John Todd (1660 - 1719)

Born 1660 in Forfar, Angus, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Rose (Cornell) Todd — married 1683 in Armagh, Ireland

Descendants

Died 1719 at about age 59 in Derrynoose, Armagh, Ireland

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Biography

John Todd was born in Scotland.

John Todd migrated from Scotland to Ireland.

John Todd (The Fox) was born in 1660 in Forfar, Angus, Scotland to parents James Todd and Isabelle Parker.

"John Todd married twice. The name of his first wife has not been found, but together they had six children:

1. James - b. (?) died in 1757 in Ballymore parish in County Armagh. He married Ellinor (?).
2. Samuel – b. (1696 - 1698) in Ireland – d. 1760 in Augusta County, Virginia. He married Ann Houston.
3. William – b (?) d (1780) He married Jean Lowe and possibly immigrated to Pennsylvania then to Rockbridge County, Virginia.[3]
4. Robert – b. 1697 in County Armagh, Ireland - d. April 3, 1775 in Trappe, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He is also referred to as “Robert the Emigrant.” Immigrated to Pennsylvania with his brother Andrew in 1737. Married first to Ann Smith in Ireland. They had two sons. He then married Isabella Bodley Hamilton in Ireland. They had nine children.
5. Eizabeth - b. (?) d. (?) married William Morehead
6. Esther – b. (?) d. (?) married John Sloan.

The child of John and his second wife Rose Cornell was:

1. Andrew – b. (?) in County Armagh, Ireland d. 1791 in Louisa County, Virginia at the home of his son, Dr. Andrew Todd. Married a widow, Mrs. Elizabeth McDowell (b. 1721 – d. July 8, 1773).

Some additional information in confirmation of the above items: John Todd was believed to be a son of James and Isabelle (Parker) Todd of Angus, Scotland. According to his American descendants, he “wore a looped up hat and buckskin breeches, with long stocking and silver shoe buckles.”^[1] His father James was aligned with the Covenanters, a Presbyterian movement which took control of Scotland in 1639, the year of James’ birth. Following the English Civil War, the Covenanters lost control and became a persecuted minority.^[2] James was captured during the Battle of Bothwell Bridge in May 1679 and imprisoned. Rather than be put to death, many were sent to the West Indies, but the ship carrying James Todd sank in a storm off the Orkney Islands in December. John was nineteen at this time and fled to Northern Ireland to avoid capture, gaining the nickname “John the Fox” for his escape.

Here he married a woman whose name is lost to the record. They had six children in about seven years (1694-1701), four sons followed by two daughters. The births were located in County Armagh, southwest of Belfast. Following the death of his first wife, John remarried to Rose Cornell and they had an additional son in 1702. John prospered in his new home. He died in 1719 and was buried in the Tynan churchyard.^[3] Three of his sons later immigrated to America. Rose may have survived her husband by more than fifty years.

John Todd was thought to be a 3rd great grandfather of Mary Todd, the wife of US President Abraham Lincoln, but recent research tends to disprove that connection. The DNA of Mary Todd’s family suggests an Irish origin of County Antrim, not County Armagh.

Sources

1. ↑ Helm, Emily Todd, Todd Family, The Kittochtinny Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Chambersburg, PA: G.O. Seilhamer, January 1905), page 69; Ancestry.com.
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenanters
3. ↑ Irving, Patricia Brittain, Two Pioneers from Rockbridge County, Rockbridge Epilogues, No. 3, Winter 2017 (original presentation in September 1990), page 3; Ancestry.com.

See also:

• Find A Grave: Memorial #93918739
• Kittochtinny Magazine= Vol 1 No. 1 Marriages by Rev David Denny, list of children.
• Geni: John "the Tod"d