Count Noble

Count Noble
Born	August 1, 1879[1]
Died	January 20, 1891(1891-01-20) (aged 11)[2]
Resting place	The National Bird Dog Museum Grand Junction, Tennessee
Occupation	Llewellin Setter show dog[2]
Known for	Famous dog
Home town	Sewickley, Pennsylvania[2]
Parents	Count Windom (sire) Nora (dam)[2]

Count Noble (1879–January 20, 1891) was a male Llewellin Setter. He was so well-known that when he died in 1891, The New York Times ran an obituary.^[2] He was popularly known as the "$10,000 hunting dog."^[3] He was described as a "national symbol of what was great in bird dogs."^[3]

Benjamin Frederick Wilson, Count Noble's owner

His owner, Captain Benjamin Frederick Wilson, was a banker and coal barge operator.^[3] While he was well-known for his hunting prowess and show skills, it was his prepotency, the ability to pass on his best traits to his progeny, that made him the most famous.^[3] In 1880, he won the national amateur Derby dog show.^[2] He was so famous that owners of other setters refused to compete in shows with him.^[2] Other shows offered special inducements in order to encourage his owner to compete.^[2]

A portrait of Count Noble by Edmund Osthaus hangs in the first-floor reading room of the Duquesne Club.^[3]

Following his death, his preserved body was displayed in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in a scene showing him hunting quail.^[3] The display was moved to The National Bird Dog Museum in Tennessee.^[3]

In 2011, American Kennel Club judge Richard LeBeau began an effort to raise $2,000 to establish a historical marker honoring Count Noble outside Osborne Elementary School, which stands on the site of Wilson's former home.^[3]

References

1. ^ Hardman, Ernie. "A Pedigree of Count Noble". Llewwllin Setter Online. http://www.llewellinsetter.net/CTNOBLE.HTM. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Death of Count Noble - A Famous Setter Dog Expires Near Pittsburg.". The New York Times. January 22, 1891. Archived from the original on 2011-01-23. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/pdf/201101/20110123obit_sewickley_dog_1891.pdf. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Pitz, Marylynne (January 23, 2011). "Honoring Count Noble, the 'Man O'War of English setters'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11023/1119853-51.stm. 

External links

• A Pedigree of Count Noble