David Tod
David Tod | |
|---|---|
United States Minister to Brazil | |
| In office August 28, 1847 – August 9, 1851 | |
| President | James K. Polk Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore |
| Preceded by | Henry A. Wise |
| Succeeded by | Robert C. Schenck |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 21, 1805 Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | November 13, 1868 (aged 63) Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic (before 1861) Republican (1861–1864) National Union (1864–1868) |
| Signature |  |
David Tod (February 21, 1805 – November 13, 1868) was an American politician and industrialist from the U.S. state of
A Democrat who supported the war effort, Tod helped to maintain a fragile alliance between the state's
After completing his two-year term as Ohio governor, Tod turned down an invitation to serve in the government of President Abraham Lincoln as Secretary of the Treasury, citing poor health. Tod died of a stroke in 1868, three years after the end of the war and was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery (Youngstown, Ohio).[3]
Early life
Tod was born in
David Tod attended Burton Academy in Geauga County and studied law in Warren, where he was appointed postmaster. Admitted to the Ohio bar in 1827, he accumulated considerable wealth as a lawyer actively involved in the coal and iron industries of the Mahoning Valley, and he went on to become president of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad.
Early political career
Tod was in the
Although previously a strong Democrat, Tod joined the pro-Union alliance between the Republican Party and Ohio's War Democrats at the outset of the Civil War.
Meanwhile, the War Democrats who had not joined the National Union Party nominated Hugh J. Jewett, who called for reconciliation with the South but "stopped short of taking a strong antiwar stance".[8] Tod won the election, polling 206,997 votes to Jewett's 151,774—a result that indicated the National Union Party had made few inroads among Democratic voters.[7] Tod ultimately served one term as governor, leading the state from 1862 to 1864.
Civil War governor
Governor Tod faced significant difficulties in encouraging military recruitment and providing for Ohio troops in the field, but gained the nickname "the soldier's friend". As historian George W. Knepper observed, the governor was compelled, near the outset of his administration, to "deal with the highly emotional aftermath of the battle of Shiloh", a costly victory in which Ohio alone suffered 2,000 casualties.[9] Several months later, when Confederate troops under the leadership of Stonewall Jackson threatened Washington, D.C., Tod was able to secure 5,000 volunteers to provide three months of service.[7] He was less successful, however, in filling Ohio's federally mandated quota of 74,000 troops.[7] In time, he advocated federal conscription, writing to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, "With this Ohio will... respond to any further calls made upon her, but without it would be impossible to raise any considerable number". Among those Ohioans who participated in the war effort was Tod's nephew, Brigadier General James Hobart Ford, who served in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the War.[10]
States could use their own tax money to supplement the work of the United States Sanitary Commission as Ohio did. Under the energetic leadership of Governor Tod, Ohio acted vigorously. Following the unexpected carnage at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee in April 1862, it send 3 steamboats to the scene as floating hospitals loaded with doctors, nurses and medical supplies. The state fleet expanded to eleven hospital ships. The state also set up 12 local offices in main transportation nodes across the Midwest to assist Ohio soldiers moving back and forth.[11]
Tod was challenged to maintain the state's security during the war, calling out the militia to respond to a cavalry raid by Confederate Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan from July 12 to 26, 1863, and arranging for the compensation of Ohioans whose property had been confiscated by Morgan's men. Damages inflicted upon Ohio residents reached $576,225, "while the expense of keeping the militia in the field raised the total cost to well over a million dollars".[12] At the same time, as historian Richard H. Abbott observed, Tod also "battled with recalcitrant Democrats, unruly newspaper editors, draft rioters, and strange secret societies".[13] He was compelled to call out troops to bring an end to draft riots in Holmes County, which became popularly known as the "Battle of Fort Fizzle".[14]
He recommended the federal military arrest of
Governor Tod has aided me more and troubled me less than any other governor.
Later years
Tod was unable to secure the pro-Union renomination in 1863, losing it to another War Democrat,
Since his death, Tod has gained recognition as an effective political leader who guided his state through a difficult period. As Delmer J. Trester wrote: "His administration was characterized by intense patriotism, devotion to duty, administrative ability, and unflagging energy. Ohio was fortunate to have David Tod as one of its war governors".[1]
Tod is honored with a full-size bronze depiction inside the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Cleveland, Ohio for his service as governor during the Civil War.[20]
References
- ^ a b Trester, Delmer J. "David Tod". Ohio Historical Society. Archived from the original on February 5, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
- ^ a b Knepper (1989), p. 244.
- ^ "MVHS to Host 'History to Go' at Oak Hill Cemetery". Business Journal Daily | The Youngstown Publishing Company. October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
- ^ Milligan (2003), p. 259.
- ^ Milligan (2003), p. 261.
- ^ Ohio (1917), p. 232.
- ^ a b c d Roseboom & Weisenburger (1961), p. 188.
- ^ a b c Knepper (1989), p. 233.
- ^ Knepper (1989), pp. 233–234.
- ^ Eicher & Eicher (2001), p. 239.
- ^ Roseboom, Eugene E. (1944). The Civil War Era, 1850–1873. p. 396.
- ^ Roseboom & Weisenburger (1961), pp. 194–195.
- ^ Abbott, Richard H. (1962). Ohio's War Governors. Ohio State University Press for the Ohio Historical Society. p. 32.
- ^ Marden, Orison Swett, ed. (1903). The Consolidated Encyclopedic Library. Vol. XIX. New York: The Emerson Press. p. 5633.
- ^ Roseboom & Weisenburger (1961), pp. 190–192.
- ^ Gerber (1976), pp. 33–34.
- ^ Knepper (1989), p. 238.
- ^ a b Smith (1898), p. 143.
- Ohio History Central. Retrieved April 12, 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-578-48036-7.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
- Eicher, John H.; ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- Gerber, David A. (1976). Black Ohio and the Color Line, 1860–1915. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252005341.
- Knepper, George W. (1989). Ohio and Its People. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press. ISBN 0873387910.
- Milligan, Fred J. (2003). Ohio's Founding Fathers. Lincoln, Nebraska: OCLC 53472872.
- Roseboom, Eugene H.; Weisenburger, Francis P. (1961). A History of Ohio. Columbus: LCCN 56001597.
- Smith, Joseph P., ed. (1898). History of the Republican Party in Ohio. Vol. I. Chicago: the Lewis Publishing Company. p. 143.
- Ohio General Assembly (1917). Manual of legislative practice in the General Assembly. State of Ohio.
- This article incorporates facts obtained from: Lawrence Kestenbaum, The Political Graveyard
External links
- David Tod at Ohio History Central
- David Tod proclamation, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama.
- . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900.
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