THE BLACK HAWK OK MORGAX FAMILY. 369 



to Selah Norton, of the same place, and remained his till he died. 

 Who was this "one Smith" and where did be belong? Where is 

 the evidence that this "one Smith'" stole a horse from Colonel 

 De Lancey? 



Fourth In the New York Packet, then published at Fishkill, 

 tinder date of October 19, 1780, we find the following: "Last 

 week Lieutenant Wright Carpenter and two others went down 

 to Colonel James De Lancey's quarters and lay in wait for his 

 appearance. He accordingly came and having tied his horse at 

 the door, went into the house; upon which Carpenter seized the 

 horse and mounted. When De Lancey discovered him, he im 

 mediately alarmed his men, who pursued him to White Plains, 

 but in vain," etc., etc. This Lieutenant Carpenter was a dash- 

 ing young fellow and was promoted next month to the position 

 of first lieutenant in Captain Lyons' company, of the Second 

 Regiment of New York Militia, of Westchester County, and still 

 commanded by Colonel Thomas. This is the m?n who stole the 

 horse, this is the contemporaneous evidence of it, and "one 

 Smith" had nothing to do with it. 



In these four points we have what may be considered the first 

 chapter of this investigation and, as will be readily seen, each of 

 them must be fatal to the pretentious claim that has been main- 

 tained for about a hundred years. Avoiding all circumlocution, 

 I think it is safe to say that this so-called pedigree did not orig- 

 inate this side of Hartford. The Second Regiment of New York 

 Militia, called "The Skinners," was made up of Westchester 

 County men, and as Colonel De Lancey had been sheriff of that 

 county, everybody knew him and knew that he was not the race 

 horse James. We must, therefore, look further on for the time 

 when and the person by whom this pedigree was manufactured. 



In 1784 this horse was advertised at Lanesboro, Massachusetts, 

 tinder the name of Beautiful Bay, and no attempt was made to 

 give a pedigree or origin of the horse. 



In 1785 he was at West Springfield, Massachusetts, in charge 

 of Justin Morgan, still called Beautiful Bay, and still no pedi- 

 gree. 



In 1788 and 1789 he was in charge of John Morgan, Jr., of 

 Springfield, Massachusetts, and here, for the first time, he is 

 designated as "the famous full-blooded English horse, called 

 True Briton or Beautiful Bay," but no pedigree is given. 



In 1791 he was advertised at East Hartford, Connecticut, by 



