1968-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1968 January Voice RS | Page 82

Onicjin
HAVE been importuned many times in the
several years to write what I know of the arigih>ffit
the Hal family of pacers. To write what you absol|||||
know, and at the same time avoid what you positively :
think, is an acrimonious and drastic imposition well be­
yond the pale of human effort. Personal observations, or
photographs on the mind’s eye, must perforce be framed
in the personality of the individual occupied.
The horse enthusiast is permeated with question
marks, and ever in his wake they play in droves, coveys,
shoals, and swarms, until we find a query the safest an­
swer to a question. We are also told that circumstantial
evidence is stronger than sworn testimony. Be that as
it may, we often find circumstance bearing the brunt of
basic proof.
The writer of horse articles or sketches would hope for
and cater to a number of readers as well as their inter­
est. And especially would this obtain where he seeks to
register information that has been neglected or incor­
rectly given the public. So on this occasion wTe shall dis­
pense with space—killing embellishment and employ only
such simple clauses as will lead us on and through the
matter at hand.
I deem it but just that I fortify such evidence as has
come to me with a few personal allusions. This passed
up briefly, I shall vouchsafe such data, established and
traditional as has fallen to my love and lot to accumulate.
I
I am 52, while my father is still active at 79 years of
age. I am the fourth in name and line descending from
a W. J. Webster, who came over from North Carolina in
the early settlement of this immediate section of Middle
Tennessee, Maury Couty. They were all horse-lovers and
horse-breeders down to this one, who early in life be­
came violently afflicted with horsitis; and had it not been
for the diversions and responsibilities incident to stran-
82
glfng the proverbial wolf, I would long since have shone
the, sole proprietor of a padded cell.
Maj\ Campbell Brown| Capt. M. C. Campbell and W.
J. Webster, my father, were pioneers in the development
of high productivity in the Jersey cow, and at one time
held all world's records. The descendants of these iden­
tical animals, though, scattered from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, still can lay claim to the highest percentage in
butter-fat. Maj. Brown and Capt. Campbell were also
pioneers in the development of pacing speed in the native
saddle horse, then known as “the Copperbottoms.” W.
J. Webster branched off into the Thoroughbreds, while
I went both ways so far as my capacity would permit.
These men were intimate friends, worked in harmony,
and rarely explored without consultation.
Major Brown was the most thorough, exact and pains­
taking man it has ever been my fortunate opportunity to
follow. He spent years of labor and much money in his
efforts to set up the authenticity of the breeding of any
potent horses that happened to play a part in the featur­
ing of this strain. During the Civil War and Reconstruc­
tion many horses and men became lost or misplaced. And
when it is taken into consideration that in those days
there were no stenographers or typewriters; that he in
his own hand made a copy of each letter he wrote; that
these letters, together with all answers to same are care­
fully placed in large envelopes, and each envelope labeled
“McMeen’s Traveler,” “Knight’s Snow Heels.” etc., then
you may gain some conception of the exactness and enor­
mity of his task. This too, when he had other and large
busy intrests.
I have had and still have access to Maj. Brown’s cor­
respondence. Ewell Farm is now the home of his son,
Dr. Lucius P. Brown, former Pure Food Inspector of
New York, while Cleburne farm, the former home of
Capt. M. C. Campbell, is now maintained by his son, Allen
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse