OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tidbits of Ohio -- Part 9 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 February 21, 2005 ************************************************************************** Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Art & Literature and The Perkins family written by Darlene E. Kelley Tid Bits - Part 9 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ More of the Perkins Family Relations. The year was 1840 and the son of General Simon Perkins, the founder of Akron, was on his way to the State Legislature hoping to follow in his father's footsteps; to found a county, from three existing counties. Simon Perkins, Jr., a member of the State Senate, knew he would have to draw on every bit of his considerable powers of persuasion to achieve his goal. There was plenty of resistance from the citizens of Medina County to the west, Portage County to the east, and Stark County to the south. Firstly, the townships preferring to be part of the new county wanted to break from the counties in which they resided. Medina, Portage, and Stark. Secondly, the three counties preferred to see this abundant tract of land remain available to them. Senator Perkins had other ideas. His impassioned pleas to the State legislature reached just enough of his colleagues so that, on Feb 28, 1840, the formation of a new county was narrowly approved. The Governor signd it into law on March 3, 1840. The new County would be called " Summit " recognizing its high point alng the canal route. The controversey did not end in Columbus. A county seat needed to be named. It came down to Cuyahoga Falls or Akron. A suggestion was made to create a neutral town to be called "Summit City " that would serve as a county seat. That suggestion was quickly dismissed. Akron was finally designated as the county seat, when General Perkins, father of Simon Perkins, ended the dispute by donating a parcel of land on which a courthouse would be built and this is the very site where the County Courthouse stands today. Akron became the County Seat. With its advantageous location along the canal system, Summit County experienced rapid growth. The County would become a leader in a variety of industry, farm impliments, cereal, matches, pottery, paper products, wool, boat construction, and of course, rubber. Rubber industry carried the local community for over 90 years. Simon Perkins, Jr., married Grace Ingersoll Tod on Sept 23, 1832. She was the daughter of Judge George Tod and the sister of David Tod, the twentieth Governor of Ohio. They were born at Youngstown, Ohio. Grace was born around 1811. David Tod, her brother, was born in 1805. His education was principally obtained through his own exertions. He set about the study of law most vigorously, and was admitted to practice in 1827. He soon acquired popularity through his ability, and consequently was financially successful. He purchased the Briar Hill homestead. Under Jackson's administration, he was postmaster at Warren, and held the position until 1838, when he was elected State Senator by the Whigs of Trumbull district, by the Democrats. In 1844, he retired to Briar Hill, and opened the Briar Hill Coal Mines. He was a pioneer in the coal business of Ohio. In the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad, he was largely interested, and was its President after his father' s death. He was nominated, in 1844, for Governor, by the Democrats, but was defeated. In 1847, he went to Brazil as Minister, where he resided for four and a half years. The Emperor presented him with a special commendation to the President, as a testimonial of his esteem. He was also the recipient of an elegant silver tray, as a memorial from the residents of Rio Janeiro. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, which met in Charleston in 1860. He was Vice Preisdent of this Convention. He was an earnest advocate for Stephen A.Douglas. When the Southern Members withdrew, the President, Caleb Cushing, going with them, the convention adjourned to Baltimore, when Mr. Tod assumed the chair and Douglas was nominated. He was an honest worker in the cause, but not disheartened by its defeat. When Fort Sumter was fired upon, he was one of the most vigorous prosecutors of the war, not relaxing his active earnestness until its close. He donated full uniforms to Company B, of the nineteenth regiment, and contributed largely to the war fund of his township. Fifty-five thousand majority votes elected him Governor in 1861. His term was burdened with war duties,and he carried them so bravely as Governor that the Preisdent said of him " Governor Tod of Ohio aids me more and troubles me less than any other Governor." His death occurred at Briar Hill during the year 1868. [ NOTE*** Our David Tod Perkins-- Charles C. Perkins father, was named after this Uncle. ],,, Grace Ingersol Tod Perkins, wife of Col Simon Perkins, Jr., along with her sisters Mary Tod Evans and Julia Tod Ford, established the Ladies Cemetery Association, an important Gilded Age organization committed to the beautifcation of the Akron Rural Cemetery. Col Simon Perkins, Jr. was President. Until her death, she continued to support this Association, by helping to raise funds to beautify the Akron Rural Cemetery in sponsoring entertainment in form of concerts, picnics, and other social events to raise money for a cememtery groundskeeper and erected a residence on the property, a house for him to live in. Mary Ingersoll Tod Evans ( 1802-1869 ), Grace Tod Perkins' sister, a pioneer in philanthropic service to the Akron area, was said to be decades ahead of her time. She was born in Youngstown in 1802. She married twice. Her marriage to John McCurdy of Warren produced three children. McCurdy died in 1830. She then married Dr. Dana D. Evans of Akron. He died in 1849. Mary Evans became a leader and role model in 1851 through her involvement with the Young Men's Association, Women's Committee. A year later in 1852, she served on the Ladies Committee of the Fireman's Festival. During the Civil War, she was active in the