Ike vs Carr : Mercer's Clash of the Speed Titans 1856
- Aug 4
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 6
Published 8/4/2026
In the middle of the 19th century, before organized track meets on standard oval tracks began in Mercer, there were contests of speed in the capital county. They took place in the form of foot races.. Also known as pedestrianism in those times, the contests were commonly match-races, paring off two individual runners.
Runners were professionals. The usual reward for such contests were money prizes, and wagers among spectators were common. The first documented sprint races in Mercer took place in Trenton in the mid-1800s.
In November of 1856, a major sprint race in Trenton between David Carr of Wrightstown NJ, and Isaac "Lancaster Ike" Schultz who hailed from Kentucky was set to be contested near the Eagle Tavern Hotel on South Broad Street. The tavern was near the site of an old horse racing track called "The Eagle Course" that had closed in 1850. The winning prize was for $1,000.00 (a sum of money worth around $30,000.00 today).
The event was to be a return for Lancaster Ike who had competed in the city of Trenton 4 years previously in 1852. Like Lancaster Ike, David Carr too was a champion sprinter of the era and had just enjoyed a victory over a sprinter from NY. The preview of the race as reported in the NJ Herald was as follows:
The "New Yorker" whom Carr had beaten "some time ago" was Sewell A. Dodge. They competed over 100 yards on May 27th in Trenton. Dodge was a formidable opponent who had a personal best in the 200 Yards of 21 seconds, but Carr was faster in the 100. (Article about the race below).
Carr was busy in 1856. He had claimed additional victories that year. One was over a man named Barney, and the other The Trenton Historican Society reports was against Henry Horten, on July 1st, also in Trenton.
The Ike verses Carr battle was eventually moved to December, and as the pre-race hype grew, the reports of the epic matchup spread nationally. Papers around the country previewed the showdown. Stories were printed as far away as Louisville and New Orleans.
It seemed that the city of Trenton in Mercer County NJ was the center of the sprint universe in 1856. On race day 3,000 spectators showed up to watch Lancaster Ike go head to head with Carr. Many of the onlookers made wagers on who would be the winner.
Unfortunately, in an anti-climactic turn of events... the race never went off.
All that remained after the letdown was a vague and ambiguous account of the cancellation by the press:
No one will ever know what would have happened had Carr and Ike took to the line to settle which one was the faster. One can only speculate.
What's for sure is the forfeit was costly to Carr. He had to pay out $250.00 to NOT put his reputation on the line. That was a heavy sum of money in the mid 19th Century.
As for the two competitors, neither retired. They went on to take match races against other competitors in the following years. Many such match races occurred on the streets and athletic fields of Trenton.
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