HAMBLETONIAN'S so^s AND GRANDSONS. 303 



fame of Volunteer that when his sire died in 1876 he was re- 

 garded 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 cer- 

 tain 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, 

 2:16i, sire of Fanny Wilcox, 2:10J, and twenty-seven other stand- 

 ard 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, 2:17^, Alma, 2:28f, 

 Astoria, 2:29^, etc., by Seely's American Star; grandam the Mc- 

 Kinstry mare, breeding unknown, but that produced Shark with 



