368 
PEDIGREES OF MR; RANDALL 7 S SHEEP. 
lations, until he run them up to about eighty, always selecting 
them with great care. This was the foundation of A. Cock’s 
flock, nor did he ever purchase any but pure-blooded sheep to my 
knowledge or belief. Andrew Cock was an attentive breeder ; saw 
well to his business ; and was of unimpeachable character. His 
certificate of the kind and purity of blood I should implicitly rely 
on. I recollect of his selling sheep to Leonard Bedell of Vermont. 
EFFINGHAM LAWRENCE. 
Flushing, 1844. 
Statement of John T. Rich, Esq .—I certify that my father Charles 
Rich, and Leonard Bedell, former residents of this town (now 
deceased), did on or about the year 1823, purchase the entire flock 
of sheep owned by Andrew Cock of Flushing, Long Island. Ac¬ 
companying said sheep, Mr. Bedell brought a certificate that came 
with the sheep from Spain. I have read said certificate, which 
gave a full description of the sheep purchased in Spain, with guar¬ 
anties of their purity of blood, which was regularly attested by 
the American consul then in the Spanish or Portuguese dominions. 
I thereby had satisfactory evidence that they were all of this 
importation, and that many of them brought to this town were 
the identical sheep imported. The certificate, I am confident, 
described them as from the Paular flock. The ewe that was the 
dam of Mr. Jewett’s buck Fortune was a pure descendant of this 
imported flock above described. I have preserved this flock pure 
to this day, which amounts to more than five hundred. Some of 
the flock have been recently crossed by bucks of the importation 
of Consul Jarvis, which said bucks were purchased from the flock 
of, and regularly attested by, said Jarvis, as being pure Spanish 
Merinos. JOHN T. RICH. 
Shoreham, 1844. 
Statement of Hon. S. H. Jennison (late Governor of Vermont ).— 
I certify that I am personally and intimately acquainted with John 
T. Rich, of Shoreham, Vt., the signer of the above certificate, and 
that his statements are entitled to full credit. 
I further certify that Leonard Bedell, late of Shoreham, de¬ 
ceased, was a near neighbor to me, and I recollect learning from 
him many years since of his purchase of the flock of Merino sheep, 
on Long Island, as stated by Mr. Rich. I have several times seen 
the certificate mentioned by Rich in the possession of the said 
Bedell. I have reason to believe the portion of the Long Island 
flock, purchased by the late Hon. Charles Rich, and now kept by 
John T. Rich, have been kept pure as he states. I was well 
acquainted with the portion of the flock kept by Bedell, having 
handled them on several occasions between 1824 and 1830. Some 
of the ewes in the flock were pointed out to me as imported ones, 
which were toothless and very old, between the dates above 
named. I have several times had bucks from the flock, and never 
entertained a doubt of their being pure bred Spanish Merinos. Mr. 
Bedell called them, and I thing the certificate named them as of 
the Paular breed. S. H. JENISON. 
Shoreham, 1844. 
Charles A. Hurlbert's Statement .—I certify that I lived near 
neighbor to Leonard Bedell, in the town of Shoreham, Vt., in the 
J r ear 1822, and that during that year Mr. Andrew Bedell drove a 
ot of sheep from Long Island, purchased of Andrew Cock. 
From 1823 until the decease of Mr. Bedell, a period of fifteen 
years, I lived in his family and had the charge of his sheep. Mr. 
Bedell kept none other but full-blooded sheep of the Cock flock, and 
I was perfectly familiar with a number of them always asserted by 
him to have been originally imported. They had a distinctive 
mark, as such, had attested marks and rings of copper in their 
ears, and were very old. 
Mr. Bedell also had the original Spanish certificate of their pu¬ 
rity of blood, attested by the American consul. These sheep were 
preserved by Mr. Bedell entirely free from admixture with any 
other blond. Previous to his decease I selected about 80 of his 
ewes, which 1 afterward drove to Monkton, and finally disposed of 
to S. W. Jewett, of Weybridge. CHARLES A. HURLBERT. 
Monkton, 1844. 
