in Almont this Alexander’s Abdallah blood with its pacing
predilection was united with the blood of the old lightning pacer, Kate,
we need not be surprised at the great number of fast pacers that came
from Almont and his sons. Belmont, too, has shown a tendency to get the
pacing gait with great frequency, but not in such frequency or at such
high rates as his son Nutwood. As there could not be traced any known
pacing blood in Belmont’s dam, and as the fact that Alexander’s Abdallah
transmitted an inclination to pace has been generally not known or
ignored, some writers have been unable to understand why the Belmonts
paced. He got pacers because he inherited that capacity from his sire,
and Nutwood got more and faster pacers than Belmont, because in him the
pacing inclination inherited from Alexander’s Abdallah was reinforced by
the strong pacing inheritance of his dam, Miss Russell, the granddaughter
of Old Pacing Pilot.
As shown in the table of Alexander’s Abdallah’s sons, Almont got
thirty-seven standard performers, ninety-five of his sons sired five
hundred and three standard performers, and seventy-two of his daughters
produced one hundred and six standard performers. His most successful
sons are embraced in the following table:
LEADING SONS OF ALMONT.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Performers produced in two generations.
-----------------------------------------------------------+
Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. |
----------------------------------------------------+ |
Producing daughters. | |
----------------------------------------------+ | |
Producing sons. | | |
----------------------------------------+ | | |
Standard performers. | | | |
----------------------------------+ | | | |
Year foaled. | | | | |
---------------------------+ | | | | |
Name. | | | | | |
---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------
Almont Jr. (1829), 2:26 | 1872 | 44 | 7 | 20 | 39 | 83
Altamont, 2:26¾ | 1875 | 39 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 49
Atlantic, 2:21 | 1878 | 24 | 6 | 12 | 22 | 46
Piedmont, 2:17¼ | 1871 | 19 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 37
Almont Jr. (1764), 2:29 | 1871 | 19 | 11 | 11 | 51 | 70
King Almont, 2:21¼ | 1874 | 14 | —— | 1 | 1 | 15
Pasacas, 2:43 | 1870 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 27
Almonarch, 2:24¾ | 1875 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 20
Allie Gaines | 1875 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 29
Harbinger | 1879 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13
*Allie West, 2:25 | 1870 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 31
Abdallah Mambrino | 1870 | 13 | 1 | 11 | 24 | 37
---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------
* Died at 6 years old.
This line is justly regarded with growing favor as one of our very
best and most productive sub-families, and one that is breeding on
excellently, generation after generation.
BELMONT was a bay horse of very superior form and finish, bred at
Woodburn Farm, and foaled there in 1864. He was by Alexander’s Abdallah,
out of Belle (that also produced McCurdy’s Hambletonian, 2:26½, and
Bicara, the dam of Pancoast, 2:21¾) by Mambrino Chief; grandam Belle
Lupe, by Brown’s Bellfounder. Belmont and Almont were of the same age,
and, perhaps because of his finer appearance, Belmont seems to have been
the preferred one at Woodburn, and was retained while Almont was sold.
Though Belmont was a successful horse and established a great family, no
thinking man can contend that he was the equal of Almont as a sire, when
all the circumstances are considered. Almont spent almost his entire stud
career at Fairlawn, where there never were five mares worthy in blood
to be in a great trotting stud, where there were scores of mares of all
kinds of poor and freakish pedigrees, even to “Arabs,” and where none of
the stock was ever trained. Belmont, on the other hand, was all his life
at the head of the most famous, and, in his younger years, unquestionably
the best collection of trotting brood mares in the world, and where a
training department was always maintained. Remembering these conditions,
and contemplating the statistics of the two families, it is interesting
to speculate as to how the records would stand had Belmont been at
Fairlawn, and Almont at Woodburn.
LEADING SONS OF BELMONT.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Performers produced in two generations.
-----------------------------------------------------------+
Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. |
----------------------------------------------------+ |
Producing daughters. | |
----------------------------------------------+ | |
Producing sons. | | |
----------------------------------------+ | | |
Standard performers. | | | |
----------------------------------+ | | | |
Year foaled. | | | | |
---------------------------+ | | | | |
Name. | | | | | |
---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------
Nutwood, 2:18¾ | 1870 | 136 | 90 | 69 | 432 | 568
King Rene, 2:30½ | 1875 | 35 | 17 | 16 | 55 | 90
Egmont | 1873 | 34 | 13 | 11 | 38 | 72
Wedgewood, 2:19 | 1871 | 31 | 12 | 9 | 60 | 91
Vatican, 2:29¼ | 1879 | 14 | —— | —— | —— | 14
Warlock | 1880 | 12 | —— | —— | —— | 12
Monaco | 1878 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 18
Waterloo, 2:19¼ | 1882 | 10 | —— | 1 | 1 | 11
Meander, 2:26½ | 1879 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 17
Mambritonian, 2:20½ | 1883 | 10 | —— | —— | —— | 10
Herschell | 1883 | 10 | —— | —— | —— | 10
---------------------------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+------
Belmont, besides having the advantage of excellent individuality was also
a trotter of no mean speed. He was driven a mile over the working track
at Woodburn in 2:28½, and was, therefore, a quite well-developed trotter.
He never appeared in public, and has, therefore, no public history.
The most successful of his sons has been Nutwood, whose dam was Miss
Russell, the dam of Maud S. This horse was himself a fast trotter in his
day, taking a record of 2:18¾, and rose to great popularity and success
in the stud. Daughters of Belmont, being nearly all out of producing
mares, are greatly and justly esteemed as brood mares. Belmont died at
Woodburn November 15, 1889. Belmont got fifty-eight standard performers,
sixty-three of his sons sired four hundred and eighty-nine standard
performers, and forty-eight of his daughters produced seventy-one
standard performers. The rank of his best sons is shown on the preceding
page; all having ten or more in the list of standard performers being
included in the table.
VOLUNTEER stands pre-eminent among trotting sires as the one horse
against not one of whose get the epithet “quitter” was, as far as I am
aware, ever hurled. He did not get speed with remarkable uniformity, nor
did his progeny develop speed early or rapidly. They required persistent
training, but when speed was developed in a Volunteer you had with
it every other quality of a resolute, enduring race horse. They were
hardy, rugged, good-limbed horses, and uniformly possessed stamina and
resolution in the highest degree. Volunteer had the advantage of being
owned by Alden Goldsmith, an ambitious and experienced horseman, and the
father of two of the most successful trainers of our day. The Volunteers
had, therefore, every advantage that training could give, and his rise to
fame was largely due to Mr. Goldsmith’s constantly developing and racing
his progeny.
In 1853 Mr. Joseph Hetzel, Florida, Orange County, New York, bred the
bay mare Lady Patriot to Hambletonian, 10, and Volunteer was foaled
May 1, 1854. This mare, Lady Patriot, was by a horse called Young
Patriot, and out of Mr. Lewis Hulse’s trotting mare, and that is all
that is known of her pedigree. Her sire’s pedigree is wholly unknown.
She produced a numerous family, among them being Sentinel, 2:29¾, and
Green’s Hambletonian, brothers of Volunteer, and of some rank as sires,
and Marksman, by Thorndale, that is also in the table of sires, while her
daughter Heroine, sister to Volunteer, produced Shawmut, 2:26.
Volunteer was a bay horse, with a little white around the left hind
coronet, fifteen hands three inches at the wither, and sixteen hands
measured at the coupling. He has been considered by many good judges to
have been the handsomest of all the sons of Hambletonian. He was a horse
of superb form and of great elegance of carriage. With sufficient of
muscle and substance, he was built on graceful, finished lines, with a
beautiful head loftily carried, a long and graceful neck, a body stout
but finely molded, and all set off by a handsome mane and tail. His feet
and legs were of superb quality, and despite his great age they were, it
is said, without fault or blemish to the last. His temper and disposition
were good, though he was very high-spirited, and in harness he was
especially attractive. As a four-year-old Volunteer was sold to Mr. R.
C. Underhill, of Brooklyn, after he had won a premium at the Orange
County fair. In April, 1861, Mr. Underhill sent him to Tim T. Jackson,
of Jamaica, Long Island, and in _Wallace’s Monthly_ for December, 1880,
Mr. Jackson gave his experiences with Volunteer, making among others this
specific statement:
“I had him at Union Course one day, and met Mr. Alfred M.
Tredwell there, and I got him to hold that watch on him. Had
him in quite a heavy single-seated wagon, weighing probably one
hundred and twenty-five or one hundred and thirty pounds. On
the first trial he trotted in 2:33. I said to Mr. Tredwell that
he could beat that, and he trotted the next mile in 2:31¼.”
He had previously been trained by William Whelan, at Union Course.
It was June 26, 1862, while he was in Jackson’s hands, that Alden
Goldsmith, in partnership with Edwin Thorne, purchased this horse,
then called Hambletonian Jr., and he soon afterward became the sole
property of Mr. Goldsmith. Mr. Rysdyk greatly resented his having been
called Hambletonian Jr., and early regarded him as a possible rival of
Hambletonian, and there was war from the start between the adherents
of sire and son. The Civil War was just then at its height, and the
patriotic and military spirit rampant, and Mr. Goldsmith aptly named
his horse Volunteer. Mr. H. T. Helm, who wrote a very detailed history
of Volunteer twenty years ago, credits him with having trotted in 2:36
to wagon at the Goshen Fair in the fall of 1862, beating Winfield, Grey
Confidence and others. At Hartford, Connecticut, in August, 1867, he beat
George M. Patchen Jr., in a single dash in 2:37. He was, like nearly all
the other great sires, a developed trotter.
