{{Short description|American politician (1821–1902)}} {{for|the Medal of Honor recipient|Samuel Todd}} {{infobox officeholder |name = S. J. Todd |state = Wisconsin |state_senate = Wisconsin |district = [[Wisconsin's 17th Senate district|17th]] |term_start = January 7, 1867 |term_end = January 4, 1869 |predecessor = [[William A. Lawrence (Wisconsin politician)|William A. Lawrence]] |successor = [[Charles G. Williams]] |order1 = 3rd |title1 = Mayor of [[Beloit, Wisconsin]] |term_start1 = April 1859 |term_end1 = April 1860 |predecessor1 = Anson P. Waterman |successor1 = John Bannister |party = {{unbulleted list | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | [[National Union Party (United States)|Natl. Union]] (1865–1868) }} |birth_name = Samuel J. Todd |birth_date = {{birth date|1821|1|19}} |birth_place = [[Preble, New York]], U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1902|1|9|1821|1|19}} |death_place = [[Beloit, Wisconsin]], U.S. |death_cause = [[Stroke]] |resting_place = Oakwood Cemetery, {{nowrap|[[Beloit, Wisconsin]]}} |spouse = {{marriage|Mary E. Hazard|1853}} |children = {{unbulleted list | Mary A. Todd | {{sup|(b. 1859; died 1861)}} | Robert H. Todd | {{sup|(b. 1862; died 1907)}} | Alice C. Todd | {{sup|(b. 1863; died 1898)}} | Anne C. Todd | {{sup|(b. 1867; died 1897)}} | Elizabeth (Eldred) | {{sup|(b. 1869; died 1925)}} }} |relatives = [[Samuel Taggart]] (grandfather) |occupation = lawyer, politician }} '''Samuel James Todd''' (January 19, 1821{{spaced ndash}}January 9, 1902) was an [[Americans|American]] lawyer, [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] politician, and [[Wisconsin]] pioneer. He was an early settler of [[Beloit, Wisconsin]], and was the 3rd mayor of Beloit. He also represented [[Rock County, Wisconsin|Rock County]] in the [[Wisconsin Senate]] for the [[20th Wisconsin Legislature|1867]] and [[21st Wisconsin Legislature|1868]] sessions. His name is often abbreviated as {{nowrap|'''S. J. Todd'''}} in historical documents.
==Biography== Todd was born on January 19, 1821, in [[Preble, New York]], his father died when he was about five years old. He studied law at [[Batavia, New York]], and was admitted to the bar.<ref name="obitjvil">{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/79637740/sj-todd-obit-jvil-gazette/ |title= Early Settler in Beloit is Dead |newspaper= [[The Gazette (Janesville, Wisconsin)|Janesville Daily Gazette]] |date= January 9, 1902 |page= 5 |accessdate= June 15, 2021 |via= [[Newspapers.com]] }}</ref>
In 1850, he moved west and settled at [[Beloit, Wisconsin]]—then a small village. He formed a law partnership with John M. Keep, which continued until Keep was appointed a Wisconsin circuit court judge in 1857. Todd was one of the leading lawyers of Beloit for 30 years.<ref name="fiske2"/>
In 1857, Todd was one of three respected lawyers chosen by Governor [[Coles Bashford]] for a commission to revise and compile the statutes of Wisconsin, based on changes in the law since the previous edition. He was partnered with [[David Taylor (Wisconsin judge)|David Taylor]] and [[Frederick S. Lovell]].<ref name="obitjvil"/> The revised statutes were published in 1858, and later that year Todd was elected to a one-year term as Mayor of Beloit.
In 1866, Todd was elected to the [[Wisconsin State Senate]], representing all of Rock County in what was then the [[Wisconsin's 17th State Senate district|17th State Senate district]]. He ran on the [[National Union Party (United States)|National Union Party]] ticket, but was identified with the [[Radical Republicans|Radical Republican]] faction of the time. In the Senate, he served on the committee on incorporations in 1867, and served on judiciary, state affairs, and military affairs in 1868.<ref>{{cite report |url= https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1868 |title =The Legislative Manual, of the State of Wisconsin |year= 1868 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |chapter-url= https://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/WIBlueBks/BlueBks/WIBlueBk1868/reference/wi.wibluebk1868.i0009.pdf |chapter= Legislative Department |page= 169 |accessdate= June 15, 2021 }}</ref>
After leaving the Senate, he served as [[city attorney]] of Beloit from 1870 to 1874, and was a member of the school board from 1875 through 1885.<ref name="obitjvil"/>
He suffered a [[stroke]] on January 7, 1902, and died two days later at his home in Beloit.<ref name="obitjvil"/>
==Personal life and family== Samuel Todd was the only known child of Daniel Todd and his wife Mary (''{{nee}}'' Taggart).<ref name="fiske2">{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow/ |title =Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, up to Date |publisher= C. F. Cooper & Co. |year= 1908 |last= Brown |first= William Fiske |pages= [https://archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow/page/740/ 740–741] |accessdate= June 15, 2021 }}</ref> After his father's death, in 1826, his mother remarried with Daniel's younger brother John Todd and had two more children. Todd's ancestors were [[Scotch-Irish Americans]], but both parents were born in America. His maternal grandfather was [[Samuel Taggart]], who represented Massachusetts in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] for seven terms, from 1803 to 1817.
He married Ms. Mary (or May) E. Hazard, of [[Essex County, New York]], on December 21, 1853.<ref name="obitjvil"/> They had five children together, though one daughter died in infancy. At the time of his death, only two of his children were still living.<ref name="fiske2"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Find a Grave|113380575|Samuel J Todd}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-wi-sen}} {{s-bef|before = [[William A. Lawrence (Wisconsin politician)|William A. Lawrence]] }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the [[Wisconsin State Senate|Wisconsin Senate]]}} {{nowrap|from the [[Wisconsin's 17th State Senate district|17th]] district}} |years = January 7, 1867{{spaced ndash}}January 4, 1869 }} {{s-aft|after = [[Charles G. Williams]] }} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before = Anson P. Waterman }} {{s-ttl|title = Mayor of [[Beloit, Wisconsin]] |years= April 1859{{spaced ndash}}April 1860 }} {{s-aft|after = John Bannister }} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, S. J.}} [[Category:People from Cortland County, New York]] [[Category:Republican Party Wisconsin state senators]] [[Category:Mayors of Beloit, Wisconsin]] [[Category:Wisconsin city attorneys]] [[Category:19th-century American lawyers]] [[Category:School board members in Wisconsin]] [[Category:1821 births]] [[Category:1902 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century mayors of places in Wisconsin]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature]]