THE TROTTING HORSE IN TENNESSEE 



are dams of speed, making her one of the greatest 

 of producing mares. The thoroughbred foundation 

 evidently gave her nerve force and breeding-on 

 capacity. 



The Hermitage mile track was an excellent one, 

 and on the far side of it was the charming country 

 home of V. L. Kirkman, named Oak Hill. In the 

 autumn the scarlet-fringed leaves of oak trees 

 were conspicuous among the beach and elms and 

 added to the glory of the woods. The first time I 

 saw Kirkman was when the pickets on the banks of 

 the Cumberland made him a prisoner, and brought 

 him to headquarters in Clarksville. He was a rosy- 

 cheeked boy, fired with the ardor of the South, and, 

 after the Civil War, developed into a handsome, 

 athletic man, and was quite a favorite at Long 

 Branch, Saratoga, and other Northern resorts. He 

 was a great admirer of the blood horse, and it is 

 sad to think of him passing from robust manhood 

 into a stage of decay before he was really old, as 

 we count birthdays. 



Rosy Morn was early put to breeding at Hermit- 

 age Stud, because of her blood lines. She was given 

 no opportunity to take a record. Bow Bells by Elec- 

 tioneer, out of Beautiful Bells, had been purchased 

 at Palo Alto, and, as a three-year-old, he was bred 

 to the three-year-old filly, Rosy Morn. 



Wedgewood was the premier stallion, and he was 

 a handsome brown of 15.2^, by Belmont (son of 

 Alexander's Abdallah), dam Woodbine by Wood- 



259 



