122 THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 
and in the prime of their breeding age, the animals that were 
to contribute to the ultimate perfection of the Percheron ideal, 
and by fearless investment he secured for America the very best 
of the Percheron blood. Of the record of his successes with 
Brilliant 1271, Brilliant 3d, Seducteur and Marathon, all of 
most potent heritage, of Villers, Theudis, and a host of others, 
one can tell much, and under his shrewd judgment and careful 
selection, Oaklawn not only rivalled but for many years excelled 
the best of the French breeders in contributing to the advance 
of the Percheron type. 
Mr. DunHAM was a man of real democracy and possessed a 
persuasive ability to awaken interest in others. He was at home 
in palace or hovel and had the unconscious knack of putting 
every one at ease. In the late 90’s when importation was dith- 
cult Mr. DunHam visited Ricuarp WoLrF at Streator to seek 
young horses bred from an Oaklawn foundation. Until after 
midnight he visited, talking endlessly of horse and draft. Tem- 
porary emergencies forced him to sleep in the hired man’s bed, 
and he drove through the bottomless IJlinois mud to town leav- 
ing Mr. Wor with the impression that kings could not have 
done better. It was this happy adaptability and cheerful facing 
of disagreeable situations that laid the foundation of his suc- 
cess. He was the greatest salesman ever in the stallion business, 
selling four or five horses to separate buyers at once, and divin- 
ing with uncanny accuracy just the price his buyer wanted to 
pay and just the type of horse he wanted to be shown. 
Mr. DuNHAM’s untimely death in 1899 came at the prime of 
his career. It occurred as a result of blood poisoning brought 
on by the examination of an infected hoof. His achievements 
in founding and upbuilding the Percheron industry have been 
passed to the future in the able hands of his son WirTu, the 
present master of Oaklawn. 
