John Edward Madden (December 28, 1856 – November 3, 1929) was a prominent

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

and

Standardbred The Standardbred is an American horse breed best known for its ability in harness racing, where members of the breed compete at either a trot or pace. Developed in North America, the Standardbred is recognized worldwide, and the breed can trace i ...

owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He owned Hamburg Place Stud in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

and bred five

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...

and

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nickname ...

winners. He was inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame posthumously in 1983. He was also inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport as a trainer, breeder and owner. He is the only person to be inducted into both the Harness and Thoroughbred Halls of Fame. He was also a businessman, who invested in corn refining.

Early life

John E. Madden was born on December 28, 1856John E. Kleber, ''The Kentucky encyclopedia'', University Press of Kentucky. 1992. pg. 601.
/ref> in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 1 ...

to Patrick and Catherine (McKee) Madden, who were Irish immigrants from

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who buil ...

. Madden's father died in 1860, which resulted in hardship for the family. Young Madden often had to rely on his wits and athleticism to survive. He worked for four years in the local

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

s as a teenager and often fought in prizefighting as a young man to earn money. Boasting an athletic build, at nearly six feet tall and weighing 180 pounds, Madden excelled in baseball, running and broad jumping. By the age of 16, he had developed an interest in trotters.

Harness racing

Adept at recognizing subtle differences in gait and performance in

s, both pacers and trotters, from his time driving and training horses, Madden soon amassed a small fortune from buying promising but unseasoned animals, at low prices, developing them into winners and selling them at a profit. By the time he was thirty, he had made $150,000 through his dealings. He said, "Better to sell and repent than keep and resent." Madden notably owned Class Leader, who set a track record at the Cleveland Grand Circuit Race in 1887, Robert McGregor and Siliko. By 1890, Madden realized that Thoroughbred racing was attracting higher purse values than harness racing, and he gradually shifted his interests. Into the 1900s, he still owned and trained a few Standardbreds.

Thoroughbred racing

Hamburg, the horse

John Madden moved to Lexington, Kentucky in 1889, where he lived at the well-known Phoenix Hotel. He applied his business and horse knowledge to Thoroughbreds, gradually building a reputation in Kentucky as an astute horseman. He purchased

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

in 1896 for $1,200 from Col. Enright of

Elmendorf Farm Elmendorf Farm is a Kentucky Thoroughbred horse farm in Fayette County, Kentucky, involved with horse racing since the 19th century. Once the North Elkhorn Farm, many owners and tenants have occupied the area, even during the American Civil War. Mo ...

and set about developing the unruly colt into an exceptional racehorse. He won the 1897

Great Eastern Handicap The Great Eastern Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race first run in 1883 at Sheepshead Bay Race Track in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. A race for two-year-old horses of either sex, it was run on dirt over a distance of 6 furlong ...

at a 135-pound handicap weight, a first for a juvenile. Hamburg won 12 of his 16 starts at age two, winning $38,595 for Madden. The owner sold the horse to

Marcus Daly Marcus Daly (December 5, 1841 – November 12, 1900) was an Irish-born American businessman known as one of the three " Copper Kings" of Butte, Montana, United States. Early life Daly emigrated from County Cavan, Ireland, to the United States ...

in 1897 for $40,001, setting a record for a two-year-old in training.

Hamburg Place

Madden used the proceeds to purchase 235 acres (which he eventually expanded to 2,000 acres) of land east of Lexington on Winchester Pike. He named his breeding farm Hamburg Place, in honor of the horse that funded the acquisition. Formerly owned by the family of Lucretia Hart, who married Henry Clay, Sr., the land was called Overton Farm. Madden made Hamburg Place the center of his breeding operations from 1897 until his death in 1929. He bred 14 champion racehorses, including five Kentucky Derby winners (

Old Rosebud Old Rosebud (March 13, 1911 – May 23, 1922) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse whose pedigree traced to the influential sire Eclipse, and through Eclipse to the founding stallion, the Darley Arabian. In the list of the top 100 U.S. thoroug ...

Sir Barton Sir Barton (April 26, 1916 – October 30, 1937) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the first winner of the American Triple Crown. Background Sir Barton was a chestnut colt bred in 1916, in Kentucky, by John E. Madden at H ...

, Paul Jones, Zev and

Flying Ebony Flying Ebony (1922–1943) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1925 Kentucky Derby. Background Flying Ebony was a dark bay or brown horse bred by John E. Madden, who had already bred four Kentucky Derby winn ...

