254 THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 



In 1854 his father Isaac Van Meter died, and Ben Van Meter 

 became sole executor of the estate, the herd at that time totaling 

 about one hundred head of cattle. His share, consisting of eight 

 choice animals, constituted the foundation from which he bred, 

 with only slight additions from the outside, for a period of fifty 

 years. Among the females added were the heifers. Gem the 

 Second, out of Imported Gem by Broker, and Red Rose the Sec- 

 ond, foundress of Mr. Van Meter's Red Roses. The best cow 

 bred in the Van Meter herd was Red Rose the Eighth, winner at 

 the best Kentucky fairs and finally first in Winchester over Abram 

 Renick's two best Roses of Sharon, William Warfield's two 

 best Loudon Duchesses, Edwin Bedford's two best Loudon 

 Duchesses, and a half dozen recently imported cows shown by 

 the Clark County Importing Co. She was never defeated but 

 once, and then by her full sister. Red Rose Eleventh bred by Mr. 

 Van Meter. When finally sold to B. B. Groom, she won first 

 prize at the Philadelphia Centennial Cattle Show. A public sale 

 about this time of thirty-nine animals brought a total of $55,000 

 to Mr. Van Meter, a Rose of Sharon of his own breeding bring- 

 ing $3,000, and a yearling Rose of Sharon by Fourth Duke of 

 Geneva bringing $5,550. His most famous family in the light of 

 the years was the Young Mary line, and it is with the Young Marys 

 that Shorthorn breeders associate the Van Meter name. 



Mr. Van Meter was an intimate friend and close associate 

 of Abram Renick, Sr., in spite of the latter's ten years' advan- 

 tage in experience. 



The Van Meters were descended from one of the early Dutch 

 settlers in New Amsterdam, his ancestor, Jans Jyspertsen van 

 Meterene, crossing from Bommell, South Holland, in 1663. 

 The family lived in New York and later in what is now West 

 Virginia, and from earliest times was devoted to agricultural 

 pursuits. Mr. Van Meter was the first vice president of the 

 American Shorthorn Breeders' Association and played an influen- 



