by Mim E. Rivas
Dick Poplin, Bedford County Historian, columnist: Dr. Stanley White Davis materials.
Thomas J. Reider, reference archivist, Ohio Historical Society: research on Albert R. Rogers and family.
Rosedale Cemetery, Orange, New Jersey (Albert R. Rogers, died 3/31/1946).
Dave Seuss loan of Skeptical Inquirer 2002 research: “Psychic Pets and Pet Psychics.”
Philip Shapiro research on Richard Houston Dudley: born 7/28/1836, son of Christopher Stump Dudley and Louise Pierce Bandy; elected mayor of Nashville 10/4/1897, served until 1900.
Philip Shapiro research on Davis family: 1930 census, Stanley Davis fifty-one, Lillie forty-seven, Stanley Jr. nineteen, Marie fifteen, Harriet C. thirteen, William Key six.
Philip Shapiro research on descendants of A. R. Rogers: Archibald Rogers born 6/18/1895, died 4/1974.
St. Louis Public Library, Central Library, Special Collections: copy of invitation to opening performances of Beautiful Jim Key, 4/30/1904 benefit for the American Humane Education Society.
Leilah Strachen, Harvard Student Agencies: Boston research.
Sylvia Weedman, library assistant, the Bostonian Society.
Annie Mott Whitman/Campbell family tree research: marriages of Lucy Davidson and Hattie Davidson to Dr. Key.
INDIVIDUALS, AUTHORITIES, LIBRARIES, AGENCIES, INTERVIEWS, AND QUERIES
Nancy Campbell Barnett, Shelbyville, Tennessee; oral histories on civil rights in Bedford County (niece of Essie Campbell Davis), secondhand recollections of Jim Key in later years.
Randolph Whittington Best, oral historian and student of Tennessee history, music, and Civil War; on Staff Union Station Hotel, Nashville, Tennessee.
Anne Chunko, USTA, Standardbred Equestrian Program.
Jim Cooper, Congressman, 5th district Tennessee, on Shelbyville and family history.
Dianna Dennis, author, equestrian expert, Moderator on Chronicle of the Horse Bulletin Board (Chronicle of the Horse Magazine); on equine intelligence, bloodlines.
Joseph Ditta, reference librarian, the New-York Historical Society; research on Jim Key’s New York debut; Albert R. Rogers in New York.
Benjamin Feldman, lawyer, authority New York real estate law, author; account of work of Grand Central Palace, Lexington Avenue, A. R. Rogers era.
Stephen Fife, playwright, author, humorist; on early American theatre history, lower Broadway in 1890s, location of Maiden Lane.
Susan Gordon, Special Collections, Tennessee State Library and Archives.
David Hoffman; overall process of excavating history, notes on inventions, time period, era of world’s fairs.
Portia Iversen, founder Cure Autism Now, author of Strange Son (Riverhead Press, due 2005), coauthor with Soma Mukhopadhyay of Rapid Prompting Method manual (Riverhead Press, due 2005); on alternative mental processes.
Janis Jones, expert US Trotters; on John H. Wallace, Wallace’s Year Book registry, recommended Master St. Elmo.
Catherine Medich, New Jersey State Archives; Rogers genealogy, New Jersey performances, Standardbred expertise.
Megan Milford, Massachusetts Historical Society; research for Harvard study of Beautiful Jim Key.
Marilyn Wade Parker, commissary of the Tennessee Brigade of the Society of the Descendants of Washington’s Army of Valley Forge.
Dick Poplin, Bedford County, Tenn., author, historian; oral history of family members who saw Jim perform.
Clara Nelson Singleton, Shelbyville, Tennessee, writer and oral historian; family members/slaves who served in the Civil War.
Nancy Stowers, Shelbyville, Tennessee; oral history of family members who saw Jim Key perform; neighbor of Essie and Sam Davis.
Kathryn Kerby Tolle, Shelbyville, Tennessee; oral history of father and uncle who saw Jim Key perform.
Annie Mott Whitman, music teacher, songwriter, author of The Unbelievable Love: Here & Beyond (Bloomington, Ind.: 1st Books Library, 2002).
