Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-03-02

hlSluS anu lIllnh IL WIS huluS hlslnS
n the town of Hague"
Mr.. Hoyt johnson writes, Jan. 8, 1886
"Rufus Rising must have kept the John
Glazier mare one or two years; l do not
know exactly how long; 1 know he
drove her single and he worked her some.
Whom he sold her to / do not know"
And he writes again, Jan. "a, 1886, in
answer to questions about the dam of
Ethan 4
l knew John Harris, but he never
owned that mare. Caleb Balloon and son
never owned that mare, and George
Johnson (the writer's brother) never
sold her to them. No one ever owned
that mare after George got her till he sold
her to Warner Cook" Here is a witness,
living where he should know all about
it, who remembers that Mr.. Rising had
both mares and that they were separate
and distinct.
1t has been said, and we said once, that
we thought Hoyt Johnson's memory not
good, but this was based on the idea that
he was mistaken about this mares COM
ing from Vermont. If he was correct on
this-and it now seems he was-there is
nothing to impeach his memory. 1t
would seem now that perhaps 1t was Mr..
Thomson's and our own memory that was
at fault, and considering the fact that the
occurrences took place before we were
born it is not remarkable that we should
fail to remember them.
The only evidence, then, contrary to the
supposition that the mare came from YER
mont is Ira Potter's belief that Rufus
Rising raised her, which he admits was
founded on nothing but hearsay, and
Mr.. Cushman's statement that she was
the John Glazier, VIM. II. Balloon and Ira
Wallace mare. 1t is quite possible that
Ira Wallace did sell his old mare to War;
ner Cook. Mr.. Cook might have so
bought her and got rid of her before he
got home. But let us see how reliable
Mr.. Cushman is in other statements; for
in this way we can best test the value of
his testimony. 1t is admitted by all that
he is an honest and worthy man, but he
was sc years old and one witness writes
"YOu must make allowance for his age"
Mr.. Cushman says that Zeno Rising dis
posed of the Glazier mare to Riley and
VIM. Balloon. This is certainly an error
The evidence is incontestible that Rufu,
Rising sold her to Geo. johnson and he tc
Caleb BalcOm, ST., and his son Samuel $
who in turn sold her to VIM. ii. He thinks il
was about 1850 that Warner Cook bought
the mare of Ira Wallace. At least clever
years out of the way. He doesn't think
the mare raised any colts before Holcomt
got her. To question whether Mr. Cook
raised any colts from her he says, No
Mr.. Cook had another gray mare which
he had for many years. This is straigh
testimony that the Ira Wallace mare wa:
not the dam of Ethan, and we cannot see
what other gray mare he could refer tC
of Mr.. Cooks except the dam of Ethan
The Cooks owned the dam of Ethan five
or six years and raised three colts from
her. 1t is evident that the old mans
memory fails some. Then it should b,
remembered that he has not been inter
viewed only by letter. We think that ;
personal interview with him would hav,
elected the fact that he referred to an
other mare.
TO conclude: The testimony is over
whelming that Rufus Rising had TIVE
gray mares, the first one the John ella
zier mare that he bought about 1928 ant
ped her in the snOwdrift. The secont
one, that he bought about 1885 and solt
about 1898, and that this last mar,
was the dam of Ethan Allen. This il
very evident entirely outside of the testi
mony of Friedrich Leland of Middlebury
VT. Then comes Mr.. Leland's TESTIMONY
fitting like key to lock to almost al
that had preceded it, and, stating that il
the summer of 1885 he traded this las
gray mare to Rufus Rising for a gra,
gelding at Apollos Austin's in Orwell
that said mare was one bred by Johl
Field, North Springfield, VT; foaled il
1880, whilst he was working for Mr.
Field, and bought by him in the winte
she was coming four of Mr.. Field, ant
that this mare was got by horse Gale,
Robin or Red Robin, owned by Nose
Bates, Springfield, VT.
Mr.. Leland further states that he after
ward saw this mare when Mr.. Holcoml
owned her and at David Hills, whel
brought there to be bred to Black Hawk
and that he knows that this was the sam,
mare that he sold to Rufus Rising.
To those of US who know Mr.. Leland
and have known him for years, thi
would be sufficient even though othe
testimony were adverse, unless it wer
sufficient to prove that the statemen
could not be true, but when almost al
the other testimony, very large amour
gathered, sustains Mr.. Leland's statement
we do not hesitate to say that the pedi
gree of the dam of Ethan Allen is estab