), four Belmont Stakes winners (

The Finn The Finn (1912–1925) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that is best remembered as the winner of the 1915 Belmont Stakes. He won six other stakes races that year and was retroactively recognized as the American Champion three-year-old colt. ...

Grey Lag Grey Lag (1918–1942) was a Thoroughbred race horse born in Kentucky and bred by John E. Madden. At his Hamburg Place near Lexington, Kentucky, Maddon had a good stallion called Star Shoot which he bred to all of his mares. Out of a failed rac ...

, Zev and Joe Madden) and the first Triple Crown winner

. Madden was the leading breeder in the United States from 1917 to 1923 and 1925, mostly due to the success of Plaudit and Madden's imported

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

stallions

Star Shoot Star Shoot (1898 – November 19, 1919) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was bred in Ireland, raced in the United Kingdom and was eventually imported to the United States to become a five-time leading sire in the early 1900s. He was a white st ...

and Ogden. Madden also bred Trigger,

Princess Doreen Princess Doreen (1921–1952) was a Thoroughbred racehorse best known for being the top American female money-winner. After showing promising form as a two-year-old she improved to be the best female racehorse of her generation for the next thr ...

, King James, Emotion, Southern Maid, Flora Fina, and

Sir Martin Sir Martin (1906–1930) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was foaled in 1906 in Lexington, Kentucky at Hamburg Place, the stud farm of noted turfman and horse trainer John E. Madden. Daily Racing Form January 27, 1920./ref> Sir Martin was a h ...

Equine Cemetery

Starting in 1908, Madden began burying his most prized broodmares, stallions and trotting horses in a small horseshoe-shaped cemetery on the grounds of Hamburg Place. Madden's grandson, Preston Madden, buried a few Thoroughbreds in the cemetery during the 1970s. The cemetery is one of the oldest dedicated to racehorses in the United States.Kent Hollingsworth. ''The Wizard of the Turf: John E. Madden of Hamburg Place'' self-published. 1965. The cemetery was moved from its original location in 2005 to make way for development, but has since been reopened to allow public access. Horses buried in the cemetery include: Standardbreds: Nancy Hanks (horse)

Nancy Hanks Nancy Hanks Lincoln (February 5, 1784 – October 5, 1818) was the mother of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Her marriage to Thomas Lincoln also produced a daughter, Sarah, and a son, Thomas Jr. When Nancy and Thomas had been married for j ...

(1886–1915), set a U.S. harness racing record on September 28, 1892, by trotting a mile in 2 minutes and 4 seconds; she ran undefeated and was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame. *Silicon (1890–1913), dam of Siliko. *Major Delmar (1897–1912), a gelding. * Hamburg Belle (1902 – November 10, 1909),

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

trotting mare that set several world records in early 1900s. *Siliko (1903–1926), stallion. Thoroughbreds: *Ida Pickwick (1888–1908), granddam of

* Imp (1894–1909), 1899

Suburban Handicap The Suburban Stakes is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is now run at the mile distance on dirt for a $700,000 purse. Named after the City and ...

winner, dam of Faust * Ogden (1894–1923), imported

stallion, sire of

and Sir Martin. * Plaudit (1895–1919), 1898

winner, sire of King James, among others. *

(1898–1919), imported Irish stallion that was a five-time leading sire in the U.S. *Lady Sterling (1899–1920), dam of Sir Martin and

*Miss Kearney (1906–1925), dam of Zev *

(1906–1930), Thoroughbred stallion. *Princess Mary (1917–1926), dam of

*Springtime (d. 1930s), a polo pony * T.V. Lark (1957–1975), leading U.S. sire in 1974. *Pink Pigeon (1964–1976), a broodmare * Bel Sheba (1970–1995), the dam of Alysheba

Training career

Madden was an active trainer from 1888 to 1912, conditioning a total of eight champion Thoroughbred horses. He was the nation's leading trainer from 1901 to 1903. During his training and breeding career, Madden mentored

William Collins Whitney William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier and a prominent descendant of the John Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of President Grover Cl ...

