THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. 471 



the speed of the best horses then. The average speed of trotters 

 now, 1879, in races, as estimated by the records in Wallace's 

 Monthly, is about 2 m. 35 s., though we now have many that can 

 trot in less than 2 m. 30 s., a few that can do it in 2 m. 20 s., and 

 still fewer that can trot under 2 m. 1G s. Among the early celeb- 

 rities were Screwdriver, Betsy Baker, Topgallant, wWhalebone, 

 Shakspeare, Paul Pry, Trouble, and Sir Peter ; all grand-colts of 

 Messenger, except the first named, and he was a great-grand-colt. 

 As many of the most distinguished trotters of the present day claim 

 the same lineage, and as the influence of this great progenitor on 

 the trotting stock of the country was immensely greater than that 

 of all others together, a history of Messenger and his descendants 

 would be a pretty full history of the eminent trotting horses of the 

 world. 



Messenger was an English Thorough-bred, foaled in 1780, and 

 imported, as were many other English Thorough-breds, on account 

 of his value as a running horse, and for the improvement of 

 Thorough-breds in this country. He had run successfully in sev- 

 eral races, and at five years old won the King's Plate. It was 

 three years after this performance, 1788, that ho was imported into 

 Philadelphia by Mr. Benger. He was kept for stud service in 

 Philadelphia and vicinity for several years, and in the latter part 

 of his life in the vicinity of New l?ork. He died January 28, 

 1808. 



Messenger was a gray, 15 hands 3 inches high, and stoutly built. 

 His form was not strictly in conformity with the popular notions 

 of perfection, being upright in the shoulders and low on the 

 withers, with a short, straight neck and a large, bony head. His 

 loins and hind quarters were powerfully muscular, his windpipe 

 and nostrils of unusual size, his hocks and knees very large, and 

 below them limbs of medium size, but flat and clean ; and whether 

 at rest or in motion, his position and carriage always perfect and 

 striking. It is said that during the voyage to this country the 

 three other horses that accompanied him became so reduced in 

 flesh and strength that when the vessel landed at Philadelphia they 

 had to be helped and supported down the gang-plank; but when 

 it came Messenger's turn to land, he, with a loud neigh, charged 

 down the gang-plank, with a colored groom on each side holding 

 him back, and dashed off up the street at a stiff trot, carrying the 

 grooms along in spite of their efforts to step him. 



Though his name has been made illustrious chiefly by the per- 

 formances of his trotting descendants, he was also the sire of some 

 of the best running horses of his day. The most famous on the 

 turf of his immediate thorough-bred descendants were Potomac, 

 Fair Rachel, Miller's Damsel (dam of American Eclipse), Bright, 