Soldier's Aid Society, although never an officer in the organization, affiliated with Cleveland's Sanitary Commission: the Akron's Soldiers Aid Society contributed literally thousands of dollars worth of food and clothing to soldiers away fighting the civil war. These Akron women spent evenings knitting mittens and socks for soldiers. They also packed food and other goods to be used by the Army hospitals that cared for the wounded. This was located above a store on the South Howard street. The food and goods were shipped to the Clevelands's Sanitary Commission and then onto the hospitals that cared for the wounded. In addition, the organization raised much money by holding " dime parties." socials and dinners. Mary Evans also served as the matron of the Northern Ohio Hospital for the insane, as well as helping her sister's, Grace and Julia, in the Cemetery Association. Julia Tod Ford (1807-1885), Grace Ingersoll Tod Perkins sister, also played a key role in Akron's development. She was born in Youngstown in 1807. She married James Ford, who was a Judge in the Akron area. She too, played a instrumental role in the continued development in the Ladies Cemetery Association. In 1874, she turned her attention to the Temperance Movement. She signed the call for the rally for temperance in 1874. That meeting led to the now famous Temperance Crusade of 1874 where Akron women visited saloons and prayed in the streets in an attempt to close down the liquor traffic in the city. She continued to serve the Akron community until her death in 1885. If only one woman's name could be associated with the founding of Mary Day Nursery and Children's Hospital, that name would be Mary Rawson Perkins. It was Mary Rawson Perkins who had the vision to establish a day care facility for the children of working women in the city of Akron, Ohio. It was this nursery and the women associated with it that would lead to the development of Children's Hospital in Akron. Mary Folger Rawson was born in 1843, the daughter of Levi Rawson, mayor of Akron in 1847. Levi Rawson later moved to Cleveland and went into the mercantile shipping. Her brother, Charles Rewson, remained in Akron and married Maria Perkins, daughter of Col Simon Perkins and Grace Ingersoll Tod Perkins in 1863. Two years later, Mary Rawson married into the Perkins family as well. She married George Tod Perkins, also the son of Col Simon Perkins, who had just returned from the Civil War. The newlyweds moved to Perkins Hill. George Tod Perkins became an industrialist, establishing the Akron Steam Forge Works. They had two daughters; Grace, who died as a toddler and Mary Perkins, who married C.B. Raymond, an executive at B.F. Goodrich, and became a community leader in her own right. When George Tod Perkins died in 1910, Mary Rawson moved in with her daughter, Mary Perkins Raymond and donated the family's large home to the Sumner Home for the Aged. For the remainder of her life, Mary Rawson Perkins continued distributing the family wealth to health and welfare organizations in the city. In 1914, she provided funds to build a Nurses home on High street, adjacent to the Children's Hospital. She also gave sufficient funds to funish the entire home. She died at her daughter's home in January, 1916. Mary Perkins Raymond ( 1871-1948 ), continued the legacy of service to the Akron community that her mother, Mary Rawson Perkins and her Paternal grandmother, Grace Tod Perkins began. Born amd raised in Akron, she married Charles Raymond, a vice-chairperson on the board of B.F. Goodrich, and raised four children. Following marriage,she soon learned that she was one of the last surviving members of the Perkins family in Akron. In order to keep the Perkins name alive, she identified herself by both her maiden name and married name. Although she was born into a family of community philanthropists, Perkins Raymond discovered her own passion for giving in the Mary Day Nursery. She continued the work her Mother had started and contributed her life's work wth the children in Akron. She served as President of the Mary's Day Nursery for a total of six terms. She was also a menber of the board of trustees. She died in 1948 at Akron, Ohio. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Literature and the Arts Probably the first exhibit of consequence was the Art Loan exhibition held in Cleveland in 1893. The purpose of the exhibition was to raise money to alliviate sufferings incident to the panic. Artists from all over the United States sent canvases with the result that the amount of money raised was most gratifying. In 1894, the exhibition was repeated with special attemtion paid to loan exhibits of statuary and Napoleonic relics. A newspaper reporter, remembering these early days of the beginning of art in Cleveland with affection, described the Cleveland School of Art as an institution with a leaky roof that dripped impartially upon instructors and students. Other Ohio cities were not far behind Cleveland and Cincinnati in their art apprecition. The Columbus Art Association was formed at the home of Mrs. Alfred Kelley in October, 1878. This group accumulated a small library of books relating to art and raised its first money by sponsering a course of lectures given by Francis Sessions, director of the Chicago Art Institute. A Pen and Pencil Club was organized in 1897. In 1887, two organizations, the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts and the Columbus Art Association, merged with the latter assuming control until 1923 when further changes in jurisdiction were made. In Akron, Miss Fannie Fuller organized the art department of Buchtel College in 1891, funded by an endowment from the Simon Perkins family, upon the plan in operation at the Art Students' League of New York City. The Toledo Museum of Art, The Allen Art Mueseum at Oberlin, The Dayton Art Institute, The Montgomery Art Association and at Canton, The Academy of Fine Arts came later with the latter presented to the city by F.E. Case in 1928. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To be continued in part 10.