Gen. Barnum's Statement .—I hereby certify that I was bom and 
lived in the neighborhood of Mr. Leonard Bedell, during his resi¬ 
dence in this town; that I well remember the flock of Spanish 
Merino sheep which he drove from Long Island 21 or 22 years ago ; 
that I was familiarly acquainted with this flock of sheep until liis 
decease in 1838, having assisted in shearing them every year du¬ 
ring that time, with the exception of three or four. Mr. Bedell 
had a certificate of the lineage of the sheep from Spain, certifying 
their purity of blood, which I have several times read : and I am 
confident that it described them to be Paulars, from the flock of 
“Don Manuel de Godoy, Prince of Peace,” &c. Mr. Bedell, 
though repeatedly urged to sell ewes, utterly refused, though 
offered high prices by myself and others ; nor did he part with any 
until the last years of his life. I now live on the farm formerly 
owned and occupied by him, and possess a large portion of the 
above described flock. I am confident that it has not been crossed 
with Saxons or any other native breeds of sheep in this country. 
JASPER BARNUM. 
Shoreham , 1844. 
Levi Rockwood's Statement .—I moved into the neighborhood ot 
Leonard Bedell, late of Shoreham, Vt., in the spring of 1830, and 
soon became acquainted with his flock of Merino sheep. I have 
frequently heard him relate the history of his sheep. He said he 
purchased them of Andrew Cock, of Long Island, and that they 
were imported from the flock of Godoy, the Prince of Peace, in 
Spain, as their Spanish pedigree, in his possession, would show. 
He always called them Paular Merinos, and frequently boasted of 
this as being the best stock ever imported. I have heard him 
advised to cross the blood of his flock by using bucks from other 
Spanish flocks, but he insisted on keeping his pure, preferring, as 
he had done, to breed them in and in. I have seen the Spanish 
certificate which accompanied the sheep, but never read it. 
LEVI ROCKWOOD. 
Monkton, 1844. 
Statement of Hon. Harvey Munsill (Judge of Probate ).—I hereby 
certify that I am personally acquainted with the above named Levi 
Rockwoed, and have been for a great number of years. I consider 
him a man of truth and veracity, and believe him to be so consid¬ 
ered by the community at large. HARVEY MUNSILL. 
Bristol, 1844. 
Certificates to the same general effect with the above 
might be indefinitely multiplied, and the above would 
be promptly turned into affidavits, were there any occa¬ 
sion for such a step. 
It will be observed that the sheep sold by Cock to 
Messrs. Rich and Bedell, were imported with a Spanish 
pedigree, attested to be genuine by one of our Consuls 
in the Spanish or Portuguese dominions.* This is dis¬ 
tinctly asserted or confirmed in every one of the above 
certificates. This Spanish pedigree named them as 
Paulars, as appears by the testimony of all the wit¬ 
nesses save one, whose omission to mention the fact 
was doubtless casual or accidental; and Gen. Barnum 
distinctly recollects that they were stated to be from the 
flock of Manuel Godoy, Prince of Peace. Rockwood 
recollects with equal distinctness that Bedell was in the 
habit of asserting that the Spanish pedigree described 
them as from the flock of Godoy, at a time when that 
pedigree was in existenee, and open to the inspection of 
any one. This personage was, until his effects were 
confiscated, the proprietor of the Paular flock. Gov. 
Jennison and Mr. Rockwood mention that Bedell was 
in the uniform habit of calling his sheep Paulars, and 
this was at a time when this name would probably have 
attached little, if any, additional value to them, in the 
minds of sheep-breeders. Judge Lawrence distinctly 
recollects that Cock purchased thirty Paulars at one 
time of the importer—more than one third of all the 
imported sheep ever purchased by him. 
The original Spanish pedigree was delivered by Cock 
to Rich and Bedell, as the pedigree of the sheep pur¬ 
chased by them. That certificate described marks and 
certain rings in the ears, &c., which corresponded with 
those borne by the sheep delivered. Now if the sheep so 
delivered were not the identical sheep described in the 
Spanish pedigree, and their descendants, Andrew Cock 
must have forged their distinctive marks, in imitation 
of the genuine Spanish marks, and thus been guilty not 
only of gross fraud, but of what would clearly consti¬ 
tute the crime of swindling. Judge Lawrence’s state¬ 
ment shows how far such a supposition is reconcilable 
to his character. We have it then proved by the best 
testimony which the case admits of, testimony which is 
entirely conclusive, that Cock sold and delivered to 
Messrs. Rich and Bedell, not only pure Merino sheep, 
but pure Paular Merino sheep. 
The certificate of John T. Rich shows that the part 
of the flock inherited by him, has been reserved pure 
from its purchase of Cock down to the present day, (a 
few of them latterly having been crossed with rams of 
* This original certificate is not now probably in existence. 
Bedell was in the habit of carrying it much about with him, and 
frequently exhibiting it. It was probably worn out, or lost 
