Jan to May 2007 Research Highlights and Summary

Richard McMurtry

 

Summary

 

This year’s research into the various branches of the family of William Todd (one of the five immigrant brothers of the Mary Todd Lincoln group of Todds) attempted to:

  • locate the children of Low Todd 1723-1792, son of William Todd,
  • determine whether James Todd d 1799 Augusta Co Va could have been a son of James Todd 1726-1789 who settled by 1756 in the portion of Augusta Co that became Rockbridge Co and died there in 1789
  • determine if the John B. Todd who settled in Lincoln Co TN was kin to John Todd 1746-1829 who came from VA to KY in 1780 and then to Lincoln Co about 1817.

 

We have had many new discoveries in our search!  We have been successful at locating and fleshing out of the family of Low Todd, at discovering in Lincoln County a previously unknown son of John Todd 1746-1829, and showing that John B. Todd who came to Lincoln Co TN by 1820 was not kin to John Todd 1746-1829.

 

We were not able to find any evidence of any other children of James Todd 1726-1789 other than Hannah who married Samuel Davis in 1758.  However, there is circumstantial evidence that James Todd d 1799 was the James Todd who fought at Pt Pleasant in 1774 from the portion of Augusta Co that became Rockingham County in 1778.  Such an early appearance in Augusta Co increases the possibility that he may have been a son of James Todd 1726-1789 though it doesn’t provide strong evidence for this.  We have noticed that both the James Todd d 1799 and the James Todd d 1789 had connections to the Davis family and that the Davis family associated with James Todd d 1789 had connections to the Davis family of northern Augusta Co; however, no evidence that James Todd d 1799 had come to northern Augusta Co because of a Davis connection has been found.

 

A map has been made that show the locations of the Low Todd, Samuel Todd, James Todd, William Todd lands on Whistle Creek, Buffalo Creek and the branches of Buffalo Creek in Augusta Co (later Botetourt and Rockbridge Co.)

 

The DNA project has also discovered some previously unknown branches of the Somerset Co New Jersey Todds (cousins to the Mary Todd Lincoln group of Todds) who went to Loudon Co, VA  by 1770 and Nashville, Tennessee by 1780.

 

Highlights

 

Virginia

                  Augusta, Botetourt, Rockbridge Todds

 

  1. Samuel Davis who married Hannah Todd daughter of James Todd in 1758
    1.  Samuel Davis in 1769 bought a portion of his father’s land on  a branch of Buffalo Creek about a mile north of James Todd.
    2. Samuel and Hannah Todd Davis were still in Botetourt Co in the 1770s as evidenced by a 1771 and 1772 deed that sold land on the Holston River (in an area that in 1776 became Washington Co.)

                  Mossey Creek Todds

 

  1. James Todd of northern Augusta Co, VA appears on the 1787 tax list of Uriah Garten and the 1788 tax list of Benjamin Smith, both who lived near the Augusta –Rockingham county border.   In 1788, he lived next door to Erwins and Davis’ who lived on Mossey Creek.  By 1790, he had moved south a few miles into Augusta County, possibly just moving further upstream on Mossey Creek to Pudding Spring.  In 1793, Walter and James Davis bought the 104 acres on Mossey Creek at Pudding Spring land that would eventually become the Todd homestead.  In 1795, James Todd encumbered a debt with Walter and James Davis and they went to court to collect in 1799.  James died later in 1799.  In 1804, James Todd Jr bought out the interest his siblings had in land possessed by his father but for which no deed of purchase was ever recorded.  In 1820, James Todd Jr. filed suit against the Davises (Walter Davis, the grandson of old Walter Davis and Martha Davis, widow of James Davis) and they sold him the 104 acre parcel.

 

  1. James Todd of Augusta County served in the 1774 Pt Pleasant campaign.  One internet source says that those who served were mostly if not all from Rockingham County.   I located 25% of the 1774 Augusta Co Pt Pleasant muster roll on the 1788 tax lists of Rockingham Co.  I could not locate the others and couldn’t find them in Chalkely’s abstracts of Augusta Co records either.  James Todd and John Chisum who served at Pt Pleasant both appeared in the 1788 tax list for Benjamin Smith’s company located on the Rockingham Augusta Co border.  

