Josiah Todd (1778 - 1853)

Born 17 Dec 1778 in Bertie County, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Nancy (Asbill) Todd — married 10 Dec 1798 (to 10 Dec 1813) in Bertie County, North Carolina

Husband of Zilpha (Thomas) Todd — married 14 Jul 1814 in Edgefield, Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States

Descendants

Died 11 Aug 1853 at age 74 in Collirene, Lowndes County, Alabama, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mark Todd [send private message]

Biography

Josiah Todd was born 17 Dec 1778 , in Bertie, North Carolina, United States, during the Revolutionary War. [1,2,3]

Josiah married his first wife Nancy Asbill on 10 Dec 1798, in Bertie, North Carolina, and their first child, James, was born in Bertie County on 28 Sep 1799. [1, 2, 3]

That same year, the family resettled with the Asbill inlaws to Edgefield Dist., South Carolina, where he farmed and fathered four more children: Penelope, Lewis, Martha, and Willoughby. [4]

In 1805, they moved residence to the vicinity of Herds Creek and the South Fork of Edisto River (5 Jun), which was recorded by deed on 13 Feb 1805, in Edgefield County, South Carolina, on land next to John Asbill's property. And the family appears in the 1810 Census in Edgefield. [4] The South Carolina Early Census Index also places Josiah in Edgefield County in 1811. [15]

During the War of 1812, he served in the New York State Militia and held the rank of Ensign in the Continental Army, receiving a pay voucher for service between 4 Sep and 14 Dec 1813 for $69.13. [5]

Nancy passed away on 10 Dec 1813, perhaps in childbirth to son Willoughby, in Edgefield District, South Carolina. [1, 2, 4]

Josiah married Zilpha Thomas on 14 Jul 1814, in Edgefield, Edgefield County, South Carolina. [1,4] After the birth of their daughter Elizabeth on 01 Oct 1815, Josiah and Zilpha were granted guardianship of all five children. [4]

In 1817, Josiah obtained a land grant and moved his family to Dallas (now Lowndes) County, Alabama, where the family appears on the 1820 Census. [4] That same year, they joined Town Creek Baptist Church, and later Josiah was one of the founders of Bethany Baptist Church in Collirene, Alabama.

On 20 Sep 1825, he received a land patent for 80 acres from the Cahaba Land Office in Lowndes County. [13] Between 1821-1834, Josiah obtained 1200 acres in various 80-acre parcels. [4]

According to court records researched by Todd family historian and genealogist Howard Brown, after the sale of his property in South Carolina, Josiah made the following land purchases in Dallas County, Alabama (before the creation of Lowndes County in 1830) totaling 561 acres: [14]

• 18 Jun 19821 -- 81 acres
• 11 Oct 1824 -- 80 acres
• 23 Jan 1825 -- 80 acres
• 19 Apr 1825 -- 80 acres
• 23 Jun 1826 -- 80 acres
• 14 Jan 1828 -- 80 acres
• 14 Jan 1828 -- 80 acres

After the creation of Lowndes County in 1830, he made the following additional land purchases totaling 607 acres: [14]

• 10 Oct 1831 -- 80 acres
• 26 Oct 1831 -- 80 acres
• 26 Oct 1831 -- 80 acres
• 12 Nov 1831 -- 87 acres
• 4 Oct 1832 -- 40 acres
• 4 Oct 1832 -- 40 acres
• 7 Feb 1833 -- 80 acres
• 15 Oct 1835 -- 40 acres
• 19 Dec 1836 -- 80 acres

According to historian Stephanie McCurry, "The more children a man had [in the Antebellum South] and the older they were, the greater the amount of land he cultivated," a goal achieved for a farmer only in middle age as his children grew older and could, therefore, contribute more substantively to the household's labor force. [7]

Josiah raised fifteen known children, and the family appears on the 1830, 1840, and 1850 censuses for Lowndes County. [4] The 1850 census lists his occupation as "planter." [8] The 1850 census also lists wife "Zulphia," age 50, as well as sons John, age 21, planter, as well as Hardy, age 19, planter as well as daughters Lucinda, age 17, and Maria, age 14--all still under roof in the hosuehold at that time. [8]