It is said that his early stud opportunities were so limited that at ten
years old he had but eighteen living foals. The first of his get entered
the 2:30 list in 1871, but from that time on his list rapidly grew, and
the great campaigners Gloster, Alley, Driver, Bodine, Huntress, the great
three-miler, and finally St. Julien, 2:11¼, then the fastest trotter in
the world, so spread the fame of Volunteer that when his sire died in
1876 he was regarded as the greatest living sire of trotters. In 1882
Mr. R. S. Veech, probably the most intelligent breeder in all Kentucky,
while on a visit to New York, telegraphed Mr. Goldsmith to know whether
it was worth while for him to visit Walnut Grove, with a view to buying
Volunteer, and Mr. Goldsmith’s answer reveals the regard in which he held
his horse. The pith of his admirably written letter was in this paragraph:
“While there is no person that would be more welcome at the
farm than yourself, if the only object of your visit would
be the purchase of Volunteer, then your trip would not be a
profitable or successful one, as no breeder in Kentucky has
money enough to buy him.... I have as high a regard for money
as the most of men for the uses it may subserve, but there are
certain things which money cannot buy, as the Teacher of old
taught Simon the Samaritan.”
And so Volunteer remained at Walnut Grove, and “lagged superfluous on the
stage” long after his owner had passed away, and died December 13, 1888,
at the extraordinary age of thirty-four years, seven months and twelve
days.
Volunteer sired thirty-four standard performers, and forty of his sons
and forty-eight of his daughters produced an aggregate of two hundred
and twenty-one standard performers. The most successful of his sons
is the Michigan sire, Louis Napoleon, that was out of the Harry Clay
mare, Hattie Wood, dam also of Victor Bismarck and Gazelle, 2:21. Louis
Napoleon has twenty-seven in the standard list, and fourteen of his sons
and twenty-two of his daughters are producers, his best son being Jerome
Eddy, 2:16½, sire of Fanny Wilcox, 2:10¼, and twenty-seven other standard
performers.
DICTATOR very early in his career attracted attention as the full brother
to the famous Dexter, who was his senior by five years, and who was
king of the trotting turf, and the most famous trotter in all the world
just at the time when Dictator was merging from colthood to maturity.
Dictator had thus from the very start the advantage of splendid stud
opportunities. He was bred by Jonathan Hawkins, of Walden, Orange County,
New York, and was foaled in 1863. He was got by Hambletonian out of the
famous Clara, the dam of Dexter, 2:17¼, Alma, 2:28¾, Astoria, 2:29½,
etc., by Seely’s American Star; grandam the McKinstry mare, breeding
unknown, but that produced Shark with a saddle record of 2:27¾. Dictator
was a seal-brown horse with a white rear ankle, and stood scant fifteen
hands and one inch. He was made on a small but a fine model, and was,
all in all, a handsome little horse, and most of his get partook of
his fine quality of structure, though many were unsound. Shortly after
Dexter made his _début_ on the turf, Dictator was bought by Mr. Harrison
Durkee, a wealthy New York gentleman who had an extensive stock farm at
Flushing, Long Island. The colt was then but eleven months old and was
left at the Hawkins farm until two years old. Then he was sent to Mr.
Alden Goldsmith’s place, at Washingtonville, to be broken, after which
he was taken to Mr. Durkee’s farm. The colt was very fast, but the fame
of Dexter was already wide, and, no great importance being attached to
development of stallions in that day, he was considered of more value
for breeding than for racing. He was worked considerably at Mr. Durkee’s
farm, and Colonel John W. Conley and H. C. Woodnut, who at different
times had charge of him, have both declared that they knew him to be
one of the fastest trotters of his day. In 1874 Colonel Richard West
sold Almont to General Withers, and to fill his place leased Dictator in
the autumn of 1875, and he made the seasons of 1876 and 1877 at Colonel
West’s Edgehill farm, Georgetown, Kentucky. Standing at a higher fee
than Almont or George Wilkes, he attracted little outside patronage, and
he was returned to Long Island. It has been stated that when at Colonel
West’s, George Brasfield drove Dictator quarters as fast as thirty-four
and one-half seconds. After his return to Flushing he sank from public
notice until the appearance of Director as a great three-year-old in
1880. Then a couple of years later came the phenomenal Jay-Eye-See, and
close after him Phallas, and with these three great trotters on the turf
at once “the sire of Jay-Eye-See, 2:10, Phallas, 2:13¾, and Director,
2:17,” came again prominently before the public. In 1883 he was purchased
by Major H. C. McDowell, and Messrs. David Bonner and A. A. Bonner, for a
price that was said to have been twenty-five thousand dollars, and taken
to Ashland farm at Lexington. Eventually he became the sole property of
Major McDowell, and died May 25, 1893.
Dictator did not get speed uniformly. He was what might be called a
sporadic sire, but those of his get that raced at all raced well. By
far his best son as a producer is Director, 2:17, that was out of Dolly
by Mambrino Chief, and is the sire of sixteen trotters and pacers with
records in the 2:20 list, including the champion trotting stallion
Directum, 2:05¼, and the one-time champion pacing stallion, Direct, who
after being practically crippled in trotting to a four-year-old record of
2:18¼, carrying great weights to keep him at that gait, was allowed to go
at his natural gait and paced in 2:05½, and is already a very successful
sire. Phallas, 2:13¾, of whom high hopes were entertained, and who had
great opportunities, proved practically a failure in the stud, though his
son Phallamont, out of an Almont mare, ranks with Direct as the best of
Dictator’s grandsons. Dictator got fifty standard performers, forty-four
of his sons have produced one hundred and seventy-three standard
performers, and forty-two of his daughters have produced sixty-one
standard performers.
HAROLD became very famous when Maud S. became queen of the turf with
the then marvelous record of 2:08¾, a record that stood unequaled from
1885 till 1891. This horse was bred by Charles S. Dole, Crystal Lake,
Illinois, by whom he was sold, in an exchange of horses, to Woodburn
Farm, when he was a yearling. He was foaled in 1864, and his dam was
Enchantress (the dam also of Black Maria and of Lakeland Abdallah), by
Abdallah. It was long claimed that this mare’s dam was a daughter of
imported Bellfounder, but investigation exploded this claim. Harold was
a bay horse, without marks, just fifteen hands high, stoutly made but
very homely of form. He had a finely made head, but otherwise he was
exceedingly plain, and when Maud S. came out the late Benjamin Bruce,
in the _Kentucky Live Stock Record_, expressed wonder that “that little
bench-legged stud” could have gotten such a mare. Harold’s full brother,
Lakeland Abdallah, was far superior to him individually, but ranks
with Hetzel’s Hambletonian, the brother to Volunteer, and Kearsarge,
by Volunteer out of Dexter’s dams, in the fore front of the well-bred
failures in trotting history. Largely from his individuality Harold was
never, even when Maud S. was in the heyday of her renown, a popular
horse, and the figures given by the Woodburn management say that in his
entire career he was bred to but five hundred and ninety-four mares, or
an average of about twenty-five for each of his twenty-three seasons.
With the exception of Maud S., Harold got nothing of the first class,
but in the second generation the family holds better rank in respect
to extreme speed production. Beuzetta, 2:06¾, Early Bird, 2:10, The
Conqueror, 2:13, and the great three-year-old Impetuous, 2:13, are out
of daughters of Harold, while Kremlin, 2:07¾, Io, 2:13½, Rizpah, 2:13½,
Russellmont, 2:12¾, and the great pacer Robert J., 2:01½, are among the
produce of his sons, and the present queen of the trotting turf, Alix,
2:03¾, is out of a daughter of Attorney, by Harold. Harold died at
Woodburn, October 6, 1893. This horse never trotted in public, but he was
worked some for speed at Woodburn. As a six-year-old he is said to have
trotted the farm track in 2:40½, in which mile it is stated he “grabbed
a quarter” and was not worked again. He is the sire of forty-four
standard performers, forty-three of his sons have produced one hundred
and eighty-one standard performers, and forty-five of his daughters have
produced sixty-seven standard performers.
HAPPY MEDIUM was bred by R. P. Galloway, of Sufferen, New York, and was
foaled 1863. He was by Hambletonian, out of the famous old campaigner
Princess, 2:30, that trotted ten miles in 29:10¾ and two miles in 5:02,
and was the great rival of Flora Temple, 2:19¾. Princess was a bay mare,
foaled 1846, by Andrus’ Hambletonian, son of Judson’s Hambletonian,
that was by Bishop’s Hambletonian, son of imported Messenger; and her
dam was the Wilcox mare, by Burdick’s Engineer, son of Engineer, by
imported Messenger. She campaigned from ocean to ocean, and her career
is perhaps the most remarkable of the earlier trotting days. When young
she was mixed gaited, alternately pacing and trotting, and was put to
work hauling logs. Then her owner traded her for a second-hand wagon, and
finally she reached the hands of D. M. Gage, of Chicago. He put her into
training, and she trotted some indifferent races as Topsy, was sold, and
taken across the plains to California. Here in 1858 she beat New York,
taking her record of 2:30. Then she fell into the hands of the notorious
“Jim” Eoff, and the next year was matched against the then crack trotter
of California, Glencoe Chief, at ten miles to wagon. These were golden
days on the coast, and this race was for the enormous stake of thirty-six
thousand five hundred dollars. Princess won easily in 29:10¾, but the
Glencoe Chief party being dissatisfied, another race was trotted the
next day at the same distance for five thousand dollars, Princess again
winning. There was after this nothing on the coast to race with Princess,
and Eoff brought her to New York to try conclusions with Flora Temple.
Her first race with Flora was at three-mile heats at Eclipse Course,
Long Island, Flora winning, but at two-mile heats a week later Princess
won in 5:02, 5:05. In their subsequent races Flora turned the tables,
though in a stubborn contest at two-mile heats Princess forced the then
queen of the turf to make the long unbeaten record of 4:50½. She was then
retired from the turf, and after passing through several hands became the
property of R. F. Galloway, who in 1862 bred her to Hambletonian.
[Illustration: NANCY HANKS.
By Happy Medium, record 2:04.]
