John Todd (Virginia)
John Todd (
March 27,
1750–
August 18,
1782) was a
frontier military officer during the
American Revolutionary War and the first administrator of the
Illinois County of the
U.S. state of
Virginia before that state ceded the territory to the federal government.
Todd was born in
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, the son of David Todd and was the brother of Levi Todd, the grandfather of
Mary Todd Lincoln. He was educated in Virginia, at a school run by his uncle, the Rev. John Todd. After obtaining a license to practice law, Todd settled in
Fincastle, Virginia.
In 1774, Todd served in the
Battle of Point Pleasant, which was fought near present-day
Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and is considered to be the first battle in the
American Revolutionary War. He was then drawn west into the recently opened frontier of Kentucky where he purchased land near
Lexington.
Todd served in the Virginia Legislature in 1776 and then participated in the expedition led by General
George Rogers Clark against
Fort Kaskaskia and
Fort Sackville that captured the
Illinois Country from the
British in 1778. With Clark as commandant of the entire
territory north and west of the Ohio river, Todd was appointed as County Lieutenant and Civil Commandant of "Illinois County", which had been organized by the Virginia Legislature in 1778 with the government based in
Kaskaskia, Illinois.
In 1780, Todd returned to
Richmond, Virginia as a delegate from the
Kentucky County to the Virginia Legislature, where he married Jane Hawkins. His wife settled on their property in Lexington, while he left to administer affairs in Illinois County. Because of his duties on the frontier, he was seldom home. In 1780, the Virginia Legislature had divided the original Kentucky County into three counties:
Lincoln,
Jefferson, and
Fayette. Colonel Todd was placed in charge of Fayette County militia with
Daniel Boone as Lieutenant Colonel.
Todd County, Kentucky is named after Colonel John Todd. Family currently residing in Todd County include - Bailey, Penick, Ridley, Boone, Bristow, & Williams.
Todd died 1782, in the
Battle of Blue Licks in
Robertson County, Kentucky, considered to be the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.
*
Family of Mary Todd Lincoln see Generation Four
*
Origin of Todd County, Kentucky*
A brief history of St. Clair County, Chapter III of
Transition to American Rule by Prof. W. C. Walton
