Robert Todd

ROBERT TODD was appointed to the Camden Fire Department on April 8, 1876 as an extra man, taking the place of Charles Reed with Engine Company 2. Robert Todd worked as a railroad driller prior to his appointment to the Fire Department. He lived at 519 Benson Street, next door to Camden Fire Department member William H. Bassett, who lived at 517 Benson Street. When Bassett was promoted to foreman of Engine Company 2, he brought Robert Todd into the department.

Robert Todd served for one year. He was replaced in April of 1877 by George Frost.

Robert Todd was born on June 12, 1848 to Robert Todd and his wife, the former Rebecca Kellum. He was the fourth of eight children born to the Todds, two of whom died very young. When the Census was taken in 1860, the family was living in Camden’s Middle Ward, where the elder Todd worked as a butcher. The seven living Todd children, Anna, Benjamin, Robert, Emma, Charles, Laura, and William range from 17 years to infancy. The 1870 Census shows Robert Todd had married, and was working at the railroad depot in Camden. His wife Abigail had given birth to a daughter, Helen, a month before the census. Neither appears to have survived the 1870s, however.

Robert Todd worked for the railroads in Camden for over forty years, doing different work. City Directories and newspaper articles record him as a driller, switchman, flagman, fireman, and engineer. He was working at Second Street and Bridge Avenue when assaulted in November of 1875. He made a full recovery from the injuries he received.

As stated above, Robert Todd was living at 519 Benson Street when appointed to the Fire Department in April of 1876. He was still at that address when the 1878 Camden City Directory was compiled. When the Census was taken in 1880, Robert Todd had recently remarried. He was living at 405 Bridge Avenue with his wife Margaret, mother Rebecca, and siblings Laura and William Todd.

Robert Todd was living at 417 Bridge Avenue when the 1881–1882 City Directory was compiled. He was at 527 Bridge when the 1882–1883 and 1883–1884 editions were put together. Robert Todd is not listed in the 1884–1885 Directory. He is listed in the 1887–1888 Directory at 442 South 5th Street. The 1890–1891 Directory shows Robert Todd and his brother William, who lived with him for most of the 1880s and 1890s, at 518 Clinton Street. His sister Laura was then living next door at 516 Clinton. Robert Todd is listed in City Directories from 1894 to 1898 at 608 South 4th Street. The 1899 book shows him at 529 South 3rd Street. When the census was taken in 1900, Robert and Maggie Todd were living at 312 Stevens Street and they were still there as late as 1906. The Todds were at 330 Stevens Street in 1910, 404 South 3rd Street in 1914, 422 Stevens Street in 1917, and 412 Stevens from 1918 through January of 1920. By 1918 he had left the railroad and was working as a machine operator in a machine shop. Robert and Margaret Todd are not listed in the 1924 Camden City Directory.

Robert Todd’s brother, Charles A. Todd, served with the Camden Fire Department for many years, retiring as a Captain in 1922.

Robert Todd’s cousins, Benjamin Lorenzo Kellum and Jacob Kellum, both had long and distinguished careers with the Camden Fire Department.