Cornelia Wadsworth Beebe, 1819-1884

Akron never had its own Sanitary Fair but the city still had a role to play in Cleveland's tremendously successful fair in 1864. A small band of Akron women, including Cornelia Wadsworth Beebe, helped make that success possible.

Born in Edinburg (Portage County, Ohio), Cornelia E. Wadsworth married Joseph Alvin Beebe from Connecticut. Her husband opened the Akron Book Store in 1838 but made his money with the Allen Mill and the Summit Beacon newspaper.

Besides her involvement with the Sanitary Fair, Beebe often donated food and supplies to the Akron's Soldiers Aid Society for use in the hospitals that cared for the sick and wounded soldiers during the Civil War. However, Beebe never held a position with the aid society.

Her legacy as a woman of service lived on as her daughter Helen became secretary and treasurer of the city's Soldiers Aid Society.

--Angela Abel