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39-564: Sometime prior to the final surveying of the Fairfax Line in 1746, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron , granted a tract of land on the Great Wagon Road near Smith Creek to a Samuel Newman, who in turn sold the land in 1754 to Thomas Moore, Sr., (1727–1797). The first permanent dwelling to be built on the estate was the house of Thomas Moore, Sr., which was located on a knoll overlooking Smith Creek . Seeking to expand

78-451: A bit of money for the times, especially as Kilmer had only authorized his future U.S. Hall of Fame trainer, Henry McDaniel , to pay about $ 700 for a "workhorse." Kilmer bought Exterminator to help his prized colt Sun Briar in his workouts. (Kilmer had purchased his colt at the same sale Milam bought his, but for $ 5,000.) Kilmer did not think much of his new purchase; he called him "that truck horse" or "the goat". In workouts, Exterminator

117-539: A large enclosed sun porch on the southwest side of the building and an extended suite of guest rooms on the north side of the house. However, after its 1987 restoration, the front, central portion of the manor house appears today as it did when it was constructed around 1800. In 1925, Court Manor was purchased by Willis Sharpe Kilmer , a New York entrepreneur, newspaperman, and horse breeder best known for marketing his uncle's popular medicinal tonic "Dr. Kilmer's cure-all remedy Swamp Root". The period of Kilmer's ownership of

156-468: A match race between him and Exterminator. Man o' War's owner, Samuel Riddle , seemed to agree, but the race never took place. As a gelding, Exterminator competed in 99 races, winning 50 while finishing second and third 17 times each. His lifetime earnings amounted to $ 252,996. Beaten in the Brooklyn Handicap by Grey Lag once, Exterminator got better with age and later defeated Grey Lag in

195-535: A six-furlong maiden race that he won by three lengths. Sent to race in Windsor, Ontario , Canada, he suffered a muscle sprain and Milam gave him time off to grow into his size, which by now was 17 hands. Still, he had earned $ 1,500 and a potential nomination to the Kentucky Derby. Before Exterminator could begin his third season, Milam sold him to Willis Sharpe Kilmer for $ 9,000 and a pair of fillies, quite

234-740: A straight line North West to the place in the Allagany Mountains where that part of the River Pattawomeck alias Potowmack which is now called Cohongoroota alias Cohongoronton first arises." The imaginary line between the sources of the Conway River and the North Branch Potomac River is commonly referred to as "the Fairfax Line". In 1736 John Savage and his survey party had located the site of

273-471: A suitable prep for the prestigious Kentucky Derby. Ridden by a disappointed Willie Knapp , who had expected to be up on Sun Briar, Exterminator went off at odds of 30–1 to the heavily favored War Cloud . Exterminator raced at the back until the field turned for home, when he launched his bid. Nearing the wire, he passed Escoba and won the Derby by a length. When Man o' War was three, Kilmer tried to arrange

312-728: Is the assertion that Exterminator started in 100 races. Per the research and subsequent book Exterminator (#18 in the Thoroughbred Legends series), author Eva Jolene Boyd reviewed all records of his starts and the record keeping by the Daily Racing Form and found evidence that he only had 99 official racing starts. In addition, the local paper in Binghamton , New York, (where Exterminator spent his final years) noted upon his death in their front-page coverage that he had only 99 lifetime starts. The 100th "start"

351-455: The Great Wagon Road . The estate remained in the Moore family until 1879, when Oscar Fitz Allen Moore, grandson of Reuben Moore, Jr., sold the estate to William C. & George H. Harrison. While the house was originally known as Mooreland Hall, by the early 20th century the estate came to be known as Court Manor. Over the years the original structure was expanded with various additions including

390-479: The plantation and was elected a Commissioner of Rockingham County in 1789. It was Captain Moore who selected a wide, gently rolling tract of land near the Great Wagon Road on which to build a small log house for his family. A quarter-century later, Captain Moore's son, Reuben Moore, Jr., would build Court Manor on the very spot where his father's log cabin once stood. Reuben Moore, Jr., likely began construction of Court Manor (then known as Mooreland Hall) during

429-541: The 1913 Kentucky Derby. At the Saratoga Paddock sale of 1916, he was bought as a yearling for $ 1,500 by J. Cal Milam who trained his own horses. The big colt grew fast, reaching 16.3  hands (67 inches, 170 cm) at two but he was awkward and coarse looking. For this reason, Milam had him gelded . On June 30, 1917, at Latonia Race Track in Covington, Kentucky , Exterminator made his debut in

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468-662: The Privy Council in London decided in favor of the 6th Lord Fairfax , designating that "the boundary of the petitioners land doth begin at the first spring of the South Branch of the River Rappahannack now called Rappidan[,] which first spring is the spring of that part of the said River Rappidan as is called in the plans returned by the name of Conway River[,] and that the said boundary be from thence drawn in

