American Dexter Cattle Association

     Mabel Satterlee Ingalls, now in her late eighties but mentally a great deal younger, has been an 'aficionado' of Dexters for the greater part of her life.  Her mother, Louisa Satterlee, a New Yorker like her daughter, acquired her first three Dexters in 1929 from Daniel Guggenheim, whose Hempstead House herd was purchased from Howard Gould, one of the first Dexter owners in America.  At the time when Mrs. Satterlee acquired her animals, Dexter owners were somewhat in limbo since the American Kerry and Dexter Club, which was originally established in 1911, had ceased to operate and was not reactivated until 1940.  Nevertheless, Mrs. Satterlee's Dover House Farm herd continued to expand and the herd book of 1954 reported her to have been the owner/breeder of 2 bulls and some 9 cows/heifers.  Mrs. Satterlee claimed Dexter cream to be unsurpassed, particularly when used with fresh strawberries from her own garden, a taste passed on to her daughter, Mrs. Ingalls.

     Mrs. Ingalls followed in her mother's footsteps and started her own Clove Brook herd in the early 1940's.  Over the following 20-25 years she made determined efforts to improve the Dexter breed in this country by importing high quality animals from England.  Among her last imports in 1966 was a fine bull, Parndon Bullfinch, an offspring of Parndon Daffodil, who she purchased from Dr. W.R. Thrower, one of the foremost English Dexter breeders of that time.  Bullfinch was actually born while his dam was on her way from England to Mrs. Ingalls' New York State Farm.

     Mrs. Ingalls was one of the first Dexter owners to realize the importance of artificial insemination, not only as a method of improving the quality of Dexters in America, but more importantly, she thought that it would enable the general public to acquire Dexters more easily and less expensively.  She has always believed that they were the ideal all-purpose animals for the small property owner.  She was a founding member in the 60's of the American Dexter Breeders Inc., an affiliate of the American Dexter Cattle Association (ADCA) and her bull, Parndon Bullfinch, was one of the first from whome semen was drawn and made available to ADCA members.  One of her more recent bulls, Yom Kippur of Clove Brook, an offspring of her English bred Parndon Dutchess, was the last of her bulls to have been used for that purpose.  Both Parndon Bullfinch and Yom Kippur were excellent examples of high Dexter quality in this country for which dedicated Dexter owners like Mrs. Mabel Ingalls and others deserve high praise.

     Although Mrs. Ingalls is no longer involved in the day-to-day management of her Clove Brook Dexter herd, her enthusiasm for the breed continues unabated.