ALDEN GOLDSMITH. 117 



In the seventy-five years which elapsed between 

 Alden Goldsmith's birth, on December 4, 1820, and 

 John Alden Goldsmith's burial, in December, 1895, a 

 new breed of race horses was evolved on the continent 

 of North America, and of all who contributed to the 

 establishing and developing what is now known as the 

 "light harness horse," there is no family that has left 

 so legible an impression on its history from the foun- 

 dation to the top of the arch as the Goldsmiths. Upon 

 the father was cast the burden to breed and develop 

 a family of horses which, after breasting 



"The stings and arrows of outrageous fortune," 

 rushed on to such an emphatic triumph that it will 

 stand for all time as the symbol of sterling race horse 

 qualities. In the harness racing world, "as game as a 

 Volunteer," has become a proverb, and the members 

 of that family which won the laurels for their sire, ex- 

 hibited their courage and stamina in many a split heat 

 contest, in which the time, from start to finish, was up 

 to the limit of their speed. None of the Volunteers 

 were what has been termed "born trotters." They 

 learned the trotting step after arriving at maturity, 

 and it was while assisting their father in developing 

 the horses bred on or purchased for Walnut Grove 

 Farm that James and John Goldsmith first showed the 

 light hand which is such a necessary adjunct in the 

 natural endowment of a reinsman or rider. 



Alden Goldsmith's fondness for the trotter can be 

 traced to the old Beacon Course back of Hoboken, N. 

 J., where, on August i, 1839, as a young man of nine- 

 teen, he saw Hiram Woodruff ride Dutchman in his 

 match against time. As the old-time champion 

 jogged by the stand under a pull, after trotting three 



