Genealogy > Thom(p)son Genealogy

Dead end in 1836. Help?

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William J. Thompson:
Hi, guys! I'm in the process of looking into the murky past. Since my family doesn't have a lot of information on the Thompson side of my family, after picking my parents' brains, I tried Ancestry. I was able to go back a couple more generations, and found out I have a lot of aunts and uncles! Here's what I have so far. Do any names ring a bell with y'all?

Most of the Thompsons in my immediate past seem to be based in or around what is now Tazewell County, VA, and Bluefield, WV. (I'm from Charleston, WV, but aside from a few others, there don't seem to be that many that settled that deep in the state.)

Not much history so far...my g-grandfather was Andrew Jackson Thompson: (b may 1890 in Tazewell, d 1968 in Bluefield.) Married Effie, (b 1889). In 1900 he was living in Jeffersonville, Tazewell Co.

Andrew Jackson Thompson had 7 siblings:
Missouri Thompson (b apr 1882),
James William Thompson (b oct 4, 1884, married Ella),
Mary E. Thompson (b apr 1887),
Ballard S. Thompson (b jun 1891, lived in Charleston, married Luta Gertrude Morton),
Sasia N. Thompson (b mar 1893),
Posy P. Thompson (b may 1896, married Martha J. Finley),
and Allie M. Thompson (b sept 1899).

Their parents, my gg-grandfather, was Fountain M. Thompson (b oct 1850, married 1881), married to Louisa Dairs Thompson (b may 1863). He had 3 siblings:
Polly A. Thompson (b 1853),
Eliza J. Thompson (b 1856),
and James C. Thompson (b 1859).

My ggg-grandfather was John Thompson. (1836-1870) He was married to Martha E. Thompson (b 1838). In the 1860 census he was living in the Eastern district of Tazewell, VA. And there the trail goes cold. Hopefully some aunts and uncles will cross with someone else, who can take me further back!

Thanks,
--Bill

<edit!> -- 1/8/11: changed the origin counties, as I've gone further into Ancestry and found not a tremendous Charleston connection.

Mary:
hi Bill -----

Did a quick look ...came up empty handed.  Don't give up - I'm only ONE and Cathy will probably take a look when she gets back online.

Actually, you have more info than some! 

Mary

William J. Thompson:
Thanks, Mary; I appreciate you looking. Actually, I did some Ancestry-ing today, and found out I have Thompsons on BOTH sides of my family!

The short version: My mother is a Fink, and her grandfather married Rachel Crockett. Six generations further back, and Robert Watkins Crockett married Esther Thompson* in 1734. Three generations previous, Roger Thompson came to Virginia--in 1619! Five more generations, (some born in Ulster,) and John Thompson is born in Yorkshire in 1475; then the trail goes cold. So, in a roundabout kind of way, there would seem to be a definate eventual border connection on that side. It would be neat if I could nail down a paternal connection too.

The paternal side seems rooted in Bluefield and Tazewell (and, not surprisingly, Thompson Valley), while the maternal side floats more in VA and NC.

If the maternal side rings any bells for anyone, I can put up more information on them too. This genealogy stuff is addictive!

--Bill

<edit!> *Nope -- that's turned out to be wrong. Esther Thompson married Samuel Crockett, John Watkins Crockett's brother. A geneaology book on the history of the Crocketts bears this out. Esther's father, Rev. John Thompson, was a Colonial Presbyterian minister. Esther and Samuel met on the same ship coming to the Colonies, and later got married. (It's a sweet story.)

Cathy McTavish:
Can you send me your family tree, starting with you going up??  It is much easier for me to work that way, sometimes you find a tie in, in an earlier generation..

my e-mail address is

mctavish @ zimbrick.com

I put the spaces in so spamers don't pick them up!

Cathy

William J. Thompson:
Here's some more results from my ancestry-ing for your perusal. I've already emailed a copy to Cathy The Warrior Genealogist. Maybe someone will spot a name they recall.

I have some more blanks filled in on my 3rd great grandfather, John Thompson, (b. 1836 d. 1870) father of Fountain M. Thompson, (apparently b. closer to 1855 than 1850) against which I ran aground.

Fountain Thompson had more siblings than I first thought!

Mary "Polly" A. Thompson (b. 1853),
(Fount was #2 at 1855),
Eliza J. Thompson (b. 1856/1857),
James C. Thompson (b. 1859),
Margaret Thompson (b. 1862), and
Nancy E. Thompson (b. 1866) More on Nancy in a bit...!

They were all born in Tazewell County, VA.

In July 1860, John and Martha E. Thompson lived in the Eastern District of Tazewell County, with Polly, Fountain, Eliza, and James. John was a farm laborer. Both he and Martha were illiterate. [On the census record, there's a word in parenthesis after John's name that I can't make out. Lazy? Logy? Larry?]

In August 1870, Martha (36) lived in Clear Fork township in Tazewell county. John is not listed in the census as living with her. In the house are Mary (17), Fount (15), Eliza (13), James (11), Margaret (8 ), and Nancy (4). Martha is listed as "Keeping house," and the children are listed as "at home." All are illiterate.

Interestingly, several houses away with Delilah Curr (53) and William F. Curr (19--grandson?) are shown Louisa Thompson (14) and Nancy Thompson (4). Fount's wife's name was Louisa...That would have put them at 15 and 14. Both households have a 4-year-old Nancy Thompson...Perhaps a young shotgun wedding, Fount's mother adopting the kid, and Louisa living with her grandmother until Fount could support her? Backwoods soap opera, eh? Or maybe a coincidence--I have Fountain marrying a Louisa Dairs in 1881. Or maybe that's just when they made it "official"...

<edit!> Removed a caveat about the Thompson-through-Crockett maternal connection being shaky. Further research seems to have proved the connection. Yay!

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