Happy Medium was a bay horse, with star, snip, and two white rear ankles,
fifteen hands two inches in height, and was a shapely, attractive horse,
with excellent legs and feet. Some critics have found fault that he was
light barreled, and perhaps with some degree of reason, but as a whole he
was structurally much above the average of his time. As a four-year-old
he started at the Goshen Fair and won, taking a record of 2:54, which he
lowered to 2:51 in 1868. The next year, 1869, at Paterson, New Jersey,
he distanced Guy Miller and Honesty in 2:34½, 2:32½, and these three
performances, all winning ones, comprise his entire turf career. He was
in 1871 purchased at a very large price—said to have been twenty-five
thousand dollars—by Mr. Robert Steel, who placed him at the head of
his Cedar Park Farm, at Philadelphia. In 1879 he was purchased by the
late General W. T. Withers, and taken to his Fairlawn Farm, Lexington,
Kentucky, where he remained until he died, January 25, 1888, at which
time he had more 2:30 performers to his credit than any horse then
living. The Happy Mediums developed speed easily and quickly, and were
remarkable for the purity of their gait. The most famous of his get is
the mare Nancy Hanks, that lowered the world’s record to 2:04 in 1892.
The mares bred to Happy Medium never were as a whole of good breeding,
and in his early stud career they were largely of inferior blood and
quality. His fame has steadily grown, and with ninety-two standard
performers to his credit, and his sons and daughters breeding on, the
blood of Happy Medium is justly held in very high esteem as a positive
speed-producing element. Fifty-one of his sons have produced two hundred
and thirteen, and forty-seven of his daughters have produced fifty-nine
standard performers.
JAY GOULD was one of the most famous of all the sons of Hambletonian on
the turf and the sensational trotting stallion of his day, and he now,
in turn, takes a high place among producing sons of the great father
of trotters. This horse was bred by the late Richard Sears, of Orange
County, New York, was foaled 1864, and was got by Hambletonian, out of
Lady Sanford, by Seely’s American Star; grandam Old Sorrel, by Exton
Eclipse; third dam by Lawrence’s Messenger Duroc, etc. At maturity Jay
Gould was a handsome, blood-like horse, fifteen and one-half hands high,
and a rich bay in color, with white hind ankles. With his dam he was
sold while at her side to Charles H. Kerner, of New York, who soon after
traded them to John Minchin, of Goshen, for the then well-known trotter
Drift, Mr. Kerner also paying a fair sum in cash. Later the colt came
into the hands of A. C. Green, of Fall River, and was by him named Judge
Brigham. It is said that Mr. Green first learned that Judge Brigham was
a fast trotter through his taking fright at a train one day in 1870 and
running away with him at a trot. Whatever the facts as to this are, it
was soon known that Mr. Green had a very fast trotter, and the next
season (1871) he started for a five-thousand-dollar purse at Buffalo,
among the other starters being the already famous Judge Fullerton. To
the general astonishment, Judge Brigham “cut loose” in the second heat,
winning it in 2:22, thus equaling the stallion record then held by George
Wilkes, and placing to his credit the fastest heat ever up to that time
trotted by a horse in his maiden race. He won the race handily, and was
the sensation of the time. He was at once purchased for, I believe, the
great price of thirty-five thousand dollars by the late world-famous
financier, Jay Gould, H. N. Smith, and George C. Hall. Later Mr. Smith
acquired Mr. Hall’s interest, and Mr. Kerner bought Mr. Gould’s, and
finally, some years after, Mr. Smith, who had established Fashion Stud
Farm, at Trenton, New Jersey, and owned the noted mares Goldsmith Maid,
2:14, Lady Thorn, 2:18¼, and Lucy, 2:18¼, became sole owner of Jay Gould,
as Judge Brigham was renamed.
The week following his Buffalo race Jay Gould defeated another strong
field at Kalamazoo, Michigan; and in 1872 started four times, winning in
all his races, lowering his record to 2:21¼, the then champion stallion
record. He was kept in the stud in 1873, but being challenged on behalf
of Bashaw Jr., the following year, was given a hurried fall preparation,
and met his challenger at Baltimore. Bashaw Jr., broke down in the
first heat, and Gould of course won an empty victory, but to satisfy
the audience was driven a public trial in 2:19½. Meanwhile Smuggler had
lowered the stallion record to 2:20, and Jay Gould was sent against it
at Boston, trotting under unfavorable circumstances in 2:20½ and 2:21½.
This practically closed his turf career. He made a number of seasons at
Fashion Farm, and in his later years at Walnut Hill Farm, near Lexington,
Kentucky, and died of old age June 10, 1894. Jay Gould’s opportunities
were never of the best. In his earlier years in the stud General Knox
was more used at Fashion Farm than Jay Gould, and there was no training
done at Fashion until 1886. Jay Gould is the sire of twenty-nine standard
performers, the most noted of which is the great mare Pixley, 2:08¼.
Fourteen of his sons have produced thirty standard performers, and
twenty-eight of his daughters have produced forty-six performers, among
the latter being the great pacer, Robert J., 2:01½, and such trotters as
Poem, 2:11½, Colonel Kuser, 2:11¼, Mahogany, 2:12¼, Edgardo, 2:13¾, etc.
His most noted producing daughter is Lucia, whose dam was the famous old
trotting mare Lucy, 2:18¼, by George M. Patchen, 2:23½. Lucia is the dam
of Edgardo, 2:13¾, Hurly Burly, 2:16¼, and several others in the 2:30
list, and her blood is breeding on through both her sons and daughters.
STRATHMORE, taking all things into consideration, must be rated among
the very greatest sons of Hambletonian. He was a solid bay horse, of the
substantial Hambletonian type, foaled 1866, bred by Aristides Welch at
his Chestnut Hill farm, near Philadelphia, and was got by Hambletonian
out of the quite famous trotting mare Lady Waltermire, by North American,
and Lady Waltermire’s dam was said to have been by Harris’ Hambletonian.
This North American sired Whitehall, that got the famous trotter Rhode
Island, sire of the still more celebrated Governor Sprague, and in
the section treating of the latter the reader will find particulars
concerning North American. Lady Waltermire was a noted trotting mare in
her day, and it has been claimed that she performed faster than 2:30, but
I have never been able to substantiate this claim. When Strathmore was
a three-year-old, in 1869, I visited Chestnut Hill. Mr. Welch then had
three sons of Hambletonian, viz., William Welch, Rysdyk, and Strathmore,
who was then called Goodwin Watson. The two former were led out to be
shown, but when I inquired for Goodwin Watson, Mr. Welch’s reply was “Oh,
he’s a pacer”—except that he used an adjective in connection with “pacer”
that added emphasis, and betrayed some degree of regret, or indeed
disgust. The fact that several of Strathmore’s sons have gotten many
fast pacers need not be marveled at. I am not aware that Strathmore was
ever trained, and probably his pacing inclination furnishes the reason.
When he was seven years old he was purchased by Colonel R. G. Stoner,
of Paris, Kentucky, and named Strathmore, and up to this time, Colonel
Stoner states, he had but three foals, one of which was afterward known
as Chestnut Hill, 2:22½, the first of his get to earn a reputation. His
first two seasons were made in Montgomery County, after which he was
taken to Paris, in Bourbon County. Colonel Stoner states in one of his
catalogues that Strathmore’s early opportunities in Kentucky were very
inferior; that in 1877 and 1878 the service fees earned would not pay for
his keep; that up to 1879 he never served a mare with a record or the dam
of an animal with a record, and that it was not until Steinway trotted in
1878 as a two-year old in 2:31¾, and Santa Claus as a five-year-old in
2:18 in 1879 that any good mares came to Strathmore. At Colonel Stoner’s
sale, February 9, 1886, Strathmore was sold for two thousand one hundred
and fifty dollars to Rockhill & Bro., of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and they
owned him until his death, March 11, 1895. Strathmore has seventy-one in
the standard list; twenty-six of his sons and fifty-four of his daughters
have produced one hundred and fifty-eight standard performers.
EGBERT is one of the youngest sons of Hambletonian, and has achieved very
fair success in the stud. He is closely inbred to the Hambletonian, or
rather the Abdallah blood, and is possibly the most notable instance of
a successful sire being very closely inbred. Egbert was bred by Hon. J.
H. Walker, Worcester, Massachusetts, and was foaled in 1875. He was sold
at the sale of Mr. Walker’s horses at Worcester in the autumn of 1877,
when he was purchased for the then great price for a two-year-old of
three thousand four hundred and twenty-five dollars by H. J. Hendryx, of
Michigan, a representative of Mr. Veech, of Kentucky, being a contending
bidder. After the sale Mr. Hendryx sold the colt for four thousand
dollars to George W. Raudenbush, of Reading, Pennsylvania, who I believe
still owns him. In the spring of 1880 Egbert was taken by Colonel Richard
West to his farm at Georgetown, Kentucky, and kept there a number of
years, and indeed the greater part of his stud career has been in
Kentucky. I am not aware that Egbert was ever trained. He is individually
a superior horse, but is alleged to have an unkind disposition.
Egbert was got by Hambletonian out of Campdown, by Messenger Duroc
(son of Hambletonian); grandam Miss McLeod (dam of Lord Nelson, 2:26¼,
and Polonius), by the Holbert Colt (son of Hambletonian); great-grandam
May Fly, by Utter Horse, son of Hoyt’s Comet; great-great-grandam
Virgo, sister to the dam of Messenger Duroc, by Roe’s Abdallah Chief,
son of Abdallah, the sire of Hambletonian. The Holbert Colt, son of
Hambletonian, was a pacer, and others in Egbert’s ancestry paced; and in
commenting on his pedigree, from this point of view, at the time Colonel
West took him to Kentucky, I remarked in _Wallace’s Monthly_, March,
1880: “Colonel West need not be surprised if he finds quite a number of
Egbert’s offspring starting off at a pace.” The facts have borne out the
prediction, as a glance at Egbert’s long list of fast pacers will show.
