His grandfather, Jabez A. Bostwick, was a partner of John D. Rockefeller and a founder and treasurer of the Standard Oil Trust.
During his time at Yale, he served as co-captain of the famous 1932 hockey team and declined an invitation to play in the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
He returned as a Lieutenant Colonel with a Bronze Star and a Belgian Croix de Guerre for his help in the organization of the Normandy Invasion in 1944.
He bred, trained and raced many successful Standardbred trotters from his Bostwick Stables in Shelburne, Vermont.
[3] Chris Spencer was also the first horse to fly on an airplane, from Vermont to California to win the Hollywood Stakes race in 1952.