TF 160
The Family
of Jesse Todd
of Cocke
County Tennessee and Moniteau County Missouri
The life of Jesse Todd 1776/1790-1874
of Tennessee and Moniteau County, Missouri, provides the clues to connect two
of the lost branches of the family of Low Todd 1723-1793/4, the son of William
Todd, close cousin to Robert Todd 1697-1775, the ancestor of Mary Todd Lincoln,
to its ancestral origins. These branches
are that of Jesse Todd b 1776-1790 and Preston Todd b 1805.
The key document was Jesse’s
War of 1812 pension record. Jesse’s widow Priscilla Turner declared that
her only child, son Tillman A. Todd was born in Cocke County TN on 27 November
1811. She also stated that she was
married in her mother’s house on the Chucky River, 16 miles from Newport. This is important geographical
information. Low Todd 1723-1794 owned
land on the Nolichucky River in the portion of Jefferson County that became
Cocke County in 1797. So this puts the
wedding very close to where Low Todd lived before his death in 1793/1794.
Furthermore, when Jesse came in 1835
to 1837 to the portion of Cole County,
Missouri that became Moniteau County, he settled near Preston Todd b 1805
Tennessee and William Todd b 1786. DNA
from a descendant of this Preston Todd revealed the same DNA pattern as that of
Mary Todd Lincoln group of Todds. And
Preston named one of his sons Jesse.
This is sufficient to conclude that
Jesse and Preston were descended from Low Todd 1723-1793/4.
This situation is complicated by the
fact that DNA from a descendant of Jesse through his only child Tillman Todd b
1811 shows that the descendant DNA does not match that of Preston or of the Low
Todd family. Richard McMurtry believes this suggests that
Tilman was fathered by someone else and possibly that Priscilla was pregnant
when Jesse married her OR had a child when Jesse married her. Though Jesse raised Tillman, it seems
doubtful that he was the biological father because the male DNA of a Jesse
descendant does not match the DNA of the Low Todd family. Richard has suggested doing a Big Y DNA test
to shed some light on the ethnicity of Tillman’s alleged biological father.
The four sons of Low Todd named in
his will were Low Todd, Samuel Todd, James Todd and John Todd. Samuel had no male children and Low’s family
did not include a Preston or Jesse. So
we conclude that Jesse and Preston were descended from either James or John.
There is a series of records that
connects Jesse to James Todd, John Todd, Isaac Todd, Mary Todd md and Low Todd
Jr.
1. James Todd’s 1794 sale of land in
Jefferson County while living in Knox County Kentucky.
2. Tax Lists in Knox County KY: 1803
John Todd, 1805: James Todd, John Todd, Denis Trammel; 1806: James Todd, John
Todd, Dennis Trammel, Peter Trammel; 1807: James Todd, William Todd, James
Trammel, Denis Trammel
3. Mary Todd’s 1805 marriage in Knox
County KY to Peter Trammel, son of Dennis Trammel. She may be a sister to Jesse.
4. Jesse’s war record in the War of 1812
has him serving in Capt Branch Jones’ Company Tennessee Militia along with
Isaac Todd.
5. Isaac Todd’s marriage in Jefferson Co
in 1813 to Nancy Meals.
6. Isaac Todd appears in tax lists of
Campbell Co TN in 1818 and 1823; a land survey there in 1824 and a land grant
in 1838.
7. Low Todd appeared on a jury in 1814
in Campbell Co, tax lists in 1818 and 1823 and land transactions in 1816 and
1823.
8. James Todd appears in a Campbell Co
court case in 1816.
9. Jesse appears in a Campbell County
court record
The obituary for Jesse Todd in 1874
is also revealing because it claims that Jesse was born in Campbell County,
Tennessee even though the census records claim he was born in Kentucky. Nevertheless the reference to Campbell
County links Jesse to the Loe Todd, Isaac Todd, James Todd, William Todd references
and thence to Jefferson County and Cocke County Tennessee Todds.
