Category:Chester White Hog

Originally called the Chester County White Hog, the Chester White breed originated in Chester County, Pennsylvania and thereby derived its breed name. Later, the "county" was dropped.

Before 1812, there were Yorkshire and Lincolnshire animals that had come from England. The Chester breed was derived in Jefferson County, New York. These three breeds were intermingled for some years prior to 1815. Sometime between 1815 and 1818, Captain James Jeffries had one Bedforshire or Cumberland boar imported from England. This boar was used extensively on white sows in the United States, from which the Chester White breed was started.

Thomas Sharpless was the first secretary of the first Chester White Record Association, which he started in 1884. Since then, several record associations developed as the breed spread across the country. The National Chester White Record Association was formed in 1893, with offices in West Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1885, an association was formed to record the "Todd" strain, which became the American Chester White Record Association in 1894, located in Columbus, Ohio. Also in 1894, the Standard Chester White Association was formed in Indianapolis, Indiana, and in 1909, the Western O.I.C. Recording Co., Inc. was formed in Nebraska.

It was through the efforts of F.F. Moore, Rochester, Indiana, that all of these associations and recording offices were combined into the Chester White Swine Record Association, with headquarters in Lima, Ohio. Eugene Black, Scio, New York, was the first president and F.F. Moore - with offices in Rochester, Indiana - the first secretary.

All of this gathering and combining of associations started about 1911. This trend continued until 1930, when the Chester White Swine Record Association was reincorporated under the laws of Delaware, with offices in Rochester, Indiana. The offices moved to Peoria, Illinois - the present location - on June 1, 1986.

Arthur Tomson, from Wabash, Indiana, became president in 1930 and served in this capacity until 1963. Levi P. Moore became secretary of the association in 1931 and served until 1968. J. Marvin Garner became secretary in 1968, upon the retirement of Levi P. Moore. Larry Rus assumed the secretaryship in 1969, following the resignation of J. Marvin Garner. In 1973, Lyle R. Alumbaugh became the secretary following the resignation of Larry Rus. In 1977, Daniel Parrish became secretary and continued for many years. The position is currently served by Jack Wall.

In 1910, the three elder sons of F.F. Moore Fred, Levi, and Jim - started the first breed magazine, the White Breeders Companion. This was in the period of few newspapers, no radio or television, and few other sources of news. The magazine often had over 200 pages. In July, 1918, the name of the White Breeder Companion was changed to Chester White Journal, the title carried today by the breed's official publication.