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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 | |
Allycroker1 | 1758 | unknown; last reference June 2, 17782 | |
Gustavus3 | 1763; purchased from Francis Willis ca. 17734 | given away (date unknown) | |
Cucullin5 | 1764 | unknown | |
The General | 1769; purchased from Alexander Spotswood in 1775 | ||
Crab | 1771 | ||
Everallyn | purchased 1774 | ||
Alfred | 1774 | ||
Caractacus | 1775 | unknown; last reference 17906 | |
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 |
- Compiled by Gaye Wilson, 2/99, based on Betts, Farm Book, 87-109
Further Sources
- Campbell, Julie A. The Horse in Virginia: An Illustrated History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010.
- Harrison, Fairfax. Early American Turf Stock, 1730-1830. Richmond: Old Dominion Press, 1934. 3 vols. Volume One: Mares is available online.
- Farm Book, 1774-1824, page 1, page 2, by Thomas Jefferson [electronic edition]. Thomas Jefferson Papers: An Electronic Archive. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 2003.
- Look for further sources in the Thomas Jefferson Portal.
- 1. "Ally Croker" was a famous eighteenth-century Irish folk song.
- 2. MB, 1:465. Transcription available at Founders Online.
- 3. Most likely not named by Jefferson.
- 4. MB, 1:333. Transcription available at Founders Online.
- 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. Transcription available at Founders Online.