258 A HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



cause first introduced by the Messrs. Patton the 

 descendants of the Gough and Miller importations 

 became the basis of the great cattle business subse- 

 quently developed in the bluegrass regions of cen- 

 tral Kentucky and southern Ohio. 



First Improved Blood in Kentucky. Careful 

 investigation indicates that the commonly accepted 

 statement that the Gough and Miller cattle were 

 all of the Shorthorn and Durham type is not cor- 

 rect. Examination of various records bearing upon 

 this question indicates that Longhorn and possibly 

 Hereford blood were included in the purchases made 

 by these gentlemen in England. The foundations 

 therefore of the cattle-breeding operations of those 

 who in the early days began the profitable business 

 of converting corn and bluegrass into beef in central 

 Kentucky and southern Ohio, were not entirely laid 

 in the blood of the Teeswater cattle. In the course 

 of our inquiries touching this point and confirma- 

 tory of the above statement, the author submits the 

 following interesting letter written by Mr. B. Har- 

 rison of Woodf ord county, Ky., and published in the 

 "Franklin Farmer " in 1838: 



"The impression that Matthew Patton, Sr., was 

 the first individual who brought blooded cattle to 

 Kentucky, is incorrect. The facts are, that some 

 two or three Mr. Pattons, the sons, and a Mr. Gay,, 

 the son-in-law of Matthew Patton, Sr., brought some 

 half -blooded English cattle (so called), a bull and 

 some heifers, as early as 1785, or thereabouts, and 

 settled where Nicholasville, in Jessamine county, 

 now stands. The cattle were from the stock of Mat- 



