JUSTIN MORGAN 105 



To this A. W. Thomson of Woodstock, Vermont, in an article in the 

 "Turf, Field and Farm", 1883, adds: "Mr. Shepard's son, George 

 C., now of Montpelier, writes that the town records show that his 

 father took a deed of Mr. Hawkins' farm, February 14, 1/97, and 

 that it must have been then that his father sold the horse. Mr. 

 Shepard does not now remember the name of the man his father had 

 the horse of in Woodstock. At the suggestion of the name Rice, he 

 thinks it may be the one that sold the horse to his father. He does 

 not remember hearing his father say as to the color, size or age of 

 the horse. I think his father did not have him more than a year. 

 He says he was present when his father made the statement to D. P. 

 Thompson, and he had frequently heard it from him before. His 

 father always spoke of the horse as the original Morgan horse, the 

 founder of the race called Morgans, and spoke highly of his racing 

 qualities ; how he often ran him races on bets and drinks for the crowd. 

 He states that his father afterward owned a dark chestnut stallion by 

 Sherman Morgan, called Wicked Will, and that this horse resembled 

 the old horse. Mr. Shepard is very confident 



his father was not mistaken as to the horse he owned being the orig- 

 inal Morgan horse, the Justin Morgan". 



It is hard to conceive how a horseman like Shepard, who kept a 

 stallion grandson of his former horse, and lived right there at Mont- 

 pelier till later than 1860, could have been mistaken, or why any one 

 should suppose he was mistaken. 



By referring to the pedigree of Wicked Will, within, it will 

 be seen that he is there described by Mr. Spicer, who at one time 

 had charge of him, while owned by Jonathan Shepard, as a dark bay 

 horse, about fourteen and one-half hands, "handsome as any picture 

 you ever saw; a snug horse, well-built, and a splendid traveler, but 

 cross". This description of Mr. Spicer makes him strikingly like his 

 grandsire, Justin Morgan. 



It is clear that the horse passed out of Morgan's possession in 

 the fall of 1795. It is very probable that he was in the hands of 

 Evans the following winter. At all events, when Morgan finally dis- 

 posed of the horse, he passed to William Rice of Woodstock. This 

 is universally conceded, save that, until the records were examined, it 

 was supposed from the statement of Justin Morgan, 2d, that 

 Rice had the horse frorrf the estate, after Justin Morgan's death. The 

 records show that Justin Morgan did not own him at his death. He 

 was last listed to Morgan in Randolph in 1794. His last known 

 advertisement of the horse is at Williston and Hinesburgh the season 



