He knew that telling them, Mr. Williams had given it to him, would be hard for them to believe. It would be more believable if he had made up any kind of story. However, he had already blurted out he had gotten the money from Mr. Williams, so he knew the truth is his only option. He had to chuckle at himself for even consider lying. He didn’t have to lie, what a strange feeling for him. “Mr. Charles Williams gave it to me as an advance for working for him.”
The deputy laughed as he tugged at Gilbert’s arm. “Come on, trying to be funny isn’t going to help you.”
The deputy escorted Gilbert through the streets and to the jail. It was ironic to Gilbert that just a few hours ago, he was riding through the streets in a fine carriage and now he was being dragged through the streets as a criminal. There were several people watching him being escorted. Some had satisfied approval looks on their faces, while others were sympathetic. Some people he knew, and some he did not.
The deputy squeezed his arm harder as he said, “I will have to put you in one of the cells until the sheriff gets here.” He was dragged into the jail and set down on a chair. “What is your name?” The deputy asked, even though he knew his name.
Gilbert answered in a firm proud manner, “Gilbert Fenny.”
There was a voice from one of the cells, “What the hell.” It was a voice Gilbert recognized. “So you had to resort to stealing. I thought I brought you up better than that.”
“Quiet, Albert.” The deputy told him. His father was laying on his cot, but got up to take a look at Gilbert. He stood by his cells’ bars, “You get what you deserve, boy. See how you like it.”
“Shut up!” Yelled the deputy. The deputy took a kinder approach to Gilbert.
Gilbert didn’t look at, or speak to his father when placed in the cell next to him. His father muttered nasty things to Gilbert for a half hour. When the sheriff came in he spoke to the deputy before approaching the cells.
“Where did you get the money Gilbert?” The Sheriff asked kindly.
Gilbert said without emotion, “I got it from Mr. Williams.”
“Really,” the sheriff said. He remembered earlier in the day that Gilbert had been with Mr. Williams. “I’ll check with him.” He turned back to the deputy. “I’ll go talk to Williams and be back soon.” He sternly said, “Get him out of the cell.”
Gilbert was sitting in a chair behind a desk when the sheriff and Mr. Williams came in. Mr. Williams spoke abruptly. “I’m sorry Gilbert, I should have informed the sheriff before I let you go back to town.”
Gilbert looked to the deputy, “Can I have my ten dollars back, please.”
The deputy looked around at the sheriff and Mr. Williams, “Oh, sure.” He dug into his pocket and gave it to Gilbert.
Gilbert’s father figured out what was happening and kicked the cell bars as they started to walk out. Mr. Williams stopped to look at the sheriff attempting to get him to apologize. The sheriff raised his eyebrows, “I’m happy for you, son.”
It was too late to purchase any clothing for church. Mr. Williams asked, “Do you have anything at your home you would like to get, any clothing, or personal items?”
Gilbert thought for a moment, “I do have some clothes I could use, but nothing I could wear to church.” Gilbert quickly gathered up his stuff and threw it into the carriage.
Gilbert, Mr. Williams and Mrs. Williams went to church the next day, all wearing daily work clothes, instead of being well dressed like they usually would. Gilbert got up early on Monday morning to take care of the horses. He was able to exercise Gussie Wilkes before he went to the first day of school. He wanted to spend time after school to fix up his room. But when he got back after school, he felt obligated to exercise Lou and Gussie. The other horses had been taken by Mr. Williams and Mr. Hussey for business.
He had no school work, so he gathered up the boards and a box of square nails behind the barn, to construct a wall on one side of the last stall. He left an open area so he could see into the rest of the barn from his room.
He found two old apple crates, one for a night stand and nailed one on the wall for a shelf. He used an old feed bin as a dresser for his clothes. Mr. Hussey dropped off a pitcher and basin for water. The next day he went to the lumber yard after school and asked for more boards and nails to finish a wall in the front of the stall. Mrs. Williams had gotten a new mattress for their own bed and gave the old mattress to Gilbert to place on a make shift loft bed. It was much too large for the loft. He ran it up the side wall to use like a sitting couch. Mrs. Williams later dropped off a second hand table clock she found at a shop in town.