 

  1. The Walter Davis connection is still a puzzle.  Walter Davis and James Davis who bought the land in Pudding Spring in 1793 were brothers per the deed.  The Walter Davis who sold his 377 acres of Beverly Manor land to a James Davis was husband of Martha.  However, the Walter Davis who sold James Todd the same land in 1823 - 30 years later - was the husband of Rebecca.  He was the grandson of old Walter Davis d 1803 through Walter’s son William Caldwell Davis.; Martha was the widow of James Davis. 

 

  1. Nathaniel Davis settled originally on the Beverly Grant (not far from Walter Davis) in northern Augusta Co; then sold out and moved to Buffalo Creek.

 

  1. A James Davis bought land on one of the branches of Buffalo Creek and his son Samuel Davis married Hannah Todd, daughter of James Todd in 1758.

 

  1. Samuel Todd:  Samuel Todd b about 1739 bought, in 1785, 95 acres on Pound Bottom on the James River, about 20 miles SW of his Whistle Creek land and about 10 miles NE of Fincastle.  In 1798 to 1802, he and his son John Todd had surveys for over 1100 acres in the same area.  So this proves that Samuel Todd had left his Whistle Creek area.  However, he didn’t sell his Whistle Creek land until his brother James died in 1789 which suggests as one possibility that James came to live there after James sold his Buffalo Creek land in 1778.

 

 

Tennessee

 

  1. Location of Low Todd Land: The land where Low Todd settled was on the south side of the Nollichucky River which was in Greene Co when Low got a grant for it, in Jefferson Co when he died in 1792, and after 1797 in Cocke County.  The records of Cocke County were burned destroying the key evidence needed to thoroughly flesh out the family, including the Jesse Todd b 1795 in KY who may be possible kin. 
  2. Sons of Low Todd: All the sons (Low, Samuel, James and John) of Low Todd d 1792 have been located in the records of East Tennessee!
    1. Low Todd is in Knox Co 1806-1816; in Campbell Co 1814-1823.  Some of his children went to Livingston Co MO in 1817.
    2. Samuel Todd is in Knox Co 1807 til his death in 1836.  He had no male offspring.
    3. James Todd sells land in Jefferson in 1795; appears in Knox 1798 to 1816.  Fate unknown.
    4. John Todd appears in Knox Co records in 1793, 1794, but not later.  He appears along with James Todd in Knox Co Kentucky 1805-1807.  He is NOT the John Todd who went from VA to NC by 1802 and then to Lincoln Co TN by 1820, to Oktibbeha Co, MS by 1840 and Shelby Co TN by 1850.
    5. Identity of John B Todd of Lincoln Co:  DNA shows John B. Todd to be closely related to the Cornelius Todd d 1750 Northumberland Co VA.
  3. There is a William Todd who died in Lincoln Co, TN about 1842 leaving four children: William M, Elizabeth J/P, Willis W. and John M Todd.  William may be a previously unidentified son of John Todd 1746-1829 because William M and Elizbeth became wards of Elijah Ringo, son-in-law to John Todd 1746-1829.  The boys went to Arkansas in the 1850s and some descendants to Louisiana in the 1860s. 
  4. There is a Jesse Todd and Isaac Todd who are associated with the vicinity of the Jefferson/Cocke County border around 1810-1813 and who moved to Campbell Co TN by 1818 where Low Todd had also moved, suggesting a possible family connection.
  5. Jesse Todd b Kentucky 1790-1795 married in Cocke Co about 1810 to Priscilla Turner, who lived on the south side of the Nollichucky River, enlisted initially in the War of 1812 from Cocke Co, served in 1814-1815 along with an Isaac Todd in the War of 1812.  He was in Campbell Co by 1818 He was in the 1830 census from Grainger Co in eastern Tennessee.  By 1832, he was in Missouri according to testimonials in his pension application and he died in California, Moniteau County in 1874. 
  6. Isaac Todd married in 1813 to Nancy Meals in Jefferson Co, TN.  He served in 1814-1815 in the same War of 1812 unit as Jesse Todd.   He was in Campbell Co in 1818 and 1823, surveyed land there in 1824 on the Capuchin Fork of Jellico Creek and got a grant for this land in 1838.   He may be the Isaac Todd who appears in the 1830 census of Lincoln Co.   This Isaac had male descendants though we have not located them.   Fate Unknown.

     

My current theory is that Jesse Todd is either (1) a previously unknown son of John Todd 1746-1829 who came from Kentucky to Cocke Co/Jefferson Co Tennessee by 1811 after his father remarried in 1808 or (2) a son of James Todd or John Todd, sons of Low Todd d 1792.  DNA from Jesse descendants match no Todds, suggesting a non-paternity event in the lineage. 

