Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-01-09

the blood of Hambletonian and Black |
Hawk. Exactly why this should be so
| cannot understand, but nevertheless it
is II truth which, in shame and humiia-
ton, | feel bound to confess. But the
thing which has cast a damper on my
ambition for Aratus is the following let
ter:
The cause of Iconocast's mental de-
preston appears to be letter from an
"intelligent and reliable horseman." Why |
"A letter, especially of the character of
the following, should throw the smasher
of idols and pedigrees into such parox-
ysm of grief is beyond the comprehen-
sion of ordinary well informed horsemen.
Iconoclast is evidently suffering keenly,
however, and we have his word for it
that this crushing load of anguish was
heaped upon him by a short epistle from
one "Bun Brown" which runs as fol-
lows:
MiDDLETOwN, Ohio, Oct. %.
Since the wonderful performance of
Nelson, the son of Young Rolfe, in trot
ting a mile in our sister State in 2: l04,
his grandsre, Tom Rolfe, who was foa-
ed, in this county, has been much talked
about. Today learned from NJ. Bayliss
Catterlin, Who was stable boss tor the
Woodmansees when Tom Rolfe was foal-
ed few facts which may be of interest.
PocahOntas, PAGER, record 2:l75, was
foaled the property of Mr.. Dine, who
lived few miles west of this city She
was sired by Irons Cadmus, and her dam
was IA pacing mare by Browns Bell
founder (Ohio Bellfounder).
Mr.. Dine traded the mare Pocahontas
to Mr.. William Potter, who resided at
Trenton, Ohio, four miles southwest of
this city. The winter and spring before
Mr.. Potter sold Pocahontas to the Wood
mansees she was turned out in pasture
on the farm of Mrs. Eck's, in the same
field with three yearling colts, one by
Lanes Bellfounder, one by Shepherds
Bellfounder, both sons of Browns Bell
founder. The other colt was by son of
Walkers Cadmus.
After the Woodmansees had made the
engagement to pace Pocahontas at New
Orleans, they discovered her to be in
foal, and she was so large at the time of
the race In February that the sulky had
to be enlarged to fit her.
The following April she foaled Tom
Rolfe, the property of the Woodmansees,
and Mr.. Catterln was present at the
time, and he says that the mare POca-
hontas was never stinted to Pugh's Ara
tus, which fact was used against Tom
Rolfe while in the stud in this vicinity.
The colt by Lanes Bellfounder, which
was in the pasture with Pocahontas, was
large, vigorous colt for his age, and
Mr.. Catterlin, who investigated the mat
ter at the time, believes he was the sire
of Tom Rolte, but nothing positive was
ever known. Bun Brown.
| Now, Iconoclast, if you will stifle your
grief for few moments we will give
you one or two simple homeopathic facts
thai cannot fail to restore the radiant
smile to your countenance once more,
and restore you to normal condition
of cheerfulness.
You say, Iconoclast, that ''unfortu-
nately this letter comes from an intelli-
gent and reliable horseman." Do you
use the word re-lie-able in its literal
sense? Are we to understand by it that
the author of the above statements con-
corning Tom Rolfe's paternity is able to
lie again? We hope not. This Bun
Brown may be perfectly honest, but how
about the "stable boss Catterlin?' He
may be the re-lie-able one, and again he
may be truthful and well meaning. If
the latter, he must be afflicted with ter
rible bad memory. There are few sim
pie facts recorded in equine history, Icon
oclast, which if carefully considered will
soothe your lacerated feelings and enable
you to honestly crafty your strong de-
sire to continue writing Aratus AS the
sire of that remarkable progenitor of
speed, Tom Rolfe. Here they are, as
given to the public by ID, w. Reed,
through Wallace's Monthly nearly thir-
teen years ago.
"Pocahontas was bred by Mr.. John Dine,
and foaled in lS47. This Mr. Dine died
in November, 1913. In the spring of 1919,
Pocahontas, then two-year-old filly, was
offered at public sale, and bid of by Will
liam Dine for $50. She was then a
growthy, clumsy PAGER, loose-jonted,
with low carriage, and when coming to
a halt mixed and tangled her legs so that
she would almost fall down.
"When three years old Pocahontas was
broken to saddle. At that time her with
ers were so low that it was impossible to
keep the saddle from going over her
head without using crupper. She was
so kind that Mr.. Dine gave her in charge
of boy, whose instructions were to
work her lightly. The result was that
in short time she was so badly curbed
in both hooks that she could not get up
alone. She was cured of her lameness,
however, and in the spring of 1850 was
sold to Mr.. Benjamin Gautchie, neigh
Dor of Mr.. Dimes, for SOL.
"Her new owner used her that summer
for general farm work, and in the fall of
that year traded her with Mr.. Abram
Pearce of Preble county, Ohio, for an
other three-year-old. Mr.. Pearce used
her about year for general farm work,
then sold her to widow Flora who