| Todd Family History
Deonna Todd Green and Ione Todd
1990
Remus, Mecosta County, Michigan
Cotton/polyester with polyester filling
82” x 79”
MSUM 7005.1
Photo by Mary Whalen, all rights reserved Michigan
State University Museum
In 1983, six Todd family women-Delores, Marion, and Ione Todd,
Deonna and Diana Green, and Carol Norman-began a quilting project
to commemorate their family history, at the suggestions of Ken Todd.
The women documented with needle and thread signigicant family events
along with the members of their family tree, beginning with their
father Stephen Todd, who escaped from slavery in Kentucky.
| Quilter Deonna Todd explains family history as
depicted on the Todd Family Quilt: |
| |
It was made in 1983 for the Todd Family Reunion
at Remus, Michigan. In the corners [is] the Todd Family Coat
of Arms. [Starting from left to right] The house on block 12
is that of Stephen and Caroline Todd. Stephen Todd was born
in Garrard County, Kentucky, where he escaped slavery. He ran
to Indiana, where he met Caroline Kahler, born in Peppertown,
Indiana. They ran to Port Huron, Michigan, where they crossed
by river-raft, to Canada, where they were married. In 1875,
Stephen and Caroline Todd came to Remus, Michigan via covered
wagon. The horse and cannon represent Stephen as "keeper
of the horses," in the Civil War. The plots of land are
places near, Remus, Michigan, where Stephen and Caroline lived,
and raised their family. Around the heart [are] Stephen and
Caroline's children, [showing] when they were born, who they
married and when they died. Close to the children's blocks are
their generations, by color code. Caroline's personal property
consisted of twenty-four chickens and two cows. The letter to
the Congressman was a request for a disability pension. Stephen
and Caroline Todd are buried in Dye County Cemetery, Mecosta
County, Michigan. |
When the quilt was raffled off to a cousin at one of the Todd family
reunions, Deonna Green and Ione Todd decided to make a duplicate for
their immediate family to keep. The quilt is now put on temporary
loan to close family members so that they can enjoy looking at and
learning from it. Occasionally, Green brings it to the annual Old
Settler's Reunion held in Mecosta, Michigan, so that other family
members and friends can see it.
This third one was commissioned by The Michigan State University Museum.
By Marsha MacDowell , from Michigan
Quilts: 150 Years of a Textile Tradition |