Egbert is the sire of seventy-five standard performers, while twenty-five
of his sons, and eighteen of his daughters have produced seventy-four
standard performers.
MASTERLODE, that left a family of some merit in Michigan, was a mammoth
bay, foaled 1868, got by Hambletonian out of Lady Irwin by Seeley’s
American Star. He was a gigantic, coarse horse, and was certainly the
largest horse that ever earned a reputation as a sire of trotters. It
is said he was quite seventeen hands high and was built on a heavy mold
even for his height. He was bred by James M. Mills, Orange County, New
York, and passed to A. C. Fisk, Coldwater, Michigan, who owned him until
his death in 1892. The most noted of his get was Belle F., 2:15¼, that
was one of the very best campaigners out in 1886. He has twenty-eight
to his credit in the list, and seventeen of his sons and sixteen of his
daughters have produced in all fifty-seven standard performers.
ABERDEEN shares with Dictator such honors as attach to the highest
success of the “Hambletonian-Star cross” in the stud. This horse was
bred by the notorious Captain Isaiah Rynders, at Passaic, New Jersey,
and a full account of the investigation of the pedigree of his dam,
the noted Widow Machree, 2:29, will be found in Chapter XXIX., on the
investigation of pedigrees. Widow Machree was altogether the best trotter
of the American Star family, and was especially noted for her gameness.
Bred to Hambletonian, it was natural that she should produce a trotter,
and Aberdeen was quite a trotter in his day. As a three-year-old he
won a stake at Prospect Park, distancing his field in 2:46, and the
statement has been published that he later in his career trotted a slow
New Jersey track in 2:24¼. This horse was foaled in 1866, and was a bay
fifteen hands three inches high, and very stoutly, indeed coarsely made,
and was of a dangerously vicious disposition. The good race mare Hattie
Woodward, that made a record of 2:15½, first attracted attention to
Aberdeen as a sire, and in 1881 he was purchased by General Withers and
taken to Fairlawn, and before this his stud opportunities had been very
limited. He died in 1892. By far the best of his get is the great mare
Kentucky Union, that made a record of 2:07¼ in 1896. Aberdeen has forty
in the standard list, fourteen of his sons have produced fifty-seven, and
seventeen of his daughters have produced nineteen standard performers.
SWEEPSTAKES must be classed among the successful sons of Hambletonian
as a sire of trotters, though in the second generation his family have
yet failed of great distinction, nor did Sweepstakes himself get extreme
speed. This was a bay horse, foaled 1867, by Hambletonian out of Emma
Mills, that also produced Mott’s Independent, by Seely’s American Star.
He was bred by the late Harrison Mills, near Goshen, in Orange County,
New York, and was never, I believe, trained. Indeed it has been stated
that he never wore harness, and is perhaps the most remarkable example of
a strictly undeveloped sire of trotters. The most noted of his get is the
bay horse Captain Lyons, 2:17¼. Sweepstakes sired thirty-three trotters
and two pacers that are standard performers, four sons have produced
eight trotters and two pacers, and twenty of his daughters have produced
twenty-five trotters and four pacers.
GOVERNOR SPRAGUE is one of the few horses not descended in the male line
from one of the great foundation progenitors, and that yet was a trotter
of merit and the founder of a trotting family. His dam, however, was a
producing daughter of Hambletonian, and this must be regarded as the
probable source of his power, though his sire was a fine trotter for his
day.
Back in the thirties a Frenchman living at Rouse’s Point, New York, near
the Canadian boundary line, bred a pacing mare to a horse that was kept
in the same stable with Sir Walter, thoroughbred son of Hickory, and
the result was the horse known as North American, or the Bullock Horse.
It was long claimed that North American was by Sir Walter, but the best
authenticated version is given in _Wallace’s Monthly_, for 1880. This was
the statement of a Mr. Ladd, said to be a reliable man, who knew the
Frenchman who bred North American. Ladd had formerly lived at Rouse’s
Point, and kept a little hotel at Benson’s Landing on Lake Champlain.
Ladd’s statement was that the Frenchman had a little pacing mare, from
which he wanted to raise a foal, but would not pay more than three
dollars for any horse’s service. Sir Walter’s fee was fifteen dollars,
but in the same stable was a large stallion that was used to haul water
from the lake to the hotel, and the Frenchman was permitted to have the
service of this horse for three dollars, and this is the only reliable
version I could ever obtain as to the pedigree of North American. Besides
the line we are now considering, this horse got Lady Waltermire, the dam
of the great Strathmore, and one of his daughters is the dam of two in
the 2:30 list, and Vergennes Black Hawk came from another. North America
was said to have been a natural trotter, and quite fast for a short
distance. A son of his, named Whitehall, from the name of the place where
he was bred, was taken to Ohio from New York about 1854 and there got the
noted Rhode Island, 2:23½, the sire of Governor Sprague. Rhode Island was
a brown horse, foaled about 1857, and his dam was by a black horse called
Davy Crockett that was brought from Pennsylvania, and her dam was called
Bald Hornet. This mare, Mag Taylor, was bred to Whitehall twice, one of
her foals being Belle Rice, the dam of the stallion Harry Wilkes, sire
of Rosalind Wilkes, 2:14¼, and the other was Rhode Island. This horse
trotted many races, and at Fashion Course, New York, October 27, 1868,
earned his record of 2:23½. He about this time passed into the hands
of Sprague & Akers, and he died in 1875. At this time Governor Amasa
Sprague had among his brood mares Belle Brandon, by Rysdyk’s Hambletonian
out of a daughter of Young Bacchus. This was a bay mare, foaled in 1854
in Orange County, and was a fast trotter and a mare of great general
excellence. She was driven as a mate to Sprague’s Hambletonian, and Mr.
Sprague claimed that he had once driven her a mile in 2:29. Bred to
Volunteer she produced Amy, 2:20¼, and to Rhode Island, produced in 1872,
Governor Sprague, 2:20½.
Governor Sprague was a black horse, approximating fifteen hands two
inches in height, and very substantially built. He is described as having
been an exceedingly handsome horse, especially in action, his gait having
been pure and beautiful. In 1873 he was sent to Kansas and trained, and
so promising was he that he was that year sold to Higbee Brothers and Mr.
Babcock, of Canton, Illinois, for one thousand five hundred dollars.
He was shown and known as a very fast four-year-old, trotting public
exhibitions in about 2:22. With the exception of a three-year-old race
at Earlville, Illinois, he did not start in a public race until July 20,
1876, when at Chicago he easily defeated a good field, and so promising
and attractive did he seem that the late Jerome I. Case, of Racine, paid
the great price of twenty-seven thousand five hundred dollars for him.
At Poughkeepsie, New York, that season he lowered his record to 2:20½,
and a few more races ended his short but brilliant turf career. He died
at Lexington, Kentucky, May 23, 1883, at the early age of eleven years.
His stud career was therefore short, and this fact we must remember in
estimating his rank as a sire. Kate Sprague, 2:18, and Linda Sprague,
2:19, were about the best of his immediate progeny, and Rounds’ Sprague,
that has twenty trotters and pacers in the 2:30 list, some of them in
better than 2:20, seems to be his most successful son. Governor Sprague
has to his credit thirty-six trotters and two pacers with standard
records, twenty-two of his sons have sired fifty-four trotters and
fifteen pacers, and his daughters have produced twenty-three trotters
and six pacers. There was nothing in the inheritance of Rhode Island to
justify a supposition that he would transmit speed uniformly, and, like
Smuggler, the speed-getting power with him was sporadic. But from his
dam, Belle Brandon, Governor Sprague received the blood of Hambletonian
through an individual that had speed herself and naturally produced
speed; and this strain, combined with the blood of a horse that was good
enough in his day to beat Lucy, American Girl and George Wilkes, gave
Governor Sprague a right to be all that he was.
CHAPTER XXIII.
MAMBRINO CHIEF AND HIS FAMILY.
Description and history of Mambrino Chief—The pioneer trotting
stallion of Kentucky—Matched against Pilot Jr.—His best
sons—Mambrino Patchen, his opportunities and family—Woodford
Mambrino, a notable trotter and sire—Princess—Mambrino
Pilot—Other sons of Mambrino Chief.
Mambrino Chief was a dark bay or brown horse, got by Mambrino Paymaster,
grandson of imported Messenger, and his dam was a large, coarse mare that
was brought from the West in a drove, and absolutely nothing was known
of her blood. The theory was once advanced in print that she must have
been by Stevens’ Messenger Duroc, but I think it was never repeated.
The basis of this theory was, that the horse referred to was large and
coarse, with a long thigh bone, and as the mare was large and coarse,
with a long thigh bone, she must have been a daughter of his. There are
some obvious difficulties about accepting this “thigh-bone” pedigree. In
the first place, the inventor of it never saw either the horse or the
mare, and how could he have put his tapeline on their “thigh-bones” and
thus ascertained they were of the same length? In the second place, it is
not known, nor was it known to the inventor, that the horse ever had been
within three hundred miles of the dam of this “daughter” of his. It is
not much wonder that the “horse business” is hardly considered reputable
when an educated man will advance such senseless gabble as the basis of
a pedigree. This mare produced another colt called Goliah that developed
some speed, but this was not the Goliah that was on the trotting turf.
