Todd Family History.....And No, Our Family Isn't Close Cousins to Mary Todd Lincoln!

Happy New Year to all my cousins, friends and readers!    May 2012 be a great year for all of you!!

Today, I'm going to dispel a common rumor among our family concerning a possible relationship to Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln.   For years, I have heard various of my Corbin and Todd relatives speak positively about this relationship, but not only has it been proven false through genealogical research, but through the new technique of DNA testing.

A Todd cousin in California, Richard McMurtry, took it upon himself to gather funds from Todd relatives and get a DNA sample from Todds all the way back in County Tyrone, Ireland.   The DNA research proves pretty conclusively that Liberty Lawrenceberg Todd, who is my great, great grandfather, was not related to Mary Todd Lincoln.    Here is a letter that I received from Richard:

"Dear Todds of Pulaski County Kentucky and Greene County Indiana ,

Hope you are doing well and enjoying the transition from summer to fall!

I am writing to you to let you know that the final results of the DNA test of your cousin in Ireland have come in and because of this success with searching for Todd origins in Ireland , that a project to find your Todd origins in Scotland is beginning on Monday.

We were very surprised when we got a DNA sample from a family in Ireland whose origins were in the little Townland of Corlea, in the parish of Drumragh in the county of Tyrone in northern Ireland . This family is descended from a James Todd born about 1800, hence a contemporary of Anderson Todd b 1797 who came to Pualski Co as a young boy by 1811 and a contemporary of Robert Todd b 1796 who was born in Washington Co VA, went to Indiana and then went to Pulaski Co Kentucky as a man in his 40s in 1843.

Taking all the evidence together, we can say that Robert Todd b1796 is DEFINITELY NOT a brother to Anderson Todd and Anderson’s brothers in Pulaski County . The DNA evidence suggests that Anderson and Robert Todd are, contrary to family tradition, likely second cousins and that James Todd who remained behind in Ireland is likely a first cousin to either Robert b 1796 or Anderson b 1797. Given that they reconnected when they came to America , they must have lived close by each other to know each other well enough to seek each other out.

For those of us interested in the question of “where did the family come from”, it is very gratifying to have discovered the likely origin of your family. We can say with surety that you had kin in Corlea in 1828 and that it is likely that someone in or nearby, your Todd ancestors were born and raised , before leaving John Todd (father of Robert b 1796) and his family left Ireland for Virginia before 1792. The mystery of what happened to Anderson Todd’s father still remain, but despite that, we can place the family origin in or near Corlea.

A group of Todd researchers has been encouraged by the DNA results in Ireland to begin searching for Todd origins in Scotland using DNA.

This is a very ambitious project, but we have made such progress on the Irish Todd DNA Project that we are encouraged to keep going, finish up the sampling of Irish Todd families and then move on to Scotland .

The attached map shows with the small red circles where the Todds lived in northern Ireland in the early and mid 1800s. The large circles are for those families for which we have recruited DNA samples. As you can see from the map, we have samples representative of many of the regions of northern Ireland , including your cousins, the Todds of Corlea, Drumragh, Co Tyrone.

To complete the Irish work will cost about $390 additional; then we will need about $650 to get the first 5 samples from various areas of Scotland .

I believe that everyone interested in the family origins of the Todds would benefit by this DNA sampling because at long last we would have a good sense of where they lived in Scotland . We would know the origins of our Todd ancestry.

If you are willing to donate anywhere from $26 to $260 towards this project, please let me know. Never before (and probably not again) have we been able to bring together the combination of research skills and telephone outreach to be able to be successful with this project. It is a window of opportunity that may not come again, or may not come again for many years.

Anyone who donates will receive a copy of the final DNA report and a map showing where the Todds lived and what the DNA patterns were in each area.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and to consider supporting this valiant effort to uncover our Todd family origins.

Sincerely,,

Richard McMurtry

Todd Families In America

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mcmurtriecfr/todd.htm

24010 Summit Road

Los Gatos, CA 95033

RMcMurtry@baymoon.com

408-402-3641

Now here is our our Todd Ancestral Tree:
My Maternal Great Great Great Great Grandparents are:
William Todd (Born about 1750 in Ireland and died in 1831 in Pulaski County, Kentucky) and his wife Elizabeth are the parents of Robert, Anderson, Thomas, Henry and Andrew Todd.   At least Robert, Anderson, and Thomas are believed to have been born in Washington County, Virginia.

My Maternal Great Great Great Grandparents are:
Thomas Todd (born between 1798 and 1799 in Washington County, Virginia and died in 1851, SangamonLawrenceberg, Hannah, Andrew, Mary, and Josiah Todd.    These children were all born in Kentucky.   Thomas and Mary Todd first lived in Rock Castle County, Kentucky followed by Pulaski County, Kentucky and then  Sangamon County, Illnois.

