Trotting Gallery
date: label: Date made
content: 1860
name: label: publisher
content: Brewster & Co.
label: maker
content: Sarony, Major, & Knapp
label: original artist
content: Attwood, W. F.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Color print of five trotting horses standing on a dirt road. Two have riders on their backs. The horses are identified as Geo. M. Patchen, Lady Suffolk, Princess, Ethan Allen and Flora Temple. This is an advertising print published by Brewster & Co., manufacturers of wagons and carriages.
label: Description
content: Color print of five horses (Geo. M. Patchen, Lady Suffolk, Princess, Ethan Allen, and Flora Temple) standing on a dirt road. Two of them carry riders. The one white horse (Lady Suffolk) leans head down to small black dog. The other horses are chestnut or bay colored. Woods and meadow in background. Suggestion of building at far right.
label: Description
content: Geo (George) M. Patchen was foaled in 1849. His sire may have been Cassius M. Clay and his dam may have been Head’em.
label: Description
content: Lady Suffolk, known as the “Old Gray Mare,” was foaled in 1833 in Smithtown, Suffolk County, Long Island. Her sire was Young Engineer, making her a descendent of the famous thoroughbred Messenger who had founded the Standardbred breed; her dam was Jenny. David Bryant purchased the mare in 1835 and they remained together until 1851. She entered her first race in 1838 ridden by Hiram Woodruff. Lady Suffolk trotted in 161 races between 1838 and 1854, winning 88 of them and earning over $35,000 in purse money. In her prime she traveled through the major cities, appearing from Boston to New Orleans. However, in the last six years of her career, she raced only seven times because harness racing had begun to replace under saddle trotting. In 1843, ridden by Albert Conklin, Lady Suffolk was the first trotter to go the mile in under 2:30, which made her the first “Queen of the Turf.” This feat reduced the 1834 record by almost five seconds, coming in at 2:26 ½. Her popularity was greatly due to William T. Porter, who used his weekly newspaper, The Spirit of the Times, to publicize her exploits. She died in 1855 in Vermont and was eventually inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame as an “Immortal” in 1967.
label: Description
content: Ethan Allen was foaled on June 18, 1849 by Joel W.Holcomb of Ticonderoga, NY. He was sired by Vermont Black Hawk, a distant descendant of the thoroughbred Messenger, and birthed by Poll. On the Holcomb farm, he was treated as a family pet, admiration that continued through his public career. Orville S. Roe of Shoreham, Vermont, bought half an interest in the colt, so during his earlier years, he was owned jointly by Holcomb and Roe. That was the beginning of his many owners. In 1862 he was sold to Frank Baker, who, after a time, sold him to Dan Mace and I. D. Walton. In 1866 he was purchased by J. E. Maynard of Boston, who sold him to Eph. Simmons, but afterwards bought him back, and again sold him, November 5th, 1868, to Wesley P. Balch of Boston, who in turn sold him to Col. H. S. Russell of Milton, Massachusetts. Ethan Allen was known for being the most handsome trotter in the races and had one of the longest racing careers, spanning 18 seasons. In 1853 he set the 4-year-old record of 2:36. In 1858 he reduced the stallion record to 2:28 for the mile. The great achievement of his life occurred on June 21, 1867, when, at age eighteen, and hitched with a running mate, he defeated Dexter, at the Fashion Course in Long Island in 2:15, 2:16 and 2:19. He won a total of 33 races, 22 in a single harness. His titles included Champion Trotting Stallion of the World, Champion of the World at Four Years of Age, and Champion of the World to Pole, with a best time of 2:25 ½. Ethan Allen was highly popular at stud, with his fees reaching $500. He produced six under 2:30 trotters. Ethan Allen died at Sprague and Akers Farm, owned by Colonel Amasa in Lawrence Kansas on September 10, 1876 at age 27 and was buried at the entrance of the trotting course in Kansas, with a monument to commemorate his career. Later, his skeleton was exhumed and displayed at the Museum of Natural History in Lawrence. He was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1999 as an “Immortal.” The popular trotting horse weather vane was based upon his silhouette.
label: Description
content: Flora Temple was foaled in 1845 it Utica, New York from the sire Loomis Bogus and a dam named Madame Temple. By 1861 she had become a racing icon, the “Queen of the Turf” and was the second mare, after Lady Suffolk, to trot the mile in under 2:30. Flora equaled or lowered the record six times, continually beating her own best times. Flora Temple is the “Bob Tail Nag” referred to in the famous song “Camptown Races” by Stephen Foster, so popular that ships were named after her. After her death in 1877, she was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 1955 as an “Immortal” because she won 92 races in her career. This image depicts Flora Temple at her last home, Erdenheim Stud Farm, owned by Aristides and Geroge Welch. She produced no offspring until 1869 when, at age 24, she was bred to the imported thoroughbred Leamington. Their foal, Prince Imperial was bred for speed, and while he trained, he never raced. He was sold to Robert Bonner, who used him as a road horse.
label: Description
content: William F. Atwood was a portrait painter in New York City from 1858-1860. He exhibited at the National Academy.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: depicted
content: Pets
label: depicted
content: Horses
label: referenced
content: Horse Racing
label: depicted
content: Dogs
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Sports & Leisure
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content: Art
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content: Peters Prints
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: Horses
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.3551
label: catalog number
content: 60.3551
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: image: 16 1/2 in x 27 1/2 in; 41.91 cm x 69.85 cm