John Edward Madden (December 28, 1856 – November 3, 1929) was a prominent American Thoroughbred and Standardbred owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

He worked for four years in the local steel mills as a teenager and often fought in prizefighting as a young man to earn money.

Boasting an athletic build, at nearly six feet tall and weighing 180 pounds, Madden excelled in baseball, running and broad jumping.

[2] Adept at recognizing subtle differences in gait and performance in Standardbreds, both pacers and trotters, from his time driving and training horses, Madden soon amassed a small fortune from buying promising but unseasoned animals, at low prices, developing them into winners and selling them at a profit.

"[1] Madden notably owned Class Leader, who set a track record at the Cleveland Grand Circuit Race in 1887, Robert McGregor and Siliko.

[3] Madden also bred Trigger, Princess Doreen, King James, Emotion, Southern Maid, Flora Fina, and Sir Martin.

Starting in 1908, Madden began burying his most prized broodmares, stallions and trotting horses in a small horseshoe-shaped cemetery on the grounds of Hamburg Place.

During his training and breeding career, Madden mentored William Collins Whitney, a former Secretary of the Navy and fellow Thoroughbred enthusiast.

[3] After Whitney fired the trainer Sam Hildreth due to perceived poor performance, he persuaded Madden to train his horses, although the latter was reluctant.

[7] In 1905, after learning that his estranged wife planned to take their sons to Europe and fearing she would not return them, Madden took the boys from the convent school they attended in Madison, New Jersey.

Later that year Anna Madden married the wealthy New York City broker and turfman Louis Valentine Bell (1853–1925).

[9] Madden finally secured full custody of their sons and filed for divorce from Anna Madden-Bell in February 1909.

He died soon after two other great horse trainers, Sam Hildreth and James Rowe Sr.[3] The Madden sons inherited Hamburg Place and $2 million from his estate.

[13] Nearly eleven years later, his brother Edward Madden also committed suicide, dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on February 26, 1943, at Hamburg Place.