Todd, George Davidson (1856-1929) Papers, 1868-1898
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Todd, George Davidson, 1856-1929
Title: Papers, 1868-1898
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 1 cubic foot
Location Number: Mss. A T634a
Scope and Content Note
Collection is contained in 16 folders, in three boxes. Primarily, it is made up of correspondence, dated 1874-1898, and focuses on Todd’s work with the Republican Party, and other political organizations like the American Protective Tariff League, the McKinley Club, and the Garfield Club. Political issues described include the 1894 Congressional election, the 1892 Presidential election, protective tariffs, the Kentucky Constitutional Convention, the Kentucky legislature, Bloody Monday, and the proposed Nicaragua Canal. Other topics of interest are the Todd family, North Carolina, baseball, the Kentucky Penitentiary, the Western Kentucky Lunatic Asylum (Western State Hospital), and the use of convict labor in coal mines in Pulaski County. Persons of note discussed include Joseph C.S. Blackburn, William C.P. Breckinridge, John S. Williams, and Bennett H. Young. Among the correspondents are Thomas A. Speed, Andrew Cowan, E. Polk Johnson, Augustus E. Willson, Josh G. Carlisle, Charles T. Ballard, and Thomas Speed (1841-1905). Other items contained in the collection are anti-Catholic voting information, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rites materials, bills, promissory notes, and a legal summons.
Biographical Note
One of several children, George Davidson Todd was born 19 April 1856 in Frankfort, Ky., to Harry Innes Todd and his wife, Jane Ballinger Davidson Todd. He, and his wife, Laura Chapin Durkee Todd, had three children: George Davidson Todd, Jr., Laura Durkee Todd, and Helen Bridge Todd.
Todd was educated in the Frankfort, Ky. public schools. At the age of 16, he went to work as a collector with the Bank of Kentucky, Frankfort Branch, and, later became a bookkeeper and teller. In 1875 Todd moved to Louisville, Ky., and worked as a bookkeeper and, later a salesman for W.B. Belknap and Company. In 1882 he formed Todd-Donigan Iron Company and served as its Vice-President. He later started Todd Manufacturing Company in New Albany, In., and served as its President.
Active in politics, Todd worked to promote the Republican Party and championed the issue of protective tariffs. In 1894 he served as Chairman of the Republican Campaign Committee, 5th Kentucky District. In 1896 Todd was a delegate to the Republican National Convention. He was elected to fill the term of Louisville, Ky., Mayor Henry Tyler, and served from 1896-1897.
Todd died in 1929.
See Also:
Biographical sketches in Who’s Who in Louisville, 1912 and the Memorial History of Louisville, volume 1
Folder List
Box 1
folder 1: Correspondence, 1874-1883
folder 2: Correspondence, 1884-1885
folder 3: Correspondence, 1886-1889
folder 4: Correspondence, 1890
folder 5: Correspondence, 1891
Box 2
folder 6: Correspondence, 1892
folder 7: Correspondence, 1893
folder 8: Correspondence, January – April 1894
folder 9: Correspondence, May – June 1894
folder 10: Correspondence, July – August 1894
Box 3
folder 11: Correspondence, September 1894
folder 12: Correspondence, October 1894
folder 13: Correspondence, January – May 1895
folder 14: Correspondence, August 1895 – 1898, no date
folder 15: Envelopes, 1886-1895, no date
folder 16: Miscellaneous, 1868-1895, no date