The next day, when Gilbert returned to the barn, his room had a wooden door instead of a old horse blanket over the entrance. When he entered his stall/room there was a wood burning stove nicely piped out through the wall in the corner. While Gilbert was caring for the horses Mr. Hussey brought a coffee pot and cast iron frying-pan for him. Gilbert set up two whiskey barrels, placed an old barn door off a barn they had torn down a few days earlier across them for a table. Add a stool to sit on and he had himself a fine desk. He had a kerosene table lantern on the desk. The first thing he did was write a long letter to Clara, telling her all about his great fortune. With the help of Mr. Williams, Gilbert was able to get Clara’s address.
He measured the window openings to order glass sashes for them. He snuck back into his old house to get a wall mounted lantern and some kitchen utensils. It was actually stealing since the bank now owned the property and it’s contents. Gilbert was too young to understand the law in this manner and felt those things still belonged to his family. He searched the house for a picture of his mother. It was a picture his father had hidden. It had a beautiful ivory frame with pink and red flowers painted on it. He found it on the floor in his father’s closet.
When he got back to the stall/room he found a prominent place for his mother’s picture on the wall above his head. He kept it close so he could reach up and grab it from the nail while lying in bed. The next day the house was sold to settle his father’s debts.
He collected food that didn’t need refrigerating. He also developed a taste for hot tea. The nights began to get colder and the stove warmed things up nicely. His space soon became a fine cozy little room.
In October he bailed enough hay to place against his walls to help keep the heat in his room. He kept an eye on the horses that might eat away at his new wall. For the next six months, through the winter, Gilbert worked the stable and paid special attention to Gussie to get her strong enough to be studded by spring. He was able to keep the stables very clean and organized.
He found time nearly every night to write to Clara. He wrote as if he were writing a diary to her. He had been sending the letters regularly each week for several months. He anxiously waited to hear back from her, but never received a letter from her. He thought at first she may have been forbidden to write to him, but he was sure she would have found a way to write back. Regardless he continued writing and sending the letters.
Gilbert did a masterful job of getting, the mare, Gussie Wilkes ready. Mr. Williams was also aware of the great job he was doing with all the horses and decided to give him a raise too twenty-five dollars a month. Gilbert felt he was being overpaid.
The following spring Mr. Williams gave Mr. Hussey the job to go to Lexington, Kentucky to breed Lou and Gussie Wilkes to the best sires they could afford. Gilbert was disappointed he could not go to Lexington, Kentucky with Mr. Hussey, but he needed to stay and care for the other horses and continue attending school.
The two men had hoped to tie into the outstanding Wilkes blood line. They preferred to have one bred to Baron Wilkes and the other to Red Wilkes. But when Mr. Hussey arrived in Kentucky, he found the most prominent Wilkes Stallions were booked solid. He also found that none of the top breeders were very anxious to breed with two mares from, ‘nowhere’, Iowa. They weren’t keen on it, e
specially when they found one was a nonstandard mare and the other one a cripple.
Patience eventually paid off when he met and came to terms with W. L Simmons. He had a breeding farm called, Ash Grove Farms, which was five miles west of Lexington. There were two stallions they were looking to fill their breeding schedule. One of the stallions was Jay Bird, who had sired a great three-year-old named Eagle Bird. Eagle Bird had a fine track record for the mile of 2:23 1/4. There was some concern that this particular family bloodline had some eyesight issues.
The other stallion being considered by Mr. Hussey was a handsome stallion named William L. He mentioned to Mr. Williams in a telegram that William L. had crooked hind legs and one hock was open to criticism. Regardless of their concerns, Mr. Williams approved of his friend’s choices.