 

My current theory is that Isaac Todd is a son of James or John Todd, sons of Low Todd d 1792.  A DNA sample from a descendant of Isaac might clarify this.  The land he was granted in 1838 must have been sold by someone at some point though reportedly no Todd sales for the land appear in the deed index.  Jellico Creek does not run through Campbell Co, but the Capuchin Fork of Jellico runs runs through the NW corner of the county.  This might also be the creek designated elsewhere as the “East Fork of the Jellico” where Low Todd had land. Locating lands on this creek might help determine who sold Isaac’s land and lead to finding descendants of Isaac.

 

 

  1. DNA:  DNA shows that James Todd 1759-1815 who was in Nashville TN by 1780 shares the same genetic pattern as does Robert Todd d 1793 Loudon Co VA and the Todds of Somerset Co NJ.

 

 

 

Records Summary

 

Jefferson Co TN

 

  1. It appears that all of Low Todd’s sons came to eastern Tennessee. 
    1. Low Todd Jr. married in Jefferson Co in 1797; in 1806 witnesses the deed of his brother James Todd in Knox Co, in 1805, serves on a jury with James Todd in Knox Co;  in 1810 is security for James Todd a suit brought by the State of Tennessee.  This may be the Low Todd who appears in Campbell Co court records 1813-1817, on tax lists in 1818 and 1823 and on land transactions in 1813 and 1816.  This may be the Low Todd who marries in Blout Co in 1821 to Polly Simmons (though perhaps this is a previously undiscovered Low Todd III).  Daughters married in Jefferson County.  Some descendants went to Livingston Co, Missouri in 1819, about the time of Low’s move to Campbell Co.
    2. Samuel married Ann Harrison (presumably Diann/Diana) in 1803 in Jefferson County, buys land in Knox in 1807 and 1814 on the south side of the Holston River, and in 1815 bought 300 acres; he got his own land grants in Jefferson in 1825 and 1826 and sells his Jefferson Co land in 1829, and appears in numerous court cases in Knox Co.  He divorced his wife Diana in 1831, sold her in trust a tract on the south side of the Holston in 1832, and died in 1836.  Had no known male issue.
    3. James Todd sells land in Jefferson in 1795 (200 acres on South Side of Nollichucky River); then beginning in 1798, he appears in Knox Co records.  In 1806, James of Knox Co. Kentucky sells his rights in a piece of land in Jefferson and Low Todd is one of the witnesses.   James was on the Knox Co KY tax lists 1805-1807.  James may be the James who marries in Knox Co TN in 1813 to Elizabeth Taylor .  In 1816, he appears on a jury in Knox.   Fate unknown.
    4. John Todd appears in Knox Co court cases in 1793 and 1794.  He must have been born prior to 1772.  He appears in Knox Co KY along with James Todd 1805-1807.  He is not the Virginia born John Todd who was in NC 1805-1809 and then appears in Lincoln Co TN by 1820.

Knox County TN

  1. It appears that Samuel Todd son of Low Todd d 1792 had only female offspring. He divorced his wife Diana in 1831 who probably was Diana Harrison who he married in 1803 in Jefferson Co as Ann Harrison.
  2. Low Todd appeared in court records in 1804 jury and an 1805 court case.  He also indebted himself to the state as security in the case of the State against James Todd in 1810.
  3. There is an unidentified William Todd in Knox Co getting a public license in 1801, who does not appear again.  This could be Low’s brother William who may be the William who appeared in the 1778 Rockbridge Co VA tax list and the 1770 sale of property in Bedford Co, VA.
  4. James Todd appears in court records between 1795 and as late as 1816.  He was sued by Blackstone Howard (1795) and fined $5; by Arthur Davis (1795) and fined 6 cents plus costs; by Mary and James Turner and fined $200.  James countersued against Mary Turner, but was not sustained; sued by William Small in 1798; sued by Joseph Inman in 1801; by the State for “riot” but found “not guilty”.  James and Low Todd appeared on a jury together in 1805;  James and Low acknowledged their debt of $1000 as security for James appearing before the court at its next term in Feb 1810; James served on a jury in 1816.
  5. He is probably the James who married in 1813 to Nancy Taylor in Jefferson Co.