Mambrino Chief was bred by Richard Eldridge, of Dutchess County, New
York, and was owned by Warren Williams; in the spring of 1851 he passed
into the hands of James M. Cockroft and G. T. Williams; was kept two or
three seasons in Ulster County; trotted, under the saddle a trial in
2:36; sold to James B. Clay of Kentucky, in the winter of 1854, and then
to Gray & Jones, 1857, for five thousand and twenty dollars, and died
1861. Soon after his arrival in Kentucky he was matched to trot against
Pilot Jr., and the match stirred up a great deal of interest among the
breeders. He was so big and coarse and so far removed from the type of
the running horse that very few believed he could show any speed at
any gait, for the distance of a mile and repeat. He was placed in the
hands of Dr. Herr, who had had some experience in handling trotters, for
preparation. When the day came there was quite an assemblage to witness
the race but the Pilot Jr. party came forward and paid forfeit. This was
a sore disappointment to those who thought the big horse could not trot,
and to satisfy them that he could trot and trot fast, Dr. Herr drove him
to show his gait, and notwithstanding his quarter cracks he satisfied
all that he really was a trotter. This was an auspicious opening of a
successful career extending through the remaining six years of his life.
In the sense of success, Mambrino Chief was really the pioneer trotting
stallion of Kentucky. True, “Old” Abdallah had been there fourteen
years earlier, but he was in bad shape and breeders did not like him.
He was very plain in his appearance and only left some half-dozen of
foals behind him when he was brought back to Long Island. The breeders
all turned to his stable companion, Commodore, that was more after the
pattern of the running horse, and would not look at Abdallah. This
Commodore filled the blue-grass fields with his foals, but none of them
could trot. He was a son of Mambrino, by imported Messenger, and was an
inbred Messenger, if his pedigree was right, but he was a failure as a
trotting sire. Mr. Marcus Downing took his horse, Bay Messenger, there
about the same time and he was a failure also, notwithstanding he was a
grandson of imported Messenger. Both Commodore and Bay Messenger should
have been trotting sires, but either one of two reasons was sufficient to
prevent that consummation. First their blood and physical structure were
all right, but the mental structure—the instinct to trot—was lacking;
they inherited from some ancestor that could not and was not inclined
to trot. Second, Kentuckians of that period knew nothing about trotters
and they may have lacked in the requisite knowledge, skill and patience
to develop them. It is true that old Pacing Pilot and some other pacing
tribes were there that would occasionally throw a pacer with the diagonal
motion, like Pilot Jr., but there was no other blood there that trotted
before the arrival of Mambrino Chief. This pacing element was a very
valuable element upon which to build up the trotter, but unfortunately
and wherever it was possible, a running pedigree was tacked on to the
pacer, and thus, in the estimation of Kentuckians it was the running
blood that did it.
The six years of his services in Kentucky gave sufficient time to
establish his value as a trotting sire, but not sufficient to build
up a large family. This limited period must be further restricted, in
estimating his value, by the fact that the war broke out in 1861, at
the very time when the larger part of his offspring were just at the
right age for development. This important fact has been very generally
overlooked when estimating the true value of this horse. The question has
often been asked why this horse succeeded in Kentucky when he had not
succeeded in the North? This is too broad a question to be considered in
this historical sketch, but will be considered at another place in this
volume. In passing it, some very intelligent writers have attributed it
to what is called “the climatic outcross,” and there may be some real
value in this point, but the great cause, aside from the new surroundings
and expectations of his progeny, may be found in the fact that his own
speed was never developed until the very eve of his transfer to Kentucky.
His instinct to trot and to trot fast had remained dormant, practically,
during the whole period of his Northern service, and when he reached
Kentucky he was, in a sense, a new horse and conscious of his powers as a
trotter. The salutary effects of development, at whatever gait, have been
shown in ten thousand instances and will continue to be shown as long as
the interests and ambitions of man shall prompt him to strive to surpass
his neighbor.
At one time it was maintained right vehemently by the owners of the stock
of Mambrino Chief, as well as some others, that as a stock horse he was
not only equal but superior to Hambletonian. In 1867, when the battles
were raging between Dexter and Lady Thorn, this view showed little
abatement, and notwithstanding the gelding was beating the mare all the
time, they still maintained that in the end she would be the conqueror.
When Lady Thorn was seriously crippled and retired from the turf, there
were many sad hearts in the Mambrino family and many wonderful stories
were told, privately, of what Dan Mace had seen her do, and that he was
keeping very quiet till an opportunity came to show the most wonderful
flight of speed that the world had ever seen or ever would see. With
the shroud of what “might have been” about them, they were “of the same
opinion still.”
Mambrino Chief left six in the 2:30 list; twenty-three sons that put
ninety-five in the list and seventeen daughters that produced twenty-four
trotters.
LEADING SONS OF MAMBRINO CHIEF.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Performers produced in two generations.
------------------------------------------------------------------+
Standard performers produced by sons and daughters. |
-----------------------------------------------------------+ |
Producing daughters. | |
-----------------------------------------------------+ | |
Producing sons. | | |
-----------------------------------------------+ | | |
Standard performers. | | | |
-----------------------------------------+ | | | |
Year died. | | | | |
----------------------------------+ | | | | |
Year foaled. | | | | | |
---------------------------+ | | | | | |
Name. | | | | | | |
---------------------------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+-----
Mambrino Patchen | 1862 | 1885 | 25 | 51 | 90 | 259 | 284
Woodford Mambrino, 2:21½ | 1863 | 1879 | 13 | 23 | 24 | 172 | 185
Mambrino Pilot, 2:34¾ | 1859 | 1885 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 71 | 80
Clark Chief | 1861 | 1871 | 6 | 12 | 25 | 43 | 49
Ericsson, 2:30½ | 1856 | 188- | 6 | 4 | 15 | 25 | 31
Mambrino Chief Jr. (Fisk’s)| 1861 | 189- | 5 | 6 | 14 | 34 | 39
---------------------------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+------+-----
MAMBRINO PATCHEN was the best son of Mambrino Chief and was brother to
Lady Thorn, 2:18¼. He was foaled 1862, after the death of his sire, and
was bred by Levi T. Rodes. His dam was by Gano, a running-bred son of
American Eclipse; his grandam was a pacing mare by a colt of Sir William,
but what Sir William is not known; his great-grandam was an inveterate
pacer and never was known to strike any other gait. Mambrino Patchen
was so much smoother and handsomer than his sire, and was so much of a
failure as a trotter, that a very strong conviction prevailed among the
friends and neighbors of his owner that he was not a son of Mambrino
Chief, nor a brother of Lady Thorn. To this story that he was a Denmark
and not a Mambrino Chief I never have given any shadow of credence. The
attempt of his owner, Dr. Herr, to make him a trotter was patient and
persistent, extending through several years, but with all his skill and
experience he failed. Nobody was ever able to “catch” him a mile, but it
seems to have been conceded that he might go somewhere in the “forties.”
While this persistent and long-continued training failed in its original
purpose of giving the horse a record of reputable speed, there can be
no doubt, under the law that governs, that this development did great
good to the horse, as a progenitor of trotters. The conditions being a
handsome horse, with the banner constantly flying over him, “full brother
to Lady Thorn,” an industrious and very capable owner, in the heart of
the greatest breeding region in the whole country, it is easy to account
for a very wide and lucrative patronage. Still, as a getter of speed he
was not a great success, and as a getter of high speed he was a failure.
With all the facilities for development, only twenty-five of his progeny
have found a place in the 2:30 list, the fastest of which has a record of
2:20½. Of his sons, fifty-one are the sires of one hundred and twenty-six
trotters, and of his daughters, ninety have produced one hundred and
twenty-nine standard performers. He has proved himself a very great sire
of brood mares, and when his daughters are bred to horses of stronger
inheritance, they stand among the best.
WOODFORD MAMBRINO.—This son of Mambrino Chief was a large brown horse,
foaled 1862. He was bred by Mr. Mason Henry, of Woodford County,
Kentucky. His dam was also the dam of other trotters, was got by
Woodford, son of Kosciusko, and her dam was a farm mare without any known
breeding. Woodford was a large, strong horse used only for farm work, to
which he was well suited. After spending a good deal of time and labor on
his pedigree I am constrained to say that while he may have been a son
of Kosciusko, his dam’s breeding is worse than unsatisfactory. Woodford
Mambrino made a record of 2:21½, and placed thirteen of his get in the
2:30 list. He left twenty-three sons that were the sires of standard
performers, and twenty-four daughters that produced twenty-seven standard
performers. His son, Princeps, owned by Mr. R. S. Veech, of Indian Hill
Farm, near Louisville, Kentucky, was in the stud far and away the best of
his sons, and although he had no record of his own he placed in the list
forty-four trotters and four pacers, many of them with fast records.
MAMBRINO PILOT was a very large and very coarse horse. He was a brown,
got by Mambrino Chief, foaled 1859, dam Juliet, by Pilot Jr.; grandam by
Webster, son of Medoc; great-grandam by Whip. He was bred by Thomas Hook,
of Scott County, Kentucky, and after passing through the hands of Dr.
Herr and others he was sold to C. P. Relf, of Philadelphia, and, I think,
remained in his family till he died, 1885. He had a record to saddle of
2:27½. He put nine of his get into the 2:30 list, and seventeen of his
sons left fifty-one performers and fourteen of his daughters produced
twenty performers.
Many others of the descendants of Mambrino Chief might be noticed,
but it is not the purpose of this volume to dwell upon matters that
are accessible in the current literature of the trotting horse. The
foundations of breeds and the leading heads of tribes must command my
labor. The table shows the rank of the other sons of Mambrino Chief that
achieved any degree of success, and of these clearly the best was Clark
Chief, that died at ten years old.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE CLAYS AND BASHAWS.
The imported Barb, Grand Bashaw—Young Bashaw, an inferior
individual—His greatest son, Andrew Jackson—His dam a trotter
and pacer—His history—His noted son, Kemble Jackson—Long Island
Black Hawk—Henry Clay, founder of the Clay family—Cassius
M. Clay—The various horses named Cassius M. Clay—George M.
Patchen—His great turf career—George M. Patchen Jr.—Harry
Clay—The Moor, and his son Sultan’s family.
