The Horse of America in His Derivation, History, and Development

by John Hankins Wallace

With such noted performers from his own loins as Fanny Pullen and Daniel. D. Tompkins, and in the next generation the famous Zachary Taylor, this horse made about the best showing of all the sons of Messenger, but as his line failed to produce a Rysdyk’s Hambletonian or a Mambrino Chief, it dropped to a place somewhat removed from the front of the procession.

Engineer was a grey horse, about sixteen hands high and very elegant in his form, style and proportions. The earliest account we have of him is in the spring of 1816, when he was advertised in The Long Island Star to stand at the stable of Daniel Seely, near Suffolk Court House, and at Jericho, in Queens County. He was in charge of Thomas Jackson, Jr., generally designated as “Long Tom.” He was then well advanced in years, but no attempt was made to give his age. Mr. Daniel T. Cock, in charge of Duroc and one or two other stallions, was then in sharp competition with Engineer, and he assures me he was a horse of large size, great share of bone and sinew, most elegant form, and a fine mover. His elegant appearance was so captivating that he was a very troublesome competitor.

The advertisement referred to contains the following very unsatisfactory paragraph relating to his pedigree, viz., “The manner he came into this country is such that I cannot give an account of his pedigree, but his courage and activity show the purity of his blood, which is much better than the empty sound of a long pedigree.” This was a most unexpected discovery, for I had always understood that Engineer was a son of Messenger and never had heard of this mystery before. It is here intimated that the horse was imported, and the story that Jackson told was that he was brought from England to Canada by a British officer, and by some surreptitious means found his way from Canada to Long Island. What appears to be the real history of the horse, and the version accepted afterward by everybody on the island, will be found in the following extract from a letter written by David W. Jones, February 28, 1870. He says:

“I can well account for Mr. Cock’s recollections of the history of the first Engineer. Thomas Jackson and George Tappan, noted owners and keepers of stallions on Long Island and in the counties of Orange and Dutchess, in the course of their peregrinations met with a person in possession of this horse, who offered him for sale. Impressed with his fine appearance and pedigree, they at once entered into negotiations for his purchase, and finally obtained him at so low a price as to cause strong suspicions that he was not honestly in his vendor’s possession. They, however, determined to take the chances, and at once brought him to Long Island, their place of residence, and determined on what they deemed a harmless representation in regard to his history; for this they had several motives. First, Messenger stallions were then very numerous on Long Island; their blood coursed in the veins of nearly every brood mare. Secondly, imported stallions were much desired, and by a little added fiction they could give him considerable éclat, and thirdly, in case of his having been unjustly obtained this would afford the best means of disguise. Accordingly they represented him as having been imported from England to Canada and ridden in the army by Gen. Brock, who, in an engagement with our troops, was shot and killed. The horse, escaping into our lines, was secured by our soldiers and brought to the State of New York. On these representations they claimed to have purchased him. No pedigree, as I recollect, was attempted to be given, and though many doubted the truth of this statement, there was no evidence to controvert it. For a length of time this story was adhered to; but after several years, when all fears of difficulty had subsided, they acknowledged the deception. Mr. Tappan, who resided but a few miles from me, was a man of more than ordinary candor and fairness, for one of his position and employment. I knew him well, and occasionally rendered him a favor by preparing his horse bills. On one of these occasions, at my house, he gave a full and particular statement of the whole affair. Some of the details have escaped me, but the essential facts are distinctly recollected. The owner, with Engineer in possession, was met at some public place and the purchase completed, and this statement then made, ‘that he had become involved in debt, and that his creditor had begun a prosecution, with a view to levy on the horse, the only property he possessed, and he was determined not to lose all.’ This was certainly enough to arouse their suspicions with regard to his history. He declared the horse was bred and raised in Pennsylvania and that he was got by imported Messenger. Whether any further pedigree was given is not recollected. He was at this time (1814) a horse considerably advanced in years and perfectly white. Mr. Tappan also told me that he had afterward traced the horse, and was entirely satisfied of the former owner’s veracity. I will not apologize for the length of this statement, being desirous of giving you all the information here possessed and probably all that can now be obtained.”

