Tennessee and North Alabama 127 



There was a close business relationship between Jackson 

 and Col. George Elliott in all breeding and turf matters; 

 they did more for the stock interests of Tennessee than 

 any two men of their time; no two since their day have 

 done more. No history of Tennessee, or of the American 

 thoroughbred, can be complete without giving them the 

 same place of honor in its pages that they occupied among 

 their contemporaries. 



Because of its close proximity to Tennessee and its 

 influence on Tennessee stock, mention of E. H. Board- 

 man's establishment at Boardman's Mills, near Huntsville, 

 Alabama, is here in order. In 1838 it consisted of two 

 imported stallions : Consol and Berner's Comus; nine- 

 teen imported brood mares; one native; and thirty-one 

 head under two years of age. These importations had been 

 selected by Richard Tattersall to meet the long-distance 

 requirements of horses in this country, Boardman's idea 

 being to save to American breeders the time and money 

 necessary to go to England for stock. 



All of his horses came from noted English studs 

 among others the Royal stud at Hampton Court, Lord 

 Chesterfield's, the Duke of Grafton's and Sir Thomas 

 Stanley's. " It is the only establishment of its kind in the 

 United States," wrote the Editor of The Spirit of the 

 Times," and it is conducted upon a scale so grand, both in 

 regard to the extent and the quality and value of its stock, 

 as to rival the most celebrated studs in England." 



Samuel Ragland and Nicholas Davis had stables of 

 fine racers and took many purses on Tennessee tracks. 



Another successful horseman near Huntsville was John 

 Connolly. Connolly, and E. H. and John Boardman, 

 like thousands of other "Southern" men of their time, 

 were of Northern birth. The Boardmans, natives of 

 Connecticut or New York, and Connolly, a native of 