This family is no longer prominent in trotting annals and its blood has
been practically absorbed by other strains that have proved themselves
more potent in transmitting and more uniform and more speedy in
performing. The name “Bashaw Family” is a misnomer and it should never
have been used, but as it has represented, for many years, the oldest
line of developed speed, it seems a necessity to recognize it here. A
branch of this family, designated as “The Clay Family” has perpetuated
itself in some strength and will be considered in this chapter.
GRAND BASHAW, the horse that gave this family its name, was imported from
Tripoli by Richard B. Jones, who was the American consul at that port.
Mr. Morgan was associated with him, and they imported at the same time
two other Barbs, Grand Sultan and Saladin. Grand Bashaw was kept in Lower
Merion, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, several years; Grand Sultan
was kept in New Salem, New Jersey, for a time, and Saladin was taken to
North Carolina and afterward died in Georgia. From these three horses
nothing has been left to the horse history of the country but one single
attenuated line. Grand Bashaw was a black horse, fourteen hands and an
inch high, with a star and a snip on his nose. He was kept all his life
in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and died at Newtown, Pennsylvania, 1845.
YOUNG BASHAW was a grey horse, about fifteen and one-quarter hands
high, and is the only descendant of Grand Bashaw through which we can
trace to that horse. He was foaled 1822 and was bred by Thomas Logan,
of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. His dam was Pearl, by Bond’s First
Consul, a famous running horse, his grandam Fancy, by imported Messenger,
and his great-grandam by imported Rockingham. This is the pedigree under
which he was advertised, but it has never been authenticated in any of
its crosses. Judging by the horse himself and his progeny there can
hardly be a doubt that there was a Messenger cross in it, but just where
cannot be determined.
He made his first season in Salem, New Jersey, 1826. He was then four
years old and by no means handsome or attractive in his form. His head,
ear and neck were his worst features; but in addition to these defects
he was flat on the ribs and habitually carried his tail to one side. His
limbs and feet were as good as ever were made, but his great redeeming
quality was his trotting gait. When in Salem he was only a rough, partly
developed, four-year-old colt, but he showed then a step and a rate of
speed so remarkable as to induce a few to breed to him, notwithstanding
his ungainly appearance. He did not cover more than a dozen mares that
season, and all-told he got eight foals. Out of these eight, seven proved
to be superior trotters for that day. Andrew Jackson was the best, but
there was another that could go below 2:40. The common remark was,
wherever he touched a mare of Messenger blood, there was sure to come
a trotter. This was the general rule, but the best hit he ever made,
probably, was when he covered Joseph Hancock’s black pacing mare and got
Andrew Jackson.
In looking over his blood elements we can see nothing in his pedigree
to justify these trotting qualities except the grandam, Fancy, by
Messenger. First Consul was a great race horse, but neither he nor his
descendants ever evinced a disposition to trot. The horse Rockingham was
contemporaneous with Messenger and a constant rival while Messenger was
about Philadelphia. He was not wholly running-bred, as he was by Towser,
afterward called Counsellor, and out of a hunting mare. As a stock horse
he was esteemed as only second to Messenger on the Delaware, where he
stood many years.
The fame of Young Bashaw did not cease nor die out after the exploits of
Andrew Jackson, Black Bashaw, Charlotte Temple, Washington and others
from his own loins. The Clays, the Long Island Black Hawks and the
Patchens have kept spreading it wider and wider until of late years we
find that only the one great Hambletonian family has overshadowed them
all. Young Bashaw, after eleven years in the stud along the Delaware
River, above and below Philadelphia, died at Morrisville, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, June, 1837.
ANDREW JACKSON was the most noted son of Young Bashaw. He was a black
horse, fifteen and a half hands high, with three white feet and a strip
of white in his face. He was very well formed in every point and was
strong, compact, short-legged and handsome. He was foaled 1827, and was
bred by Joseph Hancock, of Salem, New Jersey. His dam was a strong,
compact black mare that both trotted and paced, and was noted for her
speed at the latter gait. This mare was brought in a drove from Ohio, in
the spring of 1820 and on the twenty-first of June of that year she was
sold to Mr. Hancock, of Salem, New Jersey, for one hundred dollars. He
kept her a little over six years, and in the spring of 1826 bred her to
Young Bashaw, and in the fall of that year sold her to Powell Carpenter;
and soon after he sold her to Daniel Jeffreys, a brickmaker on the
Germantown road, near Philadelphia. She was then in foal by Young Bashaw,
and the next spring she dropped the colt that became famous as Andrew
Jackson.
The incidents connected with the history of this mare are here given,
perhaps in unnecessary detail, but as Andrew Jackson was very extensively
advertised under a fraudulent pedigree from about 1834 till the time of
his death, and as I had at one time accepted it as true, it is better
that it should be made very plain, especially as I had been severely
criticised for changing it. The correction made, as above, was founded
on information received from two separate and distinct sources and both
thoroughly reliable. The fraudulent pedigree of this mare represented
her as “by Whynot, son of imported Messenger, and her dam by Messenger”
himself. This was just such a pedigree as so great a horse should have
had, but there was no truth in it. The attack was led by quite a large
breeder in one of the prairie States, who had a number of animals
remotely descended from Andrew Jackson. He did not even pretend to know
anything at all about the truth of the matter, but simply urged most
vehemently that the pedigree should be restored because it was old. The
fact of the matter was the man wanted the old lie instead of the new
truth maintained because it would help to sell his stock, which was the
very object for which the lie was originally invented.
Daniel Jeffreys was very much addicted to trotting horses, and when he
bought the black mare that was then carrying Andrew Jackson he kept her
for his own driving and named her “Charcoal Sal.” She was no doubt among
the fastest of the road horses, but there is no record of her ever being
in a race. How much Jeffreys drove Charcoal Sal that autumn cannot now be
determined; probably too much for the physical, but not too much, for the
mental, organization of the foal she was carrying.
About the break of day, one morning in the following April, somebody was
passing Jeffreys’ brickyard (my recollection is, it was George Woodruff
himself), and he heard a splashing in the water accumulated in one of
the clay pits, and Charcoal Sal circling round in great distress. She
had dropped her foal, and in its weak efforts to get on its feet, it had
rolled into the pit. It was at once pulled out and the family aroused,
and no time was lost in rubbing it dry and wrapping it in warm blankets.
Some of the mare’s milk was poured into it from time to time, and toward
noon it was so much revived and strengthened as to manifest a disposition
to get on its feet. This was due, principally, to the womanly care and
good nursing of Mrs. Jeffreys. But, when helped up, he appeared to have
strength enough everywhere but in his pastern joints, and there he had no
strength at all. In this condition the colt remained a day or two, a most
pitiable and most helpless object, standing on its pasterns instead of
its feet. One morning at the breakfast-table Mr. Jeffreys said he would
give any of the boys a dollar if he would put that colt out of misery
and bury it out of his sight. Mrs. Jeffreys, whose womanly feelings and
sympathies were all enlisted, replied to her husband’s remark that “the
boy who would kill that colt never could eat another mouthful at that
table.” What a grand exhibition of true womanly instincts! Day by day her
unremitting care was rewarded by seeing a little more strength gathering
in the weak places, and at last her kind, motherly heart was gladdened by
seeing him skip and play, a strong beautiful colt.
Mr. Jeffreys kept the colt till he was some five or six years old! and
then sold him to John Weaver, whose residence was about half a mile from
the old Hunting Park Course. He remained the property of Mr. Weaver
till he died, September 19, 1843. In his stud services he was kept on
both sides of the Delaware, in the region of Philadelphia, and made one
season, perhaps two, on Long Island. As a trotter he stood as the first
of all stallions of his day.
His first race took place October 19, 1832, over the Hunting Park Course
for a purse of two hundred dollars for green horses, to saddle. He was
entered under the name of “Brickmaker,” was ridden by George Woodruff
(“Uncle George”), and beat Jersey Fagdown, son of Fagdown, by Messenger.
Time 6:30, 6:23.
The next year he beat Jersey Fagdown again for the same purse and over
the same course.
October, 1834, he again won the same purse, over the same course, at two
miles to saddle, beating Sally Miller. Time 5:26, 5:25.
The next October, 1835, over the same course, the same conditions, he
beat Lady Warrenton, by Abdallah, and Daniel D. Tompkins, by a son of
Winthrop Messenger. Time 5:20, 5:19.
These performances have been extended far enough to give a just
conception of his speed and his staying qualities. His races seem to
have been pretty much all to saddle and two-mile heats. In that day most
races were to saddle. George Woodruff told me he was on his back when he
made Edwin Forrest trot in 2:31¼ to win, but whether it was in a race or
a trial I cannot now recall. Mr. George Woodruff was an uncle of Hiram
Woodruff and a very worthy man. To him I am indebted for all the details
of the early life of Andrew Jackson, and they were of his own personal
knowledge.
KEMBLE JACKSON.—About the year 1853, of all the idols of the
trotting-horse world, perhaps no one had so many worshipers as Kemble
Jackson. In 1852 he was beaten by O’Blennis, three-mile heats in harness,
and in April, 1853, he was beaten by both Green Mountain Maid and Lady
Vernon, mile heats in harness, but in June following he achieved a great
triumph. The race was on the Union Course and there was a vast concourse
of people there to see it. The purse and stake was for four thousand
dollars, three-mile heats to two hundred and fifty-pound wagons. The
interest was very intense, as O’Blennis, Boston Girl, Pet, Iola and
Honest John were in it. Each horse in the race made better time than he
ever made before, and yet Kemble Jackson took the lead and maintained it
from end to end, without a skip or a break. After the first heat even,
the friends of O’Blennis would not hedge their money, for they had faith
that the gallant son of Abdallah would win. The finish of the second heat
was in the order above given. The time was 8:03, 8:04¾. Faster time has
since been made to wagon, but probably not with this weight and at this
distance. As a weight-puller for three miles I believe he still remains
the champion. He was a very strongly built chestnut horse, and was got by
Andrew Jackson the last year of his life.
