Children of Thomas Todd and his wife Anna 4 Gorsuch:
2. iv. James 5 Todd. Born about 1670. Died May 9, 1709. Married 1st Elizabeth ; 2nd Penelope Scudamore. Had issue. ...
2> James 5 Todd (Anna 4, John 3, Daniel 2, William 1 Gorsuch), one of the younger children of Thomas and Anna 4 Todd, was probably born after his parents moved into Maryland. He remained in Baltimore County. He is interesting to students of early history of Baltimore because of his ownership of Todd's Range* [Cole's Harbor] upon which the city was afterwards laid out.
•Todd's Range or Cole's Harbor on the Patapsco must be carefully distinguished from Todd's Range on Back River, also owned at one time by James 5 Todd.
He married twice. He married, prior to June 3, 1696, Elizabeth, who joins him that year in a deed to Henry King of The Plains, 187 acres, on Back River. (Balto. Deeds IS: IK; 8).
His wife's family name is not known. There is absolutely no evidence to support the supposition of Griffith (Annals of Baltimore, 1833; p. 6), that James Todd may have married the daughter of Alexander Montenay, and thus inherited the latters land, Montenay's Neck. He acquired this tract by purchase (see post).
He married secondly between Aug. 31 and Oct. 26, 1698, Penelope, daughter of Thomas Scudamore + of Baltimore County and his wife Abigail daughter of John and Jane Dixon.
The separate administration accounts upon the estate of Jane Dixon made on the two above mentioned dates make mention of a legacy paid in part to Penelope Skidmore, Aug. 31, and apparently the remainder to James Todd Oct. 26 (Balto. Adm. Accts.).
Again June 12, 1699, James Todd is joined by his wife Penelope in a deed to John Harryman, she making her mark (Balto. Deeds TR: RA; 397).
Proof of this marriage of James Todd is to be found in the assignment Oct. 10, 1704, from James and Penelope Todd to John Hays of a tract, Scudamore's Last, 130 acres laid out for Thomas Scudamore Aug. 13, 1687 "by whose death the tract became the property of James Todd and his wife, the heiress at law of said Scudamore" (Armap. Patents C. D. 161-2).
In an ejectment suit brought about 1745, it is also stated that Thomas Scudamore had by his wife Abigail, an only child Penelope who married James Todd, deceased, and that Penelope had died "without issue under 21 years of age" (Annap. Judgments E. J. no. 10; 743-50). Whether this means that at the time of her death, the date of which is unknown, Penelope Todd was survived by issue over 21 years of age is somewhat uncertain, but it would seem to the writer after reading this suit that Penelope left no issue. Penelope Todd was living as late as Oct. 10, 1704, when she joins her husband in the above assignment of Scudamore's Last.
As far as is certainly known James Todd had only one child, a daughter Ann, apparently by his first wife Elizabeth.
Capt. John Perry of Back River, Baltimore County in his will dated March 1, and proved March 11, 1698-9 leaves certain personal property to Ann the daughter of James Todd, and also makes a bequest to Thomas Todd of Virginia of £30 and his personal property on Denton, alias North Point Plantation, on condition that Todd free a servant named John Shaw. (Annap. Wills; 6; 227). This may indicate that Capt. John Ferry managed the North Point plantations for Thomas 5 Todd of Gloucester. Capt. John Ferry was one of the Commissioners of Baltimore County (Balto. Co. Court Proc. 1693-6; 86), and had married Ann the widow and executrix of John Boreing one of the Justices of Baltimore County. Whether there was any connection between these families and the Todds has not been determined.
James Todd and Richard Thompson appear bracketed together as taxables of Back River Hundred in 1692 (Balto. Co. Ct. Proc. G no. 1; 274).
Between 1699 and 1703 James Todd appears as a taxable on the North Side Patapsco Hundred, while between 1704 and 1706 he appears as a taxable on North Side Gunpowder Hundred (Md. Hist. Soc. MSS.).
It is rather interesting to note that down to 1704 numerous other taxables, probably servants, appear on his list, while after that date we find him moving to the Gunpowder and bracketed with but one other taxable, John Boon. This fact taken, in connection with his frequent sales of land at this time and the administration of his estate later by his creditors indicate that he was in financial difficulties.
