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, Epwin 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- 
