TROTTING FAMILIES. 29 
established by his more remote descendants, in whom 
the cart-horse qualities inherited from the Bellfounder 
strain were overcome by an infusion of thoroughbred 
or Arab blood. His best sons were invariably from 
high-bred mares. Perhaps the best of all was Alex- 
ander’s Abdallah.1 This grand horse came to an end 
more untimely and no less cruel than that suffered by 
his grandsire Abdallah. In February, 1865, just be- 
fore the Civil War closed, Alexander’s Abdallah was 
stolen by a Rebel guerilla from his owner’s farm at 
Woodburn, Kentucky. The next day he was recap- 
tured by a Federal soldier, ridden fifty miles unshod, 
and then abandoned at the roadside without food or 
shelter. He died a few days later of pneumonia. 
Among his few descendants are Belmont,? Almont, 
and Thorndale, all of whom founded subordinate trot- 
ting families, and the famous Goldsmith Maid, whose 
career will be glanced at in a subsequent chapter. 
Other noted sons of, Rysdyck’s Hambletonian are 
George Wilkes and Electioneer, both of whose dams 
were of the Clay family (presently to be described), 
Volunteer (whose dam was a high-bred mare called 
Lady Patriot), Happy Medium, Harold (the sire of 
Maud 5.), Strathmore, Dictator, and Aberdeen. At 
present, the two most popular trotting families are 
those founded by George Wilkes and Electioneer, 
respectively. Both of these horses were bred in New 
York State, but Wilkes passed the greater part of 
his life in Kentucky, and Electioneer stood for many 
1 His dam was a small, wiry bay mare, who showed signs of 
high breeding. Her pedigree is untraced, but she is said to have 
descended from Mambrino, son of Messenger. 
2 Sire of Nutwood and of Wedgewood. 
