He formed a law partnership with John M. Keep, which continued until Keep was appointed a Wisconsin circuit court judge in 1857.
[2] In 1857, Todd was one of three respected lawyers chosen by Governor Coles Bashford for a commission to revise and compile the statutes of Wisconsin, based on changes in the law since the previous edition.
[1] The revised statutes were published in 1858, and later that year Todd was elected to a one-year term as Mayor of Beloit.
He ran on the National Union Party ticket, but was identified with the Radical Republican faction of the time.
[2] After his father's death, in 1826, his mother remarried with Daniel's younger brother John Todd and had two more children.