Todds of Washington County Pennsylvania

With focus on the family of John Todd 1754-1819

Richard McMurtry

November 2023

In this essay, I attempt to sort out the various Todd families of Washington County, Pennsylvania and provide some detail about the family of John Todd 1754-1819 who settled in Nottingham Township, Washington County by 1786.

1. TF124: John Todd 1754-1819: Obtained land grant in Washington County in 1789 and sold it with his wife Rosannah the same year ; probably one of the two John’s in the Washington Co PA 1790 census; appears on 1793 Nottingham Twp tax list along with Edward and William. Died in Washington County. Bought land from Edward Todd in 1805. Lived in Nottingham Township. DNA matches Todds of Ballycastle, County Antrim.

2. TF124: Edward Todd b abt 1766 d abt 1842 Steubenville, Jefferson Co Ohio. Not in 1790 census, but appears in 1793 tax list in Nottingham Twp. Considered kin to John Todd 1754-1819 based on Edward selling land to John in 1805.

3. TF124: William Todd. William owned 50 acres in Nottingham Township 1796-1818 (per Chuck Todd). This may be the William who appears in Harrison County Ohio about 1818.

4. TF26: James Todd b abt 1769, may be the James Todd of the 1790 Washington County PA census; appears in 1800 census in Cross Creek, Washington Co.; went to Warren County Ohio by 1803. DNA close match to Mary Todd Lincoln group of Todds.

5. TF21: John Todd md Mary Gillespie, son William Todd b1765; came to America around 1800. Purchased land in Ohio County in 1806 and 1808. Taxed in Ohio County Virginia in 1814, died there in 1828. DNA matches family in Ardstraw, County Tyrone and County Down and Fenwick Parish, Ayrshire, Scotland. Though there is a John Todd and William Todd in Nottingham Township, Washington County, in 1793, these are most likely John Todd 1754-1819 (wife Rosannah) and the William Todd who went to Harrison County, Ohio by 1818. It is not clear to me (Richard McMurtry) that either John Todd and Mary Gillespie or his son William appear in the Washington County records. The clue to this puzzle is that family tradition that the family came to America about 1800 and settled in Buffalo Village (which lies in Buffalo Twp a few miles west of Nottingham Twp) and then bought land in Ohio Co Virginia in 1806 and 1808. So perhaps they came to America in 1800 after the census was taken, stayed a few years in Buffalo Village (without leaving any records) and then moved to Ohio County.

6. TF125: Archibald Todd 1763-1852 and William Todd 1756-1852. Archibald was in Chartiers Township, Washington County in 1800 and 1810, then went to Belmont County where he died in 1852. His DNA matches a Todd family from Belfast; so I assume he had a County Antrim origin. One historian links William to Archibald because of settling in adjacent counties in Ohio (Belmont and Harrison). However, no valid DNA sample has been obtained from William b 1756 family. I suspect that the William Todd of Harrison County, Ohio is the William Todd of Nottingham Township, Washington County and hence related to John Todd 1754-1819.

7. TF24: John Todd of Donegal Township, Washington County, died 1809, son of James Todd d 1772 Nottingham Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. DNA matches Todds of Salter’s Grange, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

Please note that historian Peggy Wise had a hunch that Archibald Todd 1763-1852 was the son of Archibald Todd of Ninety-Six District SC. However, DNA proves that the two families do not have similar DNA and not therefore not kin to each other. Also Peggy thought that William Todd who arrived in Harrison County in 1818 and died there in 1852 was the brother of Archibald because Harrison Co was just to the north of Belmont County, OHIO where Archibald died in 1852. However, the fact that William Todd of Nottingham Twp sold land there in 1818 and disappeared, suggests that he was the William who went to Harrison County in 1818. It is too bad that the male lines of the William family mostly died out except for one possible non-paternity event whose dna doesn’t match any others Todds.

Todd Family # 124 (TF 124)

This family is centered on the John Todd 1754-1819 who lived in Nottingham Township, Washington County in SW Pennsylvania. His descendant DNA matches the Todds of Ballycastle, in northern Co Antrim, Northern Ireland which is presumably the origin of this family.

John is probably kin to Edward Todd who settled in Steubenville, Jefferson Co OH based on Edward having sold land to John Todd in 1806 and probably kin to the William Todd of the Nottingham Twp 1793 tax list.

pp. 35:1793 Nottingham Township - Todd, William; Todd, John; Todd, Edward.

Edward sold land to John Todd in 1805.

6. John Todd to Adam Gault, Bk ID, p 411 (Film 862506) John Todd and Rosanna his wife of Notingham Twp Washington Co., PA to Adam Gault of Peters Twp…36 pounds.. land in Peters Twp.. 48 acres..surveyed for John Todd as assignee of Ed Marshall 15 Sept 1784 and 7 Mar 1785..warrant issued 16 Sept 1789..and called Harlem.

7. John Todd to David Livingston, Book ID p 412 ..7 Nov 1789…John Todd and Rosannah his wife of Notingham Twp, Washington Co, Pennsylvania and David Livingston of Peters Twp.. 100 pounds..Harlam..by patent 20 Sept 1789.

3. John Todd, Washington County, 1789 Warrant # 66, John Todd, 28 Feb 1786, 148-1/4 acres on the waters of Peters Creek, Washington County for John Todd Assignee of Edward Mayhall (Marshall)..28 Feb 1788..returned 17 Sept 1789.

See attached file for earlier version of the discussion of the Washington County Todds, including Peggy Wise’s and my incorrect conjectures and speculations.