Hanne Wolf; correspondence regarding Wilhelm von Osten, Clever Hans, Morocco.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the spring of 2002, I was at a crossroads—ready to venture off on my own after more than a dozen years of having had the good fortune to work as a coauthor and ghostwriter, but not sure how—and I was waiting for a sign. I will be eternally grateful to my cousin, Tom Wills, for sending me the e-mail that introduced this story and David Hoffman to me, and for giving me my sign. My fondest appreciation belongs to David Hoffman, for his incomparable talents as filmmaker and storyteller, his thoughtful idea-prodding, and his instincts for unearthing strange but true histories. I will always be indebted to him for allowing me to ride with Beautiful Jim Key.
My everlasting thanks go to my agent, the wonderful Elizabeth Kaplan, for her love of story, her buoyant energy, her gift for problem-solving made easy, and her belief from the start in this unlikely history and in me. There is no way I’ll ever be able to express my gratitude sufficiently to Henry Ferris, my editor at William Morrow, for his guidance, his infectious intellectual curiosity, his good heart, and the leap of faith it took to make this dream of writing solo come true for me.
Thank you to everyone at William Morrow: to publisher Michael Morrison for his support, to marketing director Lisa Gallagher for her enthusiasm, to editorial assistant Peter Hubbard for his help, to the art department for the stunning jacket, and to the rest of the house for being a home to me.
My thanks are strewn across my home state of Tennessee, starting with the heroine of Bedford County, Marilyn Parker, who followed a genealogical trail that would have stymied any other researcher; she never stopped searching and continued to send me discoveries long after I’d turned in the manuscript. Thank you, Marilyn, for home cooking and my meeting your eight dogs and three horses, and for organizing my visits to Shelbyville, Bell Buckle, and Wartrace. Boundless gratitude goes to my other dear friend, Annie Mott Whitman, the petite dynamo who generously gave me access to the Key and Rogers scrapbooks and the oral histories about Key and Key that had passed down through her family. Though I never met her sister, the late Essie Mott Lee, or her aunt, the late Essie Campbell Davis, I am awed by their devotion to keeping the legacies of Dr. William Key and Jim alive. My lasting gratitude goes to Bob Womack, for sharing his Key collection, his youthful exuberance, and his stories from Bedford County tended over his more than eighty-one years, as well as his Civil War knowledge and Tennessee Walking Horse expertise. I offer special thanks to Thomas Johnson for Southern hospitality, for sharing highlights from his collection, and for his gift as a listener and questioner. I’m enormously grateful to the many folks in Shelbyville who also let me borrow their time and insights, stories, memories, and parts of collections: Dick Poplin, Nancy Barnett, Clara Singleton Nelson, Nancy Stowers, Bob Scruggs, Jim Bomar, Kathryn Kerby Tolle, and the Ewing Cartwright family. Thanks to Mrs. Hortense Cooper, who took time out of her busy afternoon to greet me and talk about local history, and more gratitude goes to her son, Congressman Jim Cooper, whose devotion to the important causes of our day and to Tennesseans is an inspiration. You all made me feel like family.
I am certain that divine intervention placed the amazing Susan Gordon, archivist at the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville, Tennessee, in my path. My humblest, deepest thanks go to her for her labor of love performed on behalf of Jim Key, for her countless hours and help far beyond the call of the duty of research. My heartfelt thanks to Susan for shared values and for giving me a sense of the meaning of provenance that informed my work throughout. I am also indebted to Karina McDaniel, staff photographer at the Tennessee State Library.
Endless thanks are due Catherine Medich of the New Jersey State Archives for her research talents, which allowed me to step back in time and see the world that Albert Rogers inhabited, and for her Standardbred sleuthing. Throughout my research process, I was humbled by the incredible work and assistance provided me by librarians, researchers, state and local archives, historical societies, antique bookstores, and private collectors.
Catherine Medich modestly said, “We are all researchers who love a good topic to search.” For those who devote themselves to preserving histories, I offer my permanent admiration.
