Kentucky

"Soon after, I returned home to my family, with a determination to bring them as soon as possible to live in Kentucky, which I esteemed a second paradise, at the risk of my life and fortune.
Daniel Boone

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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Justice Thomas Todd House-Frankfort

The Thomas Todd House is located at 320 Wapping Street. The Federal style structure was built in 1812 by either Hayden Edwards or William Walker with the Victorian stylefeatures added later.

After serving in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Thomas Todd studied law and land surveying under his cousin Harry Innes. In 1784 Todd move to Kentucky when Judge Harry Innes was appointed to begin the federal court in Danville, Kentucky. During his time in Danville, Todd served as a clerk for five Constitutional Conventions regarding Kentucky's statehood. After being admitted to the bar in 1788, Todd was a clerk to federal Judge Innes and served as the clerk of the Kentucky House of Representatives until 1799 when the Kentucky Supreme Court was created and Todd was appointed its chief clerk. Kentucky Governor James Garrard appointed Todd to fill the a newly added seat to the Court, and five years later he was named Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court. In 1807, United States President Thomas Jefferson appointed Todd, then age forty-one, to United States Supreme Court where he served until his death in 1826. After his appointment to the Supreme Court, Todd remained active in local and state affairs.

In 1818, while serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, Todd purchased the house on Wapping Street and lived there with his second wife Lucy (Payne) Washington, sister of Dolley Madison. Todd died on February 7, 1826 and was buried in the Innes family cemetery. Later Todd was reinterred in the at Frankfort Cemetery.