In agrarian Alabama, "a 'planter' was generally a farmer who owned many slaves." [11] The above censuses list Josiah as owner of only five slaves for each of these respective census tallies. [8, 9, 10] But his 1852 last will and testament indicates he may have owned a larger number: He bequeaths three slaves to wife Zilpha: "Annie a girl aged 22 years, Nobias a negro male aged about 27 years and Bill a negro man aged about 24 years to be in her possession during her natural life." [6] He also bequeaths the rest of his slaves to be divided equally among his living children, who numbered ten at that time. [6]

His 1842 will lists the following living children with his second wife Zilpha: Elizabeth Grice, Thomas Todd, Willis Todd, Mary Armes, Nancy Gramblin, Atha Todd, John Todd, Hardy Todd, Lucinda Todd, and Marina Todd. [6]

Moreover, a separate 1850 census tally of slaves includes a list of eleven slaves owned by Josiah: a black female age 50, a black male age 40, a black male age 30, a black female and a black male each age 25, a black male age 21, two black male children age 7 and 6, and two black female toddlers each age 2. [12]

On 21 Jan 1842, at age 63 Josiah divided his lands acquired in Alabama to his male children from his second marriage as follows, totaling 915 acres: [14]

• 385 acres to Hardy for $100
• 100 acres to Thomas for $100
• 250 acres to John for $100
• 100 acres to Willis for $100
• 80 acres to Atha for $100

According to Howard Brown's research, Josiah and Zilpha sold five acres of land to the Deacons of Bethany Baptist Church for $1.00 on 4 Jan 1851, and on 31 Dec 1851 he "was appointed to a committee at that same church to raise funds to build a brick front for baptising." [14]

He passed away on 11 Aug 1853 and is buried in Bethany Baptist Church Graveyard in Lowndes County, Alabama. [3, 4]

His will was probated in 1856 in Collirene, Lowndes County, Alabama, leaving the house and household goods to his second wife, Zilpha. [6]

Sources

1. [Todd-6590|Todd, Mark]. Photocopy of family Bible in possession of [Hardin-2495|Todd, MaryKay]. Scan of photocopy in possession of source, 17 Feb 2015.

2. Grimwood, James Maurice & Grimwood, Hilda Jernigan. Asbell Connections 1641-1988, Houston, 1991. Page 23.

3. Biographical Details, Ancestry.com [1]

4. Findagrave memorial #21002603, Josiah Todd [2]

5. New York, War of 1812 Payroll Abstracts for New York State Militia, 1812-1815 for Josiah Todd [3]

6. Josiah Todd Will: Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999, Will Books, 1830-1936, pp. 191-92. (See attached image.) [4]

7. Stephanie McCurry, Masters of Small Worlds: Yeoman Households, Gender Relations, and the Political Culture of the Antebellum South Carolina Low Country (Oxford University Press, 1997). See pages 55, 60 for "yeoman farmer"; and page 53 for the relationship between cultivated land and number of household family members [5]

8. 1830 US Federal Census, Lowndes County, Alabama, for Josiah Todd. Ancestry.com database, digital image of census page [6]

9. 1840 US Federal Census, Lowndes County, Alabama, for Josiah Todd. Ancestry.com database, digital image of census page [7]

10. 1850 US Federal Census for Lowndes County, Alabama. Copy of original census record in Ancestry.com database [8]

11. "Plantations in the American South," Wikipedia entry [9]

12. "Slave information, 1850, Lowndes, Alabama, for Josiah Todd." Ancestry.com [10]

13. U.S. General Land Office Records, 1776-2015 Alabama, Lowndes County, Ancestry.com database, digital copy of original land grant on 20 Apr 1825 [11]

14. Brown, Howard M. The Todd Family. A copy of unpublished 20-year genealogy research project furnished by genealogist Barbara Laine Brunner to Mary Kathryn Hardin, now in possession of Mark Todd

15. Early Census Index, South Carolina, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890, for Josiah Todd in Edgefield County in 1811. Ancestry.com online index [12]