Horses
Below is a list of the names and foaling or purchase dates (if known) of Thomas Jefferson's riding horses.
| Horse Name | Foaled | Sold, Given Away, or Died | |
| Allycroker[1] |
1758 | unknown; last reference June 2, 1778[2] | |
| Gustavus[3] |
1763; purchased from Francis Willis ca. 1773[4] | given away (date unknown) | |
| Cucullin[5] |
1764 | unknown | |
| The General | 1769; purchased from Alexander Spotswood in 1775 | ||
| Crab | 1771 | ||
| Everallyn | purchased 1774 | ||
| Alfred | 1774 | ||
| Caractacus | 1775 | unknown; last reference 1790[6] | |
| Ethelinda | 1776 | ||
| Silvertail | 1773 | ||
| Orra Moor | 1778 | ||
| Peggy Waffington | 1778 | ||
| Zanga | 1778 | ||
| Odin | 1778 | ||
| Polly Peachum | 1778 | ||
| Silveret | 1780 | ||
| Assaragoa | 1779 | ||
| Raleigh | 1777 | ||
| Tarquin | purchased 1790 | ||
| Brimmer | purchased 1790 | ||
| Remus & Romulus (carriage horses) | Unknown | ||
| Matchless | purchased 1791 | ||
| Fitzpartner | purchased 1799 | ||
| Wildair | purchased 1801 | ||
| Castor | unknown | ||
| Diomede | unknown | ||
| Bremo | Spring 1806; purchased by Jefferson 1814 | ||
| Wellington | purchased 1815 | ||
| Tecumseh | purchased 1815 | ||
| Peacemaker | purchased 1819 | ||
| The Eagle | purchased 1820 |
- List compiled by Gaye Wilson, February 1999, based on Betts, Farm Book, 87-109.
Further Sources
- Campbell, Julie. The Horse in Virginia: An Illustrated History. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Press, 2010.
- Harrison, Fairfax. Early American Turf Stock, 1730-1780. Richmond, Va.: Old Dominion Press, 1934. 3 vols. Volume One (Mares) available online.
- Massachusetts Historical Society. Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book. See pp. 1-2.
- Look for sources in the Thomas Jefferson Portal
Footnotes
- 1. "Ally Croker" was a famous eighteenth-century Irish folk song.
- 2. MB, 1:465.
- 3. Most likely not named by Jefferson.
- 4. MB, 1:333.
- 5. Cú Chulainn was a hero from Irish mythology, probably familiar to Jefferson from James Macpherson's Works of Ossian (1765).
- 6. Jefferson to Charles Lilburne Lewis, February 22, 1790, in PTJ, 16:192.
Discussion
says
Here is a paper waiting to be written here! Actresses, gods, chieftains, and opera heroines were just a few sources of inspiration for the names Jefferson gave to the many horses he owned and rode during his life time. Polly Peachum, Peggy Waffington, Odin, Caractacus, and The Eagle are just a few of the evocative names that tug at the imagination. A wonderful, albeit brief, summary of Jefferson's horses can also be found in Jefferson's Farm Book.
September 22, 2010, 11:46 am
I read a passage in Randall's Jefferson on page 339 that Cornwallis's troops destroyed Jefferson's Elk Hill plantation. He states that the army carried off horses, and those not capable of service killed. Are there any records that indicate the disposition of the horses listed above?