Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Frank Page ( Colored ) Traner Of Gen. Lee's Horse.

Frank Page.
TRAINER OF TRAVELER, FRANK PAGE.

The readers of the Veteran are just now especially interested in Traveler, General Lee's war horse. A history of him has been published several times, but the first man who ever rode him has not yet been mentioned. The photograph here presented is a good likeness of Frank Page, as he was known to the people of Lewisburg, W. Va., when he was performing the duties of janitor at the school building and bank. He was born in 1846 a slave, the property of Mr. A. D. Johnston, near Blue Sulphur Springs, Va. (now West Virginia) ; and when quite a lad, he broke  the colt "Jeff" which afterwards became the favorite Traveler of General Lee.  This servant handled horses with much skill, and "breaking the colts" was his business. So he came to have the honor of being the first rider of Jeff (Traveler), and trained him for exhibition at the Lewisburg Fair in 1860.

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