My Maternal Great Great Grandparents are:
Liberty Lawrenceberg  Todd (there are many variations of his name found in genealogical records and I do know how to varify his name, but I use what is found in my branch of the family) (born April 3, 1827 in Pulaski County, Kentucky and died March 18, 1896 in West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri) and his wife Sarah "Sally" Ann Summers Threlkeld, whose birthplace or date is now known but who died August 28, 1898 in West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri) and are the parents of William Thomas, Mary, Sarah Ann "Sadie", Alice, Lee Ander, Erastus and Henrietta Todd.

This is a photo of the Liberty Lawrenceberg Todd Family.   I am indebted to my Todd Cousin, Susan Frazier Scott for this photo.  The following is her caption:  Standing from left to right is Sarah Ann, "Sadie", the woman beside her is unknown but I think it is either  HannahWret or Mary, then Erastus, LeeAnder, Liberty, & William. No one seems to know who the two little girls are but the older people sitting are Lawrenceberg and Sarah Ann "Sally" Todd. Here is why I think the second lady standing at left is either Mary or HannahWret: from my records Alice age 23 and Alma age 17 both died in 1891. My great Grandma Tura Todd was born in 1892. I have a picture of LeeAnder, Phoebe, and Tura that I believe was taken the same time as this. Tura is 6 months to 1 year old in the picture. 

This is a late in life photo of Liberty Lawrenceberg Todd and his wife Sarah Ann "Sally" Threlkeld.    This appears to be a charcoal drawing of which I took a photo in about 1973.  The original is in an oak frame and covered by glass.   It is in the possession of Todd Cousins who continue to live in Putnam County, Missouri.




My Maternal Great Grandparents are:
Sarah Ann "Sadie" Todd (born July 11, 1863 in Laural, Marshall County, Iowa and died in 1916 in Wichita, Sedgewick County, Kansas) and was married to George Washington Corbin.   They are the parents of: Sylvia Myrtle, Ira Lee, Pearly E., Goldie May, Raymond, Hazel D., Edna, Robert, and Frankie.

This is a photo of my great grandparents, George Washington and Sarah Ann "Sadie" Todd Corbin and their children.  Sylvia M. Corbin is standing in the rear.   Edna and Robert Corbin are standing in front of Sylvia and behind their parents.   Seated L-R are George Washington Corbin, Sarah Ann "Sadie" Todd Corbin and their son, Ira Lee Corbin.  This photo was taken in Freeport, Kansas where George Washington was the proprietor of the Freeport Hotel.  I don't have an exact date but my grandfather, Robert Corbin was born in 1899 and he appears to be about 5 or 6 years old so I'm saying circa 1905.   George and Sadie Corbin lost their "middle" children, Pearly, Goldie, Raymond and Hazel, to typhoid fever between May and July, 1896 while living in West Liberty.   After their deaths, Sadie insisted that the family leave West Liberty and live elsewhere so they moved to Freeport, Kansas and eventually to Wichita, Kansas where she died in 1916.

My Maternal Grandparents are:
Robert Corbin (born January 5, 1899 in West Liberty, Putnam County, Missouri and died April 16, 1958 at Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas) and was married to Mildred Mae McCauley (born March 26, 1902 at Vera, Wabaunsee County, Kansas and died March 21, 1994, St. Marys, Pottawatomie County, Kansas).   They are the parents of Lucille, George Samuel, Joan, Sarah Emma and Vivian Corbin.

This is a photo of my maternal grandparents, Robert and Mildred (McCauley) Corbin and their five children.   L-R are George Samuel, Joan, Robert, Mildred, Lucille, Vivian and Sarah Emma.   This photograph is from about 1950.   The soul survivor of this photograph today is Joan Corbin Andrews Frazier, who will be 87 on January 25, 2012.


My Parents are:
Lucille Corbin (born April 22, 1921 at Elbing, Butler County, Kansas and died January 5, 2010 at Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas) who married John Leander "Tim" Clark on January 24, 1942 at Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas (born April 19, 1921 at Maple Hill, Wabaunsee County, Kansas and died April 26, 1982 at Maple Hill, Wabaunsee County, Kansas.    They are the parents of four sons:  Nicholas Leader, Gary Wayne, and twins Steven and Stanley Clark

This is a photo of my mother and father, John Leader "Tim" and Lucille (Corbin) Clark taken on the day they were married, January 24, 1942.   The photo was taken on the north side of the Maple Hill Central Office by Tim's mother, Mabel Rachel (Jones) Clark.   They were married at the Oakland Methodist Parsonage by Rev. Kenneth Tuttle.   I am ashamed to say that a photo of my mother and father with we four sons does not exist.

This photo was taken in 2003.  Lucille (Corbin) Clark is standing in front and L-R are: Gary Wayne, Steven K., Stanley J., and Nicholas L. Clark.  Steve and Stan are twins.

This provides an outline of the Todd family and how it becomes connected to the Corbin Family.   In future blogs, I will give my in-depth information about both.

Happy Trails!