THE CHESTER WHITE 739 



return from the fairs it was found that each had won the same 

 number of prizes. Accordingly a committee of Messrs. Thomas 

 Chenney and Aaron Clements was requested to settle the selection 

 of the name, and they chose Chester County White. 



The origin of the so-called Improved Chester White goes back 

 to England also. This has a special application to what is known 

 as Todd's Improved Chester White and is based on a statement 

 by S. H. Todd, and adopted January 16, 1901, by the American 

 Chester White Record Association. This is the most detailed 

 information published concerning the ancestry of the improved 

 breed. In 1827 W. K. Townsend of East Haven, Connecticut, 

 imported from England some Norfolk Thin Rind pigs. These 

 were black dotted with white, or white belted with black, and were 

 blocky of type, short-legged, fine of hair, and vigorous. Kneeland 

 Todd and his brother Isaac bought a boar of this breed and a 

 white sow of medium size of a breed known locally in Connecticut 

 as the Grass breed. No doubt this sow was an Irish Grazier. 

 In 1830 the Todd brothers removed from Connecticut to Ohio 

 and brought these two pigs with them. These were bred together 

 in Ohio with considerable success, producing pigs that would 

 dress 365 pounds at nine months of age. In 1833 Joseph 

 Haskins removed from Massachusetts to Wakeman, northern 

 Ohio, and took with him a pair of pigs, a boar of the Byfield 

 breed, and a sow pig similar to the one brought from Connecticut 

 by the Todds. The Todd and Haskins pigs were bred back and 

 forth until 1848. That year Isaac Todd bought from Joel Meade 

 of Norwalk, Ohio, a large white boar which the seller called the 

 Large Grass breed. This was used in his herd on account of 

 its good-feeding and early-maturing quality. In 1862 Isaac Todd 

 secured a so-called Normandy boar of unknown breeding, white 

 in color, said to be of French ancestry. This nicked well with his 

 stock, and he produced superior feeders and handsome pigs, with 

 which he attained show-ring success. At the second state fair 

 held in Ohio, Isaac Todd with this stock vanquished all compet- 

 itors in the show ring. In 1865 Todd first introduced Chester 

 White blood in his herd with satisfactory results. At this period 

 his son, Seth H. Todd, took up the work. More Chester White 



blood was used, and in 1867 the son bought a pair of pure-bred 

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