Alexander Dunbar

1821 - 1899  (78 years)

• Name	Alexander Dunbar
  Born	1821	Templemore, Tipperary, Munster, Ireland
  Gender	Male
  Interesting	horse, invention, story
  Residence	1853	Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-123324
  Died	10 Jun 1899	Washington, District of Columbia, District of Colombia, United States
  Person ID	I123324	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family	Susannah Jackson,   b. 2 Mar 1825, Rockwood, Eramosa Township, Wellington Co, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. 22 Aug 1893, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Colombia, United States  (Age 68 years)
  Children	1. Frederica Alexander Dunbar,   b. 4 Mar 1849, Guelph City, Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. Yes, date unknown   2. William Andrew M. Dunbar,   b. 10 Oct 1852, Dumfries Township, Gore District, Ontario ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F34413	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Alexander Dunbar From the book: "A Treatise on the Diseases Incident to the Horse, especially to those of the foot, showing that nearly every species of lameness arises from contraction of the hoof, with a prescribed remedy therefor, demonstrated by a miscellaneous correspondence of the most celebrated horsemen in the United States and England", by Alexander Dunbar, originator of the celebrated "Dunbar System" for the prevention and cure of contraction.

  
  

• Notes

  But to my scene. One afternoon in February last, while the House in Committee of the whole was working its slow and toilsome way down, item after item, through the Army Appropriation Bill, under the leadership of the alert and vigorous Mr. Blaine, now the Speaker of the House, a clause of the bill was about to pass without debate, when Mr. Fernando Wood, of New York, rose and offered the following curious amendment: " But no part of the sum [appropriated] shall be paid to Alexander Dunbar for his alleged discovery of the mode of treatment of horses' feet." There had been no mention of the said Dunbar in the clause, nor of his mode of treating horses' feet, nor of any other system of treatment; antl the very name of the man was evidently unknown to the House. Mr. Wood proceeded to explain that the Secretary of War, General Schofield, had made a contract (authorized by act of Congress) with Alexander Dunbar, by which the latter was to receive twenty-five thousand dollars for imparting his system of horse-shoeing and hoof-treatment to the veterinary surgeons and cavalry blacksmiths of the army. "And I am advised," continued the member from New York, " by those who are judges of that subject, that the man is totally ignorant, that he knows nothing about the diseases of horses' feet, and that he rather perpetrates injury upon the poor animals than produces any benefit to them," Fernando Wood, in his air and demeanor, is one of the most dignified and impressive members of the House. He attends carefully to his dress ; and, as to his " deportment," Mr. Turveydrop would contemplate him with approval. For such a personage to rise in his place, and, in a measured, serene manner, discourse thus upon a subject of which no man on the floor knew anything whatever, could not fail to produce some effect. Mr. Blaine could only say, that he had never heard the name of Alexander Dunbar before; but that lie thought the amendment cast a severe reflection upon the Secretary of War. Mr. Wood insisting, the amendment was finally amended so as to make the exclusion apply to the whole Appropriation Bill, and thus cut offthe unknown Dunbar entirely; and in this form, I believe, it passed the Committee of the Whole, and was prepared for submission to the House ; at least, Mr. Wood agreed to withdraw his amendment in order to amend it in the way described. It did so happen that there was a person sitting in a commodious corner of the reporters' gallery, who, though a. stranger to Mr. Dunbar, and singularly ignorant of horses, yet knew all about the Dunbar system and its discoverer. That person, strange to relate, was myself; and, if it had not been a little out of order, I should have shouted a few words of explanation over the vast expanse below. Rising superior to this temptation, and thus avoiding the attention of the sergeant-at-arms,I constituted myself a Dunbar lobby, and imparted to as many members as possible some of the facts which I am now about to communicate to the reader. Some years since, the mysterious Alexander Dunbar, an honest, observant farmer and contractor, of Canada, was driving a lame horse on a hilly road. He noticed that the horse was lamest when going down hill, but not lame at all going up hill. Having observed this peculiarity for several miles, he began to speculate