John Alexander Todd (6 August 1870 – 13 November 1953)

John A. Todd signature from SS-5 form, 1938

Born:

6 August 1870 in Govan, Lanark, Scotland, United Kingdom^1,2,3

Married:

30 March 1891 in Camden, Camden, New Jersey, United States to Olivia Rush Moore⁴

Died:

13 November 1953 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States³

Parents:

James Todd (12 Jul 1843 – 20 Jan 1927)^1,2
Elizabeth Martin (30 Nov 1840 – 10 Feb 1907)^1,2

Spouse:

Olivia Rush Moore (8 Oct 1869 – )

Children:

Frank Alexander Todd, John Alexander Todd, Clayton Moore Todd, Robert James Todd, Lucy Honour Todd, James Todd, Susan Lippencott Todd, Elizabeth Martin Todd, Olivia R. Todd, Margaret Anna Todd, Thomas Charles Todd, Eliza Ellen Todd.

Ancestors
John Alexander Todd is a descendant of James Todd & Elizabeth Martin.

Biography
John Alexander Todd was born on 6 Aug 1870 in Govan, Lanark, Scotland, United Kingdom.^1,2 He was known as Alexander to his family. My father and grandmother both called him Alexander, and his birth certificate and the 1880 census have Alexander for his name.^1,6,11 All of the documentation I have found after 1880 has listed him as John A. or John Alexander, including his Social Security Application.² John Alexander immigrated in 1872.⁵ On 1 June 1880, he lived at 959 Emlen Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.⁶ John Alexander Todd and Olivia Rush Moore were married on 30 Mar 1891 in Camden, Camden, New Jersey, United States.⁴ Olivia Rush Moore was the daughter of Charles D. Moore and Lucy H. Ogle. Between 1900 and 1920 he was a Machinist at a Ship Yard.^5,7,8 On 1 Jun 1900 John Alexander lived at 2447 Tulip in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.⁷ He lived at 2423 Almond Street in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States on 15 Apr 1910.⁸ From 1920 until his death in 1953 he lived at 2075 E Tioga Street in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.^3,5,9,10 In 1930 he was an Estimator in a Hardwood Floor Shop.⁹ My father told me that John Alexander and his son, John Alexander, Jr., ran a hardwood flooring business together.¹¹ John Alexander died on 13 Nov 1953 at the age of 83 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.³ He was buried on 17 Nov 1953 at North Cedar Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.³

Last updated: 27 February 2014

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Citations

1. Govan, Lanark, Scotland, Statutory Birth Registers, p. 247, Alexander Todd, 1870; digital images, ScotlandsPeople (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ : accessed 5 December 2012).
2. John Alexander Todd, 163-16-6104, 1938, Application for Account Numbers (Form SS-5), Social Security Administration.
3. Pennsylvania, Department of Health, death certificate 101214 (1953), John A. Todd Sr; Division of Vital Records, New Castle.
4. New Jersey, Index to records of births, marriages, and deaths, 1848-1900, Marriages Atlantic-Hudson v. 22 1891-1892, LDS Film No. 495713: p. 185, John Todd & Olivia Moore marriage, 1891;New Jersey State Library, Trenton, New Jersey.
5. 1920 U.S. Census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Ward 45, Philadelphia, enumeration district (ED) 1707, sheet 4B, line 63, dwelling 61, family 61, John A. Todd; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1488411 : accessed 25 June 2013).
6. 1880 U.S. Census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Philadelphia, enumeration district (ED) 680, p. 15, line 12, dwelling 136, family 148, James Todd; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1417683 : accessed 25 February 2014).
7. 1900 U.S. Census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Ward 31, Philadelphia, enumeration district (ED) 788, sheet 7B, line 90, dwelling 144, family 146, A John Todd; digital images, FamilySearch.org (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1325221 : accessed 25 June 2013).
8. 1910 U.S. Census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Ward 31, Philadelphia, enumeration district (ED) 732, sheet 2B-3A, line 93, dwelling 45, family 45, John A. Todd; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1727033 : accessed 25 June 2013).
9. 1930 U.S. Census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Ward 45, Philadelphia, enumeration district (ED) 51-1128, sheet 23B, line 75, dwelling 404, family 404, John A Todd; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1810731 : accessed 25 June 2013).
10. 1940 U.S. Census, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Ward 45, Philadelphia, enumeration district (ED) 15-1884, sheet 2B, line 43, household 28, John A. Todd; digital images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2000219 : accessed 7 June 2013).
11. Personal knowledge via family stories.