507-547: The borders of the Virginia counties of Page , Madison and Greene meet. In the Shenandoah Valley , the line coincides with the southern boundary of the town of New Market, Virginia , and marks the boundary between Virginia counties of Rockingham and Shenandoah . Continuing northwestward, the line marks the state boundary between Hardy County, West Virginia and Rockingham County, Virginia , and passes through

546-774: The city of Petersburg, West Virginia . The northwestern terminus of the line — at the Fairfax Stone — is the source of the North Branch of the Potomac River. The stone's location is on the borders of the present West Virginia counties of Preston , Tucker and Grant , and one mile south of the southwestern tip of Maryland Panhandle . 39°00′00″N 79°00′00″W  /  39.000°N 79.000°W  / 39.000; -79.000 Exterminator (horse) American Classics wins: Kentucky Derby (1918) Exterminator (May 30, 1915 – September 26, 1945)

585-984: The crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia , to that of the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia , traversing the headwaters of the Shenandoah River along the way. The southeastern terminus of the line is the source of the Conway River , a tributary of the Rappahannock. The source is on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains , near mile marker 55 on the Skyline Drive (approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of Charlottesville, Virginia ), where

624-593: The estate at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War to serve as an officer in the Rockingham militia under Colonel Benjamin Harrison. By the war's end in 1784, some 17 members of the Moore family were residing on the estate, both in the original house built by Thomas Moore, Sr., and in a second house built by his third son, Thomas Moore, Jr. After the war, Captain Moore returned to

663-417: The estate saw dramatic development of the property, establishing it as one of the country's most preeminent horse studs. Exterminator , the winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby , resided on the estate after his racing career, and Reigh Count , the winner of the 1928 Kentucky Derby, was bred and born on the estate. After Kilmer had acquired Court Manor in 1923, he had some 10,000 silver maple trees planted along

702-448: The estate's landholdings had dwindled to some 1,300 acres (5.3 km), the manor house was virtually uninhabitable, and the entire estate was in a state of ruin. In 1985, Court Manor was acquired by North Carolina textile magnate Nicholas Wehrmann, Sr., who initiated a wide-scale renovation of the manor house and estate grounds. The original section of the house and its Greek Revival portico were intact enough to be preserved in whole, but

741-457: The impressive scale of the estate, which at 1,700 acres was unusually large by Valley standards. The wide, spacious lawn, dotted with large trees, slopes gently towards a spring-fed brook that arises on the grounds of the estate less than a mile away and meanders gently towards Smith Creek, which also runs through the estate. Smith Creek was used to power the plantation's mill , which produced flour and other products that were transported up and down

780-468: The last years of the eighteenth century, following his grandfather's death in 1797. Mooreland Hall would have been a rather conventional exercise in the late colonial style if it were not for the incorporation of the impressive Greek Revival portico into the design. Supported by four massive columns of the Doric order and surmounted by a simple triangular pediment decorated with a single semi-circular window,

819-489: The later additions, which used inferior construction methods, had sustained far too much structural damage to be salvaged. The renovation restored the structure to its original condition and added two additional wings to the house. Also during this period the grounds of the estate were revitalized for agricultural purposes. Pastures underwent extensive renovation, historical barns were preserved, and new construction of barns, corrals, feeding systems, and miles of high tensile fence

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858-567: The question of the boundaries of the designated lands had also become highly contentious. In 1745 it was decided that a line between the sources of the North Branch Potomac River and the Rappahannock River would constitute the western limit of Lord Fairfax's lands. The Northern Neck Grant, commonly referred to as the "Fairfax Grant", has its genesis in 1649 when the exiled King Charles II of Britain rewarded

897-415: The race. McDaniel urged him to enter Exterminator, but Kilmer would not hear of running "that goat" in his colors. It took Colonel Matt Winn , president of Churchill Downs , to convince him. Winn had seen the colt's workouts and was very impressed. The morning of the race, it poured with rain, and the track was deep in mud. Exterminator had not raced since age two, and none of his races could be considered

936-458: The roads of the estate in memory of those lost in World War I . Today these trees are still extant and can be seen lining both sides of U.S. Route 11 as it passes through the estate. Following Kilmer's death, Court Manor fell into a state of disrepair and slow deterioration. During the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the estate was home to a commune , and by the early 1980s,

975-511: The same race. Following the retirement of trainer Henry McDaniel, in 1921 Willie Knapp took over as trainer of Exterminator and won five stakes races with the horse. Exterminator made the last start of his career on June 21, 1924, at Dorval Park in Montreal , Canada where he ran third to Albert Bostwick Jr.'s Spot Cash in the Queen's Hotel Handicap . Found frequently and in long-time error

1014-539: The scale of the portico dominates the main facade of the house. The large, two-level structure was constructed using bricks fired on site by the plantation's slaves . The house contained twelve spacious rooms, each with a fireplace and with large windows, affording panoramic views of the rolling countryside with the Massanutten Mountain Ridge rising in the distance. The grandeur of the mansion and its handsomely landscaped grounds served to match

