Person:Carrie Todd (1)

Tribute by Anna Marie Dahlquist, 1995

CARRIE BELLE TODD was born May 8, 1861, in Canton, Illinois. She graduated from Monmouth College in 1884 with special interest in languages, and was married to Samuel Robb McLaughlin in Monmouth on Sept. 21, 1886. Carrie Todd McLaughlin died in her daughter Vera's home in Monmouth, Ill., on March 14, 1950, at age 88. (She was almost 89.) Her body was taken to Colorado Springs, where she is buried beside her husband. She is remembered for her keen mind and quick wit, her constant study of languages and of the classics, and her gracious entertaining as a pastor's wife. Church-related social occasions and musical presentations were an important part of her life. She loved languages, and studied Greek, Latin and Hebrew. When she and her husband visited Paul and Dora Burgess in Guatemala in 1917-18, she immediately plunged into learning Spanish. She dressed stylishly in the latest fashions, and is reported to have said, "I don't mind being a pastor's wife, but I don't want to look like one." Always frugal, she loved to hunt for bargain fashions. Her granddaughter Helen Louise remembers how Carrie used to dress up elegantly not only for church, but also when she took her grandchildren to the movies on Saturdays. She had a keen interest in family and in family history. Besides authoring the Todd family history, she wrote "A Trip to Yellowstone Park in Horse and Buggy Days" and a number of poems composed for social occasions. A glimpse into her personality may be seen in the following stanzas of a much longer poem which Paul Burgess composed for her 85th birthday:

Bring out your arts and sciences, Your quilting, pies, and other things; Tell how your children three all gave Their lives to serve the King of Kings.

Tell how you managed house and farm With such acumen and such gain; Recite of Pyramus and his Ill-fated Thisbe once again.

So lend perspective to us all, So let us with your eyes behold. For Wisdom is of greater worth Than dollarettes or even gold.

Their daughter Vera reminisced in 1963: "We were three preacher's kids, Dora, Vera, and Ralph, normal in every respect. From our earliest days we were a closely knit family and through these past seventy years have kept in touch at all times." All three of the Todd-McLaughlin children became foreign missionaries.

Obituary from an undated newspaper clipping:

MONMOUTH --- Funeral services for Mrs. Carrie Todd-McLaughlin, 87, Monmouth, who died at 5:30 o'clock yesterday morning in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Howard Buchanan, 417 North First Street, will be conducted at 3 o'clock Thursday afternoon at the Lugg Memorial Chapel. Burial will be at Colorado Springs, Col., where her husband, Dr. McLaughlin, is buried. Mrs. McLaughlin's death was due to a heart attack. She had resided with her daughter the last five years. Mrs. McLaughlin was born May 8, 1861, in Canton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Allen Todd. The family moved from Canton to Roseville and later moved to Monmouth in 1886. She was graduated from Monmouth College in 1884 and two years later was married to the Rev. S. R. McLaughlin, who died in 1931. For many years they resided in Colorado Springs. Surviving are a son, Dr. R. T. McLaughlin, in Egypt; and two daughters, Mrs. Dora Burgess, in Guatemala, and Mrs. Vera Buchanan of Monmouth. Two granddaughters are missionaries in Egypt and Brazil. (Note by Anna Marie Dahlquist: the obit is in error about her age, which was 88 years, almost 89 years. Also it fails to mention her other missionary granddaughters, Jean Burgess and Pauline Burgess Sywulka.)