Mary Elizabeth Todd

Mary Elizabeth Todd was born Nov 1829**, according to her entry in the 1900 census, but I don't believe that is correct. Mary's age hadn't really been consistent throughout the census records,. Her ages were recorded as follows:

• 1850- 23
  
• 1860- 30
  
• 1870- 41
  
• 1880- 49
• 1890- (missing)
  
• 1900- 70

Let's look at her brother, Jacob. He was 21 in 1850. Both his 1900 census entry and his Civil War pension application indicate he was born in Nov 1828. He would have turned 22 in 1850, so that means the family was enumerated before November. Assuming Mary's age was correct in 1850, and since her birthday was also in November, she would have turned 24 that year, therefore it's more likely her year of birth was 1826.

Like all her siblings, she was born in Tattnall County, Georgia. It appears she never married, though the 1900 census indicates that she was the mother of 5 children, 4 of whom were still living. The same census also indicates that she was widowed, which was likely just an euphemism.

She is found in her parents' household from 1830-1870. See Edward's family 1830-1850 and 1860-1880.

I was just looking at the 1830 census table and realized something I'd never noticed before. There are two females, excluding the mother; one was under 5 and the other was between 5 and 10. Assuming Mary was born in 1826, she would have been in the under 5 bracket, so who was in the 5-10 bracket?

Did Edward and Mary have another older daughter, who was either married by 1850 and living in her husband's household, or deceased. Remember the 1830 census did not ask how many daughters or sons were in the household, but rather how many free white persons, male and female, so it's possible the unknown female was some kind of relative. Or, it's also possible two of the daughters are much older than indicated in the later censuses.

Here, again, are the 1860 and 1870 censuses that I already posted before because it includes Mary's children:

1860 Tattnall Co. Ga. census:

name	age
Edward D. Todd	55
Mary	58
Elizabeth (Mary)	30
Maryetta (Harrietta)	17
Martha	10
Jimmima	6
Henry	6
Charles	1

1870 Tattnall Co. Ga. census:

name	age
Edward D. Todd	66
Mary	69
Mary E.	41
Jemima	36
Harrietta	27
Henry	16
Mary J.	14
Amanda	12
Charles (middle initial illegible)	10
Rachel	7 mo.
Jacob W.	4
William R.	1

1860- I've already pointed out before that according to later census records, Harrietta never married and never had children, so the little ones in 1860 had to be the children of Mary E., that is: Little Jemima, Henry, and Charles. Mary's sister, Jemima was enumerated elsewhere with her daughter, Amanda in 1860.

1870- We know from the 1880 and 1900 census records (see below) that Jacob C. (or W.) was her son, and I believe Mary J. is little Jemima, never mind the age discrepancy, so four of her children are accounted for.

Personally, I think that Martha may have been her daughter as well because Mary Blocker Todd would have been 48 when she was born, which is not unheard of, true, but seems rather unlikely. Keep in mind that this is my own speculation, not fact, so please don't cite this as fact.

We know from the 1860 census record where Jemima is found in that Amanda was her daughter. According to a couple of genealogy forum posts, her other children were Rachel and William Robert.

So, to recap, Mary's children were:

1. Mary Jemima b. abt 1854
   
2. Henry b. abt 1854
   
3. Charles b. abt 1859
   
4. Jacob b. Jan 1866
   
   

1880 Tattnall Co. Ga. census:

She is heading her own household with her son, Jacob C. living with her. I didn't bother with a table because it was just the two of them.

1900 Liberty Co. Ga. census:

name	date of birth	relationship
Todd, Jacob	Jan 1866	head
Rosa J.	May 1873	wife
Media R.	Oct 1893	son
Dorpha M.	Sept 1895	daughter
Martha J.	Mar 1899	daughter
Mary E.	Nov 1829	mother

This is the last time Mary Elizabeth Todd is found in census records.