May 2003; rev May 2005; May
2007
Background
There
is a Todd family tradition that Samuel Todd of
This
couple also was said to have been the parents of Sarah Todd who married John
Houston, Ann/Nancy Todd who married James McMurtry, Esther Todd who married
John Taylor, and Isabella Todd who married Patrick Young.
Though
it is true that above Samuel Todd and Sarah Todd are siblings, the remainder of
the tradition is either incorrect or unsubstantiated and appears to be based on
conjecture.
There
was no Samuel Todd who lived in Augusta Co VA and married Ann Houston. The Samuel Todd who did live in Augusta Co
was the son William Todd who settled there in 1750 from
Samuel
Todd of
There is also no evidence of the existence of
a Samuel Todd who married Ann Houston and lived in Augusta County prior to 1754
nor any substantive evidence that the Samuel Todd reported to be a brother of
Robert Todd of Philadelphia County had any connection with the Houston family
in Virginia other than his brother-in-law being John Houston.
This tradition of Samuel Todd – Ann Houston marriage has
come to us in stages in the first decades of the 1900s. First, between 1905 and 1912, Mrs. Clementine
Railey, a descendant of Samuel Todd of Augusta/Botetourt, decided that her
Samuel Todd was a son of Samuel Todd identified in a 1905 Todd Family History
as a brother of Robert Todd of
The alleged children of this couple also came in stages. As late as 1931, Mrs. Railey identified only Samuel and Sarah as children. Writing in the 1950s, Mrs. Carruth listed Samuel, Sarah and Isabella and Mrs. Lappe listed all five.
However,
the documentary evidence shows that Samuel Todd of Augusta/Botetourt was the
son of William Todd, not Samuel Todd.
There is no evidence for another older Samuel Todd in
The
discussion below (1) clarifies the evidence that Samuel Todd was the son of William
Todd who settled in Augusta County ca 1750, not the son of the Samuel Todd
who allegedly married Ann Houston, (2) suggests one possible theory as to how Mrs. Railey confused the
traditions of the Houston family with the traditions of the Todd family, (3)
indicates what is known about the other alleged children of this couple, (4)
and discusses what is known about the children of Samuel Todd, son of William.
.
Samuel
Todd of this study was born ca 1739, presumably in Pennsylvania or New Jersey;
came to Augusta Co, Virginia as a young boy with his parents and siblings
around 1750, married Jane Lowery in the early 1760s, had children 1763-1770s,
moved to Botetourt County where he became a county official (sheriff and tax
collector) and large landowner in the 1780s, moved to Clay Co., Kentucky in
1807 and died in Jefferson Co., KY in 1812/13.
The
essential evidence for Samuel being the son of William Todd, not the son of a
Samuel Todd/Ann Houston, is that in 1801 “Samuel Todd, son of William” made a
formal deposition in a court case that “in 1754-5 or 1756, Tobias Burk came to
the home of his father”. This suggests
that Samuel as a young man, say 17 years old in 1756 (hence born ca 39) observed
these events. The depostion shows that
this particular Samuel Todd was still in the area as a man of age 62 in 1801. And there is only one Samuel Todd family in
the area at that time, namely, Samuel Todd b abt 1740 and his son Samuel Todd b
abt 1777.
The
question arises as to whether there might have been two Samuel Todds in the
area – one the son of William and another the son of the Samuel Todd who
supposedly married Ann Houston. The
answer lies in answering the following questions:
If
the answer to both questions is yes, then this proves that Samuel Todd of
Augusta/Botetourt County is the son of William Todd and that there is no other
Samuel Todd, son of Samuel Todd and Ann Houston in
The
tax records of Botetourt and Rockbridge Co. and the land records of Augusta,
Botetourt and Rockbridge show us there is only one adult Samuel Todd during the
colonial era.
Looking
first at the tax lists for Botetourt, we find there is only one Samuel Todd in
the period 1783-1806 (with the exception of 1803 in which Samuel’s son Samuel
is also listed as Samuel Todd, Senior and Samuel Todd Jr.) and looking at the tax lists for
The
Samuel Todd of Rockbridge is not a second Samuel Todd; he is the Samuel Todd
who owns land in Rockbridge but lives in Botetourt. We know this because there is a land sale in
Rockbridge by Samuel Todd and his wife Jane of Botetourt in 1789 and
land purchase in 1791 in Rockbridge by Samuel Todd of Botetourt. We believe that Samuel does not appear in
the tax records for 1783-88 in Rockbridge even though he is a landowner because
his brother James was living on the land and appears in the tax lists as liable
for tax for those years.
Not
only do we know that there is only one Samuel Todd during the early statehood
era, we known that this Samuel Todd is the same Samuel Todd who purchased land in
the colonial era. Samuel Todd and his
wife Jane of Botetourt sold the Whistle Creek land in Rockbridge in 1789 just
after the death of James Todd in 1789.
This land was the land that Samuel Todd bought from Benjamin Borden in
1762. This proves that the Samuel Todd
of 1789 sale is the same Samuel as the one who appears in the county records in
the 1760s.
Another
early land transaction is the 1761 purchase by Samuel Todd and his wife Jane of
land on Buffalo Creek from William Todd.
A Samuel Todd with a wife Jane is most likely the same Samuel and Jane
who bought land on Whistle Creek just over the ridge from Buffalo Creek in
1762. This supports the notion that
there is one Samuel and that he is the son of William. All the references to Samuel Todd in the Augusta, Botetourt and Rockbridge
records appear to refer to this same Samuel except for one reference to his son
Samuel in 1803.
The Samuel Todd Jr of the 1803 tax lists is
Samuel and Jane’s son Samuel b 1772 or 1778.
He appears to have bought land in
In
summary, there is only one Samuel Todd in the area during the 1761 to 1801
period (other than his son Samuel) and this Samuel Todd is the son of William
Todd. There are no documentary
references to a Samuel Todd of the previous generation.
Evidence against the Samuel Todd/Ann
There
are reasons to doubt Mrs. Railey’s tradition about a Samuel Todd marrying an
Ann Houston, living on Hays Creek, and dying there ca 1754.
There
is no documentary evidence that any Samuel Todd ever lived or owned property on
Hays Creek. Also, there is no probate or other estate record for an elderly
Samuel Todd who died ca 1754. The land
records for the Samuel Todd (1739-1812) were initially on Buffalo Creek and
Whistle Creek in the 1760s, Calyor Creek a Branch of Buffalo Creek and “Forks
of James” in the 1780s, Pond Bottom in James River in 1790s, and other grants
in
However,
there is a John Houston who lived on Hays Creek and who died in 1754. Perhaps Mrs. Railey’s tradition is a
confusion with the
I
believe that Mrs. Railey had no evidence of a Samuel Todd in Augusta County
prior to 1754, but tried to explain the family tradition of a connection to the
family of Mary Todd Lincoln by linking Samuel to the Samuel Todd, identified as
a brother to Robert Todd, ancestor of Mary Todd Lincoln, in the 1905 Todd
Family history article. The only known
connection between the two families was the Samuel Todd’s daughter Sarah
married a Rev John Todd, a cousin of the grandfather of Mary Todd Lincoln. So there was a connection, but not the one
Mrs. Railey asserts.
Mrs.
Railey does not identify a specific wife, but asserts only that she was
“perhaps a
The
“Ann” part of the Houston-Todd marriage tradition was not introduced by Mrs.
Railey, but rather by later family historians.
There is no Samuel and Ann in
Children of Samuel Todd and Ann
Houston
Data
on the children of the supposed Samuel Todd and Ann Houston marriage has come
to us from Mrs. Louise Buell Todd in 1966 and Mrs. Jesse Lappe in 1958. They state that their children were:
Samuel
(md Jane Lowry), Esther (md John Taylor), Isabella (md Patrick Young), Sarah
(md John Houston), and Ann/Nancy (md James McMurtry).
We
now know that Samuel and Sarah were
children of William Todd, not Samuel Todd.
The evidence for Samuel is discussed above. Sarah who married John Houston is likely a
sister of Samuel because Sarah’s son Rev. Samuel Houston officiated at the
marriage of Samuel Todd’s daughter Jane and a family tradition was that Rev
Houston and Samuel’s daughter were cousins.
Also, we know that William Todd (Samuel Todd’s father) had a daughter
Sarah born 1729 – the right age to be the Sarah who married John Houston.
