Scope and Contents: This collection contains the correspondence, 1846-47, of David Todd (1821-74) and Charlotte Farnsworth (1825-47), including 15 letters by him and 5 by her. Farnsworth, a student at Oberlin College, mainly writes about academic and social life at the school as well as her attachment to Todd. Todd, who graduated from Oberlin as a minister in 1843, describes the countryside of Illinois, his desire to establish a church, and family matters. The correspondence ends with Farnsworth's unexpected death in 1847.
The collection also contains 48 letters, 1855-70, from David Todd to his brother John Todd. Finally, the collection includes a single letter in 1864, from John Todd to David Worcester, and two letters from C. B. French to John Todd regarding David Todd's death in 1874.
In 1973, Margaret C. Shedd of Urbana, Ill., loaned the letters to the Library for copying, and later donated the originals. In 1975, Grace Wilson, also of Urbana, replaced the copies by donating her transcription of most of the letters in a spiral-bound volume of 253 pages. This volume, "Letters of David Todd," includes an inventory of the letters and Grace Wilson's sketch of Todd, both of which are attached.
| Illinois History and Lincoln Collections
Creators 
