Stature, Nutrition and Horse racing

 I have always been "on the small side"--I am flanked by my Long cousins Bob and Steve---the three of us were born within 6 weeks of one another.  While many kids had wooden blocks on the bike pedals, I'm one of the few who had wooden blocks on the brake pedal in my first car.

When I reached my adult height of 5' 1.5", I looked around and decided I'd been "cheated".  I was smaller than both of my parents AND all of my grandparents.  Wasn't nutrition supposed to give me a boost?  I was determined to "show the world" that my height didn't matter.

 I tried out for every athletic team in high school, but only made the basketball team.  I think the coach thought I'd be annoying to the "forwards"  waving my arms, dancing and jumping around using distraction as my main weapon like a demented mosquito.  That was all for naught when we played Wellston high school: I thought those forwards were going to swat me right off the basketball court.  

But, I still puzzled why was I so short, but  saddled with the family name of "Long". God does have a sense of humor. I did not look at my dad's side of the family who bore the name "Long" but Mom's with the photo of my grandmother with her mother.  My grandmother was about 5'4" but her mother was below 5' and wore children's shoes. So, I always looked to Mattie as the reason I was so short. We have no photos of my great-grandfather G. W. Watson, but I assumed he was of normal height since Grandma was.

My great grandfather, G. W.,  died when Grandma was very young---he was killed by a horse.  Oddly my mother's other grandfather was also killed by a horse before my grandfather was born.  Mother reasoned that they were probably racing horses like teen agers race cars today.  

Being a genealogist, I searched Newspapers.com for articles about each of my great grandfathers  to find out more about their deaths (both before death certificates in Missouri).  I still haven't found anything about their deaths but I did find something very interesting.  There was a G. W. Watson racing horses from New Orleans to St. Louis.  I have no proof that this is my great grandfather other than the name, a connection to horses, in the Mississippi River valley and there is no record of him after 1909 (my great grandfather died before 1910).  The article pictured was about the Delmar race track in St. Louis.  Note how much he weighed--105 pounds.

I am going to assume that G. W. was a very small man.  While still puzzling over my grandmother being "normal" sized, I have begun reading the historical novel HORSE by Geraldine Brooks. In the book, the former slave, Harry, recalls how he achieved his small stature by having his growth stunted by his owner so he could be a jockey.  As a child if he gained weight, he was only fed one turnip and a pint of milk. . . .

Dollie Cates and Vennie Watson

Both Mattie and G. W. grew up in very poor families who lived in Tennessee and Arkansas.  She was a servant for another family at 12 years old.  He was also "farmed out" as a young teen. Undoubtedly they both had stunted growth.  When G. W. died, Mattie went to live with the Cates family as the house keeper.  Grandma grew up within that family and is even pictured with Dollie.  I think Grandma's height is thanks to the good nutrition provided by the Cates family. (click here for more about the Cates family and us)

So, why am I so "below average" in height?  Looking at photos of Mattie's distant cousins, they were all small.  So Mattie's genes made me naturally small, but nutrition and exercise have helped me attain and  maintain my height.  Like my great grandfather who used his small stature to become a jockey, I turned away from basketball and competed in gymnastics where being small was an advantage.

 G. W. being a jockey also explains why my grandparents went to Fairmount Park every weekend the horses were racing.  Horse racing was in their blood.  And, me?  One of my favorite memories of visiting Dave's parents in Arcadia, California was going to the morning workouts at Santa Anita to watch the horses and jockeys "warming up" before the races.  I may not ride, have never owned a horse, but somewhere in my ancestral past is a love of horse racing.