Essays on Early Todd/McMurtry/Hutton Origins
(also a Todd/McQuiddy/McKee
connection)
May 2003, July 2005; May 2006
This
series of nine essays was written in an effort to sort out fact from myth in
the family traditions of the McMurtry family of New Jersey,
Virginia and Kentucky,
and its connection with the Todd and Hutton family with which the McMurtrys
intermarried during their settlement in Virginia. There is also a brief discussion of the
Todd/McQuiddy/McKee connections in Virginia
and Kentucky. These essays summarize the traditions, the
documentary evidence, and the correspondence associated with several of these
family origin traditions. They attempt
to discern how the traditions evolved and to determine what is the most
accurate description of the early family relationships.
The
essays deal primarily with five families:
- William Todd of Philadelphia County prior to 1723 who came to
Augusta County, VA ca 1750
- Robert and Andrew Todd,
brothers who settled in colonial Philadelphia
and Chester County, Pennsylvania
and whose descendants spread to Virginia
and Kentucky.
- John McMurtry, orphan
of Alexander McMurtry, who was raised by his mother Sarah and his
step-father James Young after 1751 in the Whistle Creek area of Augusta
County, VA and went to Kentucky
in 1780.
- James McMurtry who came
from New Jersey and settled in Bedford County, VA
prior to 1754. His sons, Joseph and
William McMurtry, went to Kentucky
ca 1780 and settled next door to John McMurtry. James may have married Hannah Todd,
daughter of William Todd, and some say he first married a Nancy Todd.
- Robert, Andrew, James,
John and William Todd who settled in Somerset
County, New Jersey
about 1735.
- James and Samuel Hutton
who settled in Augusta
County. Samuel married Mary Todd, daughter of
William Todd, and went to Kentucky
ca 1780. Their daughter Mary
married John McMurtry. James Hutton
may have migrated to South
Carolina.
- Robert McQuiddy married
Mary Gaines in 1752 in Stafford
County, Virginia. Their son William McQuiddy in Kentucky married Alice McKee, daughter of Lydia Todd
and James McKee of Rockbridge
County, Virginia.
The
essays focus on (1) the confused
traditions relating to the McMurtrys of Augusta and Bedford Counties, Virginia,
(2) the confused traditions of the Todds of Augusta and Bedford Counties,
Virginia, (3) the traditions concerning Todd-McMurtry-Hutton connections in
Virginia, (4) the traditions and relationships concerning Todd families of
Pennsylvania-Virginia and the Todds of Somerset County, New Jersey. There is also overview survey of the Todd
family origins throughout America
uncovered during the search for Virginia Todd origins. Lastly there are relevant excerpts from the
Emilie Todd Helm Papers at the Kentucky Historical Society.
The
essays are:
- Essays on Early
Todd/McMurtry/Hutton Origins (introduction to the essay series)
- The Family of William
Todd of Pennsylvania
and Augusta/Bedford County, VA
- Correcting the
Traditions of Samuel Todd of Augusta/Botetourt Counties, VA
- The Making of the Todd
Family History as reflected in the Emilie Todd Helm Papers
- The Evolving Family
Tradition of McMurtry-Todd-Hutton Connection in the Letters of Miss Myra
McMurtry
- The Nancy Todd-Hannah
Todd-James McMurtry marriage tradition and the Letters of Dr. William
McMurtry
- The Identity of Mary
Hutton’s father (John McMurtry’s father-in-law)
- The Todds of New Jersey and
Relationship to the Todds of PA-KY and the Todds of PA-VA
- The Todd Family in America
As
background for the entire series, the family traditions and the relationships as
we now know them are compared in the following tables. The end of this essay provides a thumbnail
sketch of each of the eight essays.
Family Traditions Compared
With Family Relationships
Below
are four sets of family charts. Each set
has one chart to show the family relationships as reflected in the tradition
and one chart to show what we now understand to be the correct relationships.
Dr.