OBITUARY:California Democrat 1874. Death of one of the oldest citizens of the county. A 7
o'clock Friday morning last a shocking accident occurred by which the oldest
citizen probably in the county was accidentally killed. The old gentlemen had
started out from his residence in this city to visit the farm of an old friend
Mr. Jho T. Gray about one mile and a half
from town, on a line with the railroad. On reaching a point about half way,
while walking along the railroad track, a construction train going East came
along at a speed of 15 to 30 miles an hour, and before the train could be checked
struck the old an, killing him instantly. The
engineer and the firemen both testified that when they first saw the man he was
walking along the track about 100 yards distant, and that he paid no attention
to the alarm sounded by the whistle and bell, and never even looked up until
the engine was within a few feet of him. The train was checked up and the body
placed on one of the cars and brought down to the depot where an inquest was
held from which was elicited the above facts. Mr Todd
had reached the advanced age of 98 years. He was born in Campbell County Tenn.,
in 1776, moved to this county in 1828, locating near Jamestown. He has resided
in this county ever since. He served in the War of 1812 under Andrew Jackson.
He had been married 74 years. His wife is still living and is 95 years of age.
The remains were interred Saturday morning in the Masonic cemetery. His funeral being attended by a large concourse and relatives.
OBITUARY:Jefferson City Peoples Tribune 1874.
California, MO July- A sad
accident occurred near our city this morning by which our oldest
citizen Mr.
Jesse Todd lost
his life which has cast a gloom over our community. Mr. Todd
started for a neighbor's house about 6 o'clock, walking on the
railroad track.
When withing about half a mile of town he met the
construction train, engine
86 Conductor Marsh and Engineer Myers. The old gentleman did not seem to
hear
heeding the warning, he reversed his engine, and used every exertion
to stop
the train
the brakes which had already been brought into full requisition. The
body was
brought to the depot by the train where and inquest was immediately
held by
the Coroner (Dr. Russell) and a jury, which found a verdict in
accordance with the above facts, entirely exonerating the railroad
employees
from any
blame whatever. Mr. Todd was nine eight years old, and was remarkably
Though we can not place Preston b 1805 or Isaac or Jesse
exactly where they lie genealogically on the family tree, I tend to think they are all from James Todd,
son of Low.
The various Todds that seem related though we can not
pinpoint their exact relationship.
Isaac Todd b
1780s based on service in War of 1812 md 1813, possible brother of Jesse
Preston Todd
b 1805, possible son of William b 1786 or possible son of John Todd son of Low
Todd d 1793/4 or James son of Low d 1793/4.
**
William Todd
b 1786 (The 1840 Moniteau Twp, Cole Co
MO census shows him with 3 sons and 3 daughters born 1820-1835) but the 1850
census shows him living with other families
and no Todds. Moniteau and Cole County records need to be
searched for clues about this family.
Mary Todd md
1806 Peter Trammel (son of Dennis Trammel) in Knox County KY; later moved to
Campbell County
Tilman
Todd 1811-1850 md Ciziah Brown Harryman 1815-1863
Nelson Franklin Todd 1835-1894 Live
Oak CA md Matilda Deakins 1839-86
Charles Deakins Todd 1873-1948 Lodi
md Maybell P. Rhoads
Leroy
Verner Doyal Todd 1901-1964
Lorin
Roland Todd 1931-2006 md 1957 Phylllis
Joyce Taylor 1938-2018
Darryl
Todd md Manulani
Dwain
Todd
Joy
md Jay Lundberg
Janan
md Osama Elnasser
Deon
md Heather
Norm Todd 1936
Leslie
Charles Todd 1906-88
Lavere
Edward Todd 1907-99
Lorin Rhoads Todd 1909-1989
m1 Linnea HAROLDSON
m2
Beatrice 1963 m3 Velma Lynch 1972
Richard
Lorin Todd 1942 md 1970 Frances Rande
Craner
Lowell
Franklin Todd 1913-83
James Richard Todd 1844 1903
Gridley, CA md Sophia Anderson 1842-
1929
William
George Todd 1865 MO-1918 Iowa md Flora L. Damon
Bessie
Todd
Maude
Todd
Georgia
Todd
Mamie
Todd
Mabel Todd
Ella
Todd
Harry
Todd 1868-1884 didn’t marry
Frank
Gregory Todd 1875-1961 Napa CA md Meldona Jordan 1910
Francis
Eleanor Todd 1910-1989
Tilman
A. Todd 1850
Fred
1881 single
Roy
Alvin Todd 1879 (single)