The Chase Magazine, February, 1952, Page Fourteen > >Tennessee Lead > >Major Shed and Dr. Mose Armstrong were middle aged men one hundred years ago.  Each owned over 1,000 acres of land in the forks of Holston and French Broad Rivers, a few miles East of Knoxville, Tenn.  Both had packs of foxhounds.  They were well educated, took the periodicals and papers of their day so heard about outstanding hounds and were constantly ordering hounds from Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina just as did the Kentucky Walkers of that day.  Dr. Mose was the father of Dr. Aaron and "Uncle" Jim was a contributor to all kinds of periodicals and papers.  I found one old faded clipping dated 1883.  Later on he was a frequent contributor to the Red Ranger and Chase, and our local Knoxville daily papers.  "Uncle" Jim also kept careful records of the breeding of his hounds, going back almost to the Civil War.  From the first field trial ever held in the South until just before his death he tried to attend every one possible and was always called "Uncle" Jim by everybody. Some twenty or twenty-five years ago, I was attending some field trial.  It was in the afternoon and all of us were impatiently waiting for the Judges to figure out and post the scores.  A half dozen of us were huddled together when the subject of Tennessee Lead came up, and immediately, "Uncle" Jim took over, and as I heard him tell the same story several times later, here is his version of old Tennessee Lead just as he told it. "I heard my father and Uncle Major tell the story so many times that I can repeat every detail.  Back some twelve or fifteen years before the Civil War, Uncle Major had bought a very fast hound from South Carolina (Maryland or July breeding) and my father had crossed this hound on a little black and white spotted gyp that was the leader of his pack.  All the pups grew up to be real foxhounds; about half of them being kept by the Doctor and the other half by Uncle Major.  However, there was a freak in the litter, Black Lead, that was much too fast for his mates and all other native hounds, so if they wanted to hear a good race, Uncle Shed fastened Black Lead up and left him at home." "A Mr. Caldwell that hunted with my father and Uncle Shed, wanting to get a little more speed into his pack so borrowed Black Lead to keep for a while and get some of his pups.  He lived near Morristown.  While he was keeping Black Lead a horse trader who introduced himself as a Mr. Harris spent a night there and after he left next day the Caldwells missed Black Lead.  They thought that perhaps he was out running but when he did not turn up after a few days they sent a messenger down to the Armstrongs to see if he had returned home.  Uncle Shed then had what he thought was the fastest buggy mare in the State.  She won all trotting matches at the County Fairs. After about a week, with this fast mare hitched to the buggy, Uncle Major and Mr. Caldwell started out to try to track down the dog thief.  They picked up his trail and worked it as far as Elizabethtown.   Then they kept on the same direction toward Bristol but could not pick up the trail so gave it up.   Later they found he had headed toward Cumberland Gap.  Neither the Armstrongs nor Mr. Caldwell ever saw Black Lead again.  Many years passed before the fame of old Tennessee Lead reached the ears of the Armstrongs, but since the time agreed, and the description of the hound and also that he was bought from a horsetrader and also the place he turned up, there was never a doubt in the minds of the old Doctor or Major Shed Armstrong but that Tennessee Lead was none other than their stolen Black Lead."  Uncle Jim closed his remarks with, "You understand, Sir!  There is no question but that Tennessee Lead was an Armstrong bred hound." "Uncle" Jim was so sold on that story and told it so convincingly that most everyone who heard him was inclined to agree that he was right. B. Rule Stout Assisted by W. Frank Armstrong