Origins of the Family of John Todd (1747-1809)

And the Lineage of Gene and James Todd

By Richard McMurtry

Based on Research by Lorraine Llewellyn and Lavina Quam

May 2004; revised November 2023

 

          First Generation

 

In the colony of Maryland, in the turbulent years before the American Revolution, several branches of the family of Thomas Todd died 1671 Anne Arundel County, moved to Baltimore County.   The most mysterious of these branches was that of Nathan Todd born 1717-1721, the son Lancelot Todd 1674-1735 and Elizabeth Rockhold.  Though the brothers of Nathan, namely, Thomas, Lancelot b 1715, and John d 1746-48, have documented children, the children of Nathan do not appear in documentary records.      However, Nathan had a wife Lucy as documented in deeds between 1742 and 1745, suggesting that he could have had children in the 1740s.     I believe that Nathan’s children include John Todd b 1747 d 1809 Bourbon County, Kentucky; Edward Todd born about 1747 d 1795 Bourbon County, Kentucky and Benjamin Todd 1749-1823 Logan County, Kentucky.

 

The first evidence for this assertion is (1) male DNA which revealed that descendants of John and Benjamin had the same DNA as the Todds of Anne Arundel County Maryland and (2) the court records in Bourbon County that revealed that Edward was the brother of John.    The next evidence was the fact that, in 1768, we find Nathan, John and Edward listed on a petition to move the capital to Baltimore.   In 1773, we find Nathan and John Todd on a tax assessment  for Delaware Hundred, Baltimore County.  By 1783, we find John and Edward on a tax list for Westmorland County, Pennsylvania (from which Fayette County was taken) and in 1785-1789, we find John and Edward on the tax lists for Fayette County.  By 1792, John and Edward moved to Bourbon County Kentucky.   Meanwhile, Benjamin Todd b 1749 was also on the move.   In 1776, he was a witness on a will for John Marriott and in 1781 was listed on a militia list for Baltimore County and that year he married Eleanor Ford in Baltimore.   In 1790, he was listed on the Baltimore County census and in 1800, on the Anne Arundel County census.   In 1806, he had dealings in Bourbon County, Kentucky based on court records in Logan County.  In 1808, while living in Logan County, he sold his lands in Anne Arundel County.    Benjamin had a daughter Lucy, possibly named after his mother.   Nathan b 1717-1721 is the only one of the male children of Lancelot and Elizabeth Rockhold Todd for which we don’t have children identified.   

 

John and Edward Todd fared better in Kentucky – both of them acquiring land.  But as their fortunes were rising, Edward’s fate turned for the worst.  He died in 1795 leaving a widow Jane and 5 young children:  Margaret, Levin, Edward and Polly and Jane.  Edward’s brother John took in the family and became guardians of the minor children.  (Edward Jr had been deemed a lunatic.  Margaret married John Gilloch; Levin married Jemima Kemp in 1805.)

 

John Todd died in 1809, having had to fend off a lawsuit by his nephew Levin Todd over John and Jane Todd’s handling of the proceeds of Edward’s estate.  John left a large family – many of which were married and had families of their own:

 

  1. Susanna HAMILTON,
  2. Elizabeth ASHBROOK,
  3. John TODD Junr.,
  4. Rutha GREATHOUSE,
  5. Rebecca MORRIS and
  6. Sintha TODD
  7. Peggy Todd
  8. Sophia Todd

And another son, not mentioned in John’s will:

  1. Benjamin B. Todd

 

Second Generation

 

John Todd Jr continued to live in Bourbon Co dying there about 20 years later in 1828.  He left an even larger family:

 

  1. JesseTodd
  2. John L.Todd,
  3. James Todd,
  4. Alfred Todd,
  5. Ruth Trimble,
  6. Elizabeth Butchard (Pritchard?)
  7. Nathaniel Todd,
  8. William Todd,
  9. Thomas Todd,
  10. Benjamin Todd
  11. Robert Todd,
  12. Franklin Todd,
  13. Polly Ann Todd,
  14. Susan Jane Todd

 

After John Todd, Jr died, the opening up of land opportunities in Illinois beckoned to the Todds.  In the 1830s, John’s widow moved with several of her children to Pike Co., IL.

 

          Third Generation

 

Their son Benjamin married Frances ? around 1838 and had 7 children:

  1. Mary I.
  2. Martha A
  3. John born 1842
  4. Margaret         
  5. Caroline
  6. Rachel
  7. Henry C

 

          Fourth Generation

 

John Todd b 1842 married Sarah Hildreth around the time of the end of the Civil War.  By 1870, John with his wife Sarah and sons Benjamin and Homer and with his father and mother and youngest brother Henry had moved to Big Creek, Neosho, Kansas.  They owned farms in this new land.  By 1880, John had moved back to Chambersburg, Pike Co., IL.

 

Their children were:

 

  1. Benjamin b 1866 IL
  2. Homer b 1867 IL
  3. Nancy b 1871 KS
  4. John  b 1872 KS

 

          Fifth Generation

 

John married Margaret Anderson and had:

Benjamin b Apr 1887

Claude b Oct 1899

Fred R b 1904

Stephen H. b 1912/1911 

Harry M. bc1914

 

 

          Sixth Generation

 

Stephen H. Todd d 1973 in Carrollton, IL.  His children were:

  1. Joyce Todd b 1942
  2. Gene Todd b 1947

 

Harry Todd died in the 1970s.  He had a son:

  1. James M. Todd b ca 1942