Were you aware that DeKalb County, Tennessee once was the home and training grounds of the fastest racehorse in the world?
Didn’t think so.
Nor did I until research proved otherwise.
The infamous quarter horse made his pre-destined racing appearances during the mid-late 1800’s under the auspices of his owner, Colonel William B. Stokes of Alexandria. During this time, Tennessee was filled with sporadic racing courses and locations placed throughout the Volunteer state.
His name was Arial. In a few older writings, it has been correctly/incorrectly written that he was the fastest horse in “The United States.” In the interim of a manganous amount of research, the name “Ariel” means “Lion of God” in the English dictionaries, which also verified that this quarter horse was the fastest racehorse in the “world.”
Ariel lived and trained in Temperance Hall in DeKalb County, Tennessee and much like this recent time of year, he, too, was “Snow White.” And much like the current escalating swift and circling winds, he, too, raced “like lightning.”
His longevity, along with his unbelievable racing venues, occurred between 1845-1860, which were the pre-Civil War years, dating from 1861 to 1865. Unmistakably, Ariel just happened to live, work, and train in the lush fields in the Temperance Hall unincorporated community in DeKalb County, Tennessee. His celebrity benefactor, the late Mrs. Ocie Carter who would announce in her weekly “Temperance Hall Tidings” column for this newspaper that according to her research, Ariel continued winning every race he entered. The quarter horse also had several races against Andrew Jackson’s favorite horse, Thruxton, who was a huge stallion. It is written that Ariel gave Thruxton a “run for the money” on several racing occasions. As this occurred during the early 1800’s, there is no verbatim record nor teletype photographs of their races, nor of most anything relative to either horse. However, many races between the two were held consecutively at the Hermitage race course in Donelson, Tennessee. The President was infatuated with horses and horse racing throughout his long, yet dual-filled, life.
Interestingly, in the early 19th century, horse racing was the leading sport in the country. Tennessee alone had 10 established tracts by 1839. Relating to Jackson, “As for Thruxton, it was said that he accompanied Jackson to the White House in 1828.” Because his wife, Rachel, had died prematurely, Jackson was somewhat alone during this transformation. Rachel’s niece, Emily Donelson, served as First Lady during his presidential term.
As an identifying precursor, William Brickley Stokes was a General in the United States Army and a Republican member of Congress. He fought with the Federal Army during the Civil War. Subsequently, Stokes was elected Colonel of the Fifth Tennessee Cavalry (where most men in our county, including my great-grandfather Levi Foutch and two of his children, were commissioned). Stokes’ regiment was garrisoned at Sparta, TN. He was brevetted brigadier and major general (appointed by Pres. Andrew Johnson) before accepting an honorable discharge on May 19,1865. He practiced law in Alexandria, TN until his death on May 4, 1897. Stokes is buried in East View Cemetery on top of the hill in Alexandria. Many of my Foutch family ancestors also are buried in this cemetery. Stokes left to cherish his memory his widow Paralee A. Overall, the daughter of Abraham and Hannah Leath Overall. They had nine (9) children: Melissa Jane Stokes; Hannah Leath Calhoun; Harriet A. Brian; Parilee Frances Stokes; William Jordan; Sarah E. Sylvanus; Nora Stokes; and Charlie Stokes. The elder Stokes died when his team of horses bolted and ran away. Written in www.ncpedia.org ,“He became a DeKalb County planter (nurseryman) and breeder of (warm) blooded horses. Ariel, his great stakes racer, won frequently and was a serious rival of Andrew Jackson’s horse Thruxton.
From “The History of DeKalb County, Tennessee” by pioneer frontiersman and local historical author William Thomas (W.T.) Hale, published in 1917, “The most noted animal in the country was Ariel, a quarter horse. The owner was Colonel William B. Stokes. It was told that he won so many racings stakes that few people would wager against him. The above adjectives seem to describe another racehorse a few years later. His name was Seabiscuit and he “came from nowhere” to win hundreds of equine races throughout the country.
