The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-09-03
THE GREAT rRorrrn
Some Particulars. ofthe Early Life Of Cold
smith Maid.

Some PartIculars of the Early Life Of Gold
~ smith Maid.
Evansville Journal.
The ssdaidv was a wayward child.
From the date of her birth on the farm
of John B. Decker, in Vantage town
ship, Sussex county New York. In the
spring of 1857, to the age of six years,
she distinguished herself in many
ways. but never as trotter. She was
undersized, nervous and fretful, and
utterly refused heavy farm work. Mr..
Decker, her owner, says he never got
any work out of her but twice, one
half day in blowing corn and one half
day in drawing stones. Once she was
hitched to harrow, but after a short
distance she reared back ward and en-
tangled both her hind legs in the cross
pieces OF the harrow and SO injured
those members, that when she goes
out for her morning walks, it is said,
she still shows signs of stiffness be-
hind, caused by this fall in early life.
From the time she was six months
old until Mr.. Decker sold her she was
used as race horse, though without
her owners knowledge. The boys on
the farm, of course, as boys do, were
anxious to know which was the speed
lest horse, and at an early day they
found it was the ssMaid" And SO, af-
ter the sfold man" had gone to bed,
they would take her out of the pasture
or stable Whenevera a race could be
made up, and run her on the road af-
ter night. She beat everything that
could be brought to run with her, so
that finally none but the uniformed
from q dfofanpa 0nFrTH ba fnnud fn hat
against her. These races were made
up at the country stores and Iounging
places in the evening after farm work
was over, and the race run the same
night after the sold man" had gone to
bed, No training, no groms, no weight
for age-just q man or a boy in his
bare feet, mounted bareback, with his
toes hugging the mares belly like, was
the style. and the HMaid" no doubt
enjoyed it more than she has some of
her late races in the trotting ring. One
day, in the summer of 1868, two men
were out buying horses for the army,
and stopped all night at Mr.. Decker's,
and in the mourning bought the Maid
of him for $3.50, and started for home,
leaving the mare behind them. On
their way they met Mr.. Tompkins,
who knew the little mare, and bought
her of them for $500. The two men
also knew her and believed that she
could be made a trotter, but were
willing to make 500 by their morn
ing's bargain. The next day Tomp-
kilIs sold her to Alden Goldsmith, an
excellent judge of horse-hesh, Of
Blooming Grove, Orange county N.
Y, for $500. From him she took the
name of-Goldsmith Maid. He kept
her in pretty steady training under a
driver named William Bodine,. to
whom, more than any other living
man, should be awarded the credit OF
first bringing the mare out. The re-
nowned Budd Doble, who drives her
so handsomely, had not then either
seen or heard of her. While in train
ing for the trOtting course she was so
fretful and irritable, so determined to
run at every opportunity instead of
trotting, so hard to bring to trot af-
ter breaking from that gait, that Mr..
Goldsmith many times determined to
give up the training and sell her at
any price, but his patient driver main
tanned his abiding faith in her, and as
sured his employer that she was the
fastest animal on his premises, and
would come out at last great trotter,
and finally persuaded him to keep her,
which he did until his driver SO brought
out her points that Mr.. Goldsmith, in
November, 1868, sold her to B Jack
man and Budd Doble for $4,000.
These gentlemen sold her to Mr.. H.
N. Smith for the sum of $37 900. Mr..
Doble still drive her. She made her.
first appearance in public in August,
1866.