U.S. Social Security Act
Application for Account Number, Form SS-5

163-16-6104
Name: John Alexander Todd
Address: 2075 East Tioga Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Employer: Baldwin-Southwark Corporation, Paschall Post Office, Philadelphia, Penna.
Age at last birthday: 67
Date of birth: August 6, 1870
Place of birth: Govan, Scotland
Father’s full name: James Todd
Mother’s full maiden name: Elizabeth Martin MacBride
Sex: male
Color: white
Date signed: 1-10-38
Signed: John A Todd

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Original Source Citation:
John Alexander Todd, 163-16-6104, 10 January 1938, Application for Account Numbers (Form SS-5), Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland.

Alexander Todd, birth, 1870
Transcribed from digital image by Alexander Conrad

1870. Births in the District of Govan Church in the County of Lanark.

No. 740
Name and Surname: Alexander Todd
When and where born: 1870 August Sixth, [time indecipherable], 9 Albert Street, Govan
Sex: M
Name, Surname and Rank or Profession of Father: James Todd, Joiner[?], Journeyman[?]
Name and Maiden Surname of Mother: Elizabeth Todd, M.S. Martin
Date and Place of Marriage: 1861 September 9th, Newry, Ireland
Signature and Qualification of Informant: James Todd, Father, Present
When and Where Registered and Signature of Registrar: 1870 August 27th at Govan, Thomas S. Steel, Registrar [this section all very faded and difficult to read]

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Original Source Citation:
Govan, Lanark, Scotland, Statutory Birth Registers, p. 247, Alexander Todd, 1870; digital images, ScotlandsPeople (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ : accessed 5 December 2012).

My father loved my mother and it was a love that lasted until his death. I never knew the depth of my father’s love until my mother became ill with terminal brain cancer. It was the day my mother had surgery, after which we would find out if the tumor was benign or malignant. I don’t remember what kept me from being at the hospital when the doctor told my mother and father the news. It was a chaotic time. When I arrived, my mother was sleeping and my father was no where to be seen. I found the doctor and after he told me the news, I went in search of my father. I found him in an out of the way sitting area, hunched over and staring at the floor. I put my arm around him and he wept and he told me how lost he would be without my mother. My father was not one of those stoic men who hide their emotions but I had never seen him so bereft. I have tears in my eyes thinking about it now, fourteen years later.

Letter from my dad to my mom, 1959
Please do not post to Ancestry or other sites.

After my parents passed away, I found a letter my father had written to my mother the summer before they wed. She was visiting her Roth cousins in California and he was back home in Philadelphia. My father was twenty-two years old and my mother was twenty-one. Here is that letter.

August 22, 1959
At Home.

Hi Lover: Just a few lines to let you know that I received your letter. To tell you the truth I was getting a little worried, I thought that you would send me a post card from one of the places that you had a lay over.

So you got stranded in Albuquerque, that is a great town. What did you do while you were there? Did you get off the train? What made you think that Albuquerque was a small town, it’s know[n] as the fastest growing town in the US.

My father was stationed out west while he was in the Air Force and had a fondness for Albuquerque. I remember when we drove through it on our way to dropping me off at college in Arizona he was impressed by how much it had grown. I think he was a little hard on my mother here. Even when I went out west in the nineties, I had someone ask me if Tucson had tumbleweeds blowing down the streets. I think people back east think of the southwest as being like the old western movies.

So far I’ve done absolutely nothing but eat sleep and work and think about what’s going to happen on October 24th. I can hardly wait.

I took Marge and her Mother down to Wildwood last night and drove back this morning. I felt so lonely in that town that I had to get out of there fast. I missed you so much. Dick couldn’t go because he had to work so I went out Friday night by myself for about two hours and that was all I could stand.

My parents married on October 24th and apparently my father could not wait! Marge was my mother’s best friend, the maid of honor at their wedding, and my godmother. I think it is nice my father drove her and her mother down to the shore. I don’t know who Dick was, but apparently my dad missed my mother so much he couldn’t enjoy a Friday night out alone.

I hope that you are enjoying your vacation, next year we’ll go on one together if we can afford it. Remember I love you, I need you and I’m going to have you. Give my best to your mother and tell you[r] cousins that I hope that I have the pleasure of meeting them.

Your Everlovin
Chuck

There is something awkward and indescribably sweet about finding a letter between your parents that begins with “Hi Lover” and ends with “Your Everlovin.” A side note, my mother’s mother always called my dad Chuck and my mother told me he never went by Chuck, always Charlie. Well, I guess he did once.

And at the end of the letter he adds this in case my mother did not catch it throughout the letter:

P.S. I miss you.

My father passed away six weeks before my mother. I know it is a cliché but I think he could not stand to live without her.

They were engaged on Valentine’s Day 1959.