Special thanks go to everyone at the Central Library’s Special Collections at the St. Louis Public Library; to Joseph Ditta of the New York Historical Society; Thomas J. Reider, Reference Archivist, at the Ohio Historical Society; to Sylvia Weedman, Library Assistant at the Bostonian Society; Megan Milford, Massachusetts Historical Society; Gail C. Cunard, director of the Harness Racing Museum; and Anne Chunko of the United States Trotter’s Association. I’m grateful to research help from Leilah Strachen, Harvard Student Agencies, and my dear inquisitive friends, Dave Suess and Phil Shapiro. I’m so thankful to Di Dennis, coauthor of Linda Allen’s 101 Exercises for Jumping and a fellow Sarah Lawrence College alumna, for her horse love and expertise, with helpful information from Sarah Tradewell and from the posting of “Cherry.” I loved hearing the debates of the passionate horsey people at yahoo.com’s Early American Horse group that helped refine my search for Jim Key’s lineage.
There are several individuals to whom belated, profound gratitude is owed for trusting me to help with their stories and projects—experiences that helped guide me in the process of bringing the people in this story back to life. My lasting thanks go to the legendary Berry Gordy, who taught me early on that “the truth is a hit,” and who nurtured my talents in ways I hope make him proud. Through his example as a leading African-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, I have better understood the journey taken by Dr. William Key. There aren’t enough words to say thank you also to Della Reese-Lett, Franklin Lett, Betty DeGeneres, Victoria Principal, and Antwone Fisher. To a handful of extraordinary individuals who worked so generously to shepherd my career and my family’s well-being in the past, I send thanks, especially to literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, to business manager Matt Lichtenberg, and artist’s manager Sherry Robb. For ongoing PR advice and friendship, thanks to Howard Bragman, and to Dick Weaver.
Lifelong love and gratitude are owed to David Geffen—my hero—for his unbelievable generosity and support to me and my family over the years. His journey as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and humanitarian has helped to illuminate the inner lives of many individuals in this book and has never ceased to inspire me. Lots of thanks to Priscila Giraldo at DreamWorks for steering me toward the great work of Heads Up, Therapy with Horses, and to all the folks at DreamWorks and the David Geffen Foundation for their kindness.
Much appreciation is sent to the many families and communities who have become my family’s proverbial village. Thanks to Gene and Caroline Kimmelman, Rick Jacobs, Betsy Jasny, and the rest of my homies from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to E. L. Doctorow for teaching me that we all have more than one story to tell, and to all my teachers, friends, and administrators from Sarah Lawrence College. Enormous admiration and gratitude go to the advocacy community that works to end domestic and other forms of violence, and to all our good neighbors in Hermosa Beach. It is just so California to thank my Pilates instructor, but without the wonderful Melanie Petri I wouldn’t have made it through. My friend Kathy Cartwright also inspires me every day.
My undying gratitude goes to everyone at the Hermosa Animal Hospital, to veterinarians Kim Doane and Steve Liebl, for taking such good care of Pokey and Josey, the Educated Beautiful Jack Russell terriers who bring unconditional, unlimited joy into my life every day. Thanks to veterinarians and animal advocates everywhere, to local, state, national, and international humane groups, to animal shelters, rescue groups, and environmental organizations working to protect endangered wildlife and their habitats around the world. If readers would like to contribute to humane work to honor the memories of Beautiful Jim Key and Dr. William Key, I dearly encourage the support of local groups in dire need of funds and volunteers or any of the well-known animal protection organizations. To make an honorary gift to MSPCA-Angell.org, contributors can visit http://www.secure.ga3.org/02/honor_gift, or mail to MSPCA, Attn.: Miss Joan Stark, 350 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02130. To contribute to the fund established by Essie Mott Lee and Annie Mott Whitman, donors can mail contributions to the Jim Key Memorial Donation Fund, US Bank, 600 South Main, Goodlettsville, TN 37072; or to its Shelbyville address: US Bank, 100 North Side Square, Shelbyville, TN 37160; or to any US Bank in the country, as well as online by visiting http://www.usbank.com/.
I send love to infinity to the family that I came from: to the late Gene Eichler, to my mother, Sonya Geffen Eichler, to my sister Margrit and my brother Dan and their families, and special thanks to Great-aunt Deena. Infinite gratitude goes to the whole Rivas familia. Most of all, I thank the two guys who encourage and put up with me whenever deadlines loom, who make me laugh, and whose supply of unconditional love is unlimited. Thank you, my amazing ten-year-old son, Eli, statesman, comedian, and terrific in-house editor. Thank you, Victor, actor, athlete, author, activist, husband, friend, and love of my life. You are the big man.
Searchable Terms
Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.
