Edward D. Todd and his descendants

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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Ancestors of Edward D. Todd

Before I get into the descendants of Edward D. Todd, let's explore who his ancestors were.

The short answer: it seems no one is quite certain.

However, based on my own research, which admittedly consists mostly of whatever I can find online, it seems logical and reasonable to deduce that he is connected to the John Todd who died in Liberty County, Georgia in 1758. Before I get into that, here's John Todd, Senior's family tree.

I should note that Annette B. Todd offers extensive information on this John Todd and his descendants at her website:Book: Todds: 1695-1999 . Check it out if you want to know more. All I will offer here is a bare-bones family tree of the first 4 generations. All the information herein is taken mostly from her website. If you use this information for your own family tree, please give credit to her.

First Generation:
John Todd, Sr. b. around 1695, d. 1758 in Liberty County (now McIntosh), Georgia
m. Sarah (Giles?)

  1. John, Jr. (see below)
  2. Giles b. abt. 1730. Nothing much more is known about him except that his father's will stipulated that his Georgia plantation and other property goes to him upon Gile's mother's death, as well as his land and interests in Virginia.
  3. Dorcus, a daughter which Annette B. Todd offers nothing further.
The children, or rather, the sons are known from their father's will and land grant records (John, Jr. had his own land grant). Annette B. Todd has images and transcripts of those on her home page: The Todd Beckham Family Home Page.

Georgia's Virtual Vault also has John Todd, Sr.'s will, and also this one.

Second Generation:
John Todd, Jr. b. about 1725 in Virginia, d. 1785 in McIntosh County, Georgia
m. Mary (Williams?)

  1. William (see below) His father's will specifically states that he was his only son.
  2. Jane b. abt. 1754, d. abt. 1820
    m. (1) Stephen Hawthorn, (2) Ephrim Taylor, (3) John Campbell. Apparently no living children upon her death.
  3. Mary b. abt. 1756
    m. John Dyal. More information on this branch at Annette B. Todd's website. It appears all her children were born in South Carolina.
The children's names are also known from their father's will.

Third Generation:
William Todd, Sr. b. about 1752 in Liberty County, Georgia, d. May 1816 Tattnall Co., Ga., m. Mary.
  1. John III (see below)
  2. Jemina b. abt. 1780
  3. Ann b. abt. 1782
    m. James Wilson (source: dhanke World Connect family tree, sourced to Ann R. Davis)
  4. William, Jr. (see below)
While their father had a will, he didn't mention the children by name. However, his mother made a Deed of Love to her grandchildren and mentions them all by name. Jane, sister of William Todd, Sr. mentioned all but Ann in her will. Images and transcripts also available at Annette B. Todd's website. See links above.

Fourth Generation:
John Todd III b. abt. 1775/1778 Ga, d. abt. 1835 McIntosh Co. Ga., m. unknown
  1. Margery
  2. Mary Percival
    m. Augustus Middleton
  3. Margaret b. abt. 1797
    m. (1)Charles Stebbins, (2)Jeremiah Sanders
  4. William b. abt. 1802
    m. Susan Wallace
  5. George W. b. abt. 1810
  6. unknown female b. abt. 1820
  7. unknown female b. abt. 1823
  8. unknown female b. abt. 1826
  9. unknown female b. abt. 1827

William Todd, Jr. b. abt. 1785 in Liberty Co. (now McIntosh) Ga., m. Esther Dyess abt. 1812.

  1. Mary M. b. abt. 1811
    m. Thomas P. Rolls.
    Annette B. Todd doesn't include this person. I've included her based on what I found at the Digital Library on American Slavery. It says in part that she was one of the eight heirs of her late father, William Todd, and names William M. Tippins and John W. Todd as administrators of her father's estate. She petitions for her share of her father's vast estate to go solely to her and not to her husband because he left her and it is granted. The petition was recorded in 1857 in Tattnall County.
  2. John Washington, b. abt. 1815
  3. Jemina Elizabeth b. abt. 1817 Tattnall Co.
    m. Hardy B. Deloach
  4. Marjorie Jane, b. abt. 1821
    m. James A. Tippins
  5. Ann R., b. 11 Oct. 1822
    m. William M. Tippins
  6. Hannah, b. abt. 1827
    m. Asa Barnard
  7. Susan, b. abt. 1829. It appears she never married, nor had any children.
  8. Isabelle b. abt. 1831, d. before 1860
    m. Jacob Giles Todd 9 May 1852.

