24 THE MORGAN HORSE 



"Hon. D. Bush has a very fine three-year-old Morgan stallion, also the 

 Messrs. Wilson a fine Morgan stallion. These horses were bred in New 

 Hampshire, brought here about two years ago. Their stock seems to justify 

 the celebrity of Morgan horses". Geauga County. "A number of valuable 

 horses have been brought in from Vermont, among them a very fine horse 

 Onderdonk, owned by Brown, Spencer & Co. ; another, Emperor, by S. Gould 

 & Co." In 1855 the secretary, in his report, says : "From about 1820 to 1835, 

 while imported Diomed, Sir Archy, and their progeny, Bertram, Sir Charles 

 and others, together with an endless list of competitors, were prominent be- 

 fore the public, the turf was considered the test of merit. But now a 2 : 40 

 roadster attached to a light buggy is in demand. To accommodate this rapidly 

 increasing class, the State Board of Agriculture introduced a separate list of 

 premiums for 'driving horses'. In this list we find the handy, quick-step- 

 ping ' Morgans ' to fall into rank with a promptness that would indicate their 

 fitness for the place. The show of roadsters proper at the last fair far ex- 

 ceeded anything before seen in the West. Among the principal exhibitors 

 were the Messrs. P. & L. Melendy, Mt. Healthy, Hamilton Co., showing their 

 fine chestnut, Champion Morgan, the get of old Black Hawk ; the Messrs. 

 Fullington of Union Co., showing their superior Gifford horse ; L. E. Hap- 

 good, Columbus, showing Telegraph, one of old Black Hawk's most stylish 

 and fine-stepping colts ; Messrs. Blake & Williams, Columbus, exhibiting 

 Green Mountain, possessing great power and speedy withal. Messrs. An- 

 derson & Wright, Xenia, and James Wilson, Delaware, exhibited superior 

 Morgan horses. Mr. Wm. H. Rarey of Groveport exhibited his fine Bell- 

 founder, in this class ; John Van Pierce, Lancaster, his superior horse, Prince 

 Hal ; C. H. Cornwall of Salem a very fine bred horse, Hassan, of rare merit 

 for saddle or light harness and there were many others. In the 'all work' 

 class Mr. Teal- of Crawford Co. exhibited the Gifford Morgan, owned jointly 

 by Judge Musgraves and Mr. Teal. This horse weighed nearly 1300 Ibs. ; 

 and trots his mile inside of four minutes, with as much nimbleness as a pony. 

 His stock must prove of very great value for the farm and road. Messrs. 

 Blake and Williams showed one of their largest Morgans in this class. We 

 did not see the horse, but he is held in high repute by those who have bred 

 to him". In 1856 an article in review of State fair says (p. 158) : "Vermont 

 herself could scarcely produce more fine Black Hawks and Morgan horses 

 than were exhibited at our State Fair. * * * Champion, 



the grace of all the Black Hawks is the best representative of the sire we 

 have ever seen. There is an indescribable something in the whole family 

 which always assures one of the certainty that it is a distinct race of horses, 

 and of as much individuality as a Shorthorn or Devon. Nothing could be 

 more palpable than this at the exhibition of the colts for the sweepstakes 

 premium. Of the fifteen that were upon the ground, the Black Hawk stamp 

 was upon all. Champion's colts took the premium, and David Hill's the ist 

 and 2d as three years, and the 2d as two years old. Onderdonk took the 2d 

 as a roadster, and the Eastman Green Mountain Morgan the ist. Green 

 Mountain is a good horse, very strong and muscular, fit alike for the plow 