Simeon Seymour Todd made (or reported) an incorrect synthesis of documentary
evidence and family traditions in describing the relationships between the
McMurtrys who appeared in the public records
.
1a. The
INCORRECT VERSION of the McMurtries of Augusta
County and Bedford County
per Dr. S.S. Todd
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Sarah McM
Md 1751
James Young
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Capt John McM
1738-1790
=>KY 1780
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1b. The McMurtries of Augusta County and Bedford County as currently understood
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Sarah McM
Md 1) Alexander McMurtry
2) James Young 1751
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______|____
Joseph McM
Md 1759
Susannah Patton
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James McM
Md ca 1750
D 1771
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__________|____
Samuel McM
1744-1796
Md 1762
Jean Martin
=>SC 1765
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Capt John McM
1738-1790
m Mary Hutton
ca 1770
=>KY 1780
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As shown in chart 1a above, Dr. S.S. Todd claimed
(1) that Joseph McMurtry of Philadelphia had five children: Joseph, James,
John, Samuel and Sarah, (2) that James in Bedford County had two sons, William
and Joseph who went to Kentucky, (3) that Samuel McM was the father of Capt.
John McMurtry who went to Kentucky, and (4) that Sarah McM md James Young in
1751.
In reality, as shown in chart 1b, Joseph and James were
brothers to each other, but not to the rest; Sarah McMurtry was the widow of
Alexander McMurtry, not a McMurtry by birth; and Samuel McMurtry and Capt John
McMurtry were brothers, not father and son.
- The Todds of Augusta
County and Bedford County
Some family historians reported that William and
Samuel Todd of Augusta County were brothers to Robert and Andrew Todd of Philadelphia and Chester
County, Pennsylvania.
2a INCORRECT
VERSION of William and Samuel Todd’s relationship to Robert and Andrew Todd of
PA as reported by various Todd family historians
__________|_______________________________________
Samuel Todd
1690-1754
m Ann Houston
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James Todd
Remained in Ireland
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William Todd
=>Augusta Co 1750 =>Bedford Co 1760
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______________________________________|______________
Sarah Todd
md
John Houston
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Samuel Todd
md
Jean Lowery
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Isabella Todd
md
Patrick Young
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Esther Todd md
John Taylor
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Nancy Todd
Md
James McMurtry
Of Bedford Co
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2b
Relationship between William and Robert/Andrew Todd as currently
hypothesized
____________________|___________
William Todd
B ca 1700
Philadelphia Co ca 1711
=>Augusta Co 1750 =>Bedford Co 1760
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____________________________________|________________________________
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Sarah
b 1729/30
d-1795
md
John Houston
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Hannah
1731/2
md ? 1755?
James
McMurtry
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Lydia
1736
d 1811
md
James
McKee
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Samuel
1739 1812 md ca1761
Jean Lowery
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Low
1723
1792
TN
md
Eliz.
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Mary
1728
md
Sam’l
Hutton
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A grandson of Robert Todd 1697-1775 reported that
Robert and Andrew Todd came to America
in 1737 settling initially in New York with
Robert soon settling in the portion of Philadelphia
County that became Montgomery County
and Andrew settling later in Chester
County. They were reported to be the sons of a John Todd of County Armagh, Ireland. They also were reported to have several
brothers including a James, William and a Samuel. James reportedly stayed in Ireland, but nothing was known about William and
Samuel though there was speculation by the publisher of the Emily Todd Helm
manuscript in 1905 that this brother William was the William Todd who had
children baptized in Abington Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia County
in 1736 and 1738.
