Benjamin Todd4, (Benjamin3, Michael2, Christopher1) born April 10, 1730, died Nov. 1755 on the Crown Point expedition, married by Isaiah Tuttle, Justice of the Peace, Sept. 3, 1755, Lois, daughter of Ezekiel and Susannah (Merriman) Tuttle, who was born Feb. 14, 1737-38. She married second Dec. 9, 1756, James, son of Caleb and Lydia (Benham) Atwater. Issue: (1) James; (2) Daniel; (3) Stephen; (4) Lois, m. Michael Sherman; (5) Eunice, m. E. Young; (6) Caleb.
They lived in Hillsdale, Columbia County, N. Y.
The compiler of the Tuttle Genealogy makes the claim that the above mentioned Benjamin Todd, who married Lois Tuttle, left a posthumous child who was named Benjamin Todd, and gives the date of his birth as being in 1756. Should this prove to be true, the latter would have been but a very few months old, when his mother married second Dec. 9, 1756, James Atwater. It would seem to me, reasonably safe to say that the compiler of the Tuttle Genealogy would have tried to be sure that his statement was correct before he published the fact that Lois Tuttle did have a child by her first marriage. He also states that Lois Tuttle married James Atwater, Oct. 21, 1756, instead of Dec. 9, 1756 as stated in the Atwater Genealogy. The remaining six children are mentioned specifically as being Atwater’s the name of each child being written in full. On the other hand, the compiler of the Atwater Genealogy appears to be convinced that all of Lois Tuttle’s children were the issue of her second marriage, and to corroborate this view, is the fact that the descendants of Lois Tuttle’s first child call themselves Atwater’s to this day.
It is neither the intention nor the desire of the compiler of this genealogy, to include any who do not rightfully belong there. And after carefully considering all the circumstances in the case, I am of the opinion that the oldest child of Lois Tuttle was a posthumous child, issue by her marriage to Benjamin Todd. This would most certainly be correct, should it actually be proven that he was born in 1756 as the compiler of the Tuttle Genealogy states.
Child:
*179. Benjamin, b. 1756; posthumous.