Stephen Todd

 
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Vaudeville

 

Doraville Whitney was the first Black settler in Isabella County in 1860.  The first documentation of an African-American settler in Mecosta County Michigan was James Guy.  His deed was signed by Abraham Lincoln.  He  obtained 160 acres in Wheatland Township on May 30, 1861.  Lloyd & Margaret Guy were the first Black settlers in Montcalm County in 1861. The Homestead Act of 1862 allowed each settler 160 acres in Michigan.  By 1873 African-Americans owned 1,392 acres in the three counties of Isabella, Mecosta and Montcalm.  In the 1860's most of the land in Remus was owned by the Old Settlers. 

 

Charles Todd

(1875 - 4-19-1914)

 

Charles Todd

 

Charles Todd was the first child born to Stephen and Caroline Todd.  He worked in a lumber camp at a young age.  He never married and died at the age of 39.  The cause of death was acute dilatation of the heart.  Dr. R. E. Stockham had been treating him for 6 months for a tumor on the spleen. He was a laborer in the lumber camps and was a horse team driver.  He died in Chippewa County, Superior Twp.
 

 

Louis Todd - (1876 - 1966)

 

Louis Todd

 

Lena (Allen) Todd

Louis Todd's Wife

Picture Courtesy of Lee Hall

 

Louis Todd & Neighbor Child

Louis Todd

 

Louis Todd was the second child of Stephen and Caroline Todd.  He worked on and off the farm.  He lived most of his life in Rockford, Michigan.  He owned an 80 acre farm, on the Rouge River on East Main Street in town.  Louis married Lena Allen.  She had two children, Luther and Olive Allen before she and Louis married.  Louis died February 27, 1966, in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

 

Mary Jane Todd

(1880 - 1946)

 

Albert & Mary Todd-LaMontte  

 

Mary Todd

 

 

Mary Jane Todd was the third child and first daughter of Stephen and Caroline Kahler Todd.  She was married a few times.  Her last marriage was to Clarence Richardson.  At one time she lived in Chicago.  She later moved back to Remus, MI, where she died on November 4, 1946.

Sophia Todd

(1885 - 1983)

 

 

Sophia Todd

 

Odean Todd

Sophia Todd's Daughter

Anna Mae Odean & George Morris

 

 

Sophia Todd was the fifth child and second daughter of Stephen and Caroline Todd.  She took the responsibilities of the family over after William went to work and married.  She stayed on the farm until all of the children were big enough to be on their own, as they needed someone after both parents died and there were no other relatives in the state.  Sophia married Early Gross and later married Raymond Burns.  She adopted one daughter, Odean Todd.  Odean was the daughter of Addie Ceasar.  Sophia moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, and spent most of her life there.  Sophia died February 8, 1983. 

 

Anna Mae and George Morris were Odean's two oldest children by her husband T. T. Morris.  Odean then married Coggie Williams and had four children.  Edeith Williams was the youngest child.  Odean had four children.  The oldest was Anna Mae Morris, the second child was George Morris, the third child was Fred Morris, and the fourth child was Edeith Williams.  Anna Mae (Morris) McClenney died April 19, 2002.

 

John Todd

(1887 - 1969)

 

John & Lucinda (Norman)

Todd

 

Verda Harris-Todd, Lucinda Norman-Todd

Paula Norman-Harris

 

 

John Todd (1887 - 1969), sixth child, and the fourth son of Stephen and Caroline Todd was a farmer.  He lived in the Remus, Michigan, area just east of the home farm now owned by Zane Todd.  He married Lucinda Norman, daughter of Joseph Dow and Mary (Harding) Thompson Norman.  They had one son, Harold, who died at three days old.  John died October 31, 1969.

 

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Stephen Todd

 

There are "Old Settlers" who came from Canada via "The Underground Railroad."  It was the most dramatic nonviolent protest against slavery in the United States that began in the Colonial Era and reached its peak between 1830 and 1865. An estimated 30,000 to 100,000 slaves used the "railroad" to get to Canada; many others escaped to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Europe.