Descripción
[2]pp. on a folded folio sheet. Old folds, a few ink smudges. Very good. An original manuscript agreement setting the terms of a horse race in Texas in 1851. The document is signed by the principal parties to the contest, Byrd Smith and Richard Parr, both of Gonzales, Texas, as well as witnesses C.C. DeWitt and A.S. Miller. The agreement, totaling approximately 375 words, reads in part: "Article [sic] of agreement between Byrd Smith.& Richard Parr.we the above named parties agree to run a Race six weeks from this date, said race to be run between A.S. Miller's & John G. King's on the old tracks, the distance of eight hundred yards.the said Byrd Smith to run a certain Bay horse called by the name of Boy Jim.the above named Parr is to run a certain sorrell [sic] mare called Lucy Red Fox.for the sum of one thousand Dollars.the above race to be run between the hours of 12 & 4 o'clock." Each of the horses is identified in the agreement by physical marks, and with brands written as symbols. Additionally, there is a description of the filly, whose "left hind foot is white a little above the hoof [with] a white strike in the said hoof and a few white hairs in her face." The weight each horse is to carry is stipulated, and each horse owner was required to post a $500 bond at the time of signing, to be held by one William A. Matthews, in case of forfeiture. The six names mentioned in connection to this race all had solid backgrounds in antebellum Gonzales County, Texas. C.C. DeWitt, A.S. Miller, and William A. Mathews are all listed as stockholders in "An Act to Establish & Incorporate Gonzales County College." John G. King, Sr., a grant holder in Gonzales County, died there in 1856. Byrd Smith was a private in an 1841 Gonzales County militia company. Finally, Richard Parr was killed in Gonzales County in 1855 - over a land squabble, not a horse racing debt. Antebellum Texas documents on sports of any kind are exceedingly rare. Material relating to horse racing is especially hard to find, considering the state did not officially sanction the sport until well into the 20th century, after pari-mutuel betting was approved in 1925. N° de ref. del artículo WRCAM55569
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