Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-02-26
EARLY TENNESSEE TURF HIS
IORY.
BY ALBION IN THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES
1877.
Continued.
JOSEPH
MiddlcDury, vt.

BY ALBION IN H sPlRlT OF H TIMES
1877.
Continued.
"Indeed, Simon bore an enviablc char
acter for integrity, skill, judgment and
courage. He was by nature Il fine mu-
stefan sang the popular airs of the day,
not as a cultivated musician, but with an
inspiration that was admirable, because
it was natural. In repartee he was in
imitable. and was ever readily in COM
mand of eccentric and comic sayings of
the broadcast humor, always mirth-inspir-
ing, though frequently not wanting in
ridicule, cutting, whitening, almost
blighting. His position and natural de-
formity gave him the broadcast liberties
with all, white and black, with whom he
came in contact, and he rarely failed to
shiver a lance in repartee, with even the
most eminent that he CHANGED to come in
contact with, and he met the most dis
tinguished men of the times. 1t seems
day, with so many admirable character
%istics, with such incorI uptible integrity,
and withal, so skilful in his own particu-
lar sphere, should be so little known so
soon after his death. The small circle of
sportsmen in the valley of the Cumber-
land yet meet and recount the interesting
Incidents of his life, end tell of his vic
torious career Che had few defeats).
(1utGIdp nf thic airaln no ic coarnal, ro
membered. These reflections only serve
to remind us how suggestive is the
thought, Are we SO soon forgot when
we are gomez
Returning to the history of Uncle
Berry Williams: Soon after he stopped
at Major A~leXander's, he put his horses
In training, and the news spread rapidly
through the country. There was a man
hard by, named Lazarus Cotton, who
owned the celebrated horse, Greyhound
(Which we have mentioned as being af-
terward purchased by General Jackson,
and also a racer called Cygnet. Cotton
was not esteemed over-scrupulous by his
neighbors, but was a sharp, shrewd man
ager. He very soon bantered Uncle
Berry for a match between Henrietta
and Cygnet, aud Colonel Peyton says
'The old men of the neighborhood
manifested great sympathy for the young
stranger, and predicted that Lazarus
Cotton would ruin him, but in this they
were mistaken, and Henrietta won the
race with ease.
This was his first race in Tennessee :
and ! witnessed his last, which was run
over the Albion conrse at Gallatin, in Is
g..
"Shortly after the race at Huntsville,
Uncle Berry trained a famous quarter
race mare, called Sallie Friar, bv
Jolly Friar, and made a match for $500 "A
side, which was run on Goose Creek,
near the Poiso Knob. Sallie was the
winner, and she was afterward purchas-
ed by Patton Anderson, who ran her
with great success. In the fall of lSOG
Uncle Berry won with Post Boy the Joe
key Club purse, three-mile heats, at Gnl-
latin, beating General Jackson's Escape
and others. Escape was the favorite,
and the general and Mrs. jackson, who
were present, backed him freely. Be-
fore this race he sold Post Boy to Messrs.
Richard and William l.. Alexander for
$1,000, in the event of his winning the
race, after which he was withdrawn from
the turf. Here Uncle Berry first met
General Jackson, and made a match with
him on Henrietta against Bibb's mare
for $1,000 a side, two-inile heats, equal
weights, though the generals mare was
two years older than Henrietta, to come
of in the spring of 1907, at Clover Bot
tom. The result proved that Uncle
Berry Il ierrated the horses and trainers
OF the Iennesse turf, as the generals
mare, a thoroughbred daughter of i'm
ported Diomed, won the race.
"The general, though deprived of the
pleasure of being present on that inter-
ing occasion (havipg been summoned as
a witness in the trial of Aaron Burr at
Richmond), showed that his heart was
in it, from a letter to his friend. Patton
Anderson, dated June l5, published in
Parton's Life of Jackson. from which |
quote: AT the race | hope you will see
Mrs. Jackson; tell her not to be uneasy.
! will be home as soon as my obedience
to the precept of my country will per-
NIT. have only to add as to the race,
that the mare of Williams is thought
here to be a irst-rate animal Of her size.