Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-09-16

'iiS WV" VI hcipss CIV o"uhco Oiiuci
in his letter, already published, describes
her as a "brown mare, between light
and very dark brown, with black name
and tall
Considering these matters, we address,
ed the following further questions to
Mr.. James Gilbert, Buffalo, n. Y, and
received them back with the annexed re-
plies in the hand of Mr.. Gilbert and sign
ed by him.
l. Did the mare which you bought in
Pennsylvania have any white hairs mixed
through her coat; in other words, was
she roam or inclined to be roam?
A. She did not.
2. Did you or your brother or Mr..
Beardsley buy a mare about that time
or any other time of Joshua Phillips of
Bristol, N. ".
A. We did not
3. Did any of you gentlemen above
named eyer have any interview with
Jos. S. Lewis of Geneva, n. Y, on the
question of where you got the mare you
sold him after the time when George
Wilkes trotted or at any time after the
sale to him?
a. We did, and we tried our best to
find out her pedigree.
/. Did you ever answer any question as
to the origin of this mare coming from
Harry Felter, the breeder of George
Wilkes, or from Simmons Brothers, his
owners? And, if so, what did you in
form them about the matter?
\. | did moi.
). Did you ever answer any such ques-
ton or receive any question In the matter
from John II. Wallace of New York or
John p. Ray of IIoneoye? If you received
and answered any such questions, what
was the substance of your answers in
each case?
A. did not.
6. Have you ever made any secret of
this matter or refused to give the IN
formation to any one wanting it?
y. have not.
157 eth st.
If there were any possible question on
the evidence already published, we
would have to stop here and ask whether
filly that is such a decided roam at three
would have come out clear brown with
out any white hairs at six.
Rnt thara ro ctill furtbar diOin,,ltior
with this pedigree. Mr.. Clark NJ. Phillips,
who bred the Clay filly, and Mr.. f. v.
/ Phillips, who had her at three years old,
have both failed to state what year she
was foaled although Clark NJ. has writ
ten us that the he thinks the dam, Tele-
graph, was foaled about 1913. There is
nothing in this controversy to indicate
that either of these gentlemen has been
other than perfectly straightforward in
the matter. They never made the claim
that this Clay filly was the dam of
George Wilkes, or thought or heard of
such thing, till Mr.. Ray made the fact
% known to them. And Mr.. Ray got
his information from Mr.. Wallace.
But Clark Nj. Phillips, in his interview
with John P. Ray, in December, 1877,
said: 81 bred two colts from Henry Clay
,chile he rdS oacned By Kent G Bailey o,
this torn; one a horse colt and the other
a mare" This was the mare in question
Again in his letter to John 2. Ray, Nov.
IS, 1891, Clark NJ. Phillips says; "Thls
filly was got by old Henry Clay (the
Wadsworth horse) tchen he ,rdS o,cned By
Bailey Bros"
Now dates are dangerous things. The
fact is that if George Wilkes was produced
by this Clay tilly bred by Clark NJ. Phillips
while Henry Clay was owned in Bristol
by Kent q Bailey, or Bailey Brothers, he
had the anomalous experience of being
born before his dam George Wilkes was
foaled in 1896.
Now, whether by design or accident, il
Is yet fact that the history of Henry
Clay, though comparatively recent and
perfectly easy to procure, has never been
written. His dates have been steadily
ignored since the publication of tins ped
igree, so that, strange as it may appear,
there is not eXtant book, so far as we
know, that gives the date of his leaving
Long Island and going to his new home
at Geneseo in Livingston county,
Western New York, Since this question
has been under consideration we have
learned the leading facts in his history
from the original sources. They are as
follows:
Henry Clay, a black horse with star
and right hind ankle white, and weigh
ing 1850 pounds, was bred by George NJ.
Patchen of New Jersey and foaled in
1887. He was sold by his breeder to
Col. William W. Wadsworth, Geneseo,
n. Y, March p, 1915, for one dollar a
pound, being $1,000; Col. Wadsworth
kept him, using him mostly as a driving
horse, till his own decease, after which,
Jan. 10, 1852, he was sold by Col. Wads-