The pedigree of his dam was in confusion for a long time. Her name was
Fanny Kemble. There were a number of running-bred mares named after
that very popular actress, and everybody who had anything tracing to
“Fanny Kemble” was sure that that particular mare was the dam of Kemble
Jackson. In the first volume of the “Register” he is given as out of
Fanny Kemble by Sir Archy, and in the second volume there was some
fairly good evidence that he was out of Fanny Kemble by Hunt’s Eagle,
tracing on through running lines. It is true he was out of a mare called
Fanny Kemble, but neither of the two foregoing. Her blood was wholly
unknown. The Hon. Ely Moore was a member of Congress, and when on his
way to Washington in 1839 he saw a very fine, stout-looking mare hitched
to a gig in the city of Baltimore. She was a chestnut and showed such
ability to handle a great heavy gig with ease and rapidity that he bought
her. He bought her for what she was herself and not for what her blood
was. There was no evidence asked or given as to how she was bred. This
mare produced several foals to Andrew Jackson, the youngest of which
was Kemble Jackson. While he was still a colt, Mr. Moore presented him
to his son-in-law, G. U. Reynolds, who still owned him when he died.
Mr. Reynolds is an intelligent and very reputable man, and this is the
history of the origin of Kemble Jackson as given to me in person by him.
Mr. Moore paid two hundred and fifty dollars for this mare Fanny Kemble,
and she was so handsome and so fast on the road that he considered her a
very cheap mare. The company never was too hot nor the road too long for
her.
Everybody has heard of “The Kemble Jackson Check” and nearly everybody,
until within the last few years at least, has been using it without
knowing just why or when it can be used with advantage. When in the
hands of Hiram Woodruff, Kemble Jackson got into the habit of bringing
his chin back against his breast, and in that shape Hiram could pull
on him all day without getting control of him. In this dilemma, Mr.
Reynolds suggested an overdraw check which might prevent the indulgence
of this bad habit. Hiram took the suggestion, had one made, and it was
a success, in his case. In twenty-four days after the performance which
made him a great name from one end of the land to the other he died of
rupture. As he was only nine years old and as he was just beginning to be
appreciated as a stallion the breeders of the country sustained a great
loss. Up to this point in his history he had no reputation, had been
little patronized and left but few of his progeny to perpetuate his name.
LONG ISLAND BLACK HAWK.—This son of Andrew Jackson was foaled 1837 and
his dam was the distinguished trotter Sally Miller, by Tippoo Saib, son
of Tippoo Saib by imported Messenger. This mare was bred in Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, and trotted as a three-year-old in 1828 on the Hunting Park
Course, Philadelphia. She was distinguished in her day, beating many of
the best, and was the first three-year-old trotter of which we have any
account. She was finally owned on Long Island, but I have never been able
to learn the name of her owner. Black Hawk trotted some famous races on
Long Island, the most noted of which, perhaps, was his match with Jenny
Lind in which he was to pull a two hundred and fifty-pound wagon, and
the mare the usual weight. In this match he beat her in straight heats.
Time 2:40, 2:38, 2:43. In 1849 he beat Cassius M. Clay, time 2:41, 2:38,
2:41. This horse was owned for a time by Jonas Hoover, of Germantown,
Columbia County, New York, and was there called Andrew Jackson Jr., or
Young Andrew Jackson. He made some seasons in Orange County, and died at
Montgomery in that county July, 1850. His progeny were not numerous and
but two of them from his own loins entered the 2:30 list. His son Jupiter
put five in the 2:30 list; Andrew Jackson Jr., two; Mohawk, three;
Nonpareil, two; Plow Boy, one; and Vernol’s Black Hawk, one; to which we
may add the fact that this last named was the sire of the famous Iowa
stallion, Green’s Bashaw. Although his life was not long and his stud
career was probably up to the average, it cannot be said that he was a
great progenitor of trotters.
HENRY CLAY, the nominal head of the tribe that has taken his name, was a
black horse, foaled 1837, got by Andrew Jackson, son of Young Bashaw; and
his dam was Surrey, or Lady Surrey, as she is sometimes called, a pacing
mare that was brought from Surrey, New Hampshire, to New York, and was
converted to a trotter, or possibly she may have been double-gaited from
her birth. It has been generally stated in years past that this mare
was brought from Canada, and as there have been many disputes about her
origin, I will try to give what authentic knowledge we have concerning
her.
Mr. Peter W. Jones, one of the “old-time” horsemen and a very reliable
man, said that David W. Gilmore, formerly a grocer at City Hall Place
and Pearl Street, New York, bought a pacing mare, five years old, of
Mark D. Perkins, of Mount Vernon, New Hampshire, which came from Surrey,
New Hampshire, and hence her name “Lady Surrey.” Gilmore rode her to
New York, with a young man named Lovejoy. He gave less than one hundred
dollars for her. She was a superior saddle mare, and as Mr. Gilmore
appreciated horseback riding he bought her for that purpose. Frank
Gilmore, who was a deputy sheriff under Sheriff Orser, of New York, said
that Lady Surrey was the mare his brother rode from New Hampshire, and
after he sold her she turned out to be a trotter.
This is the story as told by Mr. Jones, and judging from its source I
have no doubt it is substantially correct. This leaves us without any
knowledge whatever of the blood of the mare, but only that she was both
a pacer and a trotter. She was engaged in some races and was quite well
known to the trotting men of that day, and she must have been a pretty
good one to have been owned by such a horseman as George M. Patchen and
by him bred to Andrew Jackson. It is said Surrey and Sally Miller were
coupled with Andrew Jackson the same day; they both stood, and the one
produced Henry Clay and the other Long Island Black Hawk.
While Henry Clay remained the property of his breeder he was trained and
was looked upon as a promising young horse, but I have not been able to
determine what rate of speed he was able to show. He certainly did not
stand anywhere near the fastest, and he does not appear to have ever
won a race, and perhaps never started in one. Still, he was esteemed as
one of the best horses on Long Island and was liberally supported while
there. When about eight years old he was sold for a fine price to General
Wadsworth, of Livingston County, New York, and he was kept at various
points in that part of the State till he died of old age and neglect in
1867. He came into the world when trotters were few and he lived till
they were many. He left a numerous progeny, but as the sire of trotters
he was a pronounced failure. In examining the 2:30 list I find a single
one of his get, before he left Long Island, with a single heat of even
2:30. And in examining the list of his get during the twenty-odd years
of his life in Western New York, I find a single representative, with a
single heat in even 2:30, and this one was out of a mare by old Champion,
a very noted trotting progenitor. He left three sons that appear as
sires: Andy Johnson, with three just inside of the 2:30 list, Henry
Clay Jr., with a single one to his credit, and Cassius M. Clay, with
one very fast one to his credit. This Cassius M. Clay was the sire of
the famous George M. Patchen. Three of Henry Clay’s daughters produced
six 2:30 trotters, and for a time it was held that the dam of the very
famous George Wilkes was a daughter of his, but that claim has not been
sustained by later developments.
The name and memory of the horse Henry Clay would have been perpetuated
in horse history through an attenuated line of descendants, as a fairly
good horse, though unsuccessful as a trotting progenitor, had his
bones been left to rest and rot where they were buried. Unfortunately,
about the time of his death, there sprang up a most voluble enthusiast
whose special mission on earth seemed to be to extol the superlative
greatness of Henry Clay, and the contemptible worthlessness of “Bill
Rysdyk’s bull,” as he designated Hambletonian. He commenced pouring his
endless contributions into the columns of the breeding press and writing
interminable letters to as many prominent breeders as would receive them,
and all about the Clay blood being the only blood from which the trotter
could be bred. These effusions were written with some skill, abounding
in great prodigality of fancy and still greater economy of truth. It was
astonishing how many men believed what he said and how few understood
that the “old man” was in it as a “business.” He had gathered up all
the cheap sons of the old horse and wanted to sell them at a handsome
advance, and for a time the game won.
To keep the interest from falling off and the Clay blood moving, he
secured access to the purses of two wealthy gentlemen who were possessors
and admirers of Clay blood, and the bones of the horse were taken up,
mounted and set up, and presented to the United States National Museum at
Washington, D. C. The bones are still there, and the inscription on the
pedestal when last seen was as follows:
“The progenitor of the entire family of Clay Horses, and the
foundation of the American Trotting Horse.”
Then follow the names of the two gentlemen who presented the bones to
the Museum, but as a kindness to them their names are omitted. The first
clause of the inscription is true, but the second is not true, and I very
seriously doubt whether they ever authorized the second clause. Henry
Clay was not the “foundation” of anything, except the airy fabric of a
fortune for our enthusiast. The scheme as an advertising dodge was well
worked, and the schemer could well exclaim, “Where now is Bill Rysdyk’s
bull?” In the nature of things such shams cannot last; this one had its
fleeting day, and in the end the sheriff sold its worthless accumulations.
CASSIUS M. CLAY.—This son of Henry Clay was quite a large bay horse,
taking his color and much of his shape from his dam. He was foaled
1843, and his dam, Jersey Kate, was the dam of the trotting horse John
Anderson. Jersey Kate was a bay, about fifteen hands three inches high,
with a clean, bony head, long neck, well set up, and when in driving
condition was a little high on her legs. She was used in livery work,
and when a good and fast driver was wanted, Jersey Kate was always in
demand. In the same stable a pair of “Canuck” ponies were kept that
were driven in a delivery wagon. They were duns with white manes and
tails and about fourteen and one-half hands high, quick steppers with
no speed. One of them slipped his halter one night and got Jersey Kate
with foal. While she was carrying this foal she became the property of
Mr. Z. B. Van Wyck’s father, and when she had dropped her colt and was
put to farm work it was found that she was too rapid and spirited for
his other horses, and he sold her to Joseph Oliver, of Brooklyn. The
colt she dropped was weaned before the sale of the dam and remained in
the family till he grew up. He was a grey, a little below fifteen hands,
and as the boy, Z. B. Van Wyck, had broken and ridden him he got it into
his head that he would make a trotter, so he bought him from his father
for eighty dollars. He continued to improve and he sold him to Timothy
T. Jackson and he to Charles Carman, who trotted him in many races. When
Mr. Oliver, then owner of Jersey Kate, saw her “catch” colt by a “Canuck”
pony able to beat many of the good ones on the island, he concluded
to breed her to Mr. Patchen’s horse, Henry Clay, and the produce was
Cassius M. Clay. From her appearance, form, and especially her action,
it was the universal opinion she was by Mambrino, son of Messenger, and
it is probable she was, but in the absence of proof she must be classed
as “breeding unknown.” Had it not been for the speed of little John
Anderson, there would not have been any Cassius M. Clay.
