Our reasons for stating his age as we have are these: Mr. George Sherman, son of James Sherman, informs us that he has now been married forty-five years, and that in the summer after he was married, his father let him take the horse, then a colt, to keep and use. Mr. Sherman's wife also well recollects the above facts, but neither of them can say positively whether the colt was two or three years old, though both of them think he was three; and from the fact that Mr. Sherman used him a good deal that summer, it seems most probable that such was his age. Sherman was sired by the Justin. With regard to the blood of his dam, much has been said and a good deal written, but we think little is actually known.

Mr. George Sherman says his father brought the mare from Cranston, Rhode Island, to Lyndon, Vermont; that she was a chestnut of good size, high spirited, and an "elegant" animal; "we called her of Spanish breed."

The late Hon. Epaphras Seymour, of Brattleboro, VT, a gentleman of fortune and high standing, and passionately fond of horses, spent much time in endeavoring to ascertain the pedigree and early history of the Justin Morgan and his descendants. Among the memorandums left by him, now in possession of the Hon. F. Holbrook, which the latter gentleman has kindly permitted us to examine, we find the following: "Matthew Allen, of Guildhall, now seventy years old or over, informs me that James Sherman and himself came from Rhode Island to St. Johnsbury in 1799; before they left, Mr. John Brown, of Providence, gave Mr. Sherman an imported English mare, of great beauty, a fine saddle-mare, and so used by his daughters (she was then spavined); she was a mahogany brown, 15 1-2 hands high, delicate make." Mr. Allen goes on to state that this mare was the dam of the Sherman.

Mr. S. C. Gibbs of Littleton, New Hampshire, who purchased the horse of Mr. James Sherman, gives the following account of the dam: "She was bought at the South (I think in Virginia) by Mr. John Sherman of Providence, Rhode Island, who had friends in that State. He purchased her for her beauty and speed. Soon after he returned with her, she unfortunately slipped her hip. He then gave her to his brother James of Lyndon."

It has also been said that the dam was long owned by Nicholas Brown of Providence, Rhode Island, one of the well-known firm of Brown & Ives, formerly a large importing house. Mr. George Sherman says his father bought the mare of Doctor Fiske of Cranston, Rhode Island. It is of little consequence which of these accounts is correct, as none of them undertake to give her pedigree. If either had made an attempt to do this, the question would have possessed more interest and some importance. It certainly concerns us little to know in what manner, or from whom, Mr. Sherman obtained her if we cannot go beyond that and learn something of her pedigree. We are inclined to think the statement of Mr. Sherman entitled to the most credit because we think his means of knowing the facts of which he speaks were much superior to the others. His father used the horse several years, valued him highly, and was often interrogated as to the dam. George must have often heard his father describe the circumstances under which he obtained her; they must have been well known in the family, and the constantly increasing fame of the horse would keep alive in its members the recollection of them as related by James Sherman. Mr. George Sherman is a man whose character for the most unwavering honesty has been long and thoroughly established where he is known.

Whoever may have bred the mare, and whether of Spanish or English descent, it is certain she was a fine animal. She was chestnut, with three white feet and a white stripe in the face. Her head was good, ears small, neck light and rather long; not very compactly formed and never "carried much flesh." She carried her head high, was a spirited traveller, and an excellent saddle beast. She was very pleasant tempered and worked kindly in all places.

"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 half way 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-bone 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 Danvi!le, 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, NH. The summer of 1829 he was kept at Littleton, NH 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, Charlstown, MA; in 1832 he was at Dover, and Durham, NH; in 1833 he was kept at Lancaster, NH 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, NH.

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.