Tom Candy Ponting (August 26, 1824 - October 11, 1916) was an American rancher, farmer and cattle driver. In 1853–1854, together with his business partner, Washington Malone, they were the first people to drive a herd of

Texas Longhorn The Texas Longhorn is an American breed of beef cattle, characterized by its long horns, which can span more than from tip to tip. It derives from cattle brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors from the ti ...

cattle from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the longest cattle drive in American history.

Early years

Tom Candy Ponting was born at Hayden Farm, Perish of Kilsmeredo, near

Bath, England Bath ( RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, west of London and southeast of Bristol. The city becam ...

on August 26, 1824. He was the fourth of nine children of John and Ruth Shearn Ponting. He was christened “Tom” not Thomas. Candy was his paternal grandmother's family name. His family were cattle breeders, a profession that he followed all of his life. He and his brother John sailed to United States on a

clipper ship A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century Merchant ship, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century. Clippers were gen ...

in 1847. The trip took six weeks. Arriving in New York City, they traveled by train and boat through Albany, Buffalo and Cleveland. They traveled by wagon through Ohio where Tom's brother John settled in Knox County. Tom continued his travels west, financing his way by buying and selling cattle in Wisconsin and Illinois. In 1851 Ponting formed a partnership with Indiana native Washington Malone. They bought cattle in Illinois and took them north to Wisconsin to sell to butchers. In the fall of 1852 the beef business in Milwaukee was declining, so Tom and Malone decided to go by horseback to Texas to check out longhorns.

1853-1854 cattle drive

In Texas they purchased about 600 head of longhorns and in April 1853 they drove the cattle north through Indian territory in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

where they met up with Jesse Chisholm, continuing east along the Shawnee Trail to Missouri. At St. Louis they crossed the Mississippi River by ferry. The cattle were wintered in Christian County, near

Moweaqua, Illinois Moweaqua is a village in Shelby and Christian counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,764 at the 2020 census. History Moweaqua was named after a small stream 1.5 miles south of the station, called by the Indians Moweaqua, a Pott ...

where they were corn fed. In the Spring of 1854 they got the cattle into the pasture early to fatten them up. They sold off half of the herd and picked one hundred fifty fat cattle and headed east with them to Indiana. The cattle swam across the Wabash River without any problems. At Muncie, Indiana they put the cattle on railroad cars bound for New York. They unloaded the cattle at

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

and

Dunkirk, New York Dunkirk is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. It was settled around 1805 and incorporated in 1880. The population was 12,743 as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Dunkirk ...

to give them a rest, finally arriving at Bergin Hill, New Jersey where they ferried them across the Hudson River and into New York City where they drove them through the streets of Manhattan arriving at the Hundred Street Market on July 3, 1854. These were the first Texas cattle that were ever in New York. They sold them off in bunches of ten to twenty in a bunch. “The New York Times” reported “A novel feature, this week, is a lot of cattle from Texas, fed in Illinois”.

Later years and death

Ponting returned to Illinois where he lived for over 60 years. He purchased land near Moweaqua, where he raised

Hereford cattle The Hereford is a British List of cattle breeds, breed of beef cattle originally from Herefordshire in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It was the result of selective breeding from the mid-eighteenth century by a few famil ...

on his farm that he named Homestead Farm. He became a prairie cattle king, counting among his friends

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

Potter Palmer Potter Palmer (May 20, 1826 – May 4, 1902) was an American businessman who was responsible for much of the development of State Street (Chicago), State Street in Chicago. Born in Albany County, New York,Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...

, Horace Greely,

Buffalo Bill Cody William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age o ...

and

P.T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He w ...

. He is credited with developing the prairie cattle industry and making

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

the world's leading cattle market. He died in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, October 11, 1916, and is buried in Moweaqua.

Family

Ponting married Margaret Snyder in

in 1856. They had seven children, three of whom died in infancy and one died in a railroad accident at age 12. Tom always praised his wife for much of their success, he said “I suppose that I would not have a cent in the world if it had not been for that good woman”. They made a great team and they always worked together. Margaret Ponting died October 21, 1922, Moweaqua at age 82.

In popular culture and literature

The 2023 book, ''Longhorns East'', by Johnny D. Boggs, is a fictionalized version of Ponting's life.

Early years

1853-1854 cattle drive

Later years and death

Family

In popular culture and literature

References

Further reading