The Clay Family 221 



Years ago, at old Fleetwood Park, I saw a fast 

 trotting mare die in the hands of Mr. David 

 Bonner. She was to road wagon and had gone 

 to the half-mile pole with a rush. Then she 

 faltered, and Mr. Bonner held her together. 

 When she fell there was not a quiver to indicate 

 life. She had died on her feet in a struggle for 

 the goal which satisfies animal ambition. 



Cicero J. Hamlin saw George M. Patchen 

 repeatedly in races, and when he started the 

 modest breeding venture at East Aurora, which 

 developed into the famous Village Farm, he laid 

 the foundations with a son of that horse. Ham- 

 lin Patchen, who was by George M. Patchen out 

 of Mag Addison, produced but two indifferent 

 record trotters, but his daughters contributed 

 to the Village Farm volume of speed. From 

 them came such noted trotters as Belle Hamlin, 

 2.i2f ; Globe, 2.14!; Justina, 2.20; and Nettie 

 King, 2.20^. Mr. Hamlin was a strong believer 

 in progression. In 1897 he said to me: " Unless 

 a family shows a higher development at the end 

 of every five years, it will not do to tie to. The 

 individuals that do not show the stamp of im- 

 provement must be discarded from the breeding 

 stud. I have progressed by taking the best 