He had arranged to have Gussie Wilkes bred to Jay Bird who was sired by George Wilkes and dammed by Lady Frank. George Wilkes was a top notch stallion who had achieved a great time for the mile trot of 2:22. He was sired by Hambletonian, who was considered to be the beginning of great trotter bloodlines in the United States. They paid $100 for the services of Jay Bird.
They had Lou bred to William L, who was not the well-known trotter Mr. Williams was looking for. But after looking over his breeding history he thought William L. would fit his needs. He was born of George Wilkes and Lady Bunker. They agreed to pay $50 for the services of William L.
They were bred successfully, and the mares remained under the care of Mr. Hussey in Kentucky. The plan was to remain in Kentucky until the mares foaled. Mr. Williams wanted them bred again soon after they foaled.
Mr. Hussey would work the mares while they were in gestation. He was told by Mr. Williams that this would help instill trotting characteristics in their foals. This was not a theory shared by other trainers of trotting horses, but Mr. Hussey jogged the horses regularly without question. Mr. Hussey did notice that Lou and Gussie exercised with more spring in their step than they had before.
On March 26, 1886, Gussie Wilkes foaled a colt that was named Allerton. Mr. Williams planned to name his horses alphabetically by year. He instructed that his new colt was to be named after, Sam Allerton, a friend he had met when he worked in Chicago.
When Mr. Williams received the telegram informing him the colt was foaled, he was so excited, he actually showed an exuberant emotion.
Five days later, March 31, 1886, Lou foaled a colt, Mr. Williams again had the name ready for the newborn. He named him Axtell after his favorite principal and teacher in school. He was just as excited about his second colt as he was for the first.
Mr. Hussey remained in Kentucky after they were foaled as planned. He was instructions to have the colts fitted with halters when they were two weeks old. He wanted them to become accustomed to being led around by the halters early.
Once the mares were successfully bred by the same sires, Mr. Hussey returned to Independence in July.
Chapter Four
The Seed of a Dynasty
Mr. Williams was a firm believer in training the colts early. He sent Gilbert to a local harness maker regularly to have halters made to match the quickly growing colts. Mr. Williams had his theory of raising trotters, these ideas were different and the fact he had never raised trotters before didn’t help their confidence in those theories. The confidence Mr. Williams’s had in himself was so strong that his theories being unorthodox never crossed his mind. He implemented them with great confidence.
Gilbert remembered being skeptical of Mr. Williams, when he predicted that Lou would perform better as a trotter when she was in foal. Mr. Hussey, said she trotted with more delight while in foal in Kentucky. Now Gilbert experienced the same vitality while in foal now. Gilbert was in Mr. Williams employ, so he went along with whatever he wanted with the same confidence as his boss.
They fed the colts liberal amounts of oats, bran, carrots, fresh green grass and dry hay. This would be a standard diet for a plow horse, not a racing horse. Mr. Williams felt a horse well-fed and exercised properly, would perform better than one on a lean diet.
They handled the young colts daily to dispel any fear the colts may have had of them. This also built a relationship of trust and routine between trainer and horse similar to a parent to a child.
Mr. Williams would often talk to Gilbert about various topics, while they worked with the colts. He would talk slow and low to make sure to be understood. His theory was to save time, effort and money, by not having to repeat himself. “You want to get to know them. You want them to get to know you and trust you, but don’t get too attached to them. Raise the colt like you would raise a child, with gentle and tough love.”
Gilbert wasn’t sure how to raise children since he was still a child himself and he couldn’t use his father as a role model. He listened to Mr. Williams, “I understand, sir.”
“You need to watch yourself, as well. He continued. “Always be willing to learn. And pay attention to their attitudes and needs.”
“I know what you mean.” He was always aware of the animal’s attitudes and needs.
“It works like that in any business,” Mr. Williams added. “When I was in Chicago, I left a sample of butter and an egg at the doors of houses. I would go back the next day to ask if they liked the samples. I learned a lot about what the woman of the house wanted. I was able to determine a more efficient production schedule. It diminished the waste in production time and materials.”
