My Genealogy Hound

DR. JOHN TODD, a prominent physician of Pottstown and one of the best known medical men in the county, was born at Collegeville, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, April 30, 1830. He is the son of John and Christianna (Bachman) Todd, both natives of Montgomery county. John and Christianna Todd had six children, four sons and two daughters: Dr. John Todd; William, of Norristown; Christianna, wife of Horace Royer, but now deceased; Emily, wife of H. W. Kratz, of Norristown; Samuel N. of Boyertown; and Brooke, of Reading, Pennsylvania.

John Todd (father) was a farmer and lived in Upper Providence township at Freeland, now Collegeville, where he died in 1863, aged eighty-five years. His wife died in February, 1887, aged seventy-six years. He was a Presbyterian and his wife was reared an Episcopalian. John Todd was sheriff of Montgomery county one term and treasurer one term. Under Governor Porter he was appointed appraiser of damages in connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad. In politics he was a Democrat.

Andrew Todd (grandfather) was born in Ireland but removed to America and settled in Montgomery county early in life. He was born of Scotch-Irish parents. He was the first justice of the peace in Montgomery county and held office as long as he lived. He was a farmer. He died on the farm near Collegeville, when nearly eighty-seven years of age. He was a brother of the father of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln.

John Bachman (maternal grandfather) was a native of Montgomery county and died in middle life. He had a small family.

Dr. John Todd was reared in Montgomery county and attended first the district schools and later Freeland Seminary, now Ursinus College. He taught school for about three years. In 1854 he began the study of medicine at Harleysville and graduated from the Pennsylvania Medical College in 1857. He practiced thirteen years at Boyertown before going to Pottstown, where he has been since 1870. The Doctor has had an extended practice and his records show that he has been in attendance at almost five thousand births.

In March, 1857, he married Miss Amanda Smith, daughter of J. K. Smith, a hardware merchant of Philadelphia. Her mother was a Keeler. Dr. John Todd and Amanda (Smith) Todd had one child, a daughter, Amanda, who married George Kramer, of Philadelphia. They have three children: Jacob, Stanley and Mabel.

The second marriage of Dr. John Todd occurred November 23, 1862, to Sarah M. Heller, daughter of Daniel and Mary Heller, of Boyertown. By his second marriage he had seven children: (1) Blanche married Irvin Culp, of Philadelphia, and they have two children, Robert and Helen. (2) Bertha married Lyman Byers, of Atlantic City, and they have three children, Blanche, John and Clarence. (3) Sarah married Maurice Gilbert, of Pottstown, and they have one child, Marion. (4) Mary married H. I. Schotter, and they live in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. (5) Clara died at the age of three years. (6) John, an electrician, married Miss Effie Davis and they have three children: John, Geraldine and Ruth. (7) Florence died at the age of three years. Dr. John Todd and wife are members of the Lutheran church. Dr. John Todd is a member Stichter Lodge, No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons; Phoenix Chapter, No. 194, Royal Arch Masons; and Phoenix Commandery, No. 15, Knights Templar. Politically he is a Democrat.

Dr. John Todd was burgess of Pottstown for several years, a member of the town council nine years and was elected to the constitutional convention, which did not convene. He is a trustee of the Bringhurst Trust Fund and is a director of the Security Company. He was a delegate to the Democratic national convention in Chicago, in 1896.

Dr. John Todd is a member of the Pottstown Medical Society and is president of the Hospital Staff.