RACEALONG 153 



BURDETT LOOMIS 



Burdett Loomis, one of the many sided men which 

 Connecticut has given to the world, went west in 

 1922. He was born in SufReld in 1838, and remained 

 on his father's farm until 1871 when he located in 

 Hartford. Burdett Loomis was descended in the 

 seventh generation from Joseph Loomis, who settled 

 in Windsor in 1639, and while the world at large 

 knew him as an inventor and organizer, the follow- 

 ers of light harness racing will always remember 

 him as the man who was responsible for the build- 

 ing and equipping of Charter Oak Park at Hartford. 



One day when in a reminiscent mood, Mr. Loomis 

 said that the first trotting race he ever saw was 

 contested over the half-mile track on Albany Ave- 

 nue in Hartford on October 30, 1861. It was to 

 saddle, the starters being the gray gelding Rock- 

 ingham with Budd Doble up and Lancet. Doble won 

 the event in 2:24l^. Burdett Loomis' interest in 

 racing started that day and when he located in 

 Hartford, he decided that the city should have one 

 of the best courses in the country. With that object 

 in view, he selected a site, organized the associa- 

 tion, superintended the building of the track, as well 

 as the planting of the trees which made its park 

 like appearance. 



All of the early meetings were successful but in 

 1883 Loomis decided that Hartford should have an 

 event that would attract national attention. After 

 considerable deliberation he drafted the conditions 