1053-638: The size of his landholdings, Moore petitioned the Crown for a land grant of some 7,500 acres (3,000 hectares), which was granted by King George III eleven years later in 1765. For the next century and a half, the estate was to remain in the hands of Moore family. In the years leading up to the American Revolution , Moore and his sons continued to expand and improve the estate. Moore's oldest son and future heir, Captain Reuben Moore, Sr., left

1092-462: The source and the official demarcation of the Fairfax Line, extending from the Stone south-east to the headwater of the Conway River . Lewis's journal of the expedition provides a vivid account of the extraordinarily difficult terrain of the pre-settlement Allegheny Mountains . The Fairfax Line runs in a northwesterly direction for about 77 miles (124 km) through exceptionally rugged terrain: from

1131-411: The source of the North Branch Potomac River (the northern boundary of the tract), but had made no attempt to establish the western boundaries of Lord Fairfax's lands. A 1746 survey (the "Survey of the Fairfax Line"), however, was accomplished by Colonel Peter Jefferson and Thomas Lewis under extremely arduous conditions and resulted in both the emplacement of a boundary marker (the " Fairfax Stone ") at

1170-429: The stable lads, he was "Old Shang"). He was retired in 1924 to a life of grass and leisure, with a succession of companion ponies, all named Peanuts, at his side. Exterminator lived in his private barn at Court Manor in Virginia until Kilmer's death in 1940, after which he was moved to Binghamton, New York. He died at the age of thirty on September 26, 1945, in his stall at Sun Briar Court, which has since been razed. At

1209-454: The time of his death, it was reported that he was buried beside several of the companion ponies (all named "Peanuts") although no markers exist today reflecting their grave. Exterminator's gravestone is in the former La France Pet Cemetery, now renamed Whispering Pines Pet Cemetery, Binghamton, New York , and is shared with the fellow Kilmer-owned and -raced horses Sun Briar (1915–1943) and the mare Suntica (1929–1947). In 1957, Exterminator

Court Manor - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-551: The two Colepeper (Culpeper) brothers and five other loyal friends by issuing a grant for a "porcon of Virginia ... bounded by and within the heads of the Rivers Rappahannock and Patawomecke....". The grant actually took force when Charles was restored to the throne in 1660 and it was recorded and a " Proprietary " created in the New World. At that time, the territory encompassed by the grant had not been explored and

1287-483: Was a surveyor's line run in 1746 to establish the limits of the " Northern Neck land grant " (also known as the "Fairfax Grant") in colonial Virginia . The land grant, first contrived in 1649, encompassed all lands bounded by the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers , an area of 5,282,000 acres (21,380 km ). By 1719, the lands had been inherited by Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1693–1781). By that time

1326-456: Was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse , the winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby and in 1922 Horse of the Year honors. The lanky chestnut colt was bred by F. D. "Dixie" Knight (Mrs. M.J. Mizner, Knight's mother, was said to be the actual breeder) and foaled at Almahurst Farm near Lexington, Kentucky . Exterminator was sired by McGee, who also produced Donerail , the winner of

1365-509: Was an exhibition run by Exterminator alone at Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero, Illinois , in September 1922. It was not for purse money , and none of his win, place or show finishes is affected by this walkover effort in a public workout. Racing until the age of 9, a relatively old age for a race horse, Exterminator was called by his many fans "Old Bones" or "The Galloping Hatrack" (amongst

1404-500: Was completed. Since 1985, acquisitions by Wehrmann have restored nearly 1,000 acres (4.0 km) of land to the estate, bringing the total landholdings to some 2,250 acres (9.1 km). The estate was home to Wehrmann's herd of purebred Aberdeen Angus cattle , operated by the firm Wehrmann Angus. Nicholas Wehrman, Sr. died on March 24, 2010, and the estate was sold. Court Manor is now a luxury wedding and event site. https://courtmanorvenue.com/ Fairfax Line The Fairfax Line

1443-704: Was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame . The Blood-Horse ranking of the top 100 U.S. thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century put him at #29. His career record of 33 stakes wins has never been broken by any thoroughbred raced in North America. A children's book was written about him: Old Bones, the Wonder Horse , written by Mildred Mastin Pace and published by McGraw-Hill in 1955 with illustrations by Wesley Dennis. It

1482-532: Was not known. The seven original shares ultimately devolved to Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1657–1710), who married the only child, a daughter named Catherine, of Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper (1635–89). Thus the Northern Neck grant is commonly referred to as the "Fairfax Grant". The Commonwealth of Virginia frequently disputed the boundaries of the Fairfax Grant. In 1745,

1521-464: Was supposed to stay behind Sun Briar merely to urge him on to greater effort, but he ran easily beside the other horse unless held back. Sun Briar had topped his juvenile division, winning five of nine starts and being named U.S. Two-Yr-Old Champion Colt . McDaniel was impressed by Exterminator and considered him the most intelligent thoroughbred he had ever known. As the Derby approached, Sun Briar developed ringbone and Kilmer suddenly had no horse for

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