Descendants of Christopher R. Perry-- Part 2: Aviators and Horse Racing

**   Great Grandson, Rear Admiral S. Rodgers (1858-1931) Spanish-American War and World War I.

Two other descendants came through Christopher Perry's daughter, Anna Maria Perry Rodgers

 **  Calbraith Perry Rodgers  (1879-1912), a pioneer American  aviator who was the first civilian to own a Wright Flyer and the first to make a transcontinental flight.

**   Commander John Rodgers (1881-1926), Navy officer and early aviator.

Through his son Matthew's daughter, Caroline Slidell Belmont, he was great grandfather to:

**  Perry Belmont, a statesman who also served in the Army  during the Spanish-American War and World War I.

**  August Belmont Jr (1853-1924) was an American financier and builder of New York's Belmont  racetrack and a major breeder/owner of thoroughbred racehorses.  (Part of horse racing's Triple Crown.)

Still More to Come.  This Is Quite a Family.    --Brock-Perry

A Horse Mystery at Fort Meigs in Ohio

From the January 3, 2016, Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch "Archaeology:  Fort dig uncovered War of 1812 horse mystery."

Excavations in 2001 at Fort Meigs in Ohio found the bones of  a large draft horse and a smaller cavalry horse.  They were found together in a shallow grave southwest of the fort.  The area is being tested for a new museum.

The draft horse was wearing horseshoes.  The smaller one had just one and the other three were gone.

The larger horse had a broken neck and leg and might have been injured.  The smaller horse had a load of buckshot in its chest.  Was the buckshot from the British or perhaps used to kill the injured horse?

General William Henry Harrison wrote the Secretary of War that the army's horses suffered considerably during the British siege of Fort Meigs.  "Many were killed."

--Brock-Perry