As
for the other three, they are not likely children of Samuel and Ann because
there is no evidence of such a married couple in
If
these three were Todds, they could be daughters of William Todd (who settled in
The
other longshot possibility is that they were daughters of James Todd, but this
is not likely. There is a reference to a
James Todd whose daughter Hannah was married in 1758 in
The
Janeway Store records in
As
far as the girls are concerned, we are not sure if these three women (Nancy,
Isabella, and Esther) were Todds at all or who their fathers’ were.
As
far as Isabella Todd is concerned, there is no documentary sources proving she
is a Todd. It may be that family
historians assumed a Todd connection because Samuel Todd became guardian of her
children after the death of her husband Patrick Young in 1761. She may have been a Todd, but we don’t have
much evidence to support this.
As
far as Ann/Nancy Todd is concerned, there is no documentary source proving she
is a Todd. We do know that the sons of
James McMurtry, Joseph and William McMurtry, who came to
As
far as Esther Todd is concerned, this writer has no information concerning this
family.
Children of Samuel Todd and Jane Lowry
Note
that children and grandchildren of Samuel Todd are discussed more completely in
the essay on the family of his father William Todd. Information on Samuel and Jane (Lowry) Todd’s
children comes from documentary sources, letters in the 1880s of two
grandchildren (Sisters Gabriella Todd and her brother Dr. William Todd),
letters between 1912 and 1931 of a great-great granddaughter (Mrs. Clementine
Railey), and letters in 1966 of the wife of another Todd descendant (Mrs.
Louise Buell Todd).
The
data provided by Mrs. Louise Buell Todd, building on the traditions of Mrs.
Railey, listed 11 children of Samuel Todd and Jane Lowry. The table below shows that we have
documentary evidence for 7 (James, Jane, Samuel, John,
The
difficulty here is that Samuel’s will in
We
have confirmed that Samuel and Jane Lowery Todd had 8 of the first 9 children in Mrs Buell’s lists: Jane, James, Samuel,
John,
The
chart on the next page shows what is known about these children and includes
the information in Mrs. Railey’s letters.
|
|
Child |
Confirmed |
Birth year |
Spouse |
Residence |
Sources: |
|
1 |
James |
Yes |
b1768-73 |
Polly Lowry |
Clay Co, KY 1810; died pr to 1820; no issue, widow remained in Co |
CARailey ; Clay Co
records ; |
|
2 |
Jane |
Yes |
1763-1842 |
Thomas Crawford md 1794 |
Green Co., KY=> |
Numerous |
|
3 |
Samuel |
Yes |
1772 |
1 Charity Dabney md 1807 VA 2 Monarchia Fenwick md 1824 KY |
=>KY 1809 Gallatin Co 1811 Franklin Co 1831 |
Wm Todd and Sister Gabriella letters in Helm collection; CARailey |
|
4 |
John |
Yes |
Prior to 1775 |
1 Sarah Sterrett md 1800 2 Anne Hubbard ( |
|
Jefferson Co & Oldham Co records; CARailey |
|
5 |
|
Yes |
1776-1841 |
John Craig md 1792 |
Owen Co & Scott Co., KY |
|
|
6 |
|
Yes |
1778 |
John Lowry of SC |
Jessamine Co., KY. |
Mentioned as “infant daughter” in a suit for slander in 1778; CAR. |
|
7 |
Hannah |
No |
|
David Ewing Mr. Minatt |
Wayne Co, KY; |
CARailey |
|
8 |
Polly |
Yes |
|
Evan Frances |
Bourbon Co., KY |
CARailey; Bourbon Co deeds |
|
9 |
Sarah |
Yes |
1775? -1865 |
Rev. John Todd 1794 Rockbridge Co., VA |
D |
|
|
10 |
William |
No |
|
|
|
No information has been found concerning this William. But there is a William Todd in the 1778 tax
list for Rockbridge Co., VA., perhaps the son of William. Source: LBT |
|
11 |
Robert |
No |
|
|
Logan Co, KY |
No information given other than his residence. Source: LBT. |
*LBT=
Louise Buell Todd; CAR=Clementine A. Railey
Sources:
A. Mrs. Clementine Railey
Mrs. Clementine A. Railey (born 1855)was the:
·
great great granddaughter of Samuel Todd (1739-1812),
·
great granddaughter of Jane (Todd) Crawford (1763-1842),
·
granddaughter of Alice (Crawford) Brown, (1797-d after 1883 )
·
daughter of Hamilton Brown
Her
early letters (1912/1913,1923) are the most complete source of the children of
Samuel Todd. These letters plus later
ones (1931) are the source of the tradition that her ancestor Samuel Todd was
the son of Samuel Todd, who was the brother of Robert Todd, the progenitor of
the Mary Todd Lincoln family. Mrs. Railey
surmised that the elder Samuel had a wife “perhaps a Houston”. Later historians seem to have added the name
Ann to this tradition making Samuel Todd and Ann Houston parents of Samuel,
Sarah, Nancy, Isabella, and Esther Todd.
