William Todd Sr. & Family

 

William Henry Todd is our distant relation on the maternal side of the family tree.

He was the son of John Moses Todd Sr. and Ann Filgo. William was born in 1787, in North Carolina. His ancestors were of Scottish and Irish decent.

William Todd was married ⚭ Martha (Patsey) Holder in 1813, Wake County, NC. The man signed the marriage bond on 23 November 1813 (1).

Sometime after their marriage, William and Patsy moved to Georgia. Their daughter 🔹Martha was born there in 1815.

More children of theirs came to this world in the coming years.

🔹Samuel born in Wake, NC, in 1816',

🔹Candice, born in Georgia, 1817,

🔹Susan Johanna Eleonora, born  in Georgia, 1822,

🔹Mary Elizabeth, born in 1823,

🔹William, born on 28 March 1828, Georgia,

🔹Thomas Jefferson born on 1 March 1831, in Putnam, Georgia,

🔹John David Elton born on 11 June 1835, Georgia,

🔹Amanda, born 1837, Texas.

⚭ William married ten years younger Sara Elizabeth Hanks, born in Alabama, in 1834. She was the daughter of James Hanks of SC and Susan Caroline Kennedy.

⚭ Candice married her brother-in-law, Joshua English in abt. 1837, in Tennessee. He was the son of James English and Elizabeth Denton.

The eldest daughter ⚭ Martha married Mr. Jonas English, her brother-in-law, in abt. 1838. 

⚭ Samuel married his cousin Elizabeth on 22 August 1840 in Wake, NC (2). She was the daughter of Moses Todd Jr. and Elizabeth Massey.

⚭ Susanna Johanna married Joseph Goodbread, after his death in 1840, she married Alfred Marion Truitt.

⚭ In abt.1840, Mary Elizabeth married David Ruff Cannon, born in in 1811, in South Carolina. He was the son of William Billy Cannon and Nancy Isabella Cox.

⚭ John David Elton married Ann Smith, born in 14 September 1844, in Washington, Alabama. She was the daughter of William Smith and Mary Carlisle Dunbar.

🏡1850 Shelby County TX Census registered William Todd, a farmer, age 53, his wife Martha, age 55, and children – Thoms J., age 20, John, age 18, and Amanda, age 13. The record reads that William also fathered 2 other children, Samuel Heath, born 1838 and Marthy (Martha) born in 1841. They both came to this world in Texas. I did not find out who their parents were.

In 1850, William’s real estate was worth $4163 (3). William Todd Jr, lived with his wife Sara E., and their son William J. not far from Todd parents’ house.

♦ William Henry Todd passed on 23 April 1850, in Shelby, TX. His wife Martha died in circa the same year.

After the parents passing, William Jr., his wife Sara, and their baby son moved in with Sarah’s father’s family who also lived in Shelby County, TX (4).

⚭ In 1855 (5), Thomas Jefferson married Narcissus Mize, born in 1836, in Alabama. She was the daughter of Obediah Allen Mize and Mary McCrary.

Sources:

1.     1  "North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-2011 ", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJQ-HKNF : Thu Mar 07 10:52:19 UTC 2024), Entry for William Todd and Patsey Holder, 23 Nov 1813.

2.      2. "North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-2011 ", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP9J-J73H : Fri Mar 08 16:36:20 UTC 2024), Entry for Samuel Todd and Elizabeth Todd, 22 August 1840.

3.      3.  http://www.shelbycountytexashistory.net/Shelby/Census/1850censusT.htm

4.       4. "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLG-G8P : Fri Oct 17 04:40:42 UTC 2025), Entry for James Hanks and Johnathan Hanks, 1850.

5.    5. The Houston Post. (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 21, No. 358, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 29, 1906, newspaper, March 29, 1906; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth603417/: accessed March 20, 2026), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .