David Tod (Perth, Scotland, 1746 - 1827, Jamaica, New York)
Letter to Isabella Tod Stewart from Bedford, New York, 5 September 1823
Ink on paper
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Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept this letter from her great-grandfather David Tod to her paternal grandmother (and namesake) Isabella Tod Stewart. In it, he describes how many miles he's traveled to visit family in upstate New York and Pennsylvania (1,170)--his home was in Connecticut. After he reports on the family news and how many shirts and stockings he has to endure the winter, he signs off as 'your affectionate father." Later in his life, David Tod moved to his daughter's farm in Jamaica, New York, where he died in 1827.