Dr. John Todd-- Part 3: From Kentucky to Springfield, Illinois

From The People Lincoln Knew site.

Mary Todd Lincoln's uncle and de facto patriarch of the Springfield, Illinois, Todds.  Robert Smith Todd, Mary's father, never moved to Springfield.

He was born in Lexington Kentucky in 1787 and received an excellent education, graduating from Transylvania College in Lexington and the Medical University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  he served in the War of 1812 as surgeon general of Kentucky troops  before returning to his Lexington, Ky., practice.

In 1813, he married Elizabeth Smith, age 20, .

In 1827, John Quincy Adams appointed him Register of the General Land Office in Springfield, Illinois.  He held that position until 1829, when he was removed for political reasons following the election of Andrew Jackson to president.  John Todd then practiced medicine in Springfield until his death at age 77 in 1865.

--Brock-Perry

Robert Smith Todd-- Part 4: After the War

He was the father of Mary Todd Lincoln.

After the War of 1812, Robert ran a dry goods store with a partner.  Doing this, he made trips to New Orleans to buy French brandies, Dutch gin and green coffee, which they sold in Lexington.  He used these while entertaining friends at his home and he became acquainted with many prominent persons.

Later, he became a partner in a cotton manufacturing company near the Ohio River and by 1835 was serving as the president of  the Lexington branch of the Bank of Kentucky.  In 1827, he was appointed trustee of Transylvania University, alongside with Henry Clay and Charles A. Wickliffe.

Robert Todd was a close friend of John J. Crittenden and served as a justice of the peace and sheriff.  He spent  over twenty years as a clerk of the Kentucky House of Representatives in Frankfort and also served terms a a Kentucky representative and senator.

A Very Prominent and Successful Man.  --Brock-Perry

Robert Smith Todd (Mary Todd Lincoln's Father) in the War of 1812-- Part 1

I have been writing about the Todd family of Kentucky in the Civil War in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.  They were from Kentucky, a deeply divided border state and that certainly applied to the Todd family which, besides Mary Todd being the wife of President Abraham Lincoln, many of her half-siblings and even one brother were staunch Confederates.

Robert Smith Todd was Mary Todd Lincoln's father.

From Wikipedia.

ROBERT SMITH TODD

Born February 25, 1791  Died July 17, 1847

Lawyer, soldier, banker, businessman and politician.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, the year before it became a state.

One of six sons of Levi Todd, who fought in the American Revolution under the command of George Rogers Clark.  After the war, his father and uncles helped found the city of Lexington, Kentucky.

Robert Todd attended Transylvania College in Lexington and graduated at age 18.

--Brock-Perry

Leslie Combs War of 1812 Service and Afterwards-- Part 2

Afterwards, he "took a gallant part  in the disastrous defeat of Colonel William Dudley, on the 5th of May was wounded, taken prisoner and compelled to run the gauntlet at Fort Miami."

This was when Gen. Green Clay got to Fort Meigs and in an attempt to relieve the fort had part of his command under Col. William Dudley got involved in what is called Dudley's Massacre.

After the war,  he settled in Lexington, Kentucky, where he practiced law for half a century.

In 1838, General Combs raised a regiment for the Southwestern frontier at the time of the Texas Revolution.

--Brock-Perry

Brig. Gen. Green Clay of Kentucky-- Part 2: Commanded Kentucky Militia

Green Clay developed and owned several distilleries and a tavern  in central Kentucky near Lexington.  He also owned several ferries across the Kentucky River.

In 1789, he was elected as Kentucky representative to the Virginia House of Delegates (Kentucky at the time was still a territory of Virginia).  Later he was elected representative and senator to the Kentucky General Assembly.

During the War of 1812, he was commissioned as a general in the Kentucky militia.  In the spring of 1813, he was ordered to the aid of General William Henry Harrison who was besieged at Fort Meigs, Ohio.  Clay fought his way into the fort, but many of his men were taken prisoner by Tecumseh after capturing a battery of British artillery.

--Brock=Perry

Lexington Light Infantry

In the last post I mentioned that Nathaniel Hart commanded the Lexington Light Infantry from Lexington, Kentucky.  Since they were  also called the "Silk Stockings," I am of the belief that they must have been well-to-do.

I was unable to find out much about them except that they were organized in 1789.  In 1810, Lexington had a population of 4,326.

There is a photo of the group taken in the 1850s at the Civil War talk site, so they might have participated in the Civil War.

--Brock-Perry

Nathaniel G.S. Hart-- Part 2: Killed at River Raisin Massacre

Mathaniel Hart attended Princeton and studied law under Henry Clay.  His wife was the sister of Henry Clay's wife.

The Lexington Light Infantry" was called "The Silk Stocking Boys" and were part of the 5th regiment Kentucky Volunteer Militia.  The unit left for the Northwest in August 1812 and became a part of the Army of the Northwest under General James Winchester.

In January 1813, they were sent to Frenchtown , Michigan Territory, as part of the American attempt to recapture Detroit from the British.  At the First Battle of Frenchtown on January 18, 1813, the Americans drove the small British force away.  On January 22, the British counter-attacked and the result was an American defeat with 397 killed.

Nathaniel Hart was wounded and one of the 547 Americans who surrendered.  he was shot and scalped by Indians the following day.