In January 1893, Nettie went off to Geuda Springs, Kansas, to sing for a revival service being conducted there by her uncle, Rev. Joseph W. Martin.  She then joined her uncle’s campaign and assisted at additional revivals in Nebraska, Wisconsin, and various parts of Kansas before returning to her family the following August.  A few weeks later, in September 1893, her family relocated from Conway Springs to Winfield, Kansas.  They subsequently moved down to Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory, in the spring of 1894; and later to Wellston, Lincoln County, Oklahoma Territory, in February 1896.

In Wellston, Nettie’s family lived in rooms up above the general store that her father owned, and there her father was murdered, on 2 February 1898.  See the Mary Martin bio page for a description of Isaac Rhine’s murder.  According to an account in the Chandler News-Publicist, one of the first people alerted to the murder was “Constable L. W. Todd,” who rode into Chandler to fetch the Sheriff, and returned with him to the scene of the crime.  That probably was not the first time Nettie had met Lee Todd, so it’s likely a coincidence that that is the man she chose to marry 11 months later, 9 January 1899.

Lee Walter Todd was born 11 March 1872 at Netawaka, Jackson County, Kansas, a son of George W. and Mary R. (Whitney) Todd.  His family moved from Netawaka to Guthrie, Oklahoma, in 1889.  Upon reaching adulthood, Lee lived for a time at Independence, Missouri, where his grandparents lived, and then in 1892, he returned to Netawaka, to oversee operations on an old friend’s farm.  Over the next five years, Lee made frequent trips down to Oklahoma to visit his parents plus other friends and relatives, and apparently moved to Wellston, to stay, late in 1897.  How he came to be a constable by the following February is puzzling, but perhaps his father’s political connections helped procure that appointment.

For their wedding, Lee and Nettie eloped.  According to the Wellston News of 20 January 1899 (p. 5), “Mr. Lee Todd and Miss Nettie Rhine, two of Wellston’s most popular and estimable young people, were married at Guthrie Jan. 9, 1899, and then returned home saying nothing until the secret got out as such secrets will.”

Soon thereafter, apparently, Nettie’s mother, brother, and two of her sisters packed up and moved to Colorado.  Then in March 1899, Nettie and Lee also left Wellston and moved to Missouri.  (Reports don’t say exactly where in Missouri, but probably Independence.)  They didn’t stay there long, though.  A few months later, the Wellston News (22 Sep. 1899, p. 5) reported that the Todds had returned and that Lee had taken a job clerking at a local store.

The 1900 census shows Nettie and Lee in Wellston with their 7-month-old daughter Britta.  Lee’s occupation is listed as “salesman.”  They were still in Wellston when their second daughter was born in November 1903.  These two were to be their only children:

• Britta Beatrice Todd, 1899–1978 (married John Patrick Henry Cullen).
• Vivien Virginia Todd, 1903–1994 (married (1) John Franklin Collins and (2) Macon Richard Brackin.

In June 1906, Nettie went up to Burden, Kansas, to visit her mother, her brother, and two of her sisters who were living there at that time.  She had plans to continue on to visit other relatives in Colorado, but she fell sick in Burden and, as described in her obituary, “never recovered sufficiently to either go on to Colorado or return home.”  Nettie passed away in Burden on 18 February 1907 and was laid to rest in the Burden Cemetery.

About two years later, 19 January 1909, Lee married Miss. Anna F. Cullen in Oklahoma City.  The 1910 census shows L. W. and Anna F. “Tadd” living in Wellston with Nettie’s daughters Britta and Vivien.  By 1920, they had relocated to Oklahoma City.  That census shows Britta (20) and Vivien (17) still in their household, and it shows no younger children.

The two daughters both married and moved out later that same year (Vivien in October and Britta in December, 1920).  Then, in January 1922, Lee filed for divorce from Anna.  Within a year or so later (exact date unknown), Lee married Mrs. Hettie May (Freeze) Pahlka, (recently divorced from Herman J. Pahlka).

Lee and Hettie  moved to Tampa, Florida, in 1924.  They had three sons together plus an infant daughter, who died at birth.  Hettie then died 11 days after that difficult birth, 22 March 1928, and was buried at Hillsboro Memorial Cemetery in Brandon, Florida.  Lee lived on in Tampa another 16 years, died 28 March 1944.  His death was noted only by a short funeral notice in the Tampa Tribune, and he was buried at Mount Zion Cemetery, Dade City, Florida.

If you can suggest any corrections to the information above or provide any further details about the lives of Nettie, Lee, and their descendants, please contact me at the address shown in the image below:

Thanks,      
     —Pete Martin

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