Wiley Senior

Well folks ~ I had a yearning to write a bit about my grandfather. My father was so much like him and so proud of him that his memory is huge in my mind. My grandfather was born in Madison County Tennessee in 1901. He was a "Southern Gentleman" through and through and he taught my father to live up to that expectation. My father followed in his fathers footsteps and I will always be very proud of them both. I still have a hat my dad just had to have that says ~ American by birth ~ Southern by Choice.

In 1909 my great grandfather, James Parker Lacy, was killed in a tornado. My grandfather was only 8 years old at the time. Four years later, when my grandfather was 12, my great grandmother remarried. My grandfathers stepfather was not a kind man.

My grandfather had inherited a horse from his father and on returning from school one day found his horse in the field hooked to a plow and slathering in sweat. He unhooked his horse and took it to the barn to cool down. While my grandfather was in the process of brushing down his horse his stepfather found
him and beat him within an inch of his life. At the age of 12 mind you!

The Lacy men had raised and raced horses for years. I had no idea that the horses they raised were so valuable until I ran across an estate sale from 1870 when one of their horses sold for around $360. In 1870 that must have been one special horse to sell for that much! The horse that my grandfather rescued from the plow was not a work horse and it upset him so much that he felt he had no choice but to do what he did. After the beating my grandfather felt he also had no other choice than to leave home. Can any of us imagine being on our own at that age?

My father told me a story about a horse named Ten Broeck that was connected to his family in some way. One of the very first blue grass songs was written about Ten Broeck and Molly ( a horse from Ireland ) and we heard the song on Hee Haw one time. Come to find out Tenbrook was in the very first Kentucky Derby ~ and the oldest known monument to a Thoroughbred horse marks his grave. This is a link to the story and the lyrics to the song.....
Link to Story You might have to copy and paste to get there.

So here is the actual link

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2IuJwJfLrTMJ:wwbnews.worldwidebluegrass.com/article22.html+tenbroeck+%2B+molly+%2B+song&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

My grandfather eventually ended up on a ranch in Wyoming where this picture was taken. Here is to the Lacy men and their great heritage ~ Luv Ya Cheryl