A&B Tanning Company, 261
Abdallah, 29–30
abolitionism, 50, 51, 56–57, 66, 88, 160
African-American Episcopal
Church, 84
African-Americans:
authentic music and art of, 20, 103, 214, 220, 225–27
belief in intellectual inferiority of, 223s
discrimination and violence against, 20, 21, 46, 84, 99, 103–4, 151, 177–78, 204–5, 268
education and literacy of, 49–50, 81, 84, 103–4, 174, 182, 203–4, 223
stereotypes of, 20, 215, 225, 226
voting of, 46, 51, 81
see also slaves
Agassiz, Louis, 88, 154
Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes (A&M), 103, 104, 174
Ahemid, Sheik, 15, 23–24
Albert & Albert, 194
Aldridge, Ira, 226, 243
Alhambra Pet and Horse Fair, 213
Allen-F-1, 191
All the Pretty Horses (McCarthy), ix
American Humane Association (AHA), 158–59, 160, 168, 171, 177, 197, 236–37, 242–43, 250, 252
American Humane Education Society (AHES), 4, 159, 161, 162, 171, 197, 198, 199, 238, 250–54
American Humane Society (AHS), 158
American Institute Fair, 47, 87–88, 128, 132
American Museum, 87, 88–89, 154
American Parent Band of Mercy, 251
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), 47, 87–88, 92, 120, 121, 128, 152–54, 157–58, 159, 160, 164
Andrews, James J., 75
Angell, Aliza Martin, 160
Angell, George Thorndike, 158–62, 165, 167–68, 171, 177, 196–200, 202–3, 210, 238, 251–52, 253–54, 271
Angell Memorial Animal Hospital, 253
Angell Penny Fund, 252
animal acts, 88–89, 168, 172, 217, 220–24
animal rights movement, xiii, xiv, xv, 64, 155
see also humane movement; specific organizations
Anthology of the Afro-American in the Theatre (Patterson, ed.), 214
Appleton, Emily W., 160
Appleton, Nathan, 160
Atlanta, Ga., 179–81
Atlanta Compromise, 103
Atlanta Constitution, 180–81
Atlanta Humane Society, 180
Atlanta Journal, 167
Atlantic City, N.J., 172, 174–75, 194
Bambi, 216
Bands of Mercy, 171, 198–99, 202
Barnum, P. T., 3, 17, 23, 24, 87–89, 113, 154, 207, 217, 225
Barnum & Bailey, 145
Beautiful Jim Key: apparent intelligence of, xiv, xv, 15, 40–41, 43–47, 59–64, 93–96, 99, 11
3–16, 131, 149, 156, 180–81
Arabian-Hambletonian bloodlines of, 1, 7, 18, 21, 22–26, 29–33, 36, 42, 113, 132, 136, 146, 149, 156, 175, 190, 201, 218, 221
card and coin tricks of, 95, 114, 139, 169, 188–89
communication of WK and, 38–43, 45–47, 60–63, 85–86, 156, 169–70, 175
death of, 258–60
diet of, 42, 119, 192–93
early frailty and awkwardness of, 9, 35–42, 62, 86
1889 birth of, 6, 11, 18, 34–35, 40, 62
endorsements and testimonials of, 131, 140–41, 157, 162, 170–72, 191, 193, 201, 212
entourage of, 6, 142–43, 147–48, 172, 174–76, 189–90, 224, 228, 247
gravesite and memorial of, 260, 262, 263, 268–69
illnesses and injuries of, 178–80, 244, 249, 257–59
international fame of, xiii–xiv, 167
Key household as early home of, 42–43
lameness feigned by, 94, 139
life span of, xiii, 258
linguistic abilities of, 44–47, 60–64, 114–15, 201
mathematical abilities of, xv, 85, 114, 139–40, 163, 224, 234
mimicking of humans by, 63–64, 94
naming of, xiv, 34, 35–36, 122
offers for purchase of, 93–95, 119, 144–45, 172, 220
offspring of, 255
parentage of, 16, 21, 22–26, 32–33, 113, 146, 190
participation in exhibitions and shows by, xiii–xiv, 1, 4–10, 16, 42, 60–63, 87–88, 93–99, 112–18, 121–22, 131–50, 156–58, 162–72, 176–203, 206–13, 231–34