INVESTIGATION OF DISPUTED PEDIGREES. 4">1 



occasions great crowds of practical horsemen had, in this man- 

 ner, proclaimed that Mr. Alexander had been victimized in the 

 age of the mare, and fifteen years later I determined to settle the 

 question as to whether this judgment was right. 



As the supposed age and breeding of Sally Russell has been 

 made to turn and rest upon the ownership of her dam, Maria 

 Russell, it is important that we should have the antecedent cir- 

 cumstances set out in the plainest possible manner. Captain 

 John A. Holton and Captain John W. Russell were farmers in 

 Kentucky, living a few miles apart, and I think they were both 

 river men at one time or another; certainly Russell was in com- 

 mand of a snag boat on the Ohio and Mississippi along about 

 1836 iO. Like many other Kentucky farmers, they both bred a 

 few running horses, but not enough, singly, to justify the ex- 

 pense of separate training establishments, so they united their 

 strings in one stable, sharing the expense and dividing the 

 profits, if any, equally. The partnership did not extend to the 

 joint ownership of any of the horses, but simply to the losses or 

 profits of training and racing, and Major Benjamin Luckett was 

 in their employ as trainer. 



Before going to work in earnest on this investigation, I learned 

 that Mr. Llewelyn Holton, a son of Captain John A. Holton, 

 still resided on the old farm and that he was old enough to know 

 all about the origin and history of Maria Russell, as well as the 

 other stock belonging to his father at that time. This was very 

 encouraging, but I wanted to know whether he was a man who 

 could be relied upon to tell the truth. On this point I addressed 

 an inquiry to the late Colonel R. P. Pepper, and his reply is as 

 follows: "Your letter of the 29th received. I regard L. Holton, 

 of this county, as a man of honor, integrity and intelligence, and 

 the peer of any gentleman of my acquaintance. In my opinion 

 any statement he will make upon any subject, as to his own 

 knowledge, will be accepted in this community as readily as that 

 of any gentleman in it. He is a man who sometimes gets on 

 sprees from intoxicating liquors, but I have never heard of it 

 affecting his intelligence, honor or integrity, and, as above 

 stated, his word will be accepted in this community at this time 

 as soon as the word of any gentleman in this county or commu- 

 nity." 



With this very high indorsement I did not hesitate to send a 

 commissioner to interview Mr. Holton and get from him the 



