Mary Ann Todd was born on December 13, 1818 to Robert and Eliza Parker Todd in Lexington, Kentucky. (42) A wealthy and old clan, the family and remembered with pride their Scottish ancestors who had been banished from their homeland after refusing to convert to the Church of England and submitting to the rule of King Charles II during the 1600’s. (43) By the 19th-century, the Todds’ faith had come to represent both a personal faith and the clans’ commitment to family tradition with their membership in McCord Presbyterian Church (44).
While Mary’s childhood was filled with material comfort, it was marred by personal tragedy. Following the death of her mother, Mary’s father re-married in an attempt to provide a mother for his children. (45) Robert’s bride, Elizabeth “Betsy” Humphreys Todd proved unprepared for the daunting task of filling the maternal void left by the death of her predecessor. (46) As adults, Mary’s sisters asserted that Betsey Todd was particularly hard on Mary compared to the other children from her husband’s first marriage. (47) Elizabeth Edwards, Mary’s oldest sister, concluded that “She [Mary] had a Step Mother with whom she did not agree.” (48) Betsy Todd failed in uniting the blended family, making the house miserable for the children of Robert’s first marriage. To fill the void left by her mother’s death, Mary turned to her father’s slave, Mammy Sally, who served as the nanny to the numerous Todd children. (49) Through the ministrations of Sally, Mary was introduced to the emotionalism of Methodist church services and African American metaphysical beliefs. (50)
After returning from Methodist church services, the pious Mammy Sally would entertain Mary and her sisters with stories about the devil and hell. “We shivered,” remembered Elizabeth Todd, Mary’s cousin, and the girls would clamp their hands over their ears during Mammy Sally’s stories. (51) While Mary’s sisters and cousin were horrified by Mammy Sally’s tales, Mary was intrigued. “Mary was so fascinated with Mammy’s descriptions of his Satanic majesty that she made her repeat it time and time again, although we knew it by heart,” Elizabeth remembered. (52) In an attempt to get Mary and her siblings to behave, Mammy Sally solemnly informed the children that jay birds were the devil’s messengers.
According to Mammy Sally, jay birds traveled to hell every Friday to inform Satan on the weekly misdeeds of the Todd children. Mary was unimpressed by this story and upon seeing a jay bird in her family’s garden the girl would chant, “Howdy, Mr. Jay. You are a tell-tale-tell. You play the spy each day, then carry tales to hell.” (53)
Metaphysical belief in the United States at this time was not simply confined to poor frontier folk or African slaves. Julia Dent, the future wife of Ulysses S. Grant, was a firm believer in metaphysics. Born in Missouri, as a child, Julia Dent Grant was also exposed to metaphysical beliefs from her family’s slaves. For the rest of her life, Julia was a firm believer in premonitions, omens, fairies, and the power of dreams to foretell the future. (54) Thus, with her family’s Presbyterian faith and the metaphysical beliefs of her culture, Mary Todd came to maturity surrounded by a complex array of religious beliefs and traditions. Like many Southern girls during the antebellum period, Mary joined an established church after her twelfth birthday. (55)
Instead of embracing the evangelical faith of her parents, Mary rebelled by being confirmed into the Episcopal Church. (56) Mary’s decision to become an Episcopalian must have raised a stir within her tradition bound family. The Todds and their in-laws were deeply committed to their Presbyterian faith, as the will of Mary’s step-grandmother, Mary Humphreys, illustrates. According to the dictates of Humphreys’ will one of her slaves, John, was to be emancipated and trained for the ministry. Following his ordination into the ministry John was to be sent to Liberia “to make Scotch Presbyterians of the heathen.” (57) Needless to say the Todds and their extended family where firmly committed to their faith.
No explanation for Mary Todd’s choice to turn away from the faith of her ancestors has survived. It is just as likely that Mary’s choice to join the Episcopal Church had nothing to do with religion, but was her way of rebelling against her step-mother. The hours spent in worship away from her parents granted Mary a period of relative freedom from the rule of Betsey Todd. Mary reveled in being rebellious, as seen in her bravado towards Mammy Sally’s stories. It is completely in character that Mary Todd decided to be rebellious in her choice of religious beliefs. While Mary rejected the faith of her family, she did not reject the metaphysical beliefs that were part of her culture—just like her future husband.