, a former

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

and fellow Thoroughbred enthusiast. At Madden's urging, Whitney bought the stallion Hamburg in 1900 after Marcus Daly's death, paying $60,000. Madden sold many other of his horses to Whitney. After Whitney fired the trainer

Sam Hildreth Samuel Clay Hildreth (May 16, 1866 – September 24, 1929) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer and owner. Madden most notably trained: *

, Champion 2-year-old Male (1897) * Nasturtium, Champion 2-year-old Male (1901) *

Blue Girl Blue Girl (1899–1919) was an American Thoroughbred racemare that was the Champion 2 and 3-year old female in 1901 and 1902, respectively. Pedigree Blue Girl was bred in Kentucky by the Ezekiel Clay & Catesby Woodford breeding partnership and ...

, Champion 3-year-old Female (1902) *

Irish Lad Irish Lad (1900–1925) was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse and a world record holder. Background Irish Lad was bred by H. Eugene Leigh. In the fall of 1901 Leigh sold the yearling to John Madden for $2,550. Madden conditioned him f ...

, Champion 2-year-old Male (1902) * Salvidere, Champion 2-year-old Male (1906) *

Tangle Tangle may refer to: Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics *''The Tangle'' is the name of the ledger, a directed acyclic graph, used for the cryptocurrency IOTA *Tangle (mathematics), a topological object Natural sciences & medicine ...

, Champion 3-year-old Female (1906) *

, half brother to

, Champion 2-year-old Male (1908) * King James, Champion Handicap Male (1909)

Personal life

Madden married Marie Anna Louise Megrue of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

in June 1890. They had two sons, J. Edward Madden, Jr. (1894–1943) and Joseph McKee Madden (1899–1932). The couple separated on ill-terms in 1903. Anna and her relatives sued Madden and were counter sued for years afterward, especially in relation to her and her brother's roles in a trusteeship for the boys. In 1905, after learning that his estranged wife planned to take their sons to Europe and fearing she would not return them, Madden took the boys from the convent school they attended in Madison, New Jersey. He took them back with him by train to Lexington, Kentucky. Anna moved to

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

and filed divorce proceedings in that state in 1906. Later that year Anna Madden married the wealthy

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

broker and turfman Louis Valentine Bell (1853–1925). Since the Maddens had been married in Kentucky and John Madden was not formally contacted in her divorce, the Kentucky court ruled that the divorce was not valid. Madden finally secured full custody of their sons and filed for divorce from Anna Madden-Bell in February 1909. Anna Madden-Bell died on May 10, 1963, at the age of 91, having outlived both her husbands and both her sons.

Quasi-retirement

John Madden wanted his sons to follow in his footsteps and continue breeding Thoroughbreds at Hamburg Place. He let them begin to purchase horses at the ages of 15 and 10, but neither developed a lasting interest in the family business. They became involved in developing

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

fields in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

, a new area of discovery and risk. In 1926, Madden sold most of his breeding stock; he sold 139 horses for $446,200. By that time, he had become distant from the horse racing industry. By investing heavily in the corn refining business, he increased his net worth to more than $9 million. In October 1929, Madden, healthy for most of his life, developed

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

while staying at the

Pennsylvania Hotel The Hotel Pennsylvania was a historic hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Opened in 1919, it was once the largest hotel in the world. ...

. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on November 3, 1929, in his room at the hotel. His body was returned to Kentucky and was interred in Roman Catholic Calvary Cemetery in Lexington. He died soon after two other great horse trainers, Sam Hildreth and James Rowe Sr.

Descendants and Hamburg Place

The Madden sons inherited Hamburg Place and $2 million from his estate. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, Joseph M. Madden committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

on October 31, 1932, in

, by shooting himself with a gun. Nearly eleven years later, his brother Edward Madden also committed suicide, dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on February 26, 1943, at Hamburg Place. Edward was survived by his wife and two sons, Patrick (1933–1999) and Preston W. Madden (1934–2020)."J.E. Madden dies by shot in Kentucky," ''The New York Times'', February 27, 1943, p. 8 Edward Madden had raised mostly polo ponies at Hamburg Place. It was not until his sons grew up and took an interest that they resumed Thoroughbred breeding in the 1950s at the farm. Preston Madden married Anita Myers. He notably stood the champion stallion T.V. Lark at the farm, and bred the 1987

winner Alysheba.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madden, John E. 1856 births 1929 deaths American businesspeople Stock and commodity market managers American racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Kentucky Derby winners Breeders of U.S. Thoroughbred Triple Crown winners American horse trainers Sportspeople from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductees United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees