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

by John Hankins Wallace

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.