When the colt grew up, Mr. Oliver, his breeder, sold him to Mr. George
M. Patchen, of Brooklyn, and he became a very popular stallion. After
the death of Kemble Jackson and Long Island Black Hawk he was considered
the best trotting stallion on Long Island. He was in a good many races,
some of which were reported, but more that were not, and as against
stallions, he was with the fastest. In temper he was disposed to be
vicious and had to be watched. In form he could not be considered
beautiful, but powerful. When the artist was modeling the equestrian
statue of Washington that stands in Union Square, he had a great search
for a horse to serve as a model, and he selected Cassius M. Clay as the
best representative of majesty and power that he could find. Although the
bronze is of heroic size, it is, no doubt, a fair representation of the
outline and structure of the horse. He died at Montgomery, Orange County,
New York, July, 1854, in the same stable where Long Island Black Hawk
had died four years before. The three great horses, Long Island Black
Hawk, Kemble Jackson and Cassius M. Clay, died just as they entered on
what should have been the period of their greatest usefulness, the first
at the age of thirteen; the second at the age of nine; and the third at
the age of eleven. If these horses had lived through the usual period of
horse life, doubtless the records of performers would bear very different
relations from what they do to-day, but the _really great sire_ had not
yet made his appearance.
Considering the short period Cassius M. Clay was in the stud he left
a numerous progeny, but only one of them, George M. Patchen, achieved
greatness on the turf. He placed thirty-four heats in 2:30 or better to
his credit and made a record of 2:23½ in 1860, which was the fastest for
any stallion of his day. This was the only one in the 2:30 list from the
loins of Cassius M. Clay. Nine of his sons became the sires of eighteen
trotters, and more than a dozen of his sons were named “Cassius M. Clay
Jr.” thus leading to great confusion and oftentimes uncertainty as to
identity.
CASSIUS M. CLAY JR. (NEAVE’S).—This was a brown horse foaled 1848, got by
Cassius M. Clay; dam by Chancellor, son of Mambrino; grandam by Engineer,
sire of Lady Suffolk. He was bred by Charles Mitchell, of Manhasset, Long
Island, owned by Joseph Godwin, New York; stood in Orange County, 1852,
in Dutchess, 1853, and was taken to Cincinnati that fall. He was owned by
Mr. Neave, made a few seasons, broke his leg in the hands of Mr. McKelvy,
and had to be destroyed. Mr. Godwin represented this horse to me as very
fast until four years old, when by an accident he was thrown into the
Harlem River when hot and was stiff ever afterward. He put four of his
get into the 2:30 list, and four of his sons got ten trotters and one
pacer. His early death was esteemed a great loss, for he was better bred
than most of the other sons of his sire.
CLAY PILOT, by Cassius M. Clay (Neave’s), was out of a catch filly,
whose dam was the famous Kate, the grandam of Almont. From the noted
old trotting mare Belle of Wabash, whose history will be found in
Chapter XXX. on the investigation of pedigrees, Clay Pilot got The Moor,
himself a fast trotter and a successful sire. He died at ten years old,
leaving among others the famous Beautiful Bells, 2:29½, that, mated with
Electioneer, produced a remarkable family; and Sultan, 2:24, sire of
the great Stamboul, 2:07½, and of thirty-eight other performers, and of
thirteen producing sons and twenty producing daughters. The Moor founded
an excellent family.
From a sister to Crabtree Bellfounder, by imported Bellfounder, Neave’s
Cassius M. Clay got the black stallion Harry Clay, 2:29, that was quite a
reputable trotter in his day, and left five standard performers, sixteen
producing sons and twenty-three producing daughters, among the latter the
famous Green Mountain Maid, the dam of Electioneer.
CASSIUS M. CLAY JR. (STRADER’S).—This was a handsome brown horse,
foaled 1852, by the original Cassius, and his dam was a black mare by
Abdallah, that passed through the hands of A. Van Cortlandt and afterward
became the property of Joseph Godwin; grandam by Lawrence’s Eclipse;
great-grandam the Charles Hadley mare by imported Messenger. This
pedigree has been questioned without assigning any reasons or facts, but
as it came to me circumstantially and from unquestionable sources I have
no reason to doubt it. He was bred by Joseph H. Godwin, of New York, and
foaled the property of Dr. Spaulding, of Greenupsburg, Kentucky. He made
some seasons in the hands of Dr. Herr, of Lexington, Kentucky, was bought
1868 by R. S. Strader, and passed to General W. T. Withers, of Lexington,
where he died 1882. He was engaged in several races and made a record of
2:35¼. He put four in the 2:30 list, and he left sixteen sons that were
the sires of forty-six trotters and seven pacers. His daughters have
produced well, thirty-four of them having produced forty-two trotters and
seven pacers. This shows him to have been a better horse than his sire
and better than any of the other sons of his sire.
GEORGE M. PATCHEN was a large bay horse, fully sixteen hands high and
heavily proportioned. He was bred by H. F. Sickles, Monmouth County, New
Jersey, for Richard F. Carman, of New York, the owner of his dam. He was
got by the original Cassius M. Clay, and his dam was a light chestnut
mare, owned and driven on the road by Mr. Carman. As the blood and origin
of this mare was for many years unknown, it is necessary to go into some
particulars concerning it. From 1835 two brothers, Thomas and Richard
Tone, were contractors on the streets in the northern part of New York
City. Two or three years afterward Richard bought or traded for a large,
strong sorrel mare to work in one of their dirt carts. It was represented
that she had lost a foal shortly before and she was thin in flesh and
looked coarse. When she moved out of a walk she always went into a pace,
and that seemed to be her natural gait. They kept this mare at work in
the cart for several years and sometimes turned her out to pasture in a
small field at the foot of “Break-neck” hill, adjoining a pasture owned
by the Bradhurst family. One morning a two-year-old stallion colt, owned
by Samuel Bradhurst, was found in the pasture with the big pacing mare.
He had broken down the fence between the two pastures and gotten the big
mare with foal. In due time she dropped a light chestnut filly, and when
weaned, Thomas Tone bought this filly from his brother Richard, and at
two years old commenced working her to his wagon. She had very severe
treatment for so young an animal and went amiss, when Thomas sold her
to James Scanlon, a blacksmith, and after a time he sold her to Richard
F. Carman for a driving mare. Like her dam, when she started off she
would pace, but after going some distance she would strike a trot and
go very fast. Mr. Carman paid one hundred dollars for her and he drove
her beside another that he paid fifteen hundred for, and his fast daily
drives from Carmanville down to the city soon tested the respective
merits of the two mares. The hundred-dollar mare could outlast the other
and had to help her along toward the end of the drive. In time she was
foundered and permanently stiffened and that was the reason she was sent
to Mr. Sickles to be bred.
We must now look after the two-year-old colt that was the sire of this
mare. Robert L. Stevens, of Hoboken, owned the famous race mare, Betsey
Ransom, and with others he bred from her the two fillies, Itasca and
Frolic. In 1837 these two mares were owned by Samuel Bradhurst, who
manifested a sporting disposition, very much against the wishes of
his father. In 1837 he bred these two mares to imported Trustee, then
standing at Union Course, Long Island, and the produce were Head’em
and Fanny Ransom. It is not known what became of Fanny Ransom, but he
continued to own Head’em for some years and ran him in 1841 at the Union
Course and beat the imported colt Baronet, by Spencer. There seems to
be no other trace of his running or his stud services. It was in 1840,
therefore, that he jumped the fence and in 1841 that the dam of George M.
Patchen was foaled. George Canavan, Mr. Bradhurst’s coachman, says there
were no other foals of any description bred by Mr. Bradhurst. These facts
were gleaned personally and separately from Tone and Canavan, and as they
complement and sustain each other, they must be accepted as the best
information extant on the breeding of this great horse. His dam was by
Head’em, a son of Trustee, out of a mare by American Eclipse, a grandson
of Messenger, and she was a pacer and a trotter. His grandam was a pacer
of unknown breeding.
In 1851 he was purchased for four hundred dollars from Mr. Sickles by
John Buckley, of Bordentown, New Jersey, and a few months afterward he
sold a half interest in him to Dr. Longstreet, of the same place, and he
remained their joint property till 1858, when Mr. Buckley sold his half
interest to Mr. Joseph Hall, of Rochester, New York. He commenced his
remarkable career on the turf in 1855 and it continued till 1863. In 1858
he was engaged in the first race that gave him a national reputation.
This was against no less a celebrity than Ethan Allen, and he was
distanced, leaving Ethan with a clear title to the stallion championship.
In 1860 he turned the tables on his old rival and beat him in straight
heats in 2:25, 2:24, 2:29. The next week the contest was renewed and
Patchen again won in straight heats, and this gave him the unchallenged
right to the rank of the fastest trotting stallion in the world. His
triumphs, however, were as wide as the trotting turf and not limited to
sex. He was able to beat and did beat all the best but the indomitable
little Flora Temple, and although he beat her twice, she was too fast for
him and beat him many times. It is not my purpose to give a history of
his achievements. It is sufficient to say he made a record of 2:23½, with
thirty-four heats to his credit in 2:30 and less, and two miles in 4:51½.