Connections

The more I learn about the history of the Western Reserve the more connections I find.  Last Christmas, I visited the Perkins Stone Mansion in Akron for the first time.  While there, I learned about Colonel Simon Perkins and his activities as an entrepreneur of early Akron.  For some reason, I remembered that he married Grace Ingersoll Tod of Youngstown.  In our assigned reading this week, we read about Samuel Huntington, Jr. and his secretary, George Tod.  While the main subject was Huntington, the Tod name jumped off the page, and I had to wonder if he was related to Grace Ingersoll Tod, Simon Perkins’ wife.  When I got home, I Googled George Tod and learned that he settled in Trumbull County and married Sallie Isaacs, sister-in-law of Governor Ingersoll of Connecticut.  While I found no mention of Grace, one could assume that by having both the Ingersoll and Tod names and being from Youngstown, which was in Trumbull County at that time, Grace was somehow related to George Tod.

Another assigned reading was about migration to the Western Reserve.  This particular selection made a lot of references to people and places I know well.  I’ve studied local history including Hudson so it was nice to find another element of David Hudson’s story.  It was very interesting to learn of his journey and the difficulties he faced along the way.  I always get a little thrill when I read names of people or places I know and that happened when I read about Brandywine Creek.  I grew up near its falls on Brandywine Road in Sagamore Hills.  I never thought about anyone actually navigating it to get to Hudson.

We also heard the story of Margaret Van Dorn Dwight who traveled to Ohio with the Wolcotts.  While a very interesting story, I picked up on the name of the family she traveled with.  The Wolcott name is prominent in the history of Tallmadge, where I live.  The Tallmadge history books that I have don’t give any information on where Guy Wolcott came from or who his parents were, just that he came to Tallmadge in 1821 and still has direct descendants living in town.  A search of census records shows he was born in Connecticut in about 1786.  It is possible that Margaret traveled with Guy and his wife before they moved to Tallmadge but it’s also possible it was relatives.  I wish I had more information on this family Margaret traveled with so I could try to figure out if there is a connection.