I am not aware that in the past sixty years any question has ever been raised as to the truth of the universally accepted statement that Engineer was a true son of Messenger, and I would not have disturbed it now, nor thought of doing so, had it not been for that remarkable advertisement discovered in the obscure Long Island paper. That was contemporaneous history, however, and it must either be explained or accepted. The question has been examined down to the bottom by one of the most conscientious and capable men of his generation, in this department of knowledge. His verdict has been accepted as the truth by all parties of that day, and I cannot reject it.

It is not known that any of his immediate progeny attained distinction on the trotting turf. Several of his sons bore his name in the stud and while their blood seemed to be helpful in the right direction, only one of them made any mark as a sire of speed, and that was the horse known as Lewis’ Engineer, the sire of the world beater, Lady Suffolk. Burdick’s Engineer, another son, was taken to Washington County, New York, and got the dam of the famous Princess, which produced the great Happy Medium. In all these instances there was commingling with other strains from Messenger.

Commander.—This was a grey horse, fully sixteen hands high and of massive proportions. He was a son of imported Messenger and out of a mare by imported Rockingham. This Rockingham was not a thoroughbred horse. Commander was bred in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and found his way to Long Island about 1812, where he was liberally patronized. His name frequently occurs among the remote crosses of good pedigrees, but his fame rests wholly on the progeny of his son, Young Commander, who was the sire of Screwdriver, Screws, Bull Calf and other good ones. This horse Young Commander was sometimes called “Bull” and sometimes “American Commander.”

Messenger, (Bush’s), generally known as Bush Messenger. This son of Messenger was bred by James Dearin, of Dutchess County, New York, and was foaled 1807. His dam was a Virginia mare, named Queen Ann, by Celer, son of imported Janus, and out of a mare by Skipwith’s Figure, son of imported Figure, and she out of a mare imported by Colonel Miland, of Virginia. This pedigree was not accepted without some misgivings, but as it was possible and as it had been indorsed sixty years ago by Cadwallader R. Colden and published before that by Mr. Dearin, I am disposed to accept it as reliable.

He was sixteen hands high, a light grey, becoming white with age. He was excellent in form and probably the most handsome and attractive of all the sons of Messenger. The first public notice we have of him, he was advertised at the stable of his breeder, six miles south of Poughkeepsie, in 1813. Soon after this he became the property of Philo C. Bush, and this was the first horse, he says, that he ever owned. This Mr. Bush was a noted “character” in his day. From early manhood, through good and evil report, and until he died a very old man in poverty and want, he was a habitue of the race track. He knew all about race horses and their breeding, and he could prattle pedigrees from morning till night. Added to this knowledge which his life pursuits had placed in his possession, he was endowed with a most vivid imagination which was brought into the most active play whenever he found it necessary. To maintain his “reputation” it seemed to be a necessity that he should be able to extend all pedigrees laid before him and give the remote crosses, whether he knew anything about them or not. He was the author of the running pedigree given to the dam of Major Winfield—Edward Everett, son of Hambletonian—and on it money was won in a bet. An investigation of just two minutes disclosed the facts that by established and known dates the whole thing was utterly impossible. He was literally a very “racy” raconteur, but his reminiscences soon became tedious, notwithstanding their brilliancy, and it was always important to have a call to some business that cut off further entertainment from his répertoire.

Mr. Bush says he paid one thousand seven hundred and forty dollars and a silver watch for this horse, and with him he got an elegant suit of clothing that had belonged to imported Express. It is said that he never ran but one race and that was at Pine Plains, in which he distanced all his competitors in the first heat. In 1816 Mr. Bush kept him at Kinderhook; 1817 at Kinderhook and Schodack; 1818 at Kinderhook and Albany; 1819-20 at Utica. In the autumn of 1820 he was sold to Dr. Millington, of Crooked Lake, Herkimer County, and he was kept there 1821-22. He was then sold to Edward Reynolds, of East Bloomfield, where he was kept three or four years, after which he made one or more seasons at Le Roy, and he died at East Bloomfield in July, 1829. This horse had probably more trotting speed than any of the other sons of Messenger. Mr. Bush assured me that he could trot very fast for a horse of that day, and when led by the side of another horse he could beat three minutes very easily, but as we have to take Mr. Bush’s assertions cum grano salis, we fortunately have very reliable testimony of contemporaneous date and from a source wholly disinterested. I have before me a letter written by Judge J. Porter, of East Bloomfield, dated June 4, 1828, in reply to inquiries from some correspondent about the horse, his terms, etc. He writes as follows: