(above) Mrs. Lunt with several of her collies.
American Collie Breed Developed in Rahway
Submitted by Al Shipley, City Historian and Rahway Library Research Consultant
Mrs. Clara Lunt, a Rahway resident for thirty-eight years (1915 until her death in 1953), was an influential owner and breeder of pedigreed collies and a woman considered to be one of the early breeders to shape the destiny of the American Collie. As a breeder for over fifty years, her Alstead Kennels produced close to forty champions, several national winners, and many ribbon winners at the largest and most prestigious shows including Westminster (twice, 1914 and 1917) and the National Specialty Show. Her 1914 win at Westminster marked the first time an American bred collie was chosen over the perennial English winners at the famous venue. Active in the Collie Club of America, she served four years as president and worked as a judge at state and national shows for over forty years. In a circle of breeders that was almost completely dominated by men, her accomplishments reveal a woman who was more than able to stand tall among them.
The long-haired collie, a breed that goes back to before the 18th century, was bred for herding sheep in the Scottish Highlands. After the Industrial Revolution, dog ownership became fashionable and when Queen Victoria was seen with a collie at her side, the breed became a status symbol. By the second half of the 1800s, the collie, originally bred for a life of hard field work, had become a popular entry in the English show rings. The high quality of the English champions soon became the envy of the dog world and American kennel owners wanted a piece of the action. In 1879, the first collies were imported into the States and when the imports began taking top prizes, other American breeders followed suit and purchased English dogs to improve their stock. Mrs. Lunt was one such breeder. In a span of time that lasted over five decades, her Alstead Kennels would come to play a prominent role in the pedigrees of some of the most important collies in the early history of the breed.
From 1902 until 1915 Mrs. Lunt’s dogs were housed on a 200 acre farm in Belle Mead, New Jersey where she was in a partnership with another kennel. In 1915 she moved to Rahway, purchased a large Victorian Styled home on Jefferson Avenue facing Stanley Place and constructed Alstead Kennels on the acreage behind her home. Note: Hemlock Street was not put through to connect Madison Avenue and Jefferson Avenue until after her estate was razed in 1954.
Mrs. Lunt made a major acquisition in 1916 when she imported the highly acclaimed English winner, Ch. Laund Luminous who would go on to sire several champions for Alstead. The outstanding dog, that became available because of the perilous wartime conditions in England, brought Mrs. Lunt immediate rewards. In the first Annual American Kennel Club Show held by the Collie Club of New York on November 26, 1916, the dog won Best in Show in a field of 55 entries. The New York Times reported that the big surprise at the show, however, was another Alstead entry, Alstead Arbutus, the winner of the Puppy Class.
With the notoriety of her kennels on the rise, the Collie Club of America held a specialty show in Rahway. The show, held on June 9, 1917, featured 78 entries brought in from “all points on the compass.” A reporter from The Rahway-News Record covered the show and commented, “The ideal open-air surroundings on a charming spot of the Lunt premises, made an ideal setting that was highly credible to the club and to the city.” When the afternoon of entertainment, social mingling, and judging was over, Ch. Laund Luminous was chosen Best in Show. All proceeds from the show were donated to the American Red Cross toward the purchase of a field ambulance as the country was preparing to enter World War I. The donation was made as per the wishes of the host who was a member of the local motor corps.
It was said by her peers that Mrs. Lunt had knowledge of collies and the collie type that was unrivaled and she continued to populate Alstead with the best dogs England had to offer. In 1922 she acquired the very beautiful Ch. Seedley Queen who would go on to produce a bevy of champions. Undoubtedly Mrs. Lunt’s most important contribution to the breed was the fact that she was not selfish with the wealth of her Alstead breeding stock. After obtaining English dogs to build her own program, she passed them on to other owners, thus enhancing the entire breed. Most of the important kennels of the 1920s and 1930s had Alstead in their pedigrees. To a large degree, it was because of the breeding program at Alstead that the American Collie was able to surpass the quality of the English dogs by 1925.
No one at the time enjoyed a more prominent or highly respected position in the collie world then Clara Lunt. Having been on the scene in the early years and having endured through the most critical periods, she created a family of quality type collies that blended well with almost every American line. According to Gayle Kaye, a long-time collie breeder, owner of Chelsea Kennels (Cal.), respected show judge, and writer, the dogs bred at Alstead “were a major factor in developing and establishing breed type in this country. Kaye praised the breeding program of Mrs. Lunt calling her, “the mother of the American Collie” and Alstead “the place where the American Collie truly began.”
(above) Advertisement in a 1916-1917 Rahway City directory.
(above) One of Alstead’s champions – Ch. Alstead Spotland Sterling
