Description of Sherman Morgan

Sherman " was a bright chestnut, about thirteen and three-quarters hands high, and weighed nine hundred and twenty-five pounds. His off hind-leg was white from the foot halfway to the hock, and he had a small white stripe in the face; his head was lean and well shaped, ears small and fine, eyes inclined to be small, but full, prominent and lively; his legs had some long hairs upon the back-side, but were broad, flat and sinewy. He had a capital chest, with the breast-bono very prominent; the shoulders were large and well placed, the neck excellent, the mane and tail full, but not remarkably heavy. His hips were long and deep, the loins broad and muscular, but he was a little hollow or "sway-backed;" still, no suspicion of a weak back could attach to him, or he would have broken down under the rough treatment he received in early life. When four years old, Mr. Sherman put him to hard work, and though for about two months in the spring of each year he worked but little, yet the remainder of the year his labor was very severe. Mr. Sherman was a hard working man, and animals under his charge had few opportunities to rest. Most of the year the horse was kept constantly at work on the farm, much of which he helped to "clear up." In the winter, Mr. Sherman usually ran a team steadily from Lyndon, Vermont, to Portland, Maine. For several years, this team consisted of this horse, and a half brother, sired by the Justin Morgan, a year older and a little larger than Sherman.

Mr. Sherman was not a man to be outdone at drawing or driving, and he was always ready to match his team against any he met, either to draw or run, for a trifling wager. His " little team " became famous at every inn from Lyndon to Portland, and after a time the teamsters that knew them were afraid to match horses of any size against them. In the spring, when the sleighing became poor, the men who had been companions through the winter in the severe labor of teaming across the country, would often congregate at the village taverns, to spin yarns of their simple but rough adventures, engage in wrestling, running foot and horse races, drawing matches, and many games invented to test the speed or strength of either men or horses. In addition to these attractions, the prospect of a social glass of " Old Santa Cruz," may have had some influence in drawing together the people collected on these occasions, for it was at that time considered a pleasant beverage, and it was not generally known to be a subtle poison. Certain it is that these games were well attended, and were conducted with much spirit. Drawing matches were at that time very common. At Lyndon, the usual way of drawing was to attach a horse to a sled, fill it with men, and draw the load up a steep hill just north of the tavern. "When each his utmost strength had shown,'' Sherman would add a small boy to the largest load and commence the ascent, well satisfied if he could gain two or three feet at a pull, for nothing discouraged his horse, and it was difficult to load him so that he could not move a little. These facts are perfectly well known to many persons now living at Lyndon, and we mention them, not from any intrinsic interest they may possess, but having said that Sherman was slightly hollow-backed, we thought it necessary to show, that if so, his back was by no means weak.

Such was the kind of service to which Mr. Sherman put his horse from the time he was four years old until he was about ten, when he sold him to Stephen C. Gibbs, of Littleton, New Hampshire, in 1819. Mr. Gibbs kept him one year, and sold him to John Buckminster, of Danville, Vermont, but Mr. Gibbs had charge of him two years longer. After this, he was kept at Danville and vicinity until 1829, when he was purchased of Mr. Buckminster by Mr. John Bellows, of Lancaster, N. H. The summer of 1829 he was kept at Littleton, N. H., in charge of Stephen C. Gibbs; in 1830 he was kept at Dover and vicinity; in 1831 he was at Col. Jaques' Ten Hills Farm, Charlestown, Mass.; in 1832 he was at Dover, and Durham, N. H.; in 1833 he was kept at Lancaster, N. II.; and in 1834, at Dover and vicinity. He died at Mr. Bellows' stable, in Lancaster, the 9th of January, 1835. The cause of his death is unknown. He was left at ten o'clock in the morning apparently perfectly well, and at one o'clock in the afternoon was found dead.

With the exception of some slight indications of age, he was apparently as free from every species of blemish or infirmity, the morning of the day he died, as when he was foaled. His skin has been preserved and stuffed, and may still be seen at the stable of Mr. George Bellows, at Lancaster, N. H.

Sherman had not so bold and resolute a style of action, and was not so nervous and high tempered as Woodbury; nor was he, in the language of the stable. so well " finished up;" but he was more tractable, was exceedingly spirited, and a keen, rapid driver—possessed great powers of endurance, a free and noble spirit that needed neither whip nor spur, and courage that never flagged.

Ref: Morgan Horses by D.C. Linsley 1857