Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-04-07
JOSEPH BATTELL
Middleburv, VT
HAMlLrONlAN tRlsHOP,sl.

The Horse Breeder prints quite de-
sultory article referring to our remarks
upon the spelling of the name of the
above horse. We saw nothing in the
article that calls for discussion, ex-
cept statement that "Mr. Battell
claimed that this horse was not named
Hambletonian and never known by that
name while he lived, in both of which
statements he was wrong
Mr.. Battell ventures to say most de-
cldedly that in no statement which he
made was he wrong. OF course when
Mr.. Battell said If he did say, that
Bishops Hamiltonian was not named
Hambletonian, he meant that he was not
named so by any party having proper
authority to name him. Mr.. Battell
knows very we'll that he has been called
so by somebody, who probably mis-
spelled the name, or misprOnounced it,
aud the error has been perpetuated. We
do not call this naming a horse. Does
the Horse Breeder? And we do not
consider that any amount of repetition
of an error will make it correct. Does
the Horse Breeder? The owners of the
horse, who are usually the responsible
parties to name him, and without whose
warrant no name can be legally applied,
certainly did not name him Hambleton-
ian. They certainly did name him Ham
iltonian, and. as we have been Informed
by old gentlemen of the highest intel
ligence, after Alexander Hamilton, who
was killed in 1904, the year the horse
was foaled.
But the Horse Breeder says the horse
was called Hambletonian while he lived.
This is the most important item in the
article, because it is suggestion that
the writer knows something. Unfortu-
nately, he stops with the suggestion.
lie doesn't tell US where or by whom
he was so called. We know that
Townsend Cock, very Intelligent
owner, called him Hamiltonian, and so
advertised him in 1912 and other years.
We know that Isaac Bishop, another
intelligent owner, so called him and so
advertised him as late as 1926 and in
other years. We know that owners of
his sous at this period so called him and
so spelled his name in their advertise
ments. And we know that we have
been informed by number of very in
telligent men who knew the horse well
when he was in Vermont, and at Gran
vile, that his name was Hamiltonian.
and that he was always so called when he
was living. If the Horse Breeder has other
Cadwallader r. Golden, the very high
est authority of his day in such matters,
in reviewing the pedigree of the dam of
this horse in 1884, repeatedly calls him
name. Mr.. Wallace also states that his
true name was Hamitonian, and sug-
gests that perhaps it should be restored,
although he did not undertake TO do it.
If the editor of the Horse Breeder can
show that any party having right to
give the horse a name, that is, that any
owner named him Hambletonian, he will
please do so. If he can refer to any
book or paper that so called him while
the horse was living, he may be able to
suggest the origin of the erroneous
name. He certainly cannot do the first,
and we have no idea that he can do the
last.
We notice that this oblquity of vision
in regard to names followed the Horse
Breeder when it quoted our article on
the dam of Highland Gray, which it
credits to the Middlebury Gazette, in
stead of the Middlebury REGISTER.
VIII the editor inform us by whom our
paper was first named Gazette, and
also whether he thinks 1t is incumbent
on us to use that name in the future?
TILE ERANKI ING