David Tod David Tod ( February 21 , 1805 – November 13 , 1868 ) was a politician and industrialist from the U . S . state of Ohio . As the 25th Governor of Ohio , Tod gained recognition for his forceful and energetic leadership during the American Civil War . A Democrat who supported the war effort , Tod helped to maintain a fragile alliance between the state ' s Republicans and War Democrats and took steps to secure Ohio ' s borders . In 1864 , the state ' s pro - Union party failed to nominate Tod for a second term because of his tepid support for the abolition of slavery and his unpopularity among the state ' s myriad political factions . After completing his two - year term as Ohio governor , Tod turned down an invitation to serve in the government of President Abraham Lincoln , citing poor health . Tod died of a stroke in 1868 , four years after the end of the war . Early life . Tod was born in Youngstown , Ohio , to a family actively involved in local and state politics . His father , George Tod , born to a Scottish immigrant in Suffield , Connecticut , had relocated to the Connecticut Western Reserve in 1800 . There , George Tod pursued a career in public life , serving as an Ohio lawmaker between 1804 and 1806 , and winning a seat as a justice on the Ohio Supreme Court in 1807 . David Tod attended Burton Academy in Geauga County and studied law in Warren , where he was appointed postmaster . Admitted to the Ohio bar in 1827 , he accumulated considerable wealth as a lawyer actively involved in the coal and iron industries of the Mahoning Valley , and he went on to become president of the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad . Early political career . Tod was in the Ohio State Senate from 1838 to 1840 . He was a candidate for Ohio ' s governorship as a Democrat in 1844 and 1846 , running on a strongly anti - national bank platform , but lost both elections . He was appointed by President James K . Polk as minister ( ambassador ) to Brazil from 1847 to 1851 . He presided over the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Baltimore after the resignation of Caleb Cushing as convention president . Although previously a strong Democrat , Tod joined the pro - Union alliance between the Republican Party and Ohio ' s War Democrats at the outset of the Civil War . On September 5 , 1861 , Republicans and War Democrats met in Columbus , Ohio , to form the National Union Party . The newly established party promptly abandoned the state ' s beleaguered Republican governor , William Dennison , and threw its support behind Toda move designed to strengthen solidarity between War Democrats and Republicans . Meanwhile , the War Democrats nominated Hugh J . Jewett , who called for reconciliation with the South but " stopped short of taking a strong antiwar stance " . Tod won the election , polling 206 , 997 votes to Jewett ' s 151 , 774 — a result that indicated the National Union Party had made few inroads among Democratic voters . Tod ultimately served one term as governor , leading the state from 1862 to 1864 . Civil War governor . Governor Tod faced significant difficulties in encouraging military recruitment and providing for Ohio troops in the field , but gained the nickname " the soldier ' s friend " . As historian George W . Knepper observed , the governor was compelled , near the outset of his administration , to " deal with the highly emotional aftermath of the battle of Shiloh " , a costly victory in which Ohio alone suffered 2 , 000 casualties . Several months later , when Confederate troops under the leadership of Stonewall Jackson threatened Washington , D . C . , Tod was able to secure 5 , 000 volunteers to provide three months of service . He was less successful , however , in filling Ohio ' s federally mandated quota of 74 , 000 troops . In time , he advocated federal conscription , writing to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton , " With this Ohio will . . . respond to any further calls made upon her , but without it would be impossible to raise any considerable number " . Among those Ohioans who participated in the war effort was Tod ' s nephew , Brigadier General James Hobart Ford , who served in the Trans - Mississippi Theater of the War . States could use their own tax money to supplement the work of the United States Sanitary Commission as Ohio did . Under the energetic leadership of Governor Tod , Ohio acted vigorously . Following the unexpected carnage at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee in April 1863 , it send 3 steamboats to the scene as floating hospitals loaded with doctors , nurses and medical supplies . The state fleet expanded to eleven hospital ships . The state also set up 12 local offices in main transportation nodes across the Midwest to assist Ohio soldiers moving back and forth . Tod was challenged to maintain the state ' s security during the war , calling out the militia to respond to a cavalry raid by Confederate Brig . Gen . John Hunt Morgan from July 12 to July 26 , 1863 , and arranging for the compensation of Ohioans whose property had been confiscated by Morgan ' s men . Damages inflicted upon Ohio residents reached $ 576 , 225 , " while the expense of keeping the militia in the field raised the total cost to well over a million dollars " . At the same time , as historian Richard H . Abbott observed , Tod also " battled with recalcitrant Democrats , unruly newspaper editors , draft rioters , and strange secret societies " . He was compelled to call out troops to bring an end to draft riots in Holmes County , which became popularly known as the " Battle of Fort Fizzle " . He recommended the federal military arrest of Copperhead leaders such as Dr . Edson B . Olds — who sued him for kidnapping and actually had the governor briefly arrested , before the Supreme Court of Ohio issued a writ of habeas corpus – and Clement Vallandigham . In 1862 , he attended the Loyal War Governors ' Conference in Altoona , Pennsylvania , which ultimately backed Abraham Lincoln ' s Emancipation Proclamation and the Union war effort . At the same time , Tod resisted the idea of using black troops in the war effort . When black abolitionist leader John Mercer Langston urged the governor to enlist African - American soldiers to help the state fill its draft quotas , Tod responded sharply , saying , " Do you not know , Mr . Langston , that this is a white man ' s government ; that white men are able to defend and protect it ? " Nevertheless , by 1863 , blacks were being enrolled in Ohio ' s volunteer units , and more than 5 , 000 served in state or federal units . Later years . Tod was unable to secure the pro - Union renomination in 1863 , losing it to another War Democrat , John Brough , who enjoyed greater popularity among Ohioans and more actively supported the anti - slavery direction the Northern war effort had by then taken . President Abraham Lincoln then offered Tod the post of U . S . Secretary of the Treasury , telling an aide , " He is my friend , with a big head full of brains . . . he made a good governor , and has made a fortune for himself " . Tod , knowing he was not radical enough for Republicans in the United States Senate and in fragile health , declined the appointment . Tod died of a stroke in 1868 , at the age of 63 , leaving a widow and seven children . He was a Republican Presidential elector in 1868 for Grant / Colfax . He died before the meeting of electors , and was replaced by G . V . Dorsey . Since his death , Tod has gained recognition as an effective political leader who guided his state through a difficult period . As Delmer J . Trester wrote : " His administration was characterized by intense patriotism , devotion to duty , administrative ability , and unflagging energy . Ohio was fortunate to have David Tod as one of its war governors " .