Sixth. Llewellyn Holton was sixty-three years old in 1883 and he was afflicted with physical paralysis, but his mind seems to have been perfectly sound and memory good for a man of his age. Before he had the slightest intimation that a pedigree was being investigated that might call him into controversy, he was asked about Maria Russell by one of the most prominent and distinguished of all the breeders of Kentucky, and that breeder wrote me as follows:
“I have seen Mr. L. Holton, the son of Captain John A. Holton, of this county, and he says his father bred and owned Maria Russell; that she was by Rattler, and out of a mare by Stockholder, and was foaled 1834. He says he thinks a man by the name of William Duvall can give some information about these mares. I will see him to-morrow, and write you.”
As this information about Maria Russell was elicited from Mr. Holton on the spur of the moment, and as he gave her pedigree correctly, and not only this, but gave the year in which she was foaled correctly, his memory, at least so far as this mare is concerned seems to have been remarkably good.
Seventh. My correspondent wrote a few days later: “I have just learned from William Duvall, who trained for Captain J. A. Holton in 1842, that he remembers the mare Maria Russell, and he thinks she was by Seagull, and out of Limber, by Whipster; he also remembers a mare owned by Holton that was by Rattler, but cannot remember any more about her.” This confirms Mr. Holton’s recollections in a very striking and satisfactory manner. As a trainer Mr. Duvall did not handle the brood mares, but only their produce. He recalled a Seagull mare and a Rattler mare, that Captain Holton owned, but he attached the name “Maria Russell” to the wrong one. This kind of impromptu inaccuracy is almost always an element of strength, for it goes to prove that the witness has not been “coached.” He remembered there was a mare by Rattler in the field, and as there was no other Rattler mare owned by either Holton or Russell, the identity of Maria Russell is clearly established as the property of Captain Holton in 1842.
Eighth. With the high indorsement of Mr. Llewellyn Holton as a man of truth and honor, given on page 421 of this chapter; and with the evidence before me of his clear and unclouded memory in giving correctly not only the pedigrees but the year in which Maria Russell was foaled, and all this before there was any pressure or suspicion on his part as to where his disclosure might lead, I cannot, as an honest man, fail to believe that he told the truth. Thus, after leaving out all the minor evidences, we have the three major points fully and clearly established, namely, (1) the inscription on the silver cup that Captain Holton owned her in 1836; (2) the evidence of William Duvall that he owned her in 1842; and (3) the statement of Llewellyn Holton that he owned her always and that she died his.
Ninth. At the Woodburn sale of 1863 and 1868 there were certainly at least two hundred experienced horsemen and breeders present who were able to discriminate concerning a mare represented to be thirteen years old when she looked ten years more; or concerning a mare represented to be eighteen years old when she looked as if she were twenty-eight. Hence, no man was willing to bid five dollars on her. This I take it, was the personal judgment of every man who thought anything about it, and when she died a few weeks after the last sale, nobody could doubt that she died of old age, and nobody could doubt that Mr. Alexander represented her to the public just as she had been represented to him, both in age and breeding, by the rogue who victimized him.
The mare Sally Russell, the grandam of Maud S., had been sold to Mr. Alexander by the foreman of Captain Russell’s farm, and it does not appear that he represented her as having been bred by Captain Russell. Indeed, it was not claimed at Woodburn that Captain Russell bred her until a representative of that establishment called at my office to examine the service books of Boston and there found that “John Russell’s one-eyed mare” had been bred in 1849. If a fraud, therefore, was established the Russell family must bear the odium. Hence all evidence from that source must be considered in the light of the fact that every member of the family is deeply interested. But notwithstanding the efforts of the Russell family to preserve the father’s name from obloquy, and notwithstanding the trip in search of some superannuated darkey who could remember anything and everything in consideration of the pour-boire that would be forthcoming, there stood that terrible statement of Llewellyn Holton that could not be met by evidence. The whole matter was against him, and Mr. Brodhead was not happy. He knew he could not prove him wrong, and the only course left open was to get him to take back certain things that he had said on the ground that his memory had failed and that the fight was between “Old Kaintuck” and outside parties who had no business to interfere with Kentucky affairs. On an appointed day, therefore, all who were supposed to have any influence with Mr. Holton, in the whole countryside, met Mr. Brodhead, and they came down on “the poor old paralytic” hammer and tongs. They asked him what he remembered about all the horses, each in his turn, in the whole neighborhood, whether he had ever heard of them before or not. This was kept up a long time, but they could not prevail on him to take back a single specific statement he had made. He had said Captain Russell had never owned Maria Russell or any of her produce, and he would not take it back. He had said Maria Russell had two good eyes when she died, and he would not take it back. At last when the poor old invalid was worn out they sprung the patriotic dodge of “Kentucky against the world” upon him and this had some effect, but not enough to save the anxious “bulldozers” from a feeling of great depression. At last Mr. Brodhead seized a pen and indited a letter for him to sign, addressed to me, with the request that I would publish it. I am not able to say how many attempts were made to get such a letter as he would be willing to sign, but several different drafts were made, and sick and worried, and in order to get rid of his tormentors, he signed, and the letter came to me, and I published it as follows:
“Forks of Elkhorn, June 12, 1883.
“Mr. J. H. Wallace.