Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-09-13
BLACK HAWK AND ETHAN ALLEN
From American Cultivator.J

From American Cutivator.
Editor Of the American Cultiuator Il
clip the following from local paper,
and ask you to insert it verbatim, includ-
ing the caption. What it has to do with
the sire of Sherman Morgan is about as
clear as the rest of the article to me
"sHERMAN MoRGAN's SIRE.
"And how does this, from Dunton's
Spirit, strike the Black Hawk-Ethan
Allen pedigree climants? Here is a
friend of Flying Morgan; read: Sher-
man Morgan (the reputed sire of Hills
Black Hawk was a chestnut in color,
and so was his dam. Hills Black Hawk
was black; Paddy, his sire, was black,
and Hills Black Hawk was Paddy's
counterpart. There are good many
things we do not know about the pedi-
grees of the several families of trotting
horses, but there are few things we
cannot believe. We cannot believe that
Sherman Morgan was the sire of Hills
Black Hawk, or that Hills Black Hawk
was the sire of Ethan Allen. We are
not so very particular what others try
to make themselves believe, but we do
not intend that their ignorance shall be
charged up against u.s."
, One hardly knows which to admire
most in the above article, the easy as
| sumption of superior knowledge and
J discrimination as basis of belief, the
J air of pity for the ignorance of those
who do not believe just exactly as the
author does, or the air of justification
: with which the author rids himself of
J all responsibility for the ignorance of
people that do not believe exactly as he
) does. do not know who the author is,
but the production sounds like the utter
ances of one who had promulgated some
theory that the most of people took
I. very little stock in. l purpose, with
your permission, to give your readers a
l few thoughts that will show where such
7 reasoning would lead us, and how much
t dependence is to be placed upon them
r for such superior wisdom and belief,
and also give some testimony in regard
t to the question at issue, i. e., the sires
: of Black Hawk and Ethan Allen.
First, in regard to the color of the
sires; if the reasoning in this article is
correct, why was it that Flying Morgan
: was not chestnut, as was his sire, the
Hackett Horse, instead of bay; not
: only that, but his grandsire old Clifford
. Morgan and great graDdsire Woodbury.
4 were also chestnut. Again, how did it
: happen that Flying Morgan was a low
1 headed, dull-mettled horse, instead of
u being high-headed, high-spirited horse,
as were his sire and grandsire, and also,
as we are informed, was the great
. grandsire, the old Woodbury. Morgan.
All these sires were reputed to have the
!, best of dispositions and to be perfectly
manageable. Or this / can affirm of my
personal knowledge of the Clifford and
Hackett horse. The Woodbury. l never
saw.
TO follow out this matter of color, |
will say | bred four mares to Black
9 Hawk while he stood in Bridport. Two
= OF them were gray; one was out of a
dark brown mare, the other was foal
1 from the older gray mare and by bay
horse. Both of these mares brought
gray colts by Black Hawk, the older one
: twice. If the sire and dam of Black
z Hawk were both black, why should not
5 one or more of these three colts have
: been black also? The older of these two
:, mares was previously bred to Eclipse, a
s chestnut horse, but by him brought a
: bay colt, and after having been bred to
e Black Hawk twice, she was bred to a
: chestnut Morgan stallion, by which she
: brought another bay colt. So much for
. two of the mares | bred to Black Hawk,
one of them producing two gray colts by
1 him, and two bay colts by two different
horses of chestnut color.
+. The next mare | bred to Black Hawk
A was chestnut, said to have been sired
t by either the Clifford or his son, the
;, Hackett Horse. The produce was a
chestnut sorrel, rather lighter in color
than the mare. The last mare bred to
Black Hawk was a very dark bay or
brown, without white, with Morgan
characteristics of the Morrill, family.
: She was reported to have been so bred,
e but as her former owner died before
l could trace her pedigree, never could
Y verify it, She brought three colts by
: Black Hawk; the first was in color almost
: exactly like his dam; the next (the one
e bred) was black, with three white feet
+. and white snip in the face, the white
A being almost exactly like the white
t markings (that l have been assured by
a Messrs. Bellows) on Sherman Morgan.
5 The next colt brought by this mare was
: bay.
If the reasoning in the slip is correct,
' why should these colts have been any
e thing but pure black, and, especially,
l why should the one | bred have had the