Foundation Sires of the Working Western Families, WWF, by Ina Ish

February 20, 2008

 

 

Flyhawk
Flyhawk

Jubilee King
Jubilee King

Gallant King
Gallant King

Golddust
Golddust

Gay Mac
Gay Mac

Blackwood Correll
Blackwood Correll

General Gates
General Gates
FOUNDATION SIRES OF WWF 

Foundation Sires of the Working Western Families of Morgans (W.W.F.)

While researching a series of articles for The Morgan Horse Trotting Association on Famous Morgan Trotters and Pacers I began to notice how many, and which horses of the three famous trotting families went to the west and midwest. In time, and as I traced those families down to the present certain names of horses and people became very commonplace. For instance, the Bulrush family of race horses were the Morrills, and Mr. Richard Sellman used horses of this line extensively. In Volume III of The Morgan Horse Register there are at least, 104 horses registered of Bulrush blood , through the stallion Winnebago Chief. The majority of these horses were bred by Mr. Sellman and were by The Admiral who was by Jubilee de Jarnette out of a Winnebago Chief daughter – Morrill Queen. Winnebago Chief was by Mountain Chief by Morrill by The Jennison Colt, by The Randolph Horse by Bulrush. Another stallion Mr. Sellman used frequently was Major Gordon who traced to Octoroon and whose second dam was by Bulrush. Julian Morgan by Winnebago Chief is another of this very solid family, he in turn sired Raven Chief, who sired Sun Down Morgan who was foaled in California in 1933. Among the Morgan horses who are currently competitive on the trotting track Flyhawk is well represented by the most successful of these horses. The Flyhawk blood comes to these trotters mainly through Chief Red Hawk via Pinehaven Chief. This family is doing very nicely and is fairly heavily concentrated in Michigan. Chief Red Hawk, was of course, a full brother to Gallant King, whose blood is much sought after in the Working Western Families. Flyhawk was a great, great grandson of Hero of Manilla, himself a Morrill Queen son. Another source of the Bulrush blood available today is through the Red Correll horses, most recently dispersed at the Mills sale last fall.

The Sherman family or The Black Hawks are equally well represented on the trotting track today as well as in the Working Western Families. Flyhawk himself was out of the Sherman bred mare Florette and Chief Red Hawk of course is out of Neliza by Jubilee King. Jubilee de Jarnette, mentioned earlier was a Sherman bred horse as much as he was a Bulrush bred horse and so that blood is acquired automatically with the Sellman bred horses by The Admiral.

Mr. J. C. Brunk was the largest breeder of Sherman Morgans in the Mid-west and in addition to Flyhawk, he gave us Jubilee King and all of King’s sons that went on to be the bulk of the foundation of the Working Western Families. The Jubilee King son Juzan, made a name for himself in Arizona as well as doing the same back east. Much earlier in our history, the Black Hawk son; Ethan Allen stood at stud in Lawrence, Kansas. He lived there untill his death in 1876 and was buried at the entrance of the trotting park in Lawrence, later exhumed and stood in the Museum of Natural History in Lawrence. The presence of Ethan Allen in the mid-west surely laid the foundations of Sherman horses there. Ethan Allen’s grandson Denning Allen was shown successfully at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Ill in 1893. Denning Allen of course was the sire of General Gates, whose Sherman blood and influence on WW Families is immeasurable.

Another Sherman bred stallion whose influence can still be felt in both the trotting Morgans and the Working Western Families is Charles Reade. His blood comes to us mainly through the mare lines. He was a son of Daniel Lambert by Ethan Allen, out of an own daughter of Daniel Lambert. Charles Reade was used by J.C. Brunk and was the first, possibly the last horse to be given registration as a Morgan, a Saddlebred, and by virtue of his race record as a Standardbred.

The Woodbury family of race horses were known as the Golddusts. The roadster branch of his family comes down to us through Gifford Morgan and can be found in abundance. But the Golddusts are very scarce. Since the Golddusts were mainly bred in Kentucky, their blood did spread to the mid-west. Messenger Golddust went to Wisconsin then to Missouri. Bell’s Ben Franklin, by Messenger Golddust went to Iowa. Ingold and Pure Gold went to Indiana. Golden Forrest was kept in Wisconsin and sons of his were in Wisconsin and Illinois. Golden Forrest is a name that can be found on modern pedigrees. Another name in this branch of family that is sometimes found is Zilcaadi Golddust along with Mambrino Golddust. Eclipse Golddust was sold to C.X. Larabee of Deer Lodge, Montana, so there may be more of the family still in the west then is readily found in the east. They were fast horses , but not easy to live with horses and were mainly raced as geldings. One source of this blood was the stallion Jack Sprat, sire of Lizzieayr, dam of Liz Taylor. Jack Sprat was out of the mare Gold Floss by Golddust Abdallah. The stallion Powerful was also of this family as his dam was Gold Pilot out of Gold Fly. Powerful was a valuable breeding horse in any right as his sire was Chocolate; another stallion of influence on Working Western Families. Here then is a brief run down of some recent research into the families of Justin Morgan’s three famous sons. It is of interest to me to note the parallel use of sires of these families in the development of both what is now called the Working Western Families, and in the development of successful Morgan Trotting Horses. I hope it will be of interest to some of you readers and breeders as well.

Old Government Bloodlines -a Footnote

As a short footnote to the information contained in The Working Western Foundation article I would like to add, that though the WWF Foundations article describes the very early foundations, it should be noted that the horses we have come to call Working Western Family today all have – for the most part-bloodlines that go back to General Gates as mentioned. Through the General Gates sons, Bennington and Linsley comes his blood… Mansfield, by Bennington, Hermina by Mansfield, Ro Mac , Panfield, Canfield, Ulysses, all these names and many more have become known as Old Government and are the backbone of the current Working Western Family. In addition of course to the blood of Flyhawk and Jubilee King.

Ina M. Ish
Longstreet Morgans
Chapel Hill, NC