Grace Ingersol Tod Perkins, 1811-1867

Grace Ingersol Tod Perkins joined her sisters Mary Evans and Julia Ford in establishing the Ladies Cemetery Association, an important Gilded Age organization committed to the beautification of the Akron Rural Cemetery.

Born in Youngstown, Grace Tod was the daughter of a judge. In 1832, she married Col. Simon Perkins, who would go on to be a state senator, president of a railroad and an important philanthropist and community leader. The couple moved to Akron in 1835 and had 11 children.

In Akron, Perkins would work with her sisters in supporting the Akron Rural Cemetery Association, of which Simon Perkins was president. She was an original supporter and member of the Ladies Cemetery Association in Akron, founded by her sister.

Until her death, Perkins continued to support the Ladies Cemetery Association, which raised funds to beautify the Akron Rural Cemetery. Perkins and the other members sponsored entertainment in the form of concerts, picnics and other social events to raise money for a cemetery groundskeeper to erect a residence on the property.

Perkins died in 1867. She was only 56 years old.

Photo courtesy of the Beacon Journal.

--Angela Abel