384 RACEALONG 



mare afterwards called Dolly Spanker, and proved 

 to be the dam of George Wilkes, was my uncle. I 

 was his only nephew. I know all the facts in regard 

 to the buying of this mare by my uncle and his sell- 

 ing her to Mr. Delevan. After Mr. Felter bred the 

 mare to Rysdyk's Hambletonian he naturally wanted 

 to know her pedigree. My uncle often told me that 

 he went to New York, and to the Felter farm to 

 identify the mare. Felter wanted to know the pedi- 

 gree and I knew from my uncle's statement to me 

 that Mr. Gilbert told my uncle, as he often stated, 

 that he bought the mare of Joshua Philips of Bris- 

 tol, and my uncle told me that he sent John Dey to 

 Bristol to ascertain the facts in regard to her breed- 

 ing. 



"John Dey was a wool and horse buyer for my 

 uncle and he told me the same facts many times. 

 There was a strong prejudice in those days against 

 the Clay blood, especially after Mr. Bonner declared 

 that the Clay blood in a trotter was as bad as saw- 

 dust in his oats. I know from, my uncle's talk that 

 Felter and the owners of George Wilkes did not care 

 to have that pedigree with a Clay cross in it publicly 

 known. There was no one in Geneva or that terri- 

 tory that ever made any other claim for her sire, or 

 doubted that said mare was by Wadsworth's Henry 

 Clay. 



"Nelson Thompson of Penn Yan, was a partner of 

 my uncle for years in the stage business from Penn 

 Yan to Geneva, and the said Thompson bought 

 Henry Clay after he had first stood in Bristol a year 



