Jim Key The World's Smartest Horse: BlackHistory (Jerry Skinner Documentary)

[Music] we're traveling north on the historic Natchez Trace Parkway well on our way to Shelbyville Tennessee we're trying to locate the grave of one of the most remarkable horses that ever lived the horse's name Jim key even though Shelbyville is a race horse country Jim key is not a race horse and in his day Jim was worth more than any race horse in the world well made Jim so special it's been said that he had the equivalent of a sixth-grade education he seemed to actually understand a portion of the English language Jim was the real deal he actually was that smart in order to understand Jim key we must understand his friend owner and trainer dr. William key William bill Key was born into slavery in 1833 some 29 years before the beginning of the Civil War when Captain John Key of Murfreesboro died he left a will leaving a slave family along with five-year-old bill key to his cousin John Dubuque II of Shelbyville Tennessee even at a young age bill had a love for animals especially horses it was soon evident to everybody that bill had a special way with horses and he was soon put in charge of their care bill became a favorite of the key family especially Martha miseries key she taught bill etiquette skills that he will use the rest of his life and she allowed him to learn to read alone beside her sons her husband's father was disabled and she found that he was much calmer and more satisfied when Bill was around you ever leave Martha of Hebda deal with her sometime irate father-in-law during the years before the Civil War bill read books on the care of animals he even learned about pulling teeth and the key family slaves learned to the pea bill for their own medical care when the Civil War started bill was central of John Key's sons to fight for the Confederacy he was to see that the boys made it through safely while at Fort Donelson Tennessee Bo built a log covered dugout to stay in and while the troops only had canvas tents and when the Union bombarded the fort the boys were safe in Bill's dugout that they nicknamed fort bill when Fort Donelson surrendered Billy the boys snuck through the enemy lines and located the Confederate forces of General Nathan Bedford Forrest after the war bill returned with the key brothers to the plantation in Shelbyville they found mr. key had passed away and the plantation was heavily mortgaged and in disarray with the south in ruins the only one capable of making money was Bill because the local people remembered that he was one of the best animal doctors in the area in those days animals were extremely important to people in some cases it meant whether a family would be able to eat or not anyone that can cure a sick animal became very important Bill had a special technique of showing kindness to all animals and he had learned how to combine herbs for medicine soon he was in such demand he started his own Animal Clinic he began selling his own patent medicine Keystone liniment to show respect the people began calling him doctor key bill made enough money that he paid off the mortgage to the key plantation that has said that bill financially assisted the key family all of his life when dr. key was asked why he remains so close to the key family that it once owned him his answer was I was one of those fortunate men who had a kind master three years after the war dr. William key married Lucy Davison in 1868 they were a man med for 17 years until her death at the age of 53 in 1885 while dr. key was married to Lucy he developed a traveling medicine show where he sold key stone liniment Dave his show he trained dogs and small donkeys to do tricks using his technique of being kind to animals dr. key but this time had become quite successful he was able to own several other businesses using the money that he had made from his veterinary clinic and key stone liniment that same year that he lost his wife Lucy he was traveling through Tupelo Mississippi when he spotted a badly abused circus Arabian bay mare dr. key paid $40 for Loretta and began nursing her back to health with key stone liniment of course his plans was to breed Loretta a strong Arabian Bay with Tennessee volunteer a standard bridge stallion he was hoping to get the fastest racehorse in the world in the meantime dr. key had married Lucy Davis and sister Hattie unfortunately had he will not live long and bill will soon lose his second wife after Hattie doctor key will marry dr. Lucinda Davis Lucinda had a medical degree from Howard University she was one of the first black women to practice medicine in the state of Tennessee although Lucinda was a medical doctor she shared the love of animals with her husband in 1889 when dr. key was 56 years old and he was hoping Loretta would produce a racehorse instead he got a spindly leg coat that found it hard to even stand he even contemplated at one time of having the coat put down but instead the coach mother Loretta died and dr. key felt sorry for the phone when the little horse refused to leave dr. keyes said he brought the coat in the house and made him a bed of quilts in front of the fireplace Lucinda was very understanding about keeping a small horse in her house dr. Kiba this time had gained the coat Jim after the town drunk for the unstable duei that they both walked it was Lucinda that first noticed how smart Jim was he would imitate their trick dog by sitting and rolling over in fetch when they told the dog too Jim would do the same while living with the keys Jim began understanding common words one day Lucinda was eating an apple and just happened to ask Jim if he wanted a bite when Jim began nodding his head up and down she was shocked and then she asked him if he wanted to go out in the cold rain and then Jim started swinging his head from side to side soon Jim was helping himself to the Apple drawer and closing it back Lucinda told her husband and dr. key begin training Jim all kinds of things as Jim got older dr. key had a room or a stable built on to his house Jim made such a fuss that Bill had to move his cot in the room with him and on the 21st of August 1896 dr. key lost his third wife dr. Lucinda Davis at the age of 37 she's buried in the willow mound Cemetery in Shelbyville and next year after Lucinda's death dr. key and Jim whom by this time he had give Jim his last name went on a road to sell Keystone liniment dr. key would tell the crowd how spindly and sick Jim had been and Jim would wobble around and act sick and finally just fall completely down and then dr. key would say I give Jim some Keystone liniment oil and all of a sudden Jim would jump to his feet and prance around full of energy and the crowd would cheer they loved it and they bought the liniment Jim was spell at the level of 6th grader it was said from a land of letters A through Z he would place the letters of a word in correct order he could add correctly any numbers up to 25 he could tell time if someone from the audience said it was 215 or whatever Jim would go to the clock and turn the hands to the right place president William McKinley saw Jim perform at the exhibition in Tennessee after observing Jim's amazing act President McKinley said this is the most astonishing and entertaining exhibit I've ever witnessed it was an example of what kindness and patience can accomplish bill said he never mistreated Jim or raised his voice to him Jim was raised as a human and he treated him as such after the newspapers reported what President McKinley had said about Jim promoter Albert R Rogers offered a large sum of money to dr. key to buy Jim of course bill refused he could not sell his friend but dr. key did allow Rodgers to promote Jim's act rogers had promised to make them both millionaires and he did during the late 1890s and early 1900s Jim key become the most famous act in the nation setting all records it made dr. William key the most famous trainer and animal doctor and one of the most famous Americans of his day Jim was now being called by his promoters beautiful Jim key and he was around this time dr. key marriages fourth wife Maggie Davis she was a younger sister of dr. Lucinda Davis who died early as you may notice bill made two sets of sisters Jim have become so valuable he traveled in a private rail car and had to groovers dr. Keyes brother-in-law's Sam and Stanley Davis just to look after Jim's welfare Jim had developed a relationship with a little stray dog named monk Billie incorporated milk into the act by riding on Jim's back and Jim showed kindness to monk and it was thought that monk was good company for Jim dr. key and mr. Rogers had promoted be kind to animals and millions of kids and grownups and a pledge of candies this was something sort of new for in those days where horses were considered to be a beast of burden Jim key was so amazing many people thought it was a trick in order to show that Jim was actually that educated dr. key allowed him to be tested now this is an article from the Boston Globe on the 27th of October 1901 it reads a number of professors from Harvard made a special trip to CGM Key yesterday for the purpose of examining him from a psychological viewpoint some persons haven't expressed the opinion that the animal had been hypnotized after a state through true performances during which the professor's made a careful examination of Jim Keyes mathematical ability and also interviewing dr. key the horse trainer they came to the conclusion that Jim was simply educated in 1904 the small town of Iuka Mississippi won the Blue Ribbon for having the purest water and papsmear won the Blue Ribbon for the best beer at the st. Louis World's Fair beautiful GM key was the biggest attraction at the fair averaging as much as twenty thousand visitors per night one of Jim's more famous spectators at the fair was Alice Roosevelt niece of President Theodore Roosevelt when Jim was asked to spell Alice Roosevelt someone yelled out what about her fiance Nicholas Longworth Jim quickly added Longworth to her name by 1906 after their record-breaking season Jim was affected by rheumatism and dr. key was tired and his health was failing their plan was to rest a year at home and return to the road later three years later on 18 October 1909 dr. William key passed away at the age of 76 his funeral was one of the largest in the state attended by both black and white mortars dr. key is buried at the will of my own cemetery you simply go through the main gate and continue until the day it in and then turn right dr. key was on the left only a few hundred feet ahead he's buried next to his third wife dr. Lucinda Davis and his last wife her sister Maggie Davis at his feet after dr. Keyes death his brother-in-law dr. Stanley Davis took over looking after Jim and dr. Keyes veterinary clinic on a cool autumn day in 1912 three years after dr. Keyes dead beautiful Jim key passed away at the age of 23 he was first bid in the front yard of the key estate and on October the 8th 1933 Maggie Davis bills laughs wife we'll pass away at the age of 70 she'll be very close to a husband dr. William key Maggie's relatives years later we'll move Jim from the keys home place to a beautiful peaceful location some three miles south of Shelbyville simply take Highway 130 south from Sheva Ville and Jim is rest in just west of the intersection at Himes Ville Road and singleton Road Jim is resting by itself and many people into air have no idea who beautiful Jim key was and the influence that he and his friend and owner dr. William Key had on changing the attitude of the nation towards animals [Music] [Music]

Channel: Jerry Skinner

Views: 79,233

Keywords: Dr. William Key, Jim Key

Id: FWdJVLMxDWE

Length: 17min 15sec (1035 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 03 2019