The Todd family came from Inverness, Scotland in 1768, when William Todd first settled in Horry County, South Carolina.  His grandson, Thomas, was the first family member we have confirmation of making Todd's Syrup, beginning in the early 1800s.  Thomas owned a two-roller Charleston Mill built between 1800 and 1808 (you can see this mill on display in our Todd Family Museum).  He transported this mill to Early County, Georgia in 1832 and started building his family's log cabin that year.  With the cabin completed in 1834, he planted sugar cane in the fall.  The following year, Thomas and his family began making golden cane syrup for their family and community in south Georgia.

 

In 1861, the South changed forever with the start of the War Between the States.  It was in the Fall of 1864 that Thomas Todd's son, Eli, walked home following the Battle of Atlanta.  Thomas and grandson Billy were stripping cane when they looked up and saw Eli walking home.  That Fall those three (Generations 1, 2 and 3) made syrup together.

 

The tradition continued when Billy moved to south Alabama in the late 1860s with his mother.  He set up farming, including syrup making, near Brundidge, Alabama where Lockard Dewey Todd (Generation 4) was born in 1898.  L.D. continued the syrup-making tradition and trained his three sons, Max, Gene and Joe.  His wife, Essie Dee Isler Todd, was a master cook and canner and taught her sons those skills, too.  L. D. Todd's cane mill is in the family museum.  After a career in law enforcement, Joe Todd (Generation 5) returned to the farm and started making syrup again, and has taught the art form to his children and grandchildren.  In 2012, Joe made the decision to relocate the syrup farm near where his great-grandfather, Eli, settled in Henry County, and bought the current 76 acres on U.S. Highway 431 South in Headland.  Now, his son and daughter-in-law (Dewey and Annette) and grandchildren have invested and have expanded the family business with a store and restaurant.  Todd Farms now consists of the farm, of course, and a store, restaurant, event center & museum, RV park, barber shop, seed & feed and produce market.