upon the cause; and, by carefully examining the action of the horse's feet, he discovered it. The blacksmith had pared the hoof on the wrong principle, cutting it close where it ought to have been left thick, and leaving it unpared where nature constantly produces a redundancy. He tried his hand at remedying the mistake. He cut boldly at the parts that were in excess, and the lameness was cured! A few judicious cuts with a. sharp knife, and a shoe adapted to the natural growth of the hoof, this is all there is of the Dunbar system, which was elaborated by the mystical Alexander after some years of observation and experiment, suggested by this incident. He found that many cases of lameness of years' standing could be cured radically and almost instantly by simply paring the hoof aright and altering the shoe. We have in New York an enthusiast on the structure of the horse, Mr. Robert Bonner, whose stable contains six of the fastest trotting-horses in the world. He was led to study the anatomy of the horse by endeavoring to get at the reason why some horses can trot in 2: 20 farther than an ordinary nag can in five minutes. He was curious to know just where the trotting talent lies; and this led to other inquiries. Hearing by chance of Mr. Dunbar's discovery, he investigated it most thoroughly, and came to the conclusion that the Dunbar system was founded in the eternal nature of things. I suppose that, during the last three years, Mr. Bonner has, with his own hands, pared the hoofs of fifty horses on the Dunbar plan, and thereby cured a dozen cases of lameness supposed to be incurable. In his great desire to test the discovery, he has travelled a hundred miles sometimes for the sole purpose of having a lame horse shod in the Dunbar style, very frequently paring the hoofs himself. Recently the discoverer has been among us, and his system, after having been adopted in several of the largest stables in the United States, was introduced into the army. But, as usual, his success was damage to other men ; particularly to the proprietors of a patent horse-shoe, which Mr. Dunbar was compelled to say was not made in accordance with the eternal nature of things. Hence, a patent-horse-shoe lobby! Hence, Mr. Fernando Wood's strange amendment! Mr. Dunbar's friends, however, rallied in time to enlighten the House, and no harm was done ; but the occurrence shows how a member of Congress may be misled, unless he makes it a principle and a point of honor never to act upon an ex parte statement. The Atlantic Monthly, A Magazine of Literature, Science Art and Poliltics, Vol. XXIV, 1869 _____________________ INSTRUCTION IN HORSE-SHOEING. Under the joint resolution of 28th July 1866, the Secretary of War contracted with Alexander Dunbar for one year's services in teaching his mode of treatment of the horse's foot to the farriers of the Army. Mr. Dunbar traveled extensively, visiting and teaching at many military posts from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to the frontier of Texas. His year's service was completed on the 24th August, 1869, and he was paid the sum of $25,000, besides his traveling expenses, in accordance with the terms of his contract. A report of his operations, based upon such incomplete information as was transmitted to this office, was submitted to the War Department on the 27th August, 1869. Those officers who have taken an interest in the subject report very favorably of the result. At Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, the depot of the cavalry of The Army, a school for instruction of smiths, under this system, has sent some thirty farriers to the cavalry regiments competent to apply the system. The commanding officer at Carlisle, General J. P. Hatch, reports the system entirely successful, and that a large number of contracted and otherwise diseased feet have been successfully treated, and that the proportion of horses on the sick report unfit for service is reduced to one-half what it was before Mr. Dunbar's instructions were given at that place. Report of the Secretary of War, Being a part of The Message and Documents commissioned to the Two Houses of Congress, at the Beginning of the Third Session of the Forty-First Congress, Vol 1, Washington 1870

  
  

• Sources

  [S2452] Church Record - Baptismal Certficate - Various churches. Frederica Alexander Dunbar b. 04 Mar 1849 Guelph Baptised 25 Mar 1853 Dumfries Child Of Alexr. Dunbar & Susannah Dunbar Residence: Galt Volume 1 Page 296 Rev. O. Barber

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 1821 - Templemore, Tipperary, Munster, Ireland Residence - 1853 - Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 10 Jun 1899 - Washington, District of Columbia, District of Colombia, United States  = Link to Google Earth