Author: jcw64

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Eliza Smith Barber, 1817-1899

Eliza Barber, a hardworking and dedicated mother of nine, was a director of the Middlebury Soldiers Aid Society during the Civil War. Middlebury became the sixth ward of the city of Akron.

Barber was the wife of George, a peddler-cooper-inventor who settled in Middlebury in 1828. Before the war, the Barber family was already involved in the hand manufacture of matches. The Barber Match Company truly was a family enterprise, with sons selling matches door to door.

The Barber family sent one son off to fight in the Civil War. George H. Barber died of dysentery. Back in Middlebury, his mother worked hard with the Soldiers Aid Society so others would not face a similar plight. The Middlebury Soldiers Aid Society, always smaller than its Akron counterpart, sent food and supplies through the Cleveland Sanitary Commission that, in turn, shipped them on to the field hospitals that needed the goods. Barber and the other women of the Middlebury Soldiers Aid Society knitted warm winter clothes for soldiers and collected food and bandages to hospitals that aided sick and wounded soldiers. The women also raised money by hosting “dime socials” and dinners.

After the Civil War, she watched her surviving children become leaders in the Barber Match Company. She saw the service she began in her community and church – First Presbyterian Church — flourish.

–Angela Abel

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Roxana Jones Howe, 1805-1875

After beginning her career as a teacher in Bath Township, Roxana Howe began a second career in community leadership in Akron following her marriage. Born in Bristol, N.Y. in 1805, Roxana King Jones married Richard Howe in 1827 in Bath, Ohio. The couple had six children.

It’s difficult to track Howe’s antebellum community activism. The Beacon lists her as being on the Ladies Committee for the 1852 Fireman’s Festival. Her involvement during the Civil War is more clearly documented. In 1861, she was a director of Akron’s Soldiers Aid Society and served for a time as vice president of the group. She also contributed money, food and goods to the organization during the Civil War. The Akron Soldiers Aid Society was affiliated with Cleveland’s Sanitary Commission and contributed literally thousands of dollars worth of food and clothing . Soldiers Aid Society members spent evenings knitting mittens and socks for soldiers. They also packed food and other goods for the Army in a small room above a store on South Howard Street. The food and goods were shipped to Cleveland’s Sanitary Commission and then onto the hospitals that cared for the wounded soldiers. In addition, the organization raised much money by holding “dime parties,” socials and dinners.

Throughout her life, Howe attended and worked at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Akron. She also utilized her experience as an educator to teach Sunday school at the church. Howe was memorialized with a window in the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Akron.

Photo courtesy of the Beacon Journal.

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Mary Hickox Bronson, 1777-1858

Mary Hickox Bronson, along with her husband, embarked upon a project, which many would not dream to assume. Bronson and her husband independently formed the Episcopal Church in Akron.

All expenses, including the erection of the building, as well as other administrative costs were funded by the Bronsons.

After the dedication, Bronson lent her services to the church as an active member of the congregation. In 1889, the church was renamed the Bronson Memorial Church to recognize the commitment and support of Bronson and her husband.

Photo from Emily Bronson Conger’s book, An Ohio Woman in the Philippines (1904)

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Mary Ingersol Tod Evans, 1802-1869

Mary Ingersol Tod Evans, a pioneer in philanthropic service to the Akron area, was decades ahead of her time.

Born in Youngstown, Mary Ingersol Tod was the daughter of a judge. She was married twice. Her marriage to John McCurdy of Warren produced three children. Her first husband died in 1830. She then married Dr. Dana D. Evans of Akron. He died in 1849.

Evans became a leader and role model in 1851 through her involvement with the Young Men’s Association Women’s Committee. A year later in 1852 she served on the Ladies Committee of the Fireman’s Festival.

During the Civil War, she was active in Akron’s Soldiers Aid Society, although never an officer in the organization Affiliated with Cleveland’s Sanitary Commission, the Akron Soldiers Aid Society contributed literally thousands of dollars worth of food and clothing to soldiers away fighting the Civil War. These Akron women spent evenings knitting mittens and socks for soldiers. They also packed food and other goods to be used in Army hospitals in a small room above a store on South Howard Street. The food and goods were shipped to Cleveland’s Sanitary Commission and then onto the hospitals that cared for the wounded. In addition, the organization raised much money by holding “dime parties,” socials and dinners.

Evans also served as the matron of the Northern Ohio Hospital for the Insane. Evans is best known for establishing the Ladies Cemetery Association. Evans believed that the Akron Rural Cemetery deserved to be as beautifully kept as the rest of the city. A live-in groundskeeper seemed to be the solution.

She enlisted the help of her sisters, Julia Ford and Grace Perkins, as well as many community women. Together, they sponsored concerts and other events, raising funds to build a residence for a groundskeeper. Evans submitted what seemed to be an early press release, encouraging the Akron Daily Beacon to promote the event.

Evans remained active until her death in 1869.

Photo courtesy of the Beacon Journal.