In 1695 James Todd was a constable for the North Side Patapsco Hundred (Balto. Co. Ct. Proc. G no. 1;524). He signed, as one of the civil officers of the county, Nov. 1696, an address congratulating William III upon his escape from assassination (Archiv. Md. 20; 544).
James Todd's death is recorded in the St. George's register, "James Todd was drowned May 9, 1709." His estate was administered upon May 17, 1709 by Anthony Ball [Bale], a creditor (Test. Proc. 21; 192). The inventory and account showed an estate valued at only £27: 9: 9 (Annap. Inv. & Acct. 31; 2, 31, 65).
The Baltimore County land transactions in which James 5 Todd figured apparently represent land acquired through his wife Penelope Scudamore, land presented him by his brother, Thomas 5 Todd of Virginia, stray tracts which he claimed as the resident heir of his father, land left him under the will of his stepfather David Jones, and land which he apparently acquired through his mother from her second husband David Jones. Reference has already been made to a confirmatory deed by his brother Thomas 5 Todd of Johnson's Dock, a part of Todd's Range, on Back River, previously presented to James by Thomas, and sold in 1694 to Stephen Johnson (Balto. Deeds RM: HS; 299).
Other portions of this Todd's Range were sold by James Todd Aug. 6, 1698 to John Wells, and June 12, 1699 to John Harryman (idem TR; RA 288, 397). This tract Todd's Range, 4(X) acres, on Back River originally surveyed for his father Capt. Thomas Todd must be carefully distinguished from the tract Cole's Harbor, 550 acres, formerly owned by Thomas Cole, lying on the northwest branch of the Patapsco, upon which the town of Baltimore was afterwards laid out and for which a warrant of resurvey dated Feb. 7, 1698-9 and a patent June 1, 1700 for 510 acres under the name Todd's Range, was issued to James Todd.
The previous history of this latter tract has been fully discussed in connection with David Jones, the second husband of Anna 4 Gorsuch (see ante; 24; 433-434). How this tract Cole's Harbor or Todd's Range actually came into the possession of James Todd will probably never be known. In 1788 the Maryland Court of Appeals tackled the problem in the well-known case of Helms versus Howard (Md. Reports, ed. Harris & McHenry; 2; 33-63), which involved the title of property in the heart of Baltimore, and while deciding that James Todd had a good title to the land by virtue of his resurvey of 1698-9 and patent of 1700, refused to decide how he acquired his original interest. It will be recalled that under the will of David Jones, 1686-7, his dwelling plantation, which apparently included not only Cole's Harbor 550 acres, but Monteney's Neck, 200 acres adjoining on the east, was left to his wife Anna 4 for her life with the proviso that it should go to his sister Elizabeth if she outlived his wife, and in case of the death of his sister Elizabeth before that of his wife, it was to pass to Frances and Abiell [Averilla] Todd, who were daughters of his wife by her first husband. This much is certain; James Todd was in actual possession of Cole's Harbor in Feb. 7, 1698-9, when a warrant of resurvey of the tract was issued to him by the Land Office.
As has been shown before, his mother had probably died a year or two before this time. It seems possible that James Todd may have originally acquired the site of Baltimore in one of four ways. He may have married Elizabeth, the sister of David Jones, his first wife's name being known to have been Elizabeth, and to have acquired the property through her. This seems improbable. Or he may have inherited it from his sisters, Frances and Averilla Todd, although this also seems improbable. He may have acquired legal title to it during his mother's lifetime by some sort of an unrecorded conveyance from his mother, as by seisin. There is still another explanation however, which seems the most probable. In the suit. Helms vs. Howard, just referred to, the plaintiff offered to prove by a witness "that it was the general reputation that James Todd entered into possession of Cole's Harbor under authority of his mother under some contract and not under any other title," but no such testimony was actually offered or at least was not admitted. The suit hinged upon a variation in one of the bounds as shown by the original survey, 1667, of Cole's Harbor for 550 acres and the bounds of the resurvey, 1698-9, establishing the lines of Todd's Range, as containing 510 acres, the suit involving land included in the former survey of Cole's Harbor, but not included in the bounds of Todd's Range.
