Submitted by Leona Baker, Historical Society of Salisbury Township

Several years ago, the Historical Society of Salisbury Township was given three portraits formerly belonging to the Todd family of Salisbury and Sadsbury townships. The portraits featured the stern faces of William M. Todd and his wife, Pamela Kirk Taylor Todd, along with a little girl whose name at the time was unknown.

Some research discovered that William and Pamela and several children are buried in the cemetery at Sadsbury Friends Meeting, which lies near the eastern township line on Simmontown Road. Any Quakers within a 5-mile radius would have worshipped in that meetinghouse. Little else was known, except that William and Pamela had 14 children, of whom three died within six months of their birth.

Thanks to a new donation, the historical society was able to follow the family's genealogy down to the present day. Online searches turned up pages filled with Todds of Chester, Lancaster and York counties, as well as several southern states. The society discovered that Pamela's parents were Sarah and Joseph Taylor of Gap and that she married William, the son of a stone mason, at the age of 20.

William came from Maryland, from a family replete with Chester and Lancaster County names such as Montgomery, Riddle and Johnson. The historical society's 2002 "History of Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania" by Joan Lorenz lists many Todds and Johnsons in the late 1800s.

Now entrusted to the society's care is the 14- by 20-inch framed 1886 marriage certificate of Owen Johnson of Gap and Harriet, Pamela and William's 10th child. Originally it would have been proudly displayed in the Johnson parlor. The family Bible, also donated to the society, would have been displayed on a special stand in that same parlor.

Included was an adult photo of Harriet and Owen's son, Everett Johnson, along with his sister, Lena, and carefully preserved grade school awards from Miss Evans of Waterloo School in Cains, lending even more detail to this family's history. And May E. Todd, who was a part of the extended Todd family and lived in Salisbury Township, taught in several one-room schools in the late 1800s.

As for the portrait of the little girl, it was not at first identified. Perhaps it was one of William and Pamela's four daughters. The Find a Grave website helped discover more information. The historical society came up with nothing for William M. Todd, but a search for Pamela Kirk Todd revealed her birth date to be 1826. The dress shown in the photo shows sleeves popular in the 1830s, called "leg of mutton" for their shape. Pamela would have been about 10 in the 1830s. Placing the face of "old" Pamela and the face of the youngster side by side gives us at least a suspicion that this portrait is actually of Pamela herself.

Itinerant artists often stopped in a town, set up shop and offered portrait services for a fee. Usually all but the face of the person had been mass produced long before so that the head could quickly be filled in. It can be likened to the wooden stands at fairs where the face is just a hole and you pop your head into that hole, and someone takes a photo. The historical society's portraits appear to be charcoal or pen and ink on a paper/board-covered frame.

More research may fill in additional details of this family.