“Whereupon Ariel’s owner (Stokes) painted him a different color (red) and won other races, but the paint gradually took off his hair and it began falling out. Of course, this was apocryphal (circulated as being true). Stokes’ daughter, Mrs. Leath Calhoun, told the writer (Hale) that Ariel’s leg was broken and that her father (Stokes) gave him to his brother-in-law, Horace Overall, then a lad (child). Horace and the little slaves put some sort of juice or homemade liniment on the affected limb,” Hale wrote many years ago. “As it did some good, boy like, they decided to anoint him all over, thinking a greater improvement would result. This denuded (stripped of coloring) him of a once glossy coat.” Continuing, Hale said, “In a conversation with the writer (Hale) in 1899, Mr. Leander Hayes said: I recall having passed Colonel Overton’s (house) one day and saw the animal (Ariel) standing in the lot by the road. All the hair had slipped from him except that on his belly and the ends of his ears! He was a woeful (horrible) sight.” How sad and Gregoric for the equine community.
“What became of Ariel?” wrote Hale. “The next (time) he was heard of was through Oliver Taylor’s
‘History of Sullivan County, East Tennessee,’ which is only available by online purchase. Taylor says in one place: Sullivan County wheat took first prize over the world at the Vienna Exposition in 1872, and the bones of the swiftest horse of the racing days between 1845 and 1860 moldered (decayed) on a field on the old Fain farm, east of Blountville (Sullivan County), Tennessee.” The noun “wheat” could be representative of a racing horse as Hale did not identify.
In continuation, Hale wrote, “When General Stokes and DeWitt Senter were opposing each other for Governor of Tennessee (in 1869), they engaged in a discussion at Blountville (TN). Stokes lost the gubernatorial race to Senter and the former was the owner of Ariel, the famous race horse. He appealed to the horse breeding group and to the agricultural spirit of his countrymen, ‘The bones of Ariel,’ he said, “are moldering (decaying) in Sullivan County soil.’ Replying to this, Senter said, ‘I grant you it is a great honor to have the resting place of the fastest horse of the time. But, gentlemen, the bones of an ancestor of mine, who fought in the battle of King’s Mountain, are sleeping in Sullivan (County); and what are the bones of the fastest horse in the world compared with the sacred dust of a man who fought for your liberties?”
A concluding synopsis might have been, “It is possible that Ariel, after recovering from the broken leg, was bought and then carried to East Tennessee for breeding purposes. Dr. T. J. Jackson of Liberty, Tennessee said that he once read a description of Ariel in a pamphlet form and his natural color was described as ‘snow white.”’
A brief summation from www.wikipedia.com reads, “Temperance Hall was known for being home to many race horses, some of which were nationally known. One quarter horse named ‘Ariel,’ owned by Colonel Stokes, who won so many races that he was banned from most tracks. However, Stokes painted Ariel a different color and he won more races until the paint began to flake-off the horse’s white exterior.”
As the late DeKalb County historian Thomas G. Webb wrote around 1986, “While horses were not the most plentiful, they were the most valuable.” And, lest we forget, they, too, had hard evasive, tormented and tortured lives during most geographical periods, especially during the earlier centuries.
The following poem is dedicated to all of the “Ariels” and “Seabiscuits” in today’s world, past and present. It is entitled “Horses in the Snow” and the author was Ivy Schez:
“Their manes are a wintry white
Frosted with the glittering snow
Their backs are dappled light
And shimmer with a frozen glow
Dark browns and golden tones
Contrast with the wonderland
From dark grays to deep roans
The muted colors of the land
Their manes and backs are white
Frosted with the falling snow
The horses dance through the light
Of the shining, shimmering snow.”
And, little did we know that a small, alopecia’s “snow white” quarter horse would change so many lives while nonchalantly chewing the overabundance of DeKalb County grasses, hays, oats, apples and carrots.
