Biography

09/24/1780 - 03/27/1830

Private John Tod (Democratic-Republican14) Bedford, Cambria and Somerset Counties, 1813-1817

Early Life: 

Private John Tod, born September 24, 1780, Suffield Township, Hartford County, Connecticut; son of David and Rachel (Kent) Tod; attended, common schools; Yale College (undergraduate college of Yale University); Hartford County, Connecticut, bar, 1800; teacher, Maryland; member, Bedford County Pennsylvania, bar, 1802; Somerset County bar, 1805; postmaster, Bedford, 1805; Bedford, law practice; clerk, commissioners, Bedford County, 1806-1807; married, Mary Read Hanna, 1810, children, Julia Ann Briggs, Rachel Gilmore, Isabella Kerr, Mary, Henrietta; elected, Bedford County, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Democratic-Republican, 1808-1813; elected, Speaker, Pennsylvania House, 1811-1812; private, War of 1812; elected, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1813-1817; elected, Speaker of the Senate, 1814-1815; resigned, 1816; unsuccessful campaign, United States Senate, 1818; elected, United States Congress, 1821-1824; unsuccessful campaign, United States Senate, 1824; appointed, presiding judge, Sixteenth Judicial District, Court of Common Pleas 1824-1827; associate judge, Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1827-1830; died, March 27, 1830, Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania; interment, Bedford Cemetery, Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania.

Early Career:

Teacher, Charlotte Hall School, Aquasco, Maryland, 1801-1802; Postmaster, Bedford, 1805; clerk, commissioners, Bedford County, 1806-1807.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Bedford County, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Democratic-Republican, 1808-1813; elected, 47th Speaker, Pennsylvania House, 1811, re-elected Speaker, 1812; as Speaker, oversaw the passage of Act 52 of 1812, which created Lebanon County.

Elected, Democratic-Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 14th district, Bedford, Cambria and Somerset Counties, 1813-1817; elected, Speaker of the Senate, 1814, reelected, 1815; resigned, December 20, 1816, due to taking a leave of absence to attend to private business. 

Appointed, Governor Joseph Hiester, presiding judge, Sixteenth Judicial District of the Court of Common Pleas, 1824-1827; associate judge of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1827-1830.

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Unsuccessful campaign, United States Senate, 1818.

Elected, United States Congress, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Congresses, 1821-1824, chairman, Committee on Manufactures.  

Unsuccessful campaign, United States Senate, 1824. 

 Pennsylvania House of Representatives Speaker Biography:    

John Tod - PA House of Representatives - PA House of Representatives (state.pa.us)

Legacy:

His wife Mary Read Hanna, daughter of United States Representative John A. Hanna. Hanna, a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1791; elected lieutenant colonel, Third Battalion of Dauphin County, 1792; appointed, brigadier general of Dauphin County Brigade, command during the Whisky Rebellion, 1793; appointed, major general, Sixth Division of Dauphin and Berks Counties, 1800.

Legacy: 

Wife, Mary Read Hanna, daughter, John André Hanna, delegate, State convention, ratify the Federal Constitution, 1787; secretary, anti-Federal conference, 1788; member, State House of Representatives 1791-1792; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1792-1794; elected, lieutenant colonel, Third Battalion of Dauphin County, 1792; appointed, brigadier general of Dauphin County Brigade, 1793; was in command during the Whisky Insurrection, 1793; appointed, major general, Sixth Division of Dauphin and Berks Counties, 1800; elected, Republican, United State House of Representatives, 1797-1807. 

Cited: 

Cox, Harold Senate Members "T" (wilkes.edu). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

A New Nation Votes (tufts.edu)

John Tod (1779-1830) - Find a Grave Memorial