1 66 THE MORGAN HORSE 



the mare, with her pure trotting gait and want of any pacing conforma- 

 tion, squarely contrdicts it. The prabability, therefore, is that Mr. Kelly 

 was as much mistaken in his recollection of what the teamster said about 

 the origin of the mare as he was in her color. It is possible the teamster 

 might have inadvertedly, or ignorantly, used the word Narragansett, re- 

 ferring to locality, and not blood, because the mare had recently come 

 from Rhode Island, the Narragansett region. It is, too, unfortunate that 

 this letter was in "answer to inquiries" of A. W. Thomson, who, as we 

 have had occasion several times to know,has the unhappy faculty at times 

 of coaching witnesses, or suggesting to them what he wants them to testi- 

 fy. Indeed, we are strongly of the belief that all these suggestions of 

 Narragansett origin, color of the mare, and date of foaling as given 

 by Wingate Twombly, are the handiwork of Mr. Thomson, who went 

 into this investigation for the purpose of supporting certain peculiar 

 theories of his own in regard to breeding. Unfortunately Mr. Kelly is 

 dead and cannot correct any errors that Mr. Thomson led him into. 

 In a similar caseconcerningthe dam of Ethan Allen, Mr. Justus B. Ris- 

 ing of Ticonderoga, New York, a gentleman of excellent memory, in- 

 telligence and character, indignantly repudiated, over his own signa- 

 ture, some testimony procured from him by Mr. Thomson through 

 his peculiar methods. 



The statements that the dam of Black Hawk came from Nova 

 Scotia are perfectly consistent with those of her having been bred in 

 New Brunswick, as those two contiguous provinces are pretty much 

 identified in the average New England mind. Moreover, if the parents 

 were imported, they must have come to Nova Scotia. The statement 

 that she came from one of these provinces, and was of English or 

 thoroughbred blood, was doubtless the one that David Hill received 

 when he bought the horse, as he always stated that Black Hawk's 

 dam came from New Brunswick, and was largely of thoroughbred 

 blood. Mr. Linsley doubtless got this information from Mr. Hill, and 

 several gentlemen yet living in this county remember that Mr. Hill 

 so stated, among them Mr. W. W. Moore of Shoreham, a relative of 

 Mr. Hill and a liberal patron of Black Hawk. Mr. Hill was the per- 

 son above all others who Had an interest to know the origin of the 

 dam of Black Hawk. He was a horseman and a stallion owner from 

 early life, having owned, among others, the celebrated and high- 

 bred horse, Sir Charles, son of Duroc, whose pedigree he always 

 gave with much care in his numerous advertisements of him in dif- 

 ferent Vermont papers, showing that he appreciated the im- 

 portance of pedigree. Doubtless he got as accurate a statement as 



