The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana • Page 92

52 Alexandria Dally Town Talk Centennial Edition March 18, 1983 6 9 ooo UW(BW 1KB WW Lecomte a champion of his time Ucomt was on of the finest racehorses belonging to Jefferson Wells of Dentley Springs. The horse was named after Ambrose Lecomte, Wells' friend. orseracing was a popular pastime in early Central Louisiana. Race tracks at Natchez and New Orleans attracted the most prosperous sportsmen, but the sport was not limited to those places. There were small tracks scattered throughout Central Louisiana where people gathered on Sunday afternoons to watch races of horses that would never match the bloodlines of the animals racing in New Orleans and Natchez.

Thomas Jefferson Wells and his brother, Montfort, figured prominently at the big races. Both of these sons of Levi Wells of Rapides Parish attended Transylvania College in the blue grass region of Kentucky. They became acquainted with racing enthusiasts and fine horses around Lexington and in South Carolina as well. The two brothers married sisters, daughters of Hatch Dent, himself a large planter and influential in state politics. Montfort and Jefferson Wells entered into a cooperative arrangement involving two large plantations, Wellswood on Bayou Boeuf and Dentley in the hill country stretching to the back of the "front" plantation on the Boeuf.

Large springs of cold water gushed from the woodsland on the back plantation and the site was called Dentley Springs. There was such a generous supply of pure cold water at the source that the village that came to be named for Wells' racehorse was supplied with drinking water from these springs. Montfort Wells' Wellswood Plantation dealt with row crops for the combined operations, and at Dentley Springs Jefferson Wells specialized in breeding fine livestock and race horses. Wells marked a track at the crest of a small hill where his horses were trained for racing, and he planted crepe myrtles along the lines of the oval track. A slave named Hark or Hawk was responsible for training the horses.

He was given recognition by contemporaries for his part in making a chestnut colt one of the greatest race horses of his time. Wells, according to Dr. G.M.G. Stafford in his book on the Wells family, had "the reputation of being one of the most-successful breeders and turfmen in the United States." According to Stafford, a colt was foaled at Dentley and named for Wells' friend, Ambrose Lecomte (sic). Lecomte was a planter and racing enthusiast; he lived on a Cane River plantation and also bred horses.

Some accounts say that Lecomte gave the colt to Jeff Wells, although it is more likely the Stafford version is the correct one. The chestnut colt was out of a mare by the name of Reel belonging to Wells. Wells arranged to breed Reel to Boston, one of the greatest horses in the world at the time. A racing journal gives the following description of Lecomte: "Lecomte is a rich chestnut, with white on one hind leg, which reaches a little above the pastern joint. He stands fifteen hands three inches in height.

Is in a fine racing form, and well spread throughout his frame, with such an abundance of bone, tendon, and muscle, that he would be a useful horse for any purpose. His temper is excellent; he is easily placed in a race and yet responds promptly to the extent of his ability. He never tears himself and his jockey to pieces by attempting to run away. His action is low, smooth and easy. His stride is about twenty-three feet, and he gets away from the score like a quarter-horse.

He has a constitution of iron, the appetite of a lion, would eat sixteen quarts of feed if it was given to him, and can stand as much work as a team of mules. In a word, he has all the good points and qualities of both sire and dam, without their defects; consequently he is about as fine a specimen of a thoroughbred as can be found in this or any other country." In time, Lecomte and her half-brother, Lexington, both by Boston, were rivals for turf honors. The two horses raced April 1, 1854, at the Metairie race track. Lexington beat Lecomte on a muddy track. Wells and Lecomte supporters charged that it was only the mud that enabled Lexington to win and that the two could only be judged on a dry track.

The next Saturday, April 8, the Jockey Club scheduled a second four-mile race at the same track. There was a $2,000 prize for the winner. Lexington, Lecomte, and a third horse, Reube, were entered. Lexington was favored. The weather was perfect.

The track was dry and in fine condition. Lecomte took the lead and held it to the finish in the first heat, beating Lexington by six lengths and breaking the world record with a time of 7:26. A second heat produced the same results with Lecomte winning by four lengths and running Lecomte was crowned champion of the American turf. So proud were the folks back home that the little village nearest Dentley changed its name to Lecomte. It had gone by a number of names earlier New Town, White's Landing, Smith's Landing.

Now it became, permanently, Lecomte. About three decades later when the Texas and Pacific Railway was laid over the tracks of the Ralph Smith Smith Railroad, a depot was needed. When it was constructed and the name of the village was to be painted on it, the painter didn't know how to spell Lecomte. He supplied an unneeded and thus the spelling came to be as it is: Lecompte. After the famous race, the Wells brothers sold Lecomte to Richard Tenbroech for $10,000.

In the spring of 1856 the horse was shipped to England. Aboard the steamer Lecomte developed pneumonia and died. Jefferson Wells owned other horses of national reputation, including War Dance and Pryoress. He spent his life dedicated to his special interest in livestock breeding and horse racing. He was, perhaps, left to do so largely because of the tragedy of his wife's illness.

He married Martha Lucie Dent, a younger sister of Montfort Wells' wife, on Jan. 1 2, 1 829. A few years after the marriage, she suffered irreparable brain damage when she fell from a horse. Although she outlived her husband by 15 years, she developed mental illness and was an invalid for most of their married lives. She died at Wellswood in 1 877.

The couple had no children. Horseracing was as big in New Orleans during the 1 800s as it was in Central Louisiana. In time, the Metairie track became one of the nation's most resplendent courses. (Photo courtesy of the Collections of the Library of Congress).