 

Lincoln Co TN

  1. A new discovery – a son of John Todd 1746-1829!
    1.  It appears that the William Todd who has heirs William M Todd and Elizabeth J/P, Willis W. and John M Todd may have been a son of John Todd 1746-1829 based on the fact that Elijah Ringo, son-in-law of John Todd 1746-1829 was the guardian for the first two: William and Elizabeth. 
    2. William M went to school in KY in 1849 and was still on his guardian’s account in 1851. 
    3. Willis married in Callie Chester in 1859 in Union Co ARK; both he and William were in Boone, Union Co, Arkansas in 1880.  William had no family; Willis’ son Junius W. Todd b 1861 ARK was in La Salle, LA in 1930 and died in Caddo Co in 1932; Carrie b 1875 ARK was a nurse in Manhattan in 1900.
    4. John
  1. Ebenezer McEwen and Robert H(Houston) McEwen (descendants of Sarah Todd Houston d 1795) bought land in Lincoln Co on the Middle Fork of Norris’ Creek in 1812 and 1815 respectively.   Hence Ebenezer was definitely in Lincoln Co before John Todd 1746-1829 and Robert H McEwen may have been there before John Todd 1746-1829.  Ebenezer was a pastor and was a trustee of the Presbyterian church of Fayetteville, Lincoln Co in 1812.  This is the church where a John Todd was connected in 1817.  This supports the theory that John was drawn to Lincoln Co. by his kin.   Robert first bought lots in Fayetteville and then in 1817 bought land on Norris Creek, the same creek on which Samuel Todd, son of John Todd 1746-1829, bought land in 1818. 
  2. John B. Todd
    1.  John B. Todd b VA 1777 (according to the 1850 census, but possibly born earlier) reared sons in NC and then came to Lincoln Co. prior to 1820 and then to Shelby Co TN where he died in 1851.  In 1827, he bought 20 acres from Simon Camper on the west fork of Flint River with Thomas H Todd (his son) and Joseph McCluskey as witnesses  In 1835 he sold to Thomas Burgis 3 parcels – the 50 acre grant he got in 1828, a parcel of 6 acres and a parcel of 42 acres .  In 1844, while living in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, he authorized Thomas H Todd (his son) to sell 250 acres lying 9 miles south of Fayetteville but we have no record of a purchase. 

b.       One of his sons William T. Todd b 1804 NC was in Jackson Co AL in 1830 and Marshall Co Alabama by 1840 and in 1850.  In 1850, Wm T. officiated at the marriage of Rhoda Garrison and Joshua ?.  In 1851, Elizabeth C Todd married Charles Kennedy.  

    1.  William T and his son John b 1839 show up in Upshur Co TX between 1850 and 1860.

 

  1. Samuel Todd assumed son of John 1746-1829 bought 350 acres on waters of Norris Creek in 1818.  The deed was a sale from John Alexander Brown to Samuel Todd on 15 Sept 1818 and was witnessed by E McEwen (presumably Ebenezer McEwen, grandson of Sarah Todd Houston).  John’s 1829 will suggested that his son Samuel had gone to TN ahead of John and bought property. 
  2. A mysterious Jesse Todd appears on tax lists in 1810 but it turns out he is Jesse Dodd.

 

Campbell County, TN

 

  1. Issac and Low Todd are in both the 1818 and 1823 tax lists; Jesse is in the 1818 list.
  2. There is a Jesse Todd on a couple of juries.
  3. There is an Issac Todd who married in Jefferson Co in 1813 but who got a 30 acre grant in Campbell Co in 1838 (based on an 1824 survey) on Capuchin Fork of the Jellico River.  We don’t know if there is any connection with the Issac Todd of the 1830 census in Lincoln Co. TN. 
  4. Jesse and Isaac Todd served in the same unit in Campbell Co war of 1812.

 

Botetourt and Augusta Co Tax lists in 1770s

 

  1. To our surprise, the index to tithables in Botetourt Co 1770-1777 did not show William and John Todd who appeared in the 1778 Rockbridge Co, tax list.  They also did not show a second James Todd.
  2. To our surprise, the 1777 Augusta Co tax list did not show any Todds, even the James Todd who was in Augusta in 1774 based on his service at Pt Pleasant and was in Rockingham in 1787, 1788.

 

Implications for Further Research

 

  2. Research the family of Jesse Todd’s wife, Priscilla Turner.
  3. Research the family of Isaac Todd’s wife Nancy Meals
  4. Search the Knox co court records after 1818 for records of James Todd.
  5. Search the census records for James Todd’s in 1820 and 1830.
  6. Locate the land of Low Todd and Isaac Todd in Campbell Co