Her
letters written in 1912/1913 claimed that Samuel was the father of 6 daughters
and 3 sons. She also indicated their
spouses and places of residence and death.
Her source was “a letter dictated by my grandmother to Dr. S.S. Todd” in
1883 in Morning Sun,
It
appears that between 1905 and 1912 she decided that her Samuel Todd was the son
of an elder Samuel Todd who was reported to be a brother of Robert Todd,
ancestor of Mary Todd Lincoln, in a 1905 Todd Family History. She claims in 1913 that she was a 4th
cousin to Mrs. Lincoln and that “my grandmother told me that but I (neglected
to remember). She does not say exactly
what her grandmother told her. I wonder
if the remembered connection to Mary Todd Lincoln family was through the 1794
marriage of Sarah Todd to John Todd,
rather than Samuel Todd being a brother of Mary Todd Lincoln’s
ancestor. I wonder if Mrs. Railey’s
grandmother thought there was a cousin connection and the Mrs. Railey deduced
the connection after the publication of the 1905 history.
Though
she seems certain of the connection between the elder Samuel Todd and the Mary
Todd Lincoln family, she makes no mention of the Samuel Todd-Ann Houston
connection and states rather that “I want to find some history..connection
between the families of Gen Levi Todd and Samuel Todd” and “Can you tell me
about the relationship of Sheriff Samuel Todd of Botetourt and Maj Gen Levi
Todd of the Revolutionary Army or of Gen Levi Todd and Judge Samuel Todd of
Frankfort?”
Her
letters make no mention of the Ann Houston connection. In 1931, she mentions that the elder Samuel
Todd “settled on the isolated frontier, his wife perhaps a
In
a 1930 letter to Mrs. Arthur Thomas McCormack of the Woman’s Auxiliary to the
Kentucky State Medical Association that
Samuel Todd had two sons, John and Samuel.
She said that Samuel the son married Charity Dabney and moved to
Mrs
Railey also wrote in 1931 to Mrs. Margaret Scruggs Carruth in
Mrs.
Carruth later referred to the Elder Samuel Todd’s wife as “Ann?
Mrs.
Jesse Lappe (1896-1986) in her 1958 article on the Todds in the Mormon Library
cites a “Samuel Todd (1685-1758) of Rowan Co. NC who married Ann Houston”. There is no question mark. Perhaps Samuel Todd of Rowan County (who
came from Lancaster Co PA 1750-1758) married Ann Houston in PA before coming to
North Carolina and perhaps this has been synthesized with the “perhaps a
Houston” tradition of Mrs. Railey.
B. Mrs. Louise Buell Todd
Mrs.
Louise Buell Todd (b 1909) was a very active family historian in the
1960s. She wrote a booklet on Parson
John Todd of Louisa County, VA, but exchanged information with other Todd
historians concerning other branches of the Todd family, including Samuel Todd
of Augusta/Botetourt whose daughter Sarah married John Todd, son of John Todd
of Louisa Co.
C. Leads in the Emilie Todd Helm papers
I
suspect that a very careful examination of the Emilie Todd Helm papers might
yield more clues than I was able to uncover in the 7 hours I spent there last
week.
D.
Other potential sources
The
Augusta/Botetourt and
It
would be good to compile a chronological table of all the Samuel Todd
references, especially the purchases and sales of land. The land purchases and sales would provide
additional confirmation that there is only one adult Samuel Todd in
Some
of Mrs. Railey’s letters reside in the papers of Mrs. Arthur McCormack,
biographer of Jane Todd Crawford, in the custody of the Filson Club in