The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-02-13
the records of some of them have been
lost and it is difficult to establish the


tact and present a very interesting
series of facts. The Todd family ante
dated the Jones family on the river
by more than 100 years.
Just when the Gorsuches came no
one knows. When 1 approached a
member of the family with the direct
question, "Can you tell me when your
family first settled in this region, were
they here when the Todds came or
did the Todds come frst?" I met
with the reply that he didn't know
the Todds were here when he came.
A rather humorous answer, but hardly
satisfying.
ToDDS ARE THE OLDEST.
Thomas Todd, resident of Glou-
cester county, Virginia, in 1864 bought
of Thomas Thomas and William Bat
tin the land which they had named
"Old Road" This Thomas Todd
was evidently the first of his name in
America, and at the time of this pur-
chase was the holder of land in Anne
Arundel county, which was surveyed
July 9Th, 1851, and is now embraced
in the present city of Annapolis. "For
Thomas Todd on ye south side of
Severn River" so the record reads.
The water front of this lot began at
point on the harbor line and ran up
the mouth of Spa creek.
His first American patent was taken
out in Elizabeth City county, Vir-
ginia, in I647.
Ever since the purchase, in 1864,
of the property on the Patapsco, the
Todd family has been resident there,
and with but one break the land has
been held by successive generations
of Thomas Todds.
That the Indians had been attract
ed by his water front and high land
has been made evident by large finds
of arrow heads and other stone i'm
plements uncovered in one of the
fields, amid a lot of oyster shells,
fully two feet under the surface. In
the library in Mr.. Todd's home this
very interesting collection of arrow
heads may be seen.
Shortly after his purchase of the
property from Thomas Thomas and
William Battin, Mr.. Todd built a
residence, which stood until the War
of 1872, when it was burned by the
British. The present house was built
on the site of the first one and, with
the exception of a few minor changes,
remains today the same as when first
constructed, nearly 100 years ago.
Thomas Todd died in 1876 on the
ship Virginia, while en- route to Eng
land. A letter, dated April 1st of
that year, written on shipboard shows
that he knew he was near deaths
door, for it is addressed as follows:
"This for my son. Thomas Todd, at
his home on the North river, Glouces-
ter county, Virginia, with all speed"
His will was proved in 1877. Ann
Gorsuch, his wife, was a sister of
Charles Lovelace and Robert Cor
such, of the Eastern Shore.
THE OLD BURYING GROUND.
Following the custom of the period,
the Todds had a family burying
ground near the house. This, like
other burying grounds of the early
settlers, is of considerable interest,
though the oldest stone is now hardly
decipherable. It is rather strange,
and the fact has not been satisfac-
torily explained, that there are no
graves of the Todd family bearing an
eighteenth century date.
The oldest stone is over the grave
of Elizabeth Coon and her child. She
was the wife of Hugh Coon, a minis
ter, who is said to have been a native
of England and had settled in Ba1ti-
more county. The wife took her in
fant on trip to England and on the
return voyage, when nearing home,
both died and were buried here.
The name of Coon is not COM
mon one in our records, and there are
no evidences of others of the family
having been in the vicinity. The in
scription on the stone is as follows:
Here lyeth the Body of Elizabeth Coon. late
Tfe % of " aggR b Ceor ~ ghe her 5aS
Coon - this life - 22nd - year and IL
days.
| The breaks indicate the portions of
the inscription which cannot be read.
Other stones record the death Of
Bernard Todd, in 1916, and other
members of the family at later dates.
| All authorities agree that the Todds,
Gorsuches and Jones were the very
first settlers on the river. The name
of Gorsuch appears in the early rec
ords, but I am inclined to think that
they cid not come into the Neck
until after the Todds. If they did
come before there are none of their
family who know of it or have any
thing to show it. 1t is probable that
they settled first in the upper part of
Baltimore county and came into the
Neck later.
The date of the advent of the Jones
family into this favored region is
clear. Lord Baltimore gave grant
of land in 1888 to Philip Jones and
John Rattenberry.
ENTER THE JONES FAMILY.
This same Philip Jones Is the one
who later helped to lay out the city
of Baltimore. His grant bordered on
Welchman's creek, but was not built
on until in 1886, when Judge Thomas
Jones built the house which Is still
standing.
It has been leased for the past
eight years by the Crescent Club as
clubhouse. With the exception OF
new roof and such minor repairs,
the house is unchanged and is in a
remarkable state of preservation con-
sidering its ripe old age of I23 years.
The British, in the War of 1872,
did no great damage to this property,
their intention being to reserve the
residence for a hospital, but they
never had chance to carry out their
intentions.-/. II. K. Shannahan,
| T., in Sundays San.
HURRY up, Tommy /" called
| 4. ts~ LAT