Family Book
Notibles in this database include: President Abraham Lincoln, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, Acter Tom Hanks, Famous bridge builder James Buchannan Eads, President James Buchannan, Flag designer Betsy Ross, President James Madison, First Lady Dolley Madison, Famed Cherokee Chief John Ross.
NOTE: In order to match up the Sowder/Sowders families and not create duplicates, I have entered all of them as Sowders.
From TELM (Todds in Early Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana by Nancie Todd Weber): The three treaties transferring territory that is now Lawrence County, Indiana, from the Indians to the United States were all made before the 1811 war in which General Harrison defeated the Shawnee chieftain, Tecumseh, at Tippecanoe and forever crushed native resistence to the white man's mermanent invasion. The first treaty, conveying the Vincennes Tract, was executed 7 Jun 1803 and included roughly one-third of Spice Valley Township, the southern part, and a small southwestern portion of the Marion Township. On 21 Aug 1805 several tribes gave up about 9,920 acres of land, mostly in southern Bono Township, to the US. The balance of what is today Lawrence County became Government property via the Harrison Purchase on 30 Sep 1809. Formed from Knox and Harrison Counties, in 1814, the area became part of Washington County. In 1816 it was part of Orange County, and in 1818 Lawrence County was created, named in honor of Captain James Lawrence, a Naval war hero. The Guthries and the Flinns were among probably no more than a dozen brave pioneering families, settling in what is now Flinn Township by about 1810. County land entries began in 1813 in Bono Township. Pleasant Run Township, in the northeastern corner of Lawrence County, was created in 1818, but its land surface was generally poorly adapted to tillage, and this was the latest and most sparsely settled area of the county. By 1820 there were only 23 land entries, though squatters composed a larger share of the township's population. The portion of Monroe County that includes Salt Creek and Polk Townships was part of the Harrison Purchase, obtained from the indians in 1809. It was first surveyed in 1812, but the land wasn't put on the market until 1816 -- and all entries at that time were in the southwestern area. Monroe County was officially created 11 Apr 1818. Salt Creek township was designated in May 1825, and Polk Township was formed from it in September 1849. Most of the Todds who first came to Lawrence and Monroe Counties settled in Pleasant Run and [what later became] Polk Townships -- the eastern part of the counties, straddling the line. By 1850 "the clan" had spread over four counties; not so vast an area, actually, but where the boundaries joind; along with Pleasant Run and Polk Townships, Johnson Township in Brown County, and Salt Creek and Owen Townships in Jackson County. The land conditions in that area suggest that the Todds were more inclined toward hunting, trapping and fishing rather than, specifically, farming.
Nancie Todd Weber updated her information and published a wonderful book called "Elizabeth TODD (born 1760s) of Lawrence County, Indiana in 1820...Her Descendants". Information obtained from her book is noted in the database as "ETHD".
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