Book Review
Beautiful Jim Key
The Lost History of a Horse and a Man Who Changed the World By MIM EICHLER RIVAS
Reviewed by MARJORIE MORROW
Jim Key, the educated horse, performed before an estimated 10 million Americans during his 10 years of exhibition.

He became known as "The Greatest Crowd Drawer in America" and the "Marvel of the Twentieth Century." It was the press that gave him the name "Beautiful Jim Key." Today, a hundred years later, few people have heard of him.

The man wholly responsible for the training of this amazing horse was his owner, Dr. William Key, a self-educated, popular and successful veterinarian. Born a mulatto slave on the Key plantation, he was taught to read, write, and do math by his mistress and later, her two sons.

During the Civil War he cared for the horses for the men with General Bedford Forest and at the same time kept a watchful eye for the safety of the two Key men. Returning to Bedford County, Tennessee, after the war he continued treating horses and mules. His Keystone Liniment was very popular.

Dr. Key bought an Arabian mare which had been greatly abused in the circus. Under his tender care she was rehabilitated, paired with a Hamiltonian and produced a foal. What a disappointment! Dr. Key resisted the urging of the stable grooms to put it out of its misery. Instead he tended it until it began to findhis legs and thrive. Not having found a suitable name for him, he just called him "Jim."

Noting his extraordinary intelligence, Dr. Key began to teach him. Jim Key would eventually learn to read, spell, count, tell time, and count change. Teaching Jim was a slow but challenging process.

At first they appeared at county fairs; then at larger state fairs and exhibitions. Later they appeared in any arena large enough to hold the crowd. The larger events were arranged by Albert R. Rogers who was hired as a promoter and business manager.

At this time, little attention was given to the welfare of animals. Horses were raced until they died; carriage drivers knew only to use the whip; farm horses and mules were abused; 25,000 street car horses died annually.

In all of their shows, Dr. Bill and Jim Key stressed kindness to animals. Free performances for children encouraged them to join the Jim Key Band of Mercy. Membership in the humane societies tripled.

On the dust cover, Congressman Cooper writes: "My Father, a former Governor of Tennessee, actually saw the horse perform and said Jim and Dr. Key were miraculous."

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