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

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

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 person ...

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

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

racing In sports, 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 g ...

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 rab ...

Early life and education

Born in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, Elisha Jr. moved with his family to

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

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, United States. It was founded in 1780 and is the oldest university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is Higher educ ...

. On January 15, 1805, he married Maria Barr, with whom he had ten children. Their daughter Mary Jane Warfield married

Cassius Marcellus Clay Major general (United States), Major General Cassius Marcellus Clay (October 9, 1810 – July 22, 1903) was an American planter, politician, military officer and abolitionist who served as the List of ambassadors of the United States to Russia, ...

, who became a prominent politician and

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

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, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

. 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 List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...

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, 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 an adult 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, "cre ...

, 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 The list below shows the leading Father, sire of Thoroughbred Horse racing, racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the year. It is restricted to Stallio ...

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 w ...

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 commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

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 The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

'' 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 Physicians from Lexington, Kentucky People from Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Elisha Elisha was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a Jewish prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, Ełishe (Yeghishe/Elisha) via Armenian or Alyasa via Arabic, a ...

Burials at Lexington Cemetery