An alternative view based on the similarity of
names is that Robert and Andrew were two of the five brothers – Robert, Andrew,
James, John and William - who appear in the Janeway Store records in Bound Brook NJ
in the 1730s. This view assumes William and John are the
same William and John who appear in the Abington Presbyterian Church records in
the 1720s and 1730s. Therefore the
family must have lived someone near Hunterdon
County which lies halfway between the Abington Church and the Janeway store. Hunterdon County records show Robert, William
and John in Hunterdon Co in the 1740s and/or 1750s, supporting the view that
the Robert and Andrew of Philadelphia and Chester Co were the brothers of
William, James and John of Somerset Co NJ and that William is the same William
as appears in Hunterdon Co, NJ in the 1740s and in Augusta Co, VA in 1750, and
that John is the John of Hunterdon Co NJ and possibly Sussex Co, NJ.
William Todd of the Abington church records had a son Low
Todd b 1723 and these are assumed to be the ones who settled in Augusta Co, VA
since William and Low show up in the records there in 1750. Furthermore, Samuel Todd of Augusta
and Botetourt Counties, Virginia was the son of this William Todd,
not the son of a Samuel Todd and Ann Houston, as a Todd family historian
claimed. John 1746-1829 is assumed here
to be son of William because he sold half of William’s land in 1772.
As to the Samuel Todd who married Ann Houston, there is
no documentary evidence to confirm the existence of this Todd-Houston marriage
and there is some evidence that it is a confusion with another family
tradition.
As far as the sisters Isabella, Esther and Nancy, we
have only family tradition to suggest they are Todds, but no evidence other
than geography and dates to connect them with William Todd. The tradition that Nancy Todd married James
McMurtry is discussed in detail in the essay on the letters of William
McMurtry.
3a McMurtry,
McQuiddy, McKee Tradition as reported by Myra McMurtry from S.S.Todd
__________|_________________________
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Daughter md a McMurtry
(assumed Nancy Todd md James McMurtry)
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Daughter md a
McQuiddy
(assumed David McQuiddy md Mary (Todd) Gaines
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3b McMurtry,
McQuiddy, McKee Relationships in the McKee family
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Lydia
Todd 1736 –1811
md
James McKee 1726-1778
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Polly 1774
md 1795
James McMurtry
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Alice
1753
md
Wm McQuiddy
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Martha McKee
Didn’t marry
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In the family tradition that Myra McMurtry
reportedly received from Dr. S. S. Todd, there was a William Todd who had three
daughters who married 1750-1760 – one married a McMurtry, one a McQuiddy, and
one a McKee.
No documentary support has been found for this
tradition; however, there is evidence that a Todd had three daughters and that
one was a McMurtry, one was a McQuiddy and one was a McKee. Lydia Todd married James McKee in Augusta
County, VA and had six children of which three were daughters. One daughter, Polly, b 1774 married James
McMurtry in Kentucky in 1795; one daughter,
Alice, b 1753, married William McQuiddy in Kentucky, and the other daughter, Martha,
didn’t marry and remained a McKee.
This tradition is so similar to the one reported by
Myra McMurtry that it seems likely that this tradition was reported to Dr. Todd
by the McQuiddys in the 1880s or 1890s, but reported in such a way as to be
misunderstood and projected back into the previous generation. A recent McQuiddy history stated that Alice
McKee’s mother was a Lowery, suggesting that McQuiddy historians had been
unaware of the tradition that Alice’s
mother was a Todd. It is only in Alice
McQuiddy’s branch where Todd was used as a middle name. They must have assumed that Mary Gaines who
married David McQuiddy was a widow Gaines, but born a Todd.
4a
Contradictory Versions of the Hutton/Todd/McMurtry in the tradition
Lyman
Draper’s notes on
Dr. S.S. Todd’s version
Dr. Wm
S. McMurtry’s 1890 letter
______|_____ ______|_____
Sarah Hutton
Md
Alexander McMurtry
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James Hutton Md
Mary Todd
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Sarah Todd
Md
Alexander McMurtry
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Mary Todd
Md
James Hutton
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John McMurtry
1738? 1790
Md 1770?
Mary Hutton
1752? 1840?
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John McMurtry
1738? 1790
Md 1770?
Mary Hutton
1752? 1840?
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Mary Hutton
1752? 1840?
Md 1770?
