Elisha Warfield Jr. (February 5, 1781 – May 15, 1859) was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse owner and

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, ...

whom ''

Thoroughbred Heritage The National Sporting Library & Museum or NSLM (formerly the National Sporting Library) is a research library and art museum in Middleburg, Virginia in the United States. History The National Sporting Library was founded in 1954 in the personal ...

'' calls "one of the most important early figures in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

and

breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and ra ...

Early life and education

Born in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, Elisha Jr. moved with his family to

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

when he was nine years old. He was tutored privately and obtained a degree in medicine from

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

. On January 15, 1805, he married Maria Barr, with whom he had ten children. Their daughter Mary Jane Warfield married Cassius Marcellus Clay, who became a prominent politician and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

in Kentucky. Warfield became a very successful medical practitioner in Lexington. He was selected as the first Professor of Surgery and Obstetrics at the newly established

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

. Active in community development, in 1830 Elisha Warfield was a founding shareholder of the Lexington & Ohio Railway Company. In 1834 it connected Lexington to the state capital of

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the prin ...

Thoroughbred horses

Around the time of his marriage, Elisha Warfield began racing and breeding Thoroughbred horses. In 1809 he was one of the founding members of the Lexington Jockey Club, consisting of owners of the racehorses and breeding farms. In 1821 Warfield decided to devote his energies to breeding, training and racing Thoroughbreds full-time. In 1826, he was one of the founders of the

Kentucky Association The Kentucky Association (also known as the Kentucky Racing Association E. Polk Johnson, ''A Hist ...

, which built a horse racetrack on land adjacent to his stud farm. Known as The Meadows, Warfield's stud farm was located on Winchester Pike on the Northeast side of Lexington. It was where he bred Lexington, a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame Thoroughbred stallion. Foaled at The Meadows on March 29, 1850, and originally named Darley, the colt was very successful on the racetrack, winning six of his seven starts. As a breeding

stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

, he is considered one of the greatest in United States history. Between 1861 and 1878, Lexington was ranked as the leading sire in North America a record sixteen times, of which fourteen were consecutive years. As of 2008, Lexington's record remains intact. Warfield and his brother Benjamin, an attorney, were members of the group that founded

Lexington Cemetery Lexington Cemetery is a private, non-profit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 833 W. Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky. The Lexington Cemetery was established in 1848 as a place of beauty and a public cemetery, in part to deal ...

in 1849. Elisha Warfield was buried here following his 1859 death at his Lexington home. The Meadows stud farm was eventually sold, with portions of the property parceled off. Prominent Kentucky horseman

Daniel Swigert Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

owned the stud for a time before selling it in August 1888. Increased population in the city put pressure on surrounding real estate. Developers acquired the property in 1945 and subdivided it for residential use as The Meadows. Warfield is portrayed in the best selling novel ''Horse'' by Geraldine Brooks, published in 2022. The book is structured upon the life of the racehorse Lexington,

References

Sources

* Ranck, George Washington. ''History of Lexington, Kentucky'' (1872) R. Clarke & Co., Cincinnati
The Warfield brothers and Lexington Cemetery history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warfield, Elisha 1781 births 1859 deaths Transylvania University alumni Physicians from Kentucky American medical academics American racehorse owners and breeders People from Lexington, Kentucky People from Anne Arundel County, Maryland Elisha