Orange County

The ancestry of the American trotting horse goes back for several centuries and is chiefly confined to the early racing records in England, coupled with local tradition. Some two or three centuries ago the trotting horse was a great favorite in and about Norfolk and Yorkshire, England, and trotting races were frequent occurrences in that locality. Several authorities state, and the fact is partially borne out by early records that a trotting mare named Phenomena, owned by a horseman of Norfolk, in 1800, trotted 17 miles in 56 minutes, carrying a weight in saddle of 225 pounds. In 1806 the

In almost every locality of the County of Orange can be found places of historic interest, where scenes were enacted that have become a part of our national history and are closely related to the founding of the National Government. Many of these spots of historic interest relate to early Colonial days, when the locality now known as Orange County was a vast uninhabited forest, peopled by Indians, from whom the early pioneers purchased their lands. Still other places relate to the revolutionary struggle for independence and are rich with the memories of scenes enacted in those heroic times. To

From the earliest times the old taverns of Orange County were important factors in each local community and around each the social and political life of the people centered. Licenses for the sale and manufacture of intoxicating liquors date from the earliest recording period. Local travel in early times required a greater number of taverns than later periods, or since the introduction of railroads. It was in these hostelries that the people gathered at their political conventions and elected their representatives to county, state and national gatherings. To record the history of even the prominent and well-known taverns of early

Among a people inspired with those high ideals there was naturally brought forth many men and women of great intellectual force, whose public careers and achievements are matters of national historic interest. The statesmen, poets, historians and writers of the past who were natives of Orange County, or who have spent their lives here and achieved a world-wide reputation, are no inconsiderable number. In passing it might be timely to state that under Colonial rule one of her native sons was Governor another Colonial President one term and Lieut. Governor five terms; four have filled the office of Governor of

All Quiet Along The Potomac “All quiet along the Potomac,” they say, Except now and then a stray picket is shot as he walks on his beat, to and fro, By a rifleman hid in the thicket. ‘Tis nothing: a private or two, now and then, Will not count in the news of the battle; Not an officer lost, only one of the men, Moaning out, all alone, the death rattle. All quiet along the Potomac tonight, Where the soldiers lie peacefully dreaming; Their tents in the rays of the clear Autumn moon, Or the light of the watch fires,

The Belfry Pigeon On the crossbeam under the Old South bell The nest of a pigeon is built well, In summer and winter that bird is there, Out and in with the morning air; I love to see him track the street, With his wary eye and active feet; And I often watch him as he springs Circling the steeple with easy wings, Till across the dial his shade has passed, And the belfry edge is gained at last; ‘T is a bird I love, with its brooding note, And the trembling throb in its mottled throat; There’s a human