TROTTING FAMILIES. 29 



established by his more remote descendants, in whom 

 the cart-horse qualities inherited from the Bellfounder 

 strain were overcome by an infusion of thoroughbred 

 or Arab blood. His best sons were invariably from 

 high-bred mares. Perhaps the best of all was Alex- 

 ander's Abdallah. 1 This grand horse came to an end 

 more untimely and no less cruel than that suffered by 

 his grandsire Abdallah. In February, 1865, just be- 

 fore the Civil War closed, Alexander's Abdallah was 

 stolen by a Rebel guerilla from his owner's farm at 

 Woodburn, Kentucky. The next day he w r as recap- 

 tured by a Federal soldier, ridden fifty miles unshod, 

 and then abandoned at the roadside without food or 

 shelter. He died a few days later of pneumonia. 

 Among his few descendants are Belmont, 2 Almont, 

 and Thorndale, all of whom founded subordinate trot- 

 ting families, and the famous Goldsmith Maid, whose 

 career will be glanced at in a subsequent chapter. 

 Other noted sons of Rysdyck's Hambletonian are 

 George Wilkes and Electioneer, both of whose dams 

 were of the Clay family (presently to be described), 

 Volunteer (whose dam was a high-bred mare called 

 Lady Patriot), Happy Medium, Harold (the sire of 

 Maud S.), Strathmore, Dictator, and Aberdeen. At 

 present, the two most popular trotting families are 

 those founded by George Wilkes and Electioneer, 

 respectively. Both of these horses were bred in New 

 York State, but Wilkes passed the greater part of 

 his life in Kentucky, and Electioneer stood for many 



1 His dam was a small, wiry bay mare, who showed signs of 

 high breeding. Her pedigree is uutraced, but she is said to have 

 descended from Mambrino, son of Messenger. 



2 Sire of Nutwood and of Wedgewood. 



