In the beautiful bluegrass region of 

 Kentucky, a few miles west of Lexing- 

 ton, is WoodlDurn, a historic place in 

 Shorthorn annals. Here R. A. Alexan- 

 der created a great stock farm, where 

 Thoroughbreds and Shorthorns of the 

 very best breeding and character were 

 produced. The herd of Shorthorns there 

 maintained brought world-wide fame to 

 Woodburn. Mr. Alexander had come 

 from Airdrie House, Scotland, where was 

 the family estate, and the bull Duke of 

 Airdrie (12730) 9798 was bred by him on 

 this Scotch farm, and from which he 

 derived his name. 



In the winter of 1852-3 Mr. Alexander 

 and his brother, A. J. Alexander, visited 

 Great Britain with the view of buying 

 some choice Shorthorns. They selected 

 about eighty-three head, of which fifteen 

 were bulls. Among the cows bought was 

 a daughter of Duchess 54th, by 2d Duke 

 of Oxford (9046), named Duchess of 

 Athol. This heifer and her half-brother, 

 the 2d Duke of Athol (11376), had been 

 bred by Colonel Towneley, and Mr. Alex- 

 ander^ paid about $2,500 for the pair. 

 This heifer traced back through a line 

 of Duchesses to Duchess 1st by Comet, 

 and in her pedigree was the most pop- 

 ular Colling and Bates blood. From 

 Duchess of Athol came Duchess of Air- 

 drie by 2d Duke of Athol or Valiant 

 (10989). the head of this family in Amer- 

 ica. Duchess of Athol was then bred to 

 the Duke of Gloster (11382), from which 

 union on Aug. 4, 1854, came the bull calf 

 Duke of Airdrie, the subject of this 

 sketch. Along in September, 1855, Mr. 

 Alexander brought to America the cow 

 Duchess of Athol and her two calves. 

 Duchess of Airdrie and Duke of Airdrie. 

 In this connection it is to be noted that 

 other cattle were imported at the same 

 time. The Alexander importations of 

 1853 and 1855 may be regarded as among 

 the most important drafts of Shorthorns 

 ever brought to America. 



Duke of Airdrie, on his arrival at 

 Woodburn, went into active service in 

 the herd there. Later in March, 1857, he 

 was hired by George M. Bedford of 

 Bourbon county, Kentucky, to serve fifty 

 cows in his herd, for which he was to 



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