Todd House (Tabor, Iowa)
Encyclopedia
Todd House is a historic house museum that was the home to abolitionist and Congregationalist minister, John Todd
. The house is located on Park Street in Tabor, Iowa
.
It was built in 1853 around the time when John Todd moved to Tabor as a co-founder of Tabor College
and the town of Tabor. John Brown
visited the home around the time of his raids, and the house served as a stop on the Underground Railroad
prior to the Civil War
. John Todd served as a model for the grandfather of the main character in the 2004 Pulitzer Prize
winning book, Gilead
. Todd's House was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1975. It is currently maintained as a museum by the Tabor Historical Society.
John Todd (abolitionist)
John Todd was a U.S. Congregationalist minister, co-founder of Tabor College in Tabor, Iowa, a leading abolitionist and a ‘conductor’ on the Underground Railroad....
. The house is located on Park Street in Tabor, Iowa
Tabor, Iowa
Tabor is a city in Fremont and Mills counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 993 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tabor is located at ....
.
It was built in 1853 around the time when John Todd moved to Tabor as a co-founder of Tabor College
Tabor College (Iowa)
Tabor College was a Christian college in Tabor, Iowa that operated from 1853 to 1927. It is now defunct.-History:The school's roots date to 1852 when Deacon Samuel A. Adams, George Gaston, and Rev. John Todd came to Iowa for the purpose of establishing a Christian college, and in 1853 they...
and the town of Tabor. John Brown
John Brown (abolitionist)
John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...
visited the home around the time of his raids, and the house served as a stop on the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
prior to the Civil War
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
. John Todd served as a model for the grandfather of the main character in the 2004 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning book, Gilead
Gilead (novel)
Gilead is a novel written by Marilynne Robinson and published in 2004. It won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award. The novel is the fictional autobiography of the Reverend John Ames, an elderly congregationalist pastor in the small, secluded town...
. Todd's House was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1975. It is currently maintained as a museum by the Tabor Historical Society.