Grafton Acklin was born on the banks of the Ohio River in Maysville Ohio on the 30th of July, 1851. One of eight children, he attended school in Maysville until the age of 15 when he moved to Toledo. He began work as a clerk in a wholesale grocery store, and within several years he became one of the owners. The partnership dissolved however and Grafton turned to the coffee roasting and spice industry, a business he remained in until 1896. In 1881 he married and through the years had three sons (James - 1884, Donald - 1886, and William - 1888) and one daughter (Jessie, 1892).
Atthe request of its owners, Mr. Acklin took over the Toledo Machine and Tool Company in 1896 and during his 15 years at the helm it grew to one of the largest industrial concerns in Toledo. In 1911 he formed the Acklin Stamping Company with his three sons, overseeing it until his death on December 17th, 1926 at the age of 74. He was actively involved in the Masonic Order, serving on hte general grand council of the United States. In 1921 Mr. Acklin travelled to China and East Asia, visiting various Masonic temples. Upon return from this trip and during the years following, Mr. Acklin donated a large number of rare and valuable Asian artifacts to the Toledo Museum of Art, several of which remain on view there to this day.
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