TODD, M.D., William Addison

HENTON, TODD, OHAVER, STEELE, TUTTLE, SURFACE

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 3/3/2015 at 22:52:31

A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa.
Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago. 1896.

BIOGRAPHY ~ WILLIAM ADDISON TODD, M.D.

WILLIAM ADDISON TODD, M. D., a regular practicing physician of Chariton, Iowa, was born in Danville, Indiana, April 4, 1838, and is a son of Dr. Henry G. and Serena (Henton) Todd. The father was a native of Louisville, Kentucky, born in 1811, and was educated in Lexington, that State, being graduated at Transylvania Medical College in 1831. He practiced medicine in Indiana for the long period of sixty-one years, and died in Danville, in October, 1892. His wife was born in Highland county, Ohio, February 17, 1816, and their marriage was celebrated in Danville, Indiana, in 1831. In their family were nine children, of whom only four are now living, namely: Laura, now the wife of Joseph O'Haver, a marble-cutter and dealer in monuments and tombstones; Marshall is engaged in the real-estate business in Salt Lake City; Henrietta makes her home in Danville with her aged mother. The eldest of the family was Minerva Jane, wife of Rev. W. N. Steele. She died in Rossville, Illinois. John Orlando died in Danville, Indiana. Sarah died in the same city, at the age of sixteen. Maggie died at the old home there, when eight years of age, and Andrew died in infancy. His paternal grandfather was of English lineage and his grandmother of Irish descent, while the maternal grandparents also descended from English ancestors.

Dr. Todd, whose name heads this record, was educated in the city schools of Danville and in Wabash College at Crawfordsville, which he entered in 1854, pursuing a special course of two years. He began the study of medicine in the office of his father, who was a physician of Indianapolis. He then engaged in the drug business for several years, before he entered medical college, and abandoned that business only when his health failed. Deciding then upon the medical profession as a life work, he entered the University of Michigan, where he pursued one course of lectures. He then became a student in the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, at which he was graduated in the class of 1874. He has been successful in his chosen field of labor, and has succeeded in establishing a reputation which numbers him among the foremost physicians of this locality. He has now a liberal patronage and the public recognize his skill and ability.

Dr. Todd began practice at North Salem, Indiana, in 1864, but soon after went into the army. In the fall of 1865 he became a resident of Garden Grove, Iowa, his place of abode until the spring of 1882, when he came to Chariton. His labors in the line of his profession have continued almost uninterruptedly. Early in 1865 he became assistant surgeon of the Eleventh Indiana Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war, and the loyalty which prompted him to go to his country's aid during those dark days has always been manifest in his faithful performance of every duty of citizenship which comes to him. His brother, John O., was a member of the Seventh Indiana Infantry and was discharged on account of ill health, but afterward re-enlisted in the Fifty-third Indiana Infantry -General Gresham's regiment. Marshall also served a three-years term in the Sixty-third Infantry of Indiana.

The Doctor was married at Eddyville, Iowa, October 3, 1861, to Miss Orpha G. Tuttle, a native of New Hampshire. She was born March 13, 1839, and when in her seventeenth year came to Iowa with her parents, the family locating on a farm near Eddyville. Her father, Oliver Tuttle, during his younger years, married Fannie Gray, and they are still living in Eddyville. The Doctor and his wife have two children: Edward Carlton, who was born July 8, 1862, and died January 15, 1864; and Henry Oliver, born June 9, 1867. The latter was educated in the public school of Garden Grove, Iowa, and in Fairfield, this State; also pursued the scientific course of study in the Michigan University at Ann Arbor. He now resides in Omaha, Nebraska, where he is employed as a salesman. He married Miss Myra A. Surface, of Omaha, and to them were born two children, but Addison Gaylord died at the age of six months. Gifford Gray is now a babe of six months.

In his political views Dr. Todd has been a life-long Republican, unfaltering in his support of that party. Socially he is connected with Iseminger Post, No. 18, G. A. R. He is a member of the Iowa State Medical Society and of the Des Moines Valley Medical Association, of which he is now serving as president. He belongs to Chariton Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Chariton Lodge, No. 268, A. O.U. W., and both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. The Doctor is highly esteemed by his professional brethren, holds an enviable position in social circles and is a respected and honored gentleman.

Submission by Joy Fisher, December 09, 2007