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Charlie G. Pugh also called (Bud) was born March 8, 1895.  He died on 8/26 1967 at the age of 72 in Grove Hill Hospital.  Sarah Pugh Todd was Charlie G’s aunt.  Sarah Pugh Todd’s mother’s name was Candance Bumpers Pugh.  Charlie G’s father’s name was Lem Pugh and mother’s name was Florence Henry Pugh.  Charlie G.’s father died in 1920.  His mother was born in 1872, the year of death unknown.  Sarah Pugh Todd  was Charlie (Bud) Pugh’s aunt. Charlie G’s grandfather’s name was Idra Isham Pugh, born in North Carolina in 1830.  Idra Isham Pugh was a farmer in North Carolina.  Candace Pugh was a housekeeper.  Charlie G had 7 siblings listed below: 

1. Minnie Pugh
2. Blain Pugh
3. Nettie Pugh
4. Blonde Pugh
5. Matthew Pugh
6. Merritt Pugh
7. Donnie Pugh
8. Stella Pugh
9. Charlie G. Pugh
10. Alice Pugh

Nettie Pugh, the youngest sibling, passed away June 21, 2000.  She was the last of her siblings.  She was full of fun and joy and lived in Mobile, Alabama. 

Charlie  G. Pugh was 24 years old when he married Velma at 21 years old.

VELMA BROWN PUGH

Velma Brown Pugh was born October 4, 1895 and died December 23, 1989 at Jackson Memorial Hospital at the age of 90 years old.  Velma’s father’s name was Zack Brown, her mother’s name was Rachel Brown.  Velma had 4 siblings.

1.  Darcus Brown
2. Liz Brown
3. Hester Brown
4. Zack Brown, jr.

Charlie G. and Velma Pugh had 9 Children:

1. Zack Pugh’s children were Roy, Susie, Margie, Charlie, Annie, Zack Jr. Jessie
2. Cephus Pugh’s child was Thomas Edward Pugh
3. Carlton Pugh children were Carlton James, Jessie, Glenda, Lawrence, Eunice, Marshall, Bernard, Darryl and Donald
4. Sam Pugh’s child was Sammie Pugh
5. Dennie Dell Pugh children were John Wesley, Della, Roberta, Gloria, Joe, L.C., John Henry, Thelma, Reba, LeVan, Hilbert and Tommy Earl.
6. Daphne Pugh children were Daphne Jr., Rodger and Joyce
7. Annie Zell Pugh children were Denise, Annette, Willie, Linda, Lindsey, Frank and Lela
8. Bryant Pugh children were Anita, Steve, Pamela, Deborah, Beverly, Michael, Vanessa and Valeria
9. Florilla Pugh children were Dorothy Ree, Lola, Raymond, Jacquline and Evenard

**They continue to have numerous generations added to the Pugh family.**

BLESSINGS, LOVE AND PEACE TO EACH OF YOU ALWAYS

As told by the Elders in the Toddtown Community, here’s how Toddtown came to be.

A white  man named Nathan Bolton moved into the McVay community. He ran a grocery and dry good store. He brought the land and sold 40 acres to Reverend Gross Todd.  Gross married Litha Pugh. He was the only person that had a car in the community. Gross and Litha lived on what is now  Todd Town Road.   He had John, Tommy, Curtis and all of his children. He sold 10 acres to Tommy Todd.  Otis Grayson married Ella Todd and he had 120 acres of land he brought from Nathan Bolton. Ella was one of the children of Sam and Sarah Todd.

Sam Roper married to Juliet brought his land of 100 plus acres from Judge Sam Pippens. Gross Todd sold Agnew Todd 10 acres.

Otis came from Mississippi and brought 120 acres.   Gross sold 10 acres to Agnew Todd.  Gross sold 10 acres to Condie Todd. Otis Grayson sold some land to Charlie Cox.

Charlie Pugh came from Winn and married Gross Todd’s daughter Mattie.  Haywood Roper got his land from Sam Roper and Nathan Bolton.  Charlie Pugh brought 40 acres from Nathan Bolton.  Otis brought and additional 25 or 35 acres from Bolton down where Haywood Roper live.

Toddtown was named after the Todds by George McClendon because he took notice of them and their numbers.  Sam and Sarah Todd had seven children and settled here from Coffeeville.  Dr. T—  Pugh raised Sarah Todd because she was a slave. She was not raised with her parents.  Fred Grayson is Otis Grayson’s son who inherited the land where Otis lived.  Charlie Cox sold land to Joe Meredith.  Sam and Juliet Ann Roper gave the land for the church and cemetery .

