Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-05-16
BILLY MORGAN.
EAST PoULTNEY, VT, Sept. 10, 1888.
JOSEPH BATTELL, ESQ,

Dear Sir:-Your letter is received.
The address of w. II. Morse is Martins
burgh, Andram Co., Mo. In or about
1861 | bought bay stallion of Cephas
Stone, gentleman who died in Rutland,
VT, few years ago. sent the stallion
to w. II. Morse at Beloit, Wis, and he
was used as a stock horse for few years
and went from there to Michigan. |
know nothing of the pedigree except he
was called Morgan blood and was very |
good horse, with more than ordinary ac-
ton and very strong and handy.
Write w. Ii. Morse and you will get
what he knows about the horse. The
horse was not bred by him.
j. F. MORSE.
P.S. The horse | bought of Cephas
Stone was not known to but few here, as
Stone was trading man and had him
but short time. | kept him but few
weeks here and there is no one here now
! that Will recollect him. | have some
faint recollection that he came here from
the East part of the State, but | am not
confident as to that; all that can say
is that he was strong, good horse and
gave signs of good breeding
Richard Spaulding of Rutland knew
Cephas Stone while he was there; at the
time he bought the horse lived here.
MARTINsBURG, Mo-, Aug. 81, 1889.
JOSEPH BATTELL, ESQ,
Dear Sir:-Replying to your commu-
nication in reference to "Billy Morgan"
can give you no information in regard
to his early history.
Joseph F. Morse really had no interest
in the horse. and my brothers bought
the horse of Cephas Stone of Poultney.
think, however, that man by the
name of Willard, who was at that time
1SGO) cashier of Castleton bank, Cas-
Teton, VT, was the real owner. have
no record of the horse, but my memory
is the horse was seven years old the
spring of 1850. He made the seasons of
go. 81 and go at place about IS miles
east of Racine, Wisconsin, and did very
: successful business and left very
; marked impression, which | understand
is visible at the present time. About
1862 or SO Henry Lowell, who was
handling him for me, moved to Owosso,
Michigan, taking the horse with him.
i He proved very successful in the stud
there also. He remained at Owosso un-
> til the spring of 1866, when | went to
look after him, having been in the wal
and seen nor had no income from him
since 1861. took possession and sold
him to man about Is miles south OF
; Owosso, whose name | have forgotten
| don't know whether he made a recort
! or not. He repeatedly trotted inside OF
5 three minutes, but | never knew of hi
making better than $50. He was very
e honest and reliable, seldom eyer making
- a break. The other horse you refer t
IL have no knowledge of, unless he was
Is horse took to Wisconsin at the SAINT
/ time with Billy Morgan. He was solC
- for me in 1861 to a man living nea
IL where Billy was then standing. lie wa
II black, l6 hands, sired by hors
~ owned by old Maj. Howard. living nortl
It of Benson, Vt. His dam was an oil,
&c mare owned by Joel Olmsted, Twin!
'o about one mile south of Benson. thin
IL the sire of this horse was named Gen
IL Howard and sold in Michigan abou
e, 1859 or 60. This black horse was call
u ed by me Maj. Howard and kept by IN
It for a driving horse until 1862, when
t. Il. lnTt n; ,,,.;tl 1,
81 brother, who sold him as before stated
1t This horse sired few colts while
=. owned him which gave promise of bein
VI valuable. As to his merits as trotter-
y never put him on the track, but he wa
40 very fast, and few men had the courag
- to ride with me in the buggy when
>" would let him go. | have often had
y brush on the road with S. S. johnson
u Butcher Boy, which took sweepstakC
&c premiums at the Wisconsin State fair fC
trotters; with anything like an eve
Oo' chance | always came in ahead. | al
sorry | cannot give you more defni'
information, but it was a long time ag
I and the war times took my mind frol
. all other matters and my health bein
b. seriously impaired my mind and memor
ir. have showed something of the same.
In conclusion let me say that ! al
now breeding some pure Spanish mare
, direct descendants of the stock Cort'
; left on the Pacific coast when he aba
doned his campaign in MeXico) to 9
imDOrted PercherOn horse WeiGhiI
re. 2000 lbs. | now have two-years-o
on colts that have all the compact form
IN the Percheron and the endurance of Il
~. wild Spanish stock. believe this Gro
~ will produce the best "all purpo
of horse that can be produced. | no
he have six male sucking colts which a
t 1m as near perfect in form as you won
on wish to see. My Percheron was selec
- IL. 49,.