Town Salutes Ham Industry’s Bermuda Founder
The Virginia town of Smithfield — synonymous with ham for more than 300 years — is going the whole hog this weekend with a lecture that will explain how a Bermuda seafarer founded its world renowned industry.
Bermuda-born Captain Mallory Todd, who lived in the town beginning in 1767, is credited with creating the first business curing and shipping Smithfield ham.
This Sunday [Apr. 28] Tracey Neikirk, Isle of Wight County Museum curator and registrar, will recount Smithfield’s connection to ham dating from the 18th century.
“I’ve been researching the topic since I started” at the museum in 2007, said Ms Neikirk, who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history.
Captain Todd sided with colonists during the Revolutionary War and used his sailing vessels to bring arms and supplies to the colonies, according to: “Smithfield, A Pictorial History” by Segar Cofer Dashiell.
Mallory Todd’s son, John R. Todd, later took over the pioneering ham business his father founded in 1779. The Isle of Wight County Museum is at 103 Main Street, Smithfield, and the walk-in event is free.
The Virginia town is most famous for the curing and production of the Smithfield ham. The Virginia General Assembly passed a statute defining “Smithfield ham” by law in 1926, with one of the requirements that it be processed within the town limits.
Currently, Smithfield Foods, a Fortune 500 Company that owns Smithfield Packing Company and others, is the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. The company, based in Smithfield, raises 12 million and processes 20 million hogs annually.
