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Notable Horses From The Past
Boone's Grey John
J.D. Luna of Petersburg, TN had told the story of how about 1863 a band of northern soldiers came through Booneville. This group of soldiers had a fine mare who was heavy with foal and she could not keep up so they swapped her for a younger mare at Captain Boone's (namesame for Booneville). This mare foaled about a month later and dropped an odd bluish colored colt. Captain Boone returned home in June and saw the blue colt. Legend has it that Captain Boone told the farm help "Just let it alone and we will see what kind of horse a damned Yankee colt will make."
The colt shed out lighter in color and they named him Grey John. He developed into the walkingest, reachy saddle horse that area had seen or heard of. Booneville was about 8 miles from Fayetteville, TN and it was said Grey John could flatfoot walk the distance in an hour. He stood in Booneville until he was 23 years old.
Grey John is surrounded by several other legends of his connection with the North. Mr. Luna seemed to have knowledge that was difficult to refute. All the legends say this horse was a product of northern bloodlines. His dam and sire were not known to Captain Boone so Grey John was never named among the 114 Foundation Sires and Dams of the Tennessee Walking Horse.
Grey John's son, Buford F-11 and grandson, Bramlett F-9 were among some of the first Foundation Sires of our breed when the registry began in 1935. Mares came from far away to be bred to Grey John. The travel was long and difficult but the mare owners felt it was worth the effort to get a colt from this sire. Mr. Luna owned Buford F-11 who was foaled April 11, 1886 and died at Cowan, Tennessee in Franklin County, and Bramlett F-9, who was foaled in 1965 or 1866. When Mr. Luna was 84 years old he said, "Boone's Grey John without a doubt, was the greatest Walking Horse that ever lived." The Grey John horses were said to be the best saddle horses and the ones with the most sense of any family of horses that was ever known in that region of Tennessee. Mr Luna had commented, "Horses of the Grey John family are the only horses I ever rode to any great extent, and they made a sick man feel well and a poor man feel rich. When I was on a Grey John horse, I felt like I had money in both pockets and in the bank."
Hunter's Allen F-10
Hunter's Allen was foaled in 1909 and was owned by J.N. Black of Beech Grove, Tennessee. He was the man who had also bred the famous Maude Gray. Hunter's Allen was a golden sorrel horse with a star and snip, long mane that was always wavy in appearance. His long tail touched the ground.
Hunter's Allen's influence on the Walking Horse breed became buried in the female line of registration papers. He was sired by Allan F-1 and his dam was Allis, by Pat. Allis was owned by Dr. J.E. Childress who lived in Coffee County. Dr. Childress used Allis to make the rounds of his medical practice in that county. Many of the homes he serviced were inaccessible except by horseback. Allis was unusually tall at 16 hands, and was described as being "well made, strong and good looking."
Hunter's Allen had several names, and the first of these was Little Allen. He was used as a buggy horse when he was old enough to work. He was driven alongside a pony and used to deliver groceries. he was sold in 1917 to the Hunter family who renamed him Hunter's Allen. He remained the Hunter's horse until he died in 1932.
Hunter's Allen began his show career with county fairs in Middle Tennessee. He was shown in 1912 at the Tennessee State Fair and won first place. The following year, he returned to the State Fair again and won first place, defeating Roan Allen. A lot of old-timers spent time debating which of these two horses was the better horse but there was one aspect of them that proves interesting down to this day: At the time these two horses were alive, crooked or "sickle hocks", a trait that is often seen in modern day Walking Horses, were frowned upon. Hunter's Allen was believed to be the better horse for the simple reason that he did not have crooked legs.
Wilson's Allen #350075
Wilson's Allen was foaled in 1914 on Bud Messick's farm in Coffee County, Tennessee. There was quite a buzz created among breeders when Roan Allen F-38 was mated to his own half-sister, Birdie Messick F-86 to produce Wilson's Allen. It was said to be the first act of linebreeding done on purpose. Johnson Hill had arranged to have Bud's mare bred to Roan Allen in hopes of producing a stud colt, which he had contracted to buy for two hundred dollars. The resulting foal was a chestnut foal, named Wilson's Allen.
When the colt was five months old, it was brought to the farm of Johnson Hill and as was the custom at that time, it was named for the owner, so this colt was called the Johnson Hill Horse. His gaits were exceptional and disposition the best. Steve Hill had said the colt could really walk, "he'd walk and shake his head and slobber."
The horse was used as a farm horse pulling a heavy hillside plow. Mr. Hill died in 1922 and the following spring the stallion was offered for sale. He was purchased by Bibb Kirby of Bedford County, TN and by this time he had lost an eye in an accident and came to be known as the "one-eyed Kirby horse." Kirby believed the horse would develop into a great sire. He rode him everywhere and used him to round up cattle near Petersburg. The round trip was nearly 30 miles. Kirby offered the horse at stud for ten dollars with a live foal guarantee. He had few takers and was offered for sale in 1928 but not before he left behin two outstanding colts, Haynes Peacock and Slippery Allen.
Mr. Frank Wilson bought the horse and immediately offered him at public stud. The easy gaits of the foals attracted attention from many southern states. Pride of Memphis was born in 1932, one of Wilson's Allen's foals, and in a few years he established his sire in the show horse world. Most of the successful show horses sired by Wilson's Allen were chestnut in color and inherited their sire's muscular build and proud carriage. Frank Wilson had commented that Wilson's Allen was one of the most gentle horses and easiest stallions to handle he had ever seen. "I never saw a better natured horse," he declared, "I used Wilson's Allen all the time; if I didn't have a bridle handy I'd use a halter and ride him bareback. I rode him to get the mail, in the field, driving cattle....in fact, for a long time he was the only horse on the farm, and I rode him everywhere. He had a walk better than any horse I'd ever ridden."
The old horse died in 1939, having sired many great horses. On the video, "A Look Into The Past", Dr. Bob Womack commented that if horses such as Haynes Peacock and Strolling Jim had been left stallions, think of what the breed would be like today.
One of the Wilson's Allen sons is Sir MauGray. Billy Taylor said Auburn Gray had sold twenty thousand dollars worth of foals from Maude Gray, dam of Sir MauGray, back in the 30's and 40's and that was big money back then. He said Sir MauGray was sold in the 30's for eighteen hundred dollars.
Dr. Bob Womack, in Echo of Hoofbeats, published by Dabora, Inc, Shelbyville, TN, says, "When the great of the Walking Horse breed are listed, Wilson's Allen will find a place reserved for himself at the top. Judged in terms of the time in which he lived, the degree of the promotion he received, the undeveloped status of the industry during his lifetime, and his impact on the breed no Walking Horse, with the possible exception of his son Midnight Sun, has approached the significance of this great stallion. Forty years after his death, Wilson's Allen dominates the male line of the breed, and shoul dhis blood be taken from the Walking Horse, that animal would be a pale imitation of what it is now."
We acknowledge the following sources for some of the text on this page: "The Biography of the Tennessee Walking Horse" by Ben Green, published by Four Craftsman Publishers; "The Echo of Hoofbeats" by Bob Womack; and The Tennessee Walking Horse, 1951. This book is a great resource and can be ordered from Four Craftsmen Publishing at www.fourcraftsmen.com
Below are more photos of notable horses from the past:
Society Man #400554
Society Man was by Wilson's Allen. His dam was Virginia Joyce, by Red Eagle F-61. Virginia Joyce is one of the few horses who do not descend from the Allen bloodlines.
 