A few days later Gilbert was feeding and watering the horses, Mr. Hussey came into the stable. He spoke to Gilbert in his usual low calm voice, “Start packing things up, were moving to the bigger barn. Charlie just bought the fairgrounds from Colonel Jed Lake. He’s naming it ‘Rush Park’, after Rush Lake, Jed’s son, who is a lawyer in Kansas City. He wants to move the horses to the bigger barn as soon as possible. Gather up your personals as well.”
“He really is taking this horse thing serious isn’t he?”
“I guess,” John said unenthusiastically, “I sure hope he knows what he’s doing.” He shook his head in wonderment. “I have known him for a long time and I always thought he had good sense. This horse thing is getting to be more than a hobby to him.”
Gilbert said, “I believe they’re excellent colts. He must see the potential.”
“Yup,” John said as he smiled watching Allerton shake the flies away.
Gilbert moved his belongings to the big barn and immediately started thinking how to build another room for himself.
Gilbert enjoyed his time with the young colts, he was particularly fond of Allerton. Allerton was playful. He would sometimes come toward him, like he was going to let him pet him, then turn away and prance off gaily. He would always return soon and give Gilbert a nip of affection. Axtell would be stubborn, but cooperative in training. He showed no violent tendencies, just an occasional stubborn act.
When school was out for the summer, it was a grand time for Gilbert. He had more time to himself than he did during school. He continued to write to Clara, knowing his letters would not be answered. When school started up again, he would get up even earlier and take care of the horses before going to school. After school he took care of the horses, do his homework, then go to bed. On weekends he would help with the training routines of the two horses. He would also have time to fix things around the fairgrounds. During the cold winter months they trained whenever it was feasible.
Gilbert enjoyed the time with the horses so much he would have done it for no wages at all. He wanted to save his money in hopes that someday he could own his own livery stable and breeding farm.
The next spring they were acquiring more horses. Gussie had foaled another colt on April 17, 1887 that Mr. Williams named after his old business mentor, ‘Barnhart’. Allerton now had a full blooded little brother.
It was a bright sunny spring morning, Mr. Williams was just returning from town with Lou pulling his buggy. Inste
ad of pulling the buggy into the barn, he pulled it out front and dismounted.
“Good morning Mr. Williams,” Gilbert greeted him.
“It is a fine morning,” he replied, “so fine that I think I shall go for a ride.” Mr. Williams began to unhitch Lou. “Gilbert, could you get scalpers, shins and quarter boots on Axtell? Then bring him here, please.”
This did not surprise Gilbert, but it was exciting. “Yes, sir.”
Gilbert had applied the quarter boots and preceded to bring Axtell out of his stable. He whispered in Axtell’s ear, “You’re going to do something different today.” Axtell shook his head to get some flies off his face. Mr. Williams swung the barn doors open wide to allow Axtell and Gilbert through.
Mr. Williams instructed, “Bring him on out and hitch him to the riding buggy.”
“Yes sir,” Gilbert excitedly replied.
Mr. Williams went over to Gilbert and Axtell, “I’ll take him son.” He led the horse to the buggy and backed him up. Gilbert assisted with harnessing.
Mr. Williams led the horse and buggy around in a small circle, holding on to Axtell’s harness firmly. He walked him around the yard once again, then they entered the track and walked around the half mile track once. Axtell had grown into a handsome colt. His main coat was brown with a black tail, mane and socks. On his head was a small line of white from his ears, to just below his eyes.
Mr. Williams led Axtell off the track and spoke to the horse for a moment while he pet him on the nose. He then got on the buggy slowly, while Gilbert held on to Axtell. “I don’t want to make his first experience hitched up a bad one.”
“I think he is adapting very well, sir.” Axtell never flinched or wavered the whole time he was pulling the buggy. But he felt Axtell wasn’t comfortable hitched to the buggy.
As they lazily walked toward town, Gilbert then realized why Mr. Williams had insisted he bring Axtell and Allerton out to watch Mr. Williams hitch Lou up to the buggy several times earlier in the spring.
Allerton and Axtell Page 9