----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Katheder" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 7:41 PM Subject: [VA-HIST] Book Announcement: "The Baylors of Newmarket: The Decline and Fall of a Virginia Planter Family" > Following is a shameless self-promotion for my book, "The Baylors of > Newmarket: The Decline and Fall of a Virginia Planter Family," which is > available from www.amazon.com <http://www.amazon.com/> . > > > > In June 1764, a British merchant ship stuffed with luxury goods sailed up > the muddy Rappahannock River to deliver its precious cargo to Virginia > planters. None was more anxious for the ship's arrival than Col. John > Baylor > III (1705-1772), the proud owner of the most expensive and fragile > property > on board: Fearnought, a strikingly beautiful bay thoroughbred that had > cost > him 1,000 guineas-a staggering sum that was twice what he told his tobacco > merchant to spend. No one in colonial America had ever paid anything close > to that amount for a horse. > > > > Col. Baylor, the son of Virginia's largest slave trader, fell in love with > thoroughbreds at Newmarket, England's fabled racing center, while he > attended nearby Cambridge University. Returning to Virginia in the 1720s, > Baylor named his 12,000-acre estate "Newmarket" after the racing course > where he had spent so much of his time and money. Though he was > politically > active in the House of Burgesses and in Caroline County where he lived, > Baylor's dominant passion remained elite horseflesh, and he became one of > the most important turfmen in eighteenth-century America. Col. Baylor's > close friend and former military commander, George Washington, sent his > mares to Baylor's legendary stud farm, and Thomas Jefferson's favorite > mount > was a grandsire of Fearnought. > > > > Col. Baylor's bright but dreamy-headed son, John IV (1750-1808), also > attended Cambridge, but was forced to end his studies early and return to > Newmarket as his father lay dying in April 1772. Unhappy in Virginia, John > Baylor IV returned to England to court his cousin Frances Norton, daughter > of one of London's most successful tobacco merchants, and then embarked on > a > mysterious sojourn in France, where he cavorted with American diplomats > and > foreign spies-all while buying trunk loads of fine books that would become > one of the largest and most important personal libraries in the > Chesapeake. > Despite crushing debts, toward the end of his life John Baylor IV launched > a > quixotic scheme to replace his home at Newmarket with what would have been > the largest and most elegant private residence in America, which his > detractors soon called "Baylor's Folly." Baylor's edifice of sublime > madness > was never completed, and he died, a beaten and broken man, in the same > debtor's prison his father helped build. > > > > Thanks. > > > > Thomas Katheder > > P.O. Box 22671 > > Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830 > > [log in to unmask] > > > > > > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions > at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > > > > E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.1.441) > Database version: 6.12640 > http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/ E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (6.0.1.441) Database version: 6.12640 http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/ ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html