43
Descendant to portray Gov. Tod at Civil War ball
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
The 150th anniversary of the Civil War is being marked across the state, but perhaps no celebration is as unique as the one that will take place in Youngstown on Saturday.
The Gov. David Tod Civil War Ball will put the focus on the only Ohio governor that Youngstown produced. Gov. Tod was a founding father of the city and an industrialist whose family name forever lingers here.
He also happened to be the governor during the Civil War.
But what really sets the Gov. David Tod Civil War Ball above the rest is its direct link. David Tod II of Hudson, great-great grandson of Gov. Tod, will portray his famous forebear in period dress.
He will be joined by a host of Civil War re-enactors portraying President Lincoln, his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and other political and social figures of that era.
A band will perform the music of the era, and easy-to-learn dances popular during the war — the Virginia Reel, for example — will be taught.
The ball will begin at 6 p.m. at Tyler Mahoning Valley History Center, 325 W. Federal St., downtown, and go until 10 p.m. Tickets are $20 ($13 for teenagers). To register, contact Janet Moy at 330-793-3072 or email dtcwball@yahoo.com. Proceeds benefit the Mahoning Valley Historical Society.
Moy, who is part of the band, organized the ball, and she knows how unusual it is.
“There are a lot of Civil War balls but none where you have a descendant portraying a governor,” she said. Moy also noted that the second-floor ballroom at the Tyler is perfect for the occasion.
“When I saw that beautiful ballroom I thought it would be fitting for an elegant kind of dance, and it made me think of Civil War balls,” she said. “I have been visiting re-enactors all summer, telling them about the ball, and now there is quite a bit of excitement for the event. I turned it into living history, with President Lincoln, Mary Todd ... and of course Gov. Tod. It will be a one-of-a-kind event.”
Remnants of the Tod family’s century of influence still exist in the city, although they are fading. Tod Cemetery still occupies its spot on the North Side, as does Tod Lane. Fading into memory are Tod Children’s Hospital, the David Tod Stables (now the site of Boardman Park), the Tod Hotel (where the federal courthouse on Market Street now sits), and the Tod Engine Co.
David Tod II, the descendant of the governor, said the ball will be the first time he is portraying his famous ancestor. The financial advisor for Stifel Financial in Kent described the program for the ball.
“A sergeant at arms will introduce President Lincoln and his wife and kids, and the governor, and we will march in procession to the ballroom,” said Tod. “I will give my inaugural speech and then we will dance.”
Tod said he heard bits and pieces of his family history while growing up but didn’t take a strong interest in it until he got older.
His forebear came to the Western Reserve, now Northeast Ohio, from Connecticut in 1801 with a group of 30 or 40 people, including John Young, who was in charge of everything.
“They stayed for a year to see how it would be, and then went back to Connecticut to get their families and return,” he said. “It is kind of neat to learn who was the first judge [in the Western Reserve], the first policeman, how they sold land. My family settled in Brier Hill, and they discovered coal. They started mining it and then turned to developing blast furnaces. Then they put aside farming and got into manufacturing. Gov. Tod’s son William started the Tod Engine Co., which made steam powered machines for steel mills. That company morphed into Youngstown Sheet and Tube.”