HISTORY, SHE WROTE
Rosalie Yoakam
One of the most popular and the oldest American breed of swine, Poland China, was developed in Warren County in the mid-1800s. Poland China is a large meat breed that today is usually black with a white face, feet and tail tip with drooping ears.
This new hog type was the result of careful and selective breeding conducted by several farmers in Warren County. The region provided an ideal environment for raising pigs. Nature supplied nutritious grasses and nut-bearing trees. This, plus corn raised on local farms, was excellent feed to fatten the animals to sell.
A market for the hogs also was nearby. Middletown, in nearby Butler County, had a pork-packing industry and was located on the Miami-Erie Canal. It provided convenient transportation to Cincinnati. Cincinnati was referred to as “Porkopolis,” because pork products were shipped from there, on the Ohio River, to faraway places.
One type of pig raised in the Miami Valley was the Russia. In 1812, Thomas B. Van Horne bought two Russia hogs in the east, carried them in a basket to Pittsburg, then by boat to Cincinnati, and brought them to his farm one mile east of Lebanon. The Russia type is white, extra large in size, and quiet in temperament.
The Shakers of Union Village, west of Lebanon, are credited with a major role in the development of the Poland China hogs. In 1816, John Wallace, a Shaker trustee, went to Philadelphia. There he bought four Big China hogs, one boar and three sows and brought them back to Warren County to Union Village. One sow had sandy to black spots while the boar and the other two sows were white.
At Union Village the Big China hogs were bred with local swine, mainly the Russia and Byfield breeds. The Byfield also is white in color. Many of the early pigs produced by these crossings were spotted black and white. The breeders favored the black color and over time bred away most of the white. Early records indicate many of the Shaker hogs weighed around 500 pounds.
John Harkrader, an early farmer and hog breeder in Warren County, lived two miles southwest of the Shaker village. After hearing about the Shakers’ fine swine he bought his best sires from them. He was careful to provide clean shelter and give them good pasture, slop and water. In 1852, Harkrader took 400 pigs to Cincinnati. They averaged about 400 pounds each.
The new breed of pigs was at first called the Warren County Hog or Shaker Hog. The Poland China name became commonly used around the middle of the 1800s. In 1872, the National Convention of Swine Breeders decided to keep the Poland China name.
Contact this columnist at rdyoakam58@yahoo.com.