John McMurtry
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Mary Hutton
1752? 1840?
Md 1770?
John McMurtry
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<md>
<md>
4b
Hutton/Todd/McMurtry as we know it
________________
Sarah ?
B ca 1718
1 Alexander McMurtry
2 James Young
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James Hutton
Md
Ally/Alice
?=>SC 1765/68
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Samuel Hutton
Md
Mary Todd
1728 PA
=>KY 1780
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John McMurtry
1738? 1790
Md 1770?
Mary Hutton
1752? 1840?
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Wm.?
Stayed in VA
md 1775 __ Gilmore
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James
1760
m 1791
Hannah
Wooods
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Mary Hutton
1752? 1840?
Md 1770?
John McMurtry
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Hester
m 1794
Timothy
Mayhall
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In the two family traditions, John McMurtry and Mary
Hutton are shown as cousins – in one case, through the Todds, by John’s and
Mary’s mothers being Todd sisters, and in the other case, through the Huttons,
by John’s mother and Mary’s father being Hutton siblings.
The source for the Hutton connection tradition was
Dr. S.S. Todd who reported that John McMurtry and Mary Hutton were cousins and
claimed that this was through the Huttons.
Myra
repeatedly said noone in their family ever said they were cousins, but in the
end accepted Dr. Todd’s version.
The source for the Todd connection tradition was the
historian Lyman Draper who noted on a letter from Dr. William S. McMurtry (b
1818) in 1890 that “John McMurtry’s mother was a Todd, so was Mary Hutton’s
mother – sisters perhaps. McMurtry
married his cousin and their mothers sister of the pioneer Todds of
Kentucky.” This would imply that both
Sarah Todd, John’s mother, and Mary Todd, Mary Hutton’s mother were sisters. It is not clear the source of Mr. Draper’s
note.
With respect to the Hutton connection, neither of
these two traditions is accurate in that Samuel Hutton, not James Hutton, was
Mary Hutton’s father.
With respect to whether Sarah McMurtry was a Todd or
a Hutton or neither, and whether she was a sister of Mary Todd, we simply do
not know. As far as Todd possibilities
are concerned, Sarah could have been a daughter of William Todd (and sister to
Mary) if William had children that he didn’t record in the Abingdon Church
baptismal record before 1723. Sarah
could hypothetically also have been the unnamed sister of William Todd
mentioned in the Janeway Store records in Somerset Co. NJ. Sarah could have married an Alexander
McMurtry, had her children in New
Jersey in 1738 and 1744, and then migrated with
William Todd to Augusta Co. by 1750 However, there is no evidence to support this
conjecture. As far as Hutton
possibilities, we do not have any information on the early history of the
Huttons in New Jersey.
The above discussion clarifies what we have learned
so far about the actual relationships that are related to the McMurtries, the
Todds, and the McQuiddys. The essays
that follow provide more detailed information and additional sources.
1. The Nine Essays
Below is a description of what each of these nine
essays address:
1. Essays on Early
Todd/McMurtry/Hutton Origins (the essay you are reading)
This essay contains charts which show at a glance
the family traditions in comparison to what we currently believe to be the
accurate relationships between family members and between the
Todd/McMurtry/Hutton/McQuiddy/McKee families that intermarried on the Virginia and Kentucky
frontier.
2. The Family of William Todd
of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Augusta/Bedford County, VA
This essay clarifies the relationships between all
the Todd family members in Augusta, Botetourt,
Rockbridge and Bedford and Campbell Counties, Virginia
after the arrival of the Todds about 1750.
Almost all of the references in the colonial and early statehood records
in Augusta County turn out to be for William Todd
and his descendants. The evidence
strongly suggests that this William Todd is the William Todd who along with 4
brothers and a sister settled in Somerset County,
NJ by 1735, moved to Hunterdon County
in the 1740s, and then moved to Augusta Co, VA by 1750. He had children baptized in Abingdon
Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia County between 1723 and 1738 though he seems to have
lived in New Jersey
during this time..
