User:RGKMA/sandbox/Tod Homestead Cemetery Gate

Tod Homestead Cemetery Gate
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Belmont Ave., Youngstown, Ohio
Coordinates	41°07′43″N 80°39′58″W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1909 (1909)
Architect	Julius A. Schweinfurth
Architectural style	Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	76001484
Added to NRHP	October 22, 1976

The Tod Homestead Cemetery Gate is a historic commemorative gateway structure at the Tod Homestead Cemetery in Youngstown, Ohio. It also serves as the cemetery's office and chapel.

History

The cemetery is situated on Tod's family property, and his father, David Tod, was an esteemed member of the family. David Tod served as the Minister to Brazil in 1847, appointed by President Polk, and later became the Governor of Ohio in 1861, earning the nickname "War Governor." The Tod family played significant roles in Youngstown's coal, iron, and steel industries.

The construction of the gateway, chapel, and office began in 1909 to a design by Boston architect Julius A. Schweinfurth.

Cemetery

In 1908, the Tod Homestead Cemetery was established under the terms of George Tod's will. Tod was president of the Brier Hill Iron and Coal Company in Youngstown. Tod was son of David Tod and grandson of George Tod.

Notable burials in the cemetery include:

• Ralph Goldston — Canadian Football League player
• Volney Rogers — lawyer and father of Mill Creek Park
• James Anson Campbell — chairman of Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company
• William R. Stewart – lawyer and Ohio state legislator
• Leonide Henry Clay – adopted son of Cassius Marcellus Clay

Appearance

This is a large commemorative structure of limestone construction in an eclectic mixture of styles. The moderately rusticated stonework gives a textural interest to the walls, especially under certain light conditions, which enlivens and relieves the plain surfaces of what if basically a grandly simple scheme. The structure consists principally of a gateway, a tower, a chapel and an office. The central feature is the portal at the entrance to the cemetery, in the form of a wide unornamented pointed arch. The portal faces east, and flanking it on the south is a tall Romanesque tower of Spanish or Italian derivation with a pyramidal roof. The tower has an octagonal turret rising all the way from the ground on its southeast corner. The tower's belfry has paired round arches on each face.

To the north of the main portal is a three-story polygonal bay with a pyramidal roof. All of the roofs are of tile. Beyond the bay is a story-and-a-half office structure. On its east façade there is a Romanesque cloister arcade of six bays. To the south of the tower there is a chapel with five engaged buttresses, and tall lancet windows high on the elevation. On the west elevation of the entire structure there are open loggias on both sides of the portal. They terminate in pavilions adjacent to the portal which have the roof pitch and general characteristics of the Bungaloid style. On the entire northern section, the roof forms a continuous sheltering line. The total design is significant because it has two facades which are equally important; in that sense the whole structure is treated as a gigantic piece of sculpture.

Significance

This is an unusually striking example of eclectic commemorative architecture, especially interesting because of its architect and the relationship between this work and those of his remarkable family of architects.

The gateway, chapel and office structure was begun in 1909 by George Tod, president of the Brier Hill Iron and Coal Company of Youngstown. The cemetery is located on the homestead of Tod. His father David Tod was probably the most illustrious member of the family, having been appointed by President Polk as Minister to Brazil in 1847, and serving as Governor of Ohio beginning in 1861, when he earned the name of the "War Governor." The sons of David Tod were all involved in various aspects of Youngstown's business life, particularly in the coal, iron and steel industries.

The structure was designed by Julius A. Schweinfurth (1858-1931), the second of four brothers who were all architects. Charles was the eldest and Cleveland's pre-eminent architect at the turn of the century, frequently working in a Richardsonian Romanesque mode. Albert, the third brother, practiced mainly in San Francisco and designed works for the Hearsts and in the Mission Style. The youngest was H. G. Schweinfurth, who practiced in Boston, as did Julius. J. A. Schweinfurth began with a position as draftsman in the Boston office of the noted firm of Peabody and Stearns. In 1884 he and Charles set up an office in Cleveland. Julius then went to Paris to study in 1886. In 1895 he began his own Boston career, and designed a number of notable schools, college buildings and office buildings. His work in Ohio is rare, if indeed the Tod gateway is not the only one.

Thomas W. Sanderson, Twentieth Century History of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio (Chicago, 1907), 946–947.

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Notable Burials

• Ralph Goldston
• Volney Rogers
• James Anson Campbell
• William R. Stewart
• Leonide Henry Clay – adopted son of Cassius Marcellus Clay