St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-08-09
THE STALLION SHERMAN.
Hi. Life at Lyndon, VT.

Justin Morgan's offspring. We copy
what is of local interest:
fisherman was fOaled in 1908 or 1909,
the property of James Sherman of Lyn-
don, VT. Mr.. George Sherman says
his father brought the mare from
Cranston, r. L., to Lyndon, that she
was a chestnut of good size, high spir-
tied and an elegant animal; we called
her of Spanish breed.
The late Hon. Epaphras Seymour of
BrattleborO, spent much time in en-
deavoring to ascertain the pedigree and
early history of the Justin Morgan and
his descendants. Among the memo
randa left by him, now in possession
of the Hon. F. HolbroOk, we find the
following: Matthew Allen of G uildhall,
now seventy years old or over, informs
me that James Sherman and himself
came from Rhode Island to st. Johns
bury in 1888; before they left, Mr..
John Brown of Providence gave Mr..
Sherman an imported English mare of
great beauty, fine saddle mare, and
SO used by his daughters (she was then
spawned j she was mahogany brown,
Isl hands high, delicate make. Mr..
Allen goes on to state that this mare
was the dam of the Sherman.
Sherman was a bright chestnut,
about 134 hands high, and weighed
925 pounds. His off hind leg was white
from the foot halfway to the hook,
and he had a small white stripe in the
face {; his head was lean and we'll shap-
ed, ears small and fine, eyes inclined
to be small, but full, prominent and
lively; his legs had some long hairs
upon the back-side, but were broad,
fiat and sinewy. He had capital
chest, with the breast bone very prom
inent the shoulders were large and
we'll placed, the neck excellent, the
name and tail full, but not remarkably
heavy. His hips were long and deep,
the lOins broad and muscular, but he
was little hollow or sway backed
still, no suspicion of weak back
could attach to him, or he would have
broken down under the rough treat
ment he received in early life.
When four years old, Mr.. Sherman
put him to hard work, and though for
about two months in the spring of each
year be worked but little, yet the re-
mainder of the year his labor was very
severe. Mr.. Sherman was hard
working man, and animals under his
Most of the year the horse was kept
constantly at work on the farm, much
of which he helped to clear up. In the
team steadily from Lyndon to Port
land, Me. For several years this team
consisted of this horse and a half
brother, sired by the Justin Morgan,
a year older and little larger than
Sherman.
Mr.. Sherman was not a man to be
OutdOne at drawing or driving, and he
was always ready to match his team
against any he met, either to draw or
run for a trifiing wager. His "little
team" became famous at every inn from
Lyndon to Portland, and after q time
the teamsters that knew them were
afraid to match horses of any size
against them. In the spring, when the
sleighing became poor, the men who
had been companions through the win
ter in the severe labor of teaming
across the country, would often con-
gregate at the village taverns to spin
yarns of their simple but rough ad-
ventures, engage in wrestling, running
foot and horse races, drawing matches,
and many games invented to test the
speed or strength of either men or
horses.
Certain it is that these games were
we'll attended, and were conducted
with much spirit. Drawing matches
were at that time very common. At
Lyndon the usual way of drawing was
to attach horse to a sled, fill it with
men, and draw the load up a steep hill
Just north of the tavern. When each
his utmost strength had shown, Sher-
man would add a small boy to the
largest load and commence the ascent,
well satisfied if he could gain two or
three feet at a pull, for nothing dis
couraged his horse, and it was difficult
to load him so that he could not move
a little. These facts are perfectly we'll
known to many persons now living at
Lyndon, and we mention them, not
from any intrinsic interest they may
possess, but having said that Sherman
was slightly hollow backed, we
thought it necessary to show that if so
his back was by no means weak.
Such was the kind of service to
which Mr.. Sherman put his horse from
the time he was four years old until he
was about ten, when he sold him to
Stephen G.. Gibbs of Littleton, n. H.,
in 1919. Mr.. Gibbs kept him one year,
and sold him to John Buckminster of
Danville, but Mr.. Gibbs had charge of
him two years longer. After this, he
was kept at Danville and vicinity I'M
til 1929, when he was purchased of
Mr.. Buckminster by Mr.. John Bellows
of Lancaster, n. II.
The summer of 1929 he was kept at
Littleton in charge of Stephen G.
Gibbs in 1880 he was kept at Dover
and vicinity; in 1881 he was at Col.
Jaques's Ten Hills farm, Charlestown,
Mass. in 1882 he was at Dover and
Durham, N. Ii. /; in 1893 he was kept at
Lancaster, and in 1884 at Dover and
vicinity He died at Mr.. Bellows's
stable in Lancaster, the 9th of Janua
~, 1885. The cause of his death is
unknown. He was left at ten o'clock
in the morning apparently perfectly
well, and at one o'clock in the after
noon was found dead.
With the exception of some slight
indications of age, he was apparently
as free from every species of blemish
or infirmity, the morning of the day he
died, as when he was fOaled. His skin
has been preserved and stuffed, and
may still be seen at the stable of Mr..
George Bellows at Lancaster.
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