Velma and Charlie G. Pugh aka Bud brought their land from Nathan Bolton.  Quitman Beckham brought his land from Nathan Bolton. Quitman had a store and he brought some land from Sam Roper.

West Roper’s (per his children is really West Todd) land came from Gross Todd’s portion that was brought from Nate Bolton and he also brought some from Fred Grayson. The land that Melvin Bonner owned came from Fred Grayson’s land.

Sam and Sarah Todd house sat on the hill where Tommy Todd also stayed.  Their house got burnt down, it was called a double pen house.  The school house sat below where Litha and Gross Todd house was.  Famous Parker inherited his land from Luke Robinson. Luke Robinson was married to Nettie Todd.

There was a couple, husband and wife, whose names were Sam & Sarah Todd. They were married September 21, 1882. They were the parents of eight children, 4 boys and 4 girls: Nettie, Ella, Will, Agnew, Gross, Louella, Agnes, and Condie.

A photograph was not available to capture a visual picture of Sam Todd. In the memory of many, Sam was short in statue, dark in complexion and walked with a limp. To catch a vision of what Sam might have looked like, a composite portrait was drawn of Sam via photographs of his four sons. Sam’s parents were Pope & Ellen Todd.

Sarah Todd was a full-figured woman, light in complexion, generous, kind, courageous and very proud. Her parents were Idra Isham and Candace Bumpers Pugh. Sarah had six siblings they were Ester, Harriet, Josephine, Ann, Horace, and Gaines Pugh.

Sam and Sarah settled in the area of Clarke County while sharecropping on the land of a man named David Mathis, who later sold it to Nathan Molton. Years later, Sam and Sarah, along with their children and their children’s spouses gained full ownership of approximately eighty acres of this same land. This was accomplished with the help of God, through their blood sweat and tears.

We are thankful to God that our ancestors knew the value of education. Due to the distance to the nearest school (approximately 6 miles away) no means of transportation, walking through the paths of the roads, because of the lack of roads, enduirng the treacherous weather, barefooted and lightly clothed, our ancestors sought to erect a school. A total of fifteen ($15.00) dollars was raised, the lumber was purchased from Jackson Sawmill hauled by a wagon and mule to Toddtown. The community in unison built the school. Sam found a teacher to maintain the school, her name was Agnes Kiel and she was also Sam’s niece.

This school served a two-fold purpose, serving also as the first place of worship in the community. Due to the distance of traveling to Pine Chapel Baptist church No. 1 (our Mother church), in October of 1922 our ancestors established Pine Chapel Baptist Church No. 2. “Praise Be to God, both churches are still in existence and from generation to generation will always remain. The church is located in the middle of the community on County Rd 16 (now Toddtown Rd.)

As years passed the community had flourished. George McLendon saw the eagerness perseverance the continuous efforts, the will to be self-sufficient, the love and the leadership abilities of Sam and Sarah and their descendants and named the community Toddtown. From the early days until now the community has continued to prosper. We are now on the map and our population is growing. In 2009 we had approximately 300 citizens.

Quitman David Beckham (July 1902 – April 1966), entrepreneur and store owner, was born in Good Springs (Bethlehem/Winn), Alabama to Caroline Williams-Beckham and Raymond Beckham.  He grew up in the Bethlehem/Winn area and was a member of the Bethlehem Baptist Church. He was married to Peggie (Mrs. Piggie) Law-Beckham sometime between 1927 and 1930. The 1930 census show him as head of household living in Good Springs with his wife Piggie, a son Leroy Beckham, his mother Caroline Williams-Beckham, and a brother Arvin Raymond Beckham.  He had five additional sibling, four brothers (Wayne, Quay, Rhett, Elliot) and one sister (Nora or Aunt Lacy). The 1940 census show he had moved to Mcleods, Clarke, Alabama along with his wife Piggie and son Leroy to a 40-acre plot between Charlie Pugh & Bud Pugh on Nealton and Union Road. [These 40-acre plots became affectionally referred to as the “old places” after residents of Mcleods moved closer to highway 16 and Highway 3 which was later renamed Todd Town]. The 1950 census show him as head of household still living in Mcleods with his wife Piggie, daughter Caroline (Carolyn) and son Henry.  It is at this location along highway 16, i.e. Todd Town Road, next to what is now Pine Chapel #2 Baptist Church that Mr. Quitman built, opened, and ran the first black owned store in the Mcleods/Todd Town area.  Mr. Quitman’s vision of a thriving country store with a dance hall, and beauty shop was not fully realized, however it is incredibly significant that against all odds he was able to become a black business owner in Todd Town, Clarke, Alabama in the 1950’s.