Annette B. Todd includes Edward D. Todd as one of William Todd Jr.'s children, but note that although he is older than the rest of William's children, he is listed last, out of chronological order. Also note that William and Esther were married after Edward was born

Besides, according to the 1850 census, Tattnall County Georgia, Edward was born in 1805 in McIntosh County. In the same census, Esther was born in 1795, so she would only be ten years older than him, which makes it very unlikely that she was his mother.

According to William's daughter, Mary's petition above, her father did have a will, so he died sometime before 1857. His daughter, Isabelle was not enumerated in the 1860 census, so she was also deceased. According to the 1860 Appling Co. Ga. census, Isabelle's two children were born in 1852 and 1855, so she must have died between 1855 and 1860. If Isabelle passed away before her father did, was Edward one of his eight heirs? Otherwise, it would seem that all his children (heirs) are accounted for; in other words, Edward was not his son.

Virginia Roots
It is Annette B. Todd's belief that the senior Todd originally came from Virginia. Whether he was born there or emigrated from elsewhere is not known. My father has always been told, and his father before him, and so on, that our Todds originally came from Virginia. It is the assertion of several Edward D. Todd descendants as well, as evidenced by postings in several online genealogy forums.

According to Richard McMurtry's Todd DNA Project, a descendant of John Todd, Sr, is a close match (20 out of 23 markers) to John Todd b. 1740-50 who settled in Washington County Virginia about 1791. Mr. McMurtry believes that their common ancestor originated in the British Isles, and not in America.

In the 1910 census of Charlton County Georgia, Virginia is given as the place of birth of Jacob G. Todd's father. His father was Edward D. Todd. This is, of course, incorrect- he was born in McIntosh County Georgia. By then Jacob was 82 years old. According to his neighbor and fellow soldier, Eaton Taylor, who was a witness on his Civil War pension application dated 1897, Jacob was feeble. I like to think that, while not technically accurate, he did remember that his ancestors were originally from Virginia.

Incidentally, this is the same Jacob Giles Todd that married Isabelle Todd, daughter of William Todd, Jr.

Well, the above doesn't really prove anything, but I wanted to show that both John Todd, Sr. and Edward D. Todd may have had Virginia origins, and possibly even shared them.

Which Branch?
But, which branch did Edward D. Todd descend from? Unless records are found to prove otherwise, it's all speculation:

  1. According to several posters at a couple of genealogy forums online, Jemina/Jemima Todd, daughter of William Todd, Sr. was known to have borne several illegitimate children, and Edward was one of them. I lean more towards the side of oral family history.

  2. If Edward was the son of William Todd, Jr., it had to be from a prior marriage. As I mentioned earlier, Esther was too young to be his mother. I haven't found any marriage records to prove that he was married before. Or he may simply be an illegitimate son of his.

  3. One of my theories is that he may be a descendant of Giles Todd, one of the sons of John Todd, Sr. There is no further mention of Giles Todd in Georgia records after 30 May 1757 (source: Annette B. Todd).

    John Todd Jr.'s will states that his land consisted of half of his own property and the other half was his father's, which Giles was to inherit upon his mother's death. So, either Giles died before his mother while in Georgia or he abandoned Georgia for his father's "land and interests" in Virginia.

    What I find particularly interesting to note is that at least three of Edward D. Todd's descendants, that I know of, have the middle name of Giles: his son Jacob Giles Todd, who was mentioned previously, Marvin Giles Todd, son of Jacob's brother, Joseph, and my own grandfather's brother, Mitchell Giles Todd (also spelled as Jiles).

    It would seem odd that they would be named after an apparently long-forgotten relative, unless they were directly connected to Giles Todd somehow.

