The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1876-12-02
John D. Gillette.

and great man, If possession In fee SIM
pie Of twelve thousand cores Of Inn
proved timber, pasture and cultivated
land-if the sole ownership OF three
thousand high grade Short-Horn cat
tie, in all stages Of growth from the calf
at lis mothers side to the mature and
ripe steer Of forty months and 2,40O
pounds svolrdupois-if five hundred
COWS with calves at their call, twenty
well-bred bulls, four hundred two.yeai-
old steers In q single twelve hundred
acre pasture, coming up In a body 10
The voice of their owners a White Foot
| and Light Foot came to the call of Mis-
| ;ress Elizabeth In the b~allad-if a thou
sand acres Of corn Of his own growing,
and three times that area made by ten
ants-if fifty teams. a hundred hired
men, and a thousand other things be-
longing to q great farm aud vast opera
tions-and last and most striking of MI
tn the average man and stranger, II the
| ability TO show In one pasture IN hun
dred and twenty-eight fat, ripe, high
grade and full blood steers, each a
| beauty In his way and q pattern to
model fine steers upon, having an av'
erage weight of 2,l00 pounds-if this
| constitutes q grazier and a great one.
II, starting empty handed thirty eight
wears :ago, ia the course Of that time to
nave acquired these possessions land
Ia acquiring them never 10 have Dor
rowed $500, never to have mortgaged u
piece of property, and never to have
made u note not paid at maturity)-if
to have withstood all the temptations
II the flush days Of speculation and the
war, and TO have been at home all this
time as constantly almost as his own
poss~essions-if % have reared and edu-
Gated a large family, achieved social
distinction and great credit aud Inf1u-
ence In the community-if these attri-
butes and these possessions entitle a
u man to be called great, then John D.
Gillette, born in Hartford, Conn, fftv-
Eight years ago. Of Huguenot blood. Is
entitled to that distinction. It will Lot
surprise the reader to learn that Mr..
G. Is a man Of very strong and vigorous
constitution, still active and quick in
act, thought and speech beyond de.
scription, and carries 220 pounds and
So years like q young man Of twenty.
one.
Mr.. Gillette having the reputation of
being one Of the largest (if not the very
largest) breeders and feeders Of fine
beef cattle In the country, If not In the
world, aud knowing he was the first to
furnish cattle weekly for foreign ship
ment. In company with another, your
correspondent visited his place last
week. His house Is not more than half
a mile away from Elkhsrt City, a sta.
ton on the Chicago and st. Louis rail-
road, eighteen miles north OF Spring.
field, and ten miles south of Lincoln, !
the county seat Of Logan county, o!
which Mr.. g. made the original entry,
aud now q us tAsv i~-o-- halo The
house Ia situated on a wooded eminence
known as Elkhart Grove-a body OF
timber of some ak hundred acres, and
overiooks a vast stretch Of pasture land
to the west and %north-the dome Of the
new : tate House at Springfield making
n striking and conspicuous object In the
distance. Mr.. g. being absent for a few
hours, we were very pleasantly received
by Mrs. G., who, I am sure from what
saw IL entitled to full half the honor
Of his fame and possessions. Having
little time to spare, we were directed
to the body of fine steers feeding Ia the
field below, and a carriage furnished
for the visit. How on entering the field
We stopped to admire. as an object OF
wonder, the first steer we met how we
went on admiring, and how, as we
moved through the field, the trained
horse stopping for US before every
group or single animal, till We had
made the tour Of the pasture; how. on
u recond Inspection, we picked out the
prize animals; how the herdsman, rid
Ing up to US. confirmed u judgment
and finally, how we left the pasture.
gratified beyond measure that we had
been treated to the sight Of so many
beautiful creatures-the result OF the
skill in breeding Of their owner, for ev.
cry steer. we learned, was born on the
farm-it is scarcely necessary to relate.
Returning during the night, MI. I'll.
lette received US very cordially as we
cane down to breakfast, and after II.
took us ove a part of his vast farm.
We arst saw a drove Of q hundred COWS
with their calves, the other four hun.
dred being some eight miles away:
then passed into another pasture where
steers Of less weight aud poorer quality |
than the best, but fat, ripe and aversg-
ing 900 pounds, were receiving the
tinisning touches ~ Christmas beef.
Then we rode along a half mile or 90,
and entered a 200 acre pasture aud
400 two.year.old steers were called up
to us-they coming streaming up from
all quarters. the long, Thin line stretch
ing nearly two mlles away. W. noticed
a remarkable family likeness among
them, and farther that they were the
younger brothers Of the hns animals
we had just seen, and bore the same
relation to the magnificent creatures
we had visited the evening before. Fl.
nally we gave an hour to the Inspection
OF the 1873, which Mr.. Gillette pro-
nounced to be the largest collection of
well bred. well made, ripe and fat and
heavy steers to be found on this or auy
other continent. And all this time we
were entertained by = continuous
stream OF instructive talk on his meth
DDS and manners. his experience and
the results Of 1t. of which there was too
much for this letter. Country Gent.