Black Angel #391118 Brantley's Roan Allen, Jr. #350066
 
Hall Allen #350180 Blue Namron#431226
Hall Allen was sired by Roan Allen F-38. His dam was Ella II #450340 by Hunter's Allen F-10
Blue Namron was by Merry Boy. His dam was a mare named Mary Alice by Giovanni, who was one of the few non-Allen bred Walking Horses
Maude Gray #370077
 
Top Wilson #400585 Wilson's Merry Boy GG #453571
Top Wilson was a dapple grey stallion by Wilson's Allen. His dam was Sadie Starnes, by Doc, by Frank Bullet, by Old Bullet. His second dam was Princess Huddleston by Vaughn's Brown Hal, by Brown Hal.
Wilson's Merry Boy GG was foaled in June 1945 by Merry Boy. His dam was Wilson's Allen's Mello Gold, a full sister to Miller's Wilson Allen, pictured below.
Miller's Wilson Allen
 
Brown Allen # 350157 Giovanni #370291
Brown Allen's foals were in great demand at the time he was living. He was by Hunter's Allen F-10.
Mark of Merry Boy #570484
This stallion was sired by Merry Boy, out of Lady Prom. He was the sire of Mark's Crackerjack, a very popular Middle Tennessee stallion. This breeding is found in the stock of several of our Heritage farms
Midnight Sun #410751
Midnight Sun is probably the most famous of Wilson's Allen's sons. His dam was Ramsey's Rena
 
Roan Allen F-38 Merry Wilson #391278
 
Rhoda Allen #400931 Sir Maugray #370358
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