OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tidbits of Ohio -- Part 81 ************************************************************************ 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 July 16, 2006 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Historical Collections of Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio Tid-Bits - Part 81 by Darlene E. Kelley Notes by S. Kelly +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid-Bits part 81 The Honorable George Tod The Honorable George Tod settled in Ohio in 1800, having left his native state of Connecticut, with many others of the early pioneers who settled the Western Reserve. Ohio was then a territory, and the same year of his advent, George Tod was called upon by Governor St. Clair to act as Secretary in 1802. The same year, when Ohio was admitted into the Union as a state, Mr. Tod was elected as one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, and held that office seven years in succession. He was after that re-elected to the same position, but on the breaking out of the war in 1812 with Great Britain, he resigned his seat on the bench and tendered his services to the Government, and was commissioned Major, and afterwards promoted to the Colonelcy of the Twelveth Regiment. During this stuggle he won laurels for his coolness, courage and heroism, especially at Sacketts Harbor and Fort Meigs. At the close of war, he resigned this commission and returned to Trumbull County. Soon after that he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, having in his district the whole northern part of the state. He was a very generous. liberal minded man, and in the old pioneer times whe small salaries were paid to all officials, he like others did not accumulate any surplus, but fell behind and was compelled to mortgage his Briar Hill farm. But as he always said to his children " a good name, is better than riches." George Tod had been born in 1774 and in he married Sallie Isaac, who became the mother of Governor David Tod of Ohio. She was a beautiful woman, a most excellant wife and mother, and worshipped by her children and beloved by every one who knew her. She was the sister of Mrs. Ingersol, wife of Governor Ingersol of Connecticut. To his mother as well as his father, David Tod owed a large share of his native talent and goodness. The children of George Tod and Sallie Isaac Tod all born at Briar Hill are Mary Ingersol Tod who married first John McCurdy and then after his death married Dr. Dana D. Evans of Akron, Ohio. She was born in 1802 and died in 1860 a mother of three children. David Tod born 1805, and married Maria Smith, daughter of Justice Smith of Warren. David became Governor of Ohio, and died Nov. 13, 1868' Julia Tod born in 1807, married James Ford of Warren. She died in 1885. Grace Ingersol Tod born in 1811 married Simon Perkins II, son of Col Simon Perkins of the Western Reserve fame, and lived at Akron, Ohio. She died in 1867. All the children were generous and politically spirited adding much generousity and help to their communities and were well know for their charitable additions to their townships. Judge Tod remained on the Common Pleas bench for fourteen years, retiring in 1829 at the age of fifty five. For the remainder of his life, he pursued his profession of law, attended to the management of his Briar Hill farm, near Youngstown, and cared for his family. He died in 1841 at age 67, esteemed and revered by everyone. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ S0 - What is The Whig Party ? Or any Party ? Not sure what Party to attend. The Whig Party originated during the mid 1830's. The Whigs included traditinal enemies who united together in their opposition to President Andrew Jackson and his policies. Southern slaveholders, who opposed Jackson's support of the Tariff of 1828, supported the Whig Party. Abolitionists despised Jackson because he was a slaveowner and advocated slavery's expansion into new United States territories. Businessmen objected to Jacksons lack of support for banks, specifically the Second Bank of the United States. Finally, a large number of farmers and industrialists opposed Jacksons failure to support internal improvement projects, such as turnpikes and canals. The Whig Party believed in a strong federal government, simular to the Federalist Party that preceded it. The federal government must provide its citizenry with a transportation infrastructure to assist economic development. Many Whigs also called for government support of business through tarriffs. Tarriffs were taxes placed on foreign made goods sold in the United States. These taxes would increase the price of foreign goods, making American products more attractive to the consumer. Whigs also believed the government should play a role in creating a moral citizenry. The government should support temperance, public education, observance of the Sabbath, and, according to some Whigs, abolitionism. At the same time that the Whig Party formed, the Democratic Party also existed. The Democrats, as a whole, believed that the states should retain as much power as possible. The federal government should only have a bare minimum number of powers, and these powers should consist only of ones absolutely necessary for the federal government to function. The Democrats emphasized the rights of the common people, a message that was especially receptive among small farmers and factory workers. The Democratic Party also called for the United States expansion. This would open up new land for settlement, a message that struggling farmers and factory workers, who hoped to own their own land someday, welcomed. The Whig Party ran its first candidates for President in 1836. Unfortunately, the Party had three candidates, William Henry Harrison, Hugh White, and Daniel Webster, running for the Presidency. Combined, the three men had an impressive showing against the Democatic candidate, Martin Van Buren. The Whig candidates received a combined 739,000 votes to Van Burens 765,000 votes. Unfortunately for the Whigs, running three candidates cost them the election. In 1840, the Whig Party chose Harrison as its only candidate. Harrison received 53.1 percent of the vote to incumbent Van Burens 46.9 percent. Unfortunately for the Whigs, Harrison died a month after taking office. Vice President John Tyler succeeded Harrison. While Tyler proclaimed to follow the Whig Party's ideology, his Presidential actions were more in keeping with the Democratic Partys policies. Both the Whigs and the Democrats refused to endorse Tyler for the Presidency in 1844. The Democratic candidate James Polk, ran on a platform of United States expansion. He defeated the Whig candidate, Henry Clay, primarily due to James Birney of the Liberty Party running for Presidency as well. Birney drew numerous votes away from Clay, allowing Polk to win by a mere thirty-eight thousand votes. The Whig Party ran Zachary Taylor for 1848 for the Presidency. This election began the collapse of the Whig Party. Taylor, a southern slaveholder, divided the Whigs into Northern and Southern factions. As tensions increased over slaverys expansion in the late 1840's and early 1850's, Northern Whigs could not support a slaveowner. The Democratic Party nominated Lewis Cass, a former Ohioan. Southern Democrats could not support a Northern candidate. In the end, Taylor won, thanks to numerous Southern Democrats voting for him, but the Whig Party was in decline. The Whigs Van Winfield Scott in 1852. Scott lost to Franklin Pierce, and the growing tensions over slavery prevented the Party from ever running another candidate for the Presidency. The Party divided, with most Southern Whigs joining the Democratic Party and the Northern Whigs joining the Free Soil Party. The Whig Party proved to be strongest in the New England and Mid-Atlantic states, although Whig candidates had strong showings in the South a well as in the Midwest. In Ohio, many voters supported the Whigs and their call for internal improvements. Joseph Vance, a Whig, became the first Whig governor of Ohio in 1836. The Whig Party also dominated the Ohio legislature at this same time. The Panic of 1837 caused Ohio voters to replace Vance with Democrat Wilson Shannon and to replace the Whig majority in the legislature with a Democratic one. As the states economic conditions improved, Ohioans returned a Whig, Thomas Corwin to the governors office. By 1845, the Whigs controlled both the legislature and the governors office once again. That year, the legislature enacted the Kelley Bank Bill, esablishing the State Bank of Ohio. Unfortunately for Ohio Whigs, the turmoil that their Party faced on the national level in the late 1840's and the 1850's also infuenced state politics. As the Whig Party collapsed nationally, Ohio Whigs associated themselves with other Parties, primarily the Free Soil Party, the Know Nothing Party, and eventually the Republican Party. By now I am sure that we are all confused !!! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid-Bits con't in Part 82.