The Court ruled that no evidence had been produced to prove that James Todd derived his title to the tract called Cole's Harbor either by descent or by purchase from Thomas Cole himself or anyone deriving a title from Cole [as of course Charles Gorsuch and David Jones had done], and refused to go back of the title to the land and the bounds established by the resurvey, March 18, 1698-9 and the patent of June 1, 1700, by which the property under the name Todd's Range became vested in James Todd and his title thereto established. It was probably almost as difficult for the court in 1788, nearly a hundred years after the land had come into James 5 Todd's possession, to determine the exact facts in the case in the absence of actual recorded data, as it is for us to do so today. The court prudently sidestepped the question and refused to "go back of the returns," and limited the ownership of Todd and his successors to Todd's Range as determined by the resurvey of 1698-9 and the patent of 1700. This matter has been gone into in detail because for some curious reason the existence of a will of David Jones has been entirely overlooked by those who have discussed the question, not even being referred to in the suit. This may be due to the fact that the will, although probated in Annapolis, was not copied into the local Will Books kept for convenience in the Baltimore County Court House, and its existence possibly thus overlooked. Moreover the deed from Richard Blunt, of Talbot County, Oct. 4, 1695, who describes himself as a son and heir of Robert Blunt, late of Kent County, conveying to James Todd, Montines Land [Monteney's Neck], 200 acres, adjoining Cole's Harbor, also requires some explanation, as David Jones apparently also died possessed of this same tract, which he had purchased from Samuel Wheeler and wife in 1685 (Balto. Deeds T. R.: R. A., 339).
It should also be noted that by a later survey the acreage of Monteney's Neck was reduced from 200 to 164 acres (Balto. Co. Rent Roll, Md. Hist. Soc. MSS). In the light of these facts it would seem that Anna 4, the widow of David Jones, may have outlived her sister-in-law Elizabeth Jones as well as her own daughters Frances 5 and Averilla 5 Todd, who had contingent interests in the dwelling plantation Cole's Harbor should they outlive Anna 4 (see David Jones's will ante 24; 436). Upon the death of Anna 4, probably about the year 1695, her son James 5 Todd, her only male heir in the Province, probably without opposition from his eldest brother Thomas 5 of Virginia, and with the consent of Anna's 4 third husband Capt. John Oldton, who was himself an extensive landholder and without children, and also probably fortified by the "authority of his mother under some contract," took possession of Cole's Harbor and Monteney's Neck. To establish his titles to both tracts, James 5 Todd then secured a confirmatory deed to Monteney's Neck Oct. 4, 1695 apparently from the successor of the former owner who had sold to David Jones, and also had Cole's Harbor resurveyed for himself Feb. 7, 1698-9, and a patent to it under the name Todd's Range issued to him by the Land Office, June 1, 17(K). (Annap. Warrants; 6, 175; Patents D. D. no. 5; 2).
James Todd did not remain very long in possession of these two tracts. By a deed recorded March 3, 1701-2, James Todd and his wife Penelope conveyed to John Hurst of Baltimore County, an innkeeper, 135 1/2 acres of Cole's Harbor [Todd's Range] and 164 1/2 acres of Alexander Monteney's Land (Monteney's Neck] (Balto. Deeds H. W. no. 2; 123) and under another deed, dated curiously June 16, 1701, or before the deed to Hurst, James and Penelope Todd convey to Charles Carroll 250 acres of Todd's Range [Cole's Harbor] and 50 acres of Monteney's Neck, described as the remainder of these tracts not previously sold to Hurst, as well as a third tract of 160 acres called Bold Adventure, apparently also in part within the original bounds of Coles Harbor. (Annap. Prov. Court Deeds IL no. 2, 529).
It was more than a quarter of a century later before the two towns, Baltimore Town in 1729 and Jones's Town in 1732 were carved out of Cole's Harbor or Todd's Range, by Legislative act, to be united in 1745 under the name of Baltimore, and it was nearly a century later before the growing city had extended sufficiently to cover the entire tract of 510 acres, which had belonged successively to Thomas Cole, to Charles 4 Gorsuch, the son in law of Cole, to David Jones and then to Jones's wife Anna 4 Gorsuch, and finally to Anna's son, James 5 Todd, binding with many links the Gorsuch family to the early history of Baltimore.
James Todd is only known with certainty to have had one child, a daughter named Ann. For the reasons already given there seems no doubt that she was the child of his first wife Elizabeth: ...