Click here for William Todd Family
3. Correcting the Traditions of
Samuel Todd of Augusta/Botetourt Counties, VA
Mrs. Clementine Railey in the 1930s circulated a
tradition that Samuel Todd (1736-1812) of Augusta,
Botetourt and Rockbridge Counties, Virginia and Clay and Jefferson
Counties, KY was the son of a
Samuel Todd (b1690), and the brother of the Robert and Andrew Todd who settled
in Pennsylvania
after 1737. Mrs. Railey suggested the
elder Samuel’s wife was “perhaps a Houston”
and later historians added that this wife was Ann Houston. This essay shows that Samuel Todd (1739-1812)
was not the son of Samuel, but rather was the son of William Todd who had come
from Philadelphia County, PA to Augusta County, VA ca 1750. The essay also discusses the evolution of the
“Samuel Todd-Ann Houston” incorrect tradition.
Click here for Samuel Todd
4. The Making of the Todd
Family History as reflected in the Emilie Todd Helm Papers
This essay describes the collaborative family
history research efforts of Emilie Todd Helm and Dr. S. S. Todd beginning in
the 1870s and continuing through Dr. Todd’s death in 1899 and Mrs. Helm’s death
in 1930. It shows how they uncovered the
sources of the history of their own family in colonial Pennsylvania and how the connection to the
Irish Todds was developed. It includes
excerpts that shed light on the connections with the McMurtrys and describes
the scope of her collection of both related and unrelated Todd families.
Click here for essay
5. The Evolving Family
Tradition of McMurtry-Todd Connection in the Letters of Miss Myra McMurtry
This essay traces the evolution of Miss Myra
McMurtry’s understanding of the relationships between the various branches of
the McMurtrys in Augusta and Bedford Counties, VA
and the relationships between the McMurtry’s and the Huttons and the Todds of
Augusta County, VA.
Click here for essay
6. The Nancy Todd-Hannah
Todd-James McMurtry Marriage Tradition and the Letters of Dr. William McMurtry
A tradition in the McMurtry family states that James
McMurtry who came from New Jersey to Bedford County, Virginia
before 1754 was married first to Nancy Todd and second to Hannah Todd. This essay examines the evidence in the
letters of Dr. William McMurtry, a great grandson of James McMurtry, written in
the 1880s and 1890s, and the evidence in the Emilie Todd Helm Papers to identify
the supporting and non-supporting perspectives on this tradition. It concludes that James’ second wife may well
have been Hannah Todd, but that the evidence for the first wife being a Nancy or being a Todd is
not convincing.
Click here for essay
7. The Identity of Mary
Hutton’s father (John McMurtry’s father-in-law)
Myra McMurtry, granddaughter of John McMurtry and
Mary Hutton, wrote an article in 1907 that stated that Mary Hutton was the
daughter of James Hutton of Augusta Co., VA.
She had been influenced by letters received from Dr. Simeon Seymour
Todd, a prolific family historian working in the 1880s and 1890s. This essay shows that Mary Hutton’s father
was really Samuel Hutton, brother of James Hutton.
Click here for Hutton Essay
8. The Todds of New Jersey and
Relationship to the Todds of PA-KY and the Todds of PA-VA
Robert, Andrew, William, James and John Todd (all
brothers) and an unnamed sister all appear in the account book of a storeowner in
Bound Brook, Somerset County,
New Jersey beginning in
1735. William, Robert and John appear in
the Hunterdon County records in the 1740s (William)
and 1740s and 1750s (John and Robert).
By 1750, William was in Augusta County, VA; by 1754, Robert was in
Chester Co and by 1760 in Philadelphia
County, and by 1760
Andrew was in Chester Co, PA.
Click here for New Jersey Todds
9. The Todd Family in America
This essay outlines the vast number of Todd families
who lived in colonial and early statehood America. This is intended as an aid to Todd family
researchers searching for their Todd origins.