    Or, they may have been so named because that was the maiden name of Sarah, wife of John Todd, Sr., as Annette B. Todd speculates. In either case, it gives credence to the theory that Edward D. Todd and John Todd, Sr. are related.

    As to the "land and interests in Virginia" that Giles inherited, there have as yet been no records found. Mr. McMurtry suggests that interested researchers try the Piedmont and Tidewater areas of Virginia.
The Earliest Census Record of Edward D. Todd

The 1790-1810 census records for Georgia were destroyed during the War of 1812, so the first census that Edward would be enumerated in would be in 1820. As has been mentioned several times, he was born in 1805, so he would be around 15 years old, too young to head his own household, I would think. Censuses up to and including 1840 only indicated the heads of household by name, and the rest were indicated by numbers- how many in a particular age bracket.

Since Edward was born in McIntosh Co. and later lived in Tattnall Co (cf. 1850 Tattnall Co. census)., let's look at the 1820 census records for both counties. We find there are only two households headed by a Todd- John III and William, Jr., sons of William Todd, Sr., one living in McIntosh and the other in Tattnall. Since they are the only Todds (heads) enumerated in that period, it stands to reason that Edward was related to them. No, it's not indisputable proof, but until proven otherwise, the simplest explanation is the most likely.

I created the tables below because it is visually easier. I also re-inserted their respective family trees for easier comparison. Some census data were omitted to just focus on the family. To see what else was included in the 1820 census see Wikipedia: 1820 census. For the record, John Todd had 1 black person in his household, and William Todd had 6. Whether they were slaves or free colored persons (as termed on the census), I couldn't tell because it was hard to determine which column indicated what, as the columns weren't clearly delineated.

John Todd- McIntosh County Georgia 1820
agesMales (white)
Females (white)
under 10 3 3
10-under 16

3
16-18
N/A
16-under 26
1 1
26-under 45
1 1
45 and up


















John Todd III
b. abt. 1775/1778 Ga, d. abt. 1835 m. unknown
Margery
Mary Percival m. Augustus Middleton
Margaret b. abt. 1797, m. (1)Charles Stebbins, (2)Jeremiah Sanders
William b. abt. 1802, m. Susan Wallace
George W. b. abt. 1810
unknown female b. abt. 1820
unknown female b. abt. 1823
unknown female b. abt. 1826
unknown female b. abt. 1827

If you compare the two, you can see there are more children on the census than indicated in the family tree (those born in 1820 or before). Members of a household are not necessarily children, or even family, though. It may be that those children not accounted for in the family tree died young, or other records have not been found to determine who they were. John, and presumably his wife are in the 26-45 row. The child, William is in the 16-26 bracket, so it appears Edward is not living in this household, unless he was mistakenly counted in the under 10 bracket.


Wm. Todd- Tattnall County Georgia 1820
agesMales (white)
Females (white)
under 10 2 2
10-under 16


16-18
N/A
16-under 26

1
26-under 45
1
45 and up



William Todd, Jr. b. abt. 1785 m. Esther Dyess abt. 1812.
Mary M. , b. abt. 1811, m. Thomas P. Rolls.
John Washington, b. abt. 1815
Jemina Elizabeth b. abt. 1817 Tattnall Co., m. Hardy B. Deloach
Marjorie Jane, b. abt. 1821, m. James A. Tippins
Ann R., b. 11 Oct. 1822, m. William M. Tippins
Hannah, b. abt. 1827, Asa Barnard
Susan, b. abt. 1829. It appears she never married, nor had any children.
Isabelle b. abt. 1831, d. before 1860, m. Jacob Giles Todd 9 May 1852.

Those children born in or before 1820 are accounted for, so it seems Edward D. Todd didn't live in this household, either.

It would seem to discount his relation to these Todds, but I don't think that's necessarily true. One possibility is that he was enumerated under a different household headed by someone other than a Todd, possibly the husband of a female Todd relative- surname unknown.

Because Edward would be too young to head his own household, and thus not be listed by name, there's just no way to tell which household he was residing in by anonymous numbers, unless we can find some kind of corroborating data.


So in conclusion, we simply don't know for sure who his direct ancestor was, but it is reasonable to believe he was related to John Todd, Sr.

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