American History: Premier Auction

Printed broadside, approx. 12 x 17.5 in., advertising the siring cost of Utilitarian, a horse "bred with an eye to the useful qualities for the road." March, 1843. With illustration of a horse being led by a rider, above a thorough description of the horse, which reads, in part: "Utilitarian is ten years old this spring, a fine bay, sixteen hands high, and while he is of the purest blood, (which is doubtless essential to every first rate horse for all work in our climate.) he has the stoutness of limbs and muscular powers of the hunter, with the agility of the racer...he paces with ease, seven miles an hour." The broadside announces that Utilitarian will stand for the summer at Bremo Plantation in Fluvanna County, Virginia, with prices listed below. Utilitarian's pedigree is also detailed, including his relation to "the imported mare Janette," whose pedigree is listed in the "English Stud Book." Broadside undersigned in print by John H. Cocke II.

John Hartwell Cocke II (1780-1866) was the son of Colonel John Hartwell Cocke, a prominent Virginia planter. The junior Cocke became a brigadier general of the Virginia militia during the War of 1812 and settled with his family along the James River in Fluvanna County. There he built the Bremo Plantation, where, like many gentlemen, he bred horses such as Utilitarian. He was also an associate of Thomas Jefferson, and helped him establish the University of Virginia along with James Madison, James Monroe, and Joseph Carrington Cabell. Recently, Cocke's diaries have become of interest due to their content about the relationship between Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemmings.