1940 - 1965
World Grand Champion in 1945 and 1946
Midnight Sun Jig Saw Puzzle
Midnight Sun from A Look into the Past.
(This is a copy
of an article by Margaret Lindalsy Warden, as appeared in the April,
1966 issue of Western Horseman Magazine. )
It was a big horse
that lay covered in the hallway of the barn at Harlinsdale Farm,
Franklin, Tenn., the afternoon of November 7, 1965. Indeed,
he was a big horse in every way - in stature, name, fame, and
Midnight Sun, a young 25, had become a legend years before
his death that Indian summer afternoon. On
his record, he was the big horse of the Tennessee Walking
Horse breed. He was the first stallion to become
world champion of his kind. That was in 1945 and 1946
at the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration at
Shelbyville, Tennessee. Then he sired horses
that were grand champions there seven times; grand-sired the
supreme winner five times; and was the great-grandsire
of nearly EVERY year's champion since that time. On only
FOUR occasions since 1949, have horses NOT descended
from Midnight Sun, in a straight male line, been world
champions of this breed.
If Midnight Sun had been foaled in 1930 instead of 1940, he
would have acted on a small stage before a small audience,
and for only local fame. However, he flashed on the
scene with perfect timing. The nationwide discovery of
the Tennessee Walking Horse afforded this remarkable
individual, a big stage on which to perform before a large
audience, and he responded gloriously to the opportunity.
From being a humble,
back-country type known in a few southern states, the Walking
Horse started going places after the registry society was formed
in 1935. It seemed that nearly everybody was reading about
the Tennessee Walking Horse, and wanted to see this distinctive
"new" breed in action. Great singers, actors, athletes, and
horses are "box office", and the big, black, storybook stallion
was prominent among the performers to sell the breed to the
Horses are not a big
money crop in the Volunteer State, but in the last 30 years, the
Tennessee Walking Horse has brought in a lot of cash and numerous
lookers, and Midnight Sun was high among those responsible.
For years a guest book was kept at Harlinsdale by owners A.
F. and W. W. Harlin, but the books filled up fast, and after
the novelty wore off, they were discontinued. Some days the
champ was brought out of his stall 20 times for visitors to
see and have their pictures made with Midnight Sun. He was
never ill-natured. A child could go into his stall and pet
him. Many a youngster was given the thrill of "riding
MIDNIGHT SUN - THE AMBASSADOR - August,
photo courtesy Bonnie Smith
Stables and Susan Bowman-Geidel (up).
The big horse was cast
in the heroic mold. When he finally matured, he averaged 1,350
pounds and appeared much taller than the "just under 16 hands"
that he measured. He was distinctly large for a Walking horse, a
robust but not tall breed. His home was his stall. He was never
turned out in a paddock, but exercised daily under saddle between
30 minutes and an hour. The day before his death from colic, he
was ridden at the walk and running walk about 30 minutes. The
Tennessee Walking Horse may be thought of as a Cinderella breed,
and Midnight Sun as an ugly duckling that matured into a swan.
It was a farmer, the
late Samuel M. Ramsey, at Viola, in the Tennessee hills west of
Chattanooga and near McMinnville, who bred Ramsey's Rena, a bay
mare of about 15.2 hands, to Wilson's Allen, a chestnut, at
nearby Pelham. This was a couple of months before the latter's
death from pneumonia on August 22, 1939. Rena died
by Roan Allen, by Allen, from Birdie Messick by Allen, the
Standardbred No. 1 foundation sire of the Tennessee Walking Horse.
Rena was about 90% Standardbred. She was by Dement's
Allen by Hunter's Allen, by Allen F-1, and her dam was by Bell
Buckle, a registered trotter of Bow Bells and Wedgewood blood.
The Registry gives the next dam as by John Covington's Hal, and
the next as by "Galleston". This was a trotter, but
not an American Standardbred. Old-timers in the Woodbury area who
remember him say that the name was Galson. He was an
imported black German Coach stallion, "nearly 17 hands and 1,500
pounds", owned by a stock company, and had cost $2,600.
(English, German and French coach horses were imported to the U.S.
periodically to produce heavyweight hunters and carriage horses,
or farm horses and mule mares, but the English Cleveland Bay is
the only one hanging on today.) German coach horses were a
brief experiment in middle Tennessee from about 1903-1915. Galston
is the only one with any known descendants. He
contributed size, color and stride to a prolific champion that has
put his name far back in many a pedigree.
He sold as a
suckling because he was one of the last crop by Wilson's
Allen, and the buyer was stuck with him for nearly 3 years.
Nobody could see anything promising in that solid black colt
that was plain, thin, and gangly. What horseman is
wizard enough to foretell what kind of mature horse, a
weanling will make? Alex and Wirt Harlin were
among those who didn't want the black colt, until they saw him
perform under saddle in January, 1944, when he was turning 4
years old. Then they paid $4,400, including the
commission, and legend has it, that they were prepared to pay
Eleanor Livingstone of
Geraldine Livingstone of
In 1956 at the Harlinsdale dispersal during the
Murray Farm sale in Lewisburg, Tenn., Mrs. G. M. Livingston
and daughter, Geraldine of Quitman, Ga., paid $50,000 for
Midnight Sun. The champ had new owners, but they
wanted him left at Harlinsdale under the same management.
So there he lived out his years. In 1962, he left home
for his last personal triumph at the Celebration. He
paraded with 7 other former grand champions, including his
old rival, Merry Go Boy, and drew more applause than any
forbearers and what handlers produced Midnight Sun? Nobody
knows yet what two horses to breed to get a certain
champion. No skilled trainer-rider can make a champion
of just any horse he rides.
The history-maker's pedigree contains out-crosses that
have probably added much vigor. Instead of
Roan Allen in both lines, he had Hunter's Allen on the dam's side
and some of the stoutest trotting blood of his ancestors' day.
Midnight Sun's sire,
Wilson's Allen, was on a pedestal when he died, for among his get
was Strolling Jim, Grand Champion of the first Tennessee Walking
Horse National Celebration in 1939.
John A. Hendrixon of
Manchester bred three of the last crop of Wilson's Allen and
hastened to get 6 others as sucklings. He paid $500 for the
black colt, but buyers passed him by. They liked the smooth,
early maturing ones such as H-Boy. There was a scramble to
get him. The Harlins were among the ones who lost out.
When the slow maturing
black colt was a two year old, Hendrixon trucked him and several
mares to Shelbyville and offered them for sale on a lot near the
Celebration grounds. He was still too thin and awkward to
show what he could do, and Alex Harlin again declined to buy him.
Who could have predicted that the gawky colt would, three years
later, be supreme champion of the breed, a few hundred yards from
the scene of his rejection, and then proudly owned by those who
had repeatedly rejected him?
But the next
time the Harlin brothers (of Red Kap garment fame) saw the
black stud, they hastened to buy him. About October,
1943, the late Winston Wiser, then at Wartrace, acquired
"Joe Lewis Wilson", as Hendrixon had registered him, and two or three months later rode him to the late Henry Davis' barn to show him off.
The dean of Walking
horsedom was so excited over the horse's performance that he
couldn't sleep for nights, and he told Wirt Harlin about that
"once in a lifetime, honest to goodness, old time saddle horse."
So, the very next day, after the purchase was made at Hendrixon's
in January, 1944, Henry Davis took the stallion from Wiser's barn
to Harlinsdale Farm in Franklin, about 50 miles away.
On any stage, a star
performer needs and deserves an attractive name. "Joe Lewis
Wilson" did nothing for the future champion. It was Bill Ashley of
Franklin who suggested Midnight Sun soon after the horse arrived
at Harlinsdale. "The noonday sun is the brightest and strongest
thing we know and this is the blackest and strongest horse" said
this imaginative admirer.
Except for the Get-Of-Sire classes, the big horse's show
record is soon told, for he competed relatively few times,
among the best. The new wonder wasn't really ready in 1944.
His big frame hadn't filled out, nor had he hit his "big
train" stride, but people were expecting to see him in
competition and would have wondered why he wasn't shown. The
Celebration constituted his debut and his only appearance of
the year. In the stallion championship, he was second to
Wilson's Ace, with Old Glory third. In the Open Stakes, he
placed sixth, with the first three being City Girl, Black
Angel, and Wilson's Ace. Carl Lee, the stallion's handler at
Harlinsdale, rode him in the stallion event, and Winston
Wiser was up in the grand championship.
1945 and 1946, the Midnight Sun was un-eclipsed. In
1945, he won his class and the championship at Murfreesboro,
Franklin, Columbia, Shelbyville (PTA Show in June),
Lexington Junior League Show, and the Celebration where he
topped stallions four years and over, the stallion
championship, ladies-amateur (Mrs. Henry Davis up), and the
grand championship. Cotton Pickin's Mac and Merry Wilson
were second and third.
1946, with Fred Walker as trainer-rider again, Midnight Sun
competed in just three shows; the Shelbyville PTA, the
Celebration, and the Tennessee State Fair at Nashville.
At the first ones, he won the stallion class and open stake,
get-of-sire, and the grand championship. In the
finale, the junior champion, Merry Go Boy, forced the
reigning monarch to give his utmost to stay on top.
Third and fourth were Merry Wilson, good enough to be
champion anywhere, and Black Angel, 1944 Celebration
In 1947, Merry
Go Boy, then four years old, challenged successfully with
Winston Wiser up. Midnight Sun won the stallion
championship (Merry Go Boy was not present) at the
Celebration and the State Fair, but Merry Go Boy won the four years and over stud class, and
Grand Championship for 1947 and 1948.
When a person
dies, it is customary to take the point of view that his or
her history is complete, but this cannot be so if the
subject is a stallion that sired approximately 100 foals a
year for 20 years, and whose sons and grandsons, and female
offspring too, have proved themselves consistently to be
winning producers of World Grand Champions.
In 1972 Geraldine Livingstone commissioned a statue of Midnight
Sun. This statue was sculpted by Lee Burnam of Hawthorne, Florida,
and presented as a birthday gift from Geraldine to her mother,
Eleanor. The bronze black patina statue stands 7 feet tall and
rests on a base of rose colored granite. It was placed on the
South side of the
Dixie Plantation house, beyond the pool, in a position so that
it could be viewed from Eleanor's bedroom window. This is the only
statue of a famous walking horse in existence today.
Womack, author of "Echo of Hoofbeats." If you have
a story or photos of Midnight Sun that you would like added to
this page, please forward them to
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 9:44 AM
Subject: descendant of Midnight Sun
Hello Walkers West.
You have a very interesting and informative website on Midnight
Sun. I have been visiting it periodically since I bought my TN
Walker mare five years ago. It made me really appreciate my
horse even more. She is a beautiful mare with a lot of Midnight
Sun in her lineage. She was born in 1999 in Monroe TN. She is
now in St Augustine FL with me. Her TWHBEA registration shows
that Midnight Sun was her great grandfather on her sire's
side and great great grandfather, twice, on her dam's side. Also
Pride's Wonder and Pride of Stanley and Pride of Midnight in her
background. She looks exactly like Midnight Sun (female
version), big boned, 16.2 hands, solid black with beautiful
conformation. A very intelligent, noble and kind horse with a
lot of spirit and go. She has a great flat walk that really
covers ground. I am proud of her and I always keep in mind her
forebears. I do not show her ( I am an older middle aged woman
rider now) but I ride her every day, with lots of grooming and
some groundwork to maintain her nice manners. Again, thanks for
providing your website on Midnight Sun.
Sounds like you have a very nice mare. You cannot get any better
than Midnight Sun on the pedigree. I owned a direct son of
Midnight Sun many years ago - he was a 16.2 hand stallion, and
so gentle a 5 year old could handle him. Everything about him
Glad you are enjoying the website. Thank you for writing. I'm
summer of 1947 at Harlinsdale with all of the people named in you
site about the great horse. I worked there because I loved
horses, and it was an experience I have treasured.
Midnight was not being shown that summer, but when Harlinsdale
took other horses to shows, he was taken, and at the end of the
show, he was ridden into the ring for an exhibition ride.
At one of these exhibitions, in a small Middle Tenn. town, he
entered the ring just as the clock on the Courthouse rang out
midnight's 12 loud chimes.
Red, who just might have brought along something to ward off the
cool, was outside the ring, but when he heard the clock, he threw
back his head, and for all to hear, he told the crowd "THE
MIDNIGHT SUN IS NOW A-SHINING". The crowd loved it.
He did love the big horse.
Thanks, Roy Tompkins, Ardmore, Okla.
out with the previous year's Champion and worked backward to the
oldest living one. They were all beautiful and were shown on a
Our box was on the end opposite the entry and we got a good view
of coming, passing and going away. When Merry Go Boy got to the
corner to turn back toward the entrance he seemed to want to show
his "oats" and kicked up his heels, much to the enjoyment of the
Next to come out was Midnight Sun. He came around and looked
fabulous. But when he arrived at almost the same spot that Merry
Go Boy had kicked up his heels, he proceeded to do the same. He
seemed to be saying that he was still a Champion and had a lot of
life left in him yet.
The crowd went wild. The applause was thunderous and the cheers
were echoing through the stands. It was almost as loud as when the
last class on Saturday night is going on to crown the World
Later my girl friend and I walked down to his stable and met Red
and talked to him about Midnight Sun. As we talked he asked if we
would like to go into his stall and pet him. Well, I thought I had
died and gone to heaven. We had hoped to maybe look but never
dreamed we could touch. It was a thrill I remember to this day.
When we returned to our box, I held out my right hand to my Dad
and told him, "See this hand, I'll never wash it again. I got to
touch Midnight Sun".
Subject: Enjoyed your sight - Midnight Sun Story
Finding myself with time on my hands, I did a "Google" search on
"Fred Walker Midnight Sun" and found your site. Fred was my
paternal grandfather. I grew up in Washington State, so didn't
have much exposure to the TWH breed, other than through the
stories I heard when I would visit my family in Shelbyville each
summer. He passed away when I was a toddler, so never really
remember him. However Midnight Sun and the stories of the TWH
were always being swapped by friends and family when I would
meet them on these visits.
During the early 1970's I had the opportunity to attend Columbia
Military Academy so I was finally able to go to the National
Celebration. My maternal grandmother lived near the show grounds
and dropped me off at the gates on one of the first show nights.
She told me that it would be a slow night and I should look for
an empty box seat right on the rail, as many boxes weren't used
early in the week.
I found a box, sat down and proceeded to be entranced by the
speed and rhythm of the breed. I also quickly found out that the
front row might be close to the horses, but CERTAINLY close to
the dirt clods, the sweat and the saliva as the horses increased
their speeds. :)
A lady came to the box and sat down. I immediately apologized
for sitting in her box and she quickly asked me to remain. We
started chatting and I mentioned that Fred Walker was my
grandfather. Her face lit up and she quietly picked up a stadium
seat cushion that had Midnight Sun's picture and dates on
it.....and pointed to the name of the owner at the time the
cushion had been produced. Then, she pointed to the sign on the
box that listed the owner of the box. "LIVINGSTONE". Talk about
coincidences. It was Miss Geraldine. We got along very well. She
took me under her care (I was in my early teens) and offered to
take me home after the show that night.
Imagine my grandmothers reaction to be wondering when I was
going to call her that night to come back and pick me up.
Instead, Ms. Livingstone delivered me to the house in a black
Limo with a uniformed driver opening the door. :)
had with her could not read, and he was worried about finding
his way. So, that Saturday afternoon I got to ride with him to
Nashville and met Ms. Eleanor. We had a great conversation on
the way back and I was finally able to say that I had seen the
final night of the Celebration.
Long story, sorry to bore you. But, just wanted you to know that
I enjoyed reading your site. The one picture you have posted
with Fred Walker and Midnight Sun with the silver tray and ladle
was very sentimental for me. A colorized print of that hung in
my grandmother's bedroom until she died. I now have it hanging
in my home office. What a beautiful horse.
William Fred Walker
I loved your website. We
crossed paths some years ago when my daughter was looking to
replace her horse that had been killed on a highway by our
home. I still have the video you sent us. Anyway, thank you
for taking the time to put together all this information on
I was privileged to have
in my company - he owned me, not the other way around - a
son of MS. His name was Sun's Black Gold - we called him
Jet. He was my best friend from 1984 to 1995 when his spirit
finally gave out. From the day I bought him from the meat
man til the day he died, we promised him a burial in our
back yard - and that is what we did. He looked after me as
if I was in his herd. I had an abusive husband at the time,
and Jetty more than once put himself between the former
hubby and me in protection. It was the only time I ever saw
his ears laid back so close to his head, you couldn't see
them and heard the clamping of teeth in attack. He taught me
many things, but the one that stands out the most is when I
thought I had become such a good rider, I no longer had to
post to the trot when I rode Jet. Some years later, I
discovered it had nothing to do with my seat, but Jet's
gaitedness. He never paced nor trotted - he walked and I
believe also did a rack.
I'm not sure you can use
this but I thought you'd like to know that MS threw his own
good qualities - temperament included with gait. Thank you
for keeping him alive.
Lynn and Margie Smith
I have never had
the privilege of owning a horse, but I just wanted to tell
you that in 1956, during my freshman year in high school, I
took Vocational Agriculture. That was, of course, not
uncommon for boys in west Texas. At any rate, in one of our
textbooks there was a photograph of the most beautiful horse
I had ever seen. His name was Midnight Sun. Until today I
had never seen another photograph of him, nor had I ever
heard anybody mention his name. The absolute astounding
beauty of that horse has stayed with me all these years, and
seeing him again on your website actually brought tears to
Larry & Clint Gribble. I
have missed the Walking Horses ever since but have now made a
move to rebuild my own
horses once again starting with the Stormy bloodline just where
I left off. Thanks for your
website and contributions to all us Tennessee Walking Horse
lovers from all ends of the earth.
Your efforts are truly appreciated.
David Wyatt Davis
Vestavia Hills, Alabama
Thank you for your great story - I'll send it on to my webmaster
and put it on the site, if that is O.K.
Yes, you were very fortunate to have ridden Midnight Sun. What a
great horse. I owned a son of his, Merry Night Cap, and he was a
gentle giant - 16.2 hands and 5 year old child
could handle him - he was that gentle - and had a wonderful way
of going. That's as close as I came to knowing Midnight Sun
personally, but I feel like I knew him because of my great
I have had the pleasure of visiting the Gribbles in TN - a good
friend of mine, Ken Wright,
bought Stormy's John Mack who is by Pride's Stormy Night, and we
made a trip to TN and KY to see his stallion up at 7th Heaven
Farm in KY and then down to the Shelbyville area to visit the
Again, thank you so much for writing, I really enjoy hearing
about peoples' experiences of years gone by.
Mary Ellen Areaux