Author Topic: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.  (Read 53436 times)

uneven

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Hello, I've hit my own brick wall. Thompsons are so slippery. Any help or advice is more than welcome.

Here is my family tree as it stands now:

Levi Thompson 1835/6 - bef 1880 (possibly 1872) b: Pennsylvania or Indiana
Married abt 1855 to Rosa or Rosanna (unknown) 1837 - bef 1910 b: Indiana

    * Mary Thompson 1856
    * James Thompson 1857
    * Emily J Thompson Silcott 1859

          o Nina Silcott.

    * Rena Frances Thompson 1868
    * Albert Thompson 1870 - 1909 b: Indiana Married Ida Williamson.
          o Eva Thompson Hetzel McCann 1893 - 1968
          o Vivian Leo Thompson 1896
          o Ray Bishop Thompson 1898 - 1970 married? Orvetta Finks
                + Charles Thompson 1925
          o Cuba Thompson 1902 - 1978
          o Francis Thompson - 1904 - 1973
          o Marjorie M Thompson Sturm 1907 - 1997
          o Harry Thompson 1910
    * Mattie Thompson 1872

Levi Thompson was in the Civil war between Emily and Rena. He mustered in to the Indiana 34th Infantry volunteers company D in 1861 and mustered out in 1865 as a Corporal.

He disappears before the 1880 Census. There is a Levi Thompson death record for 1894 from Hancock County but I'm not sure that's him since he is absent from the 1880 census.

There is a history of Northern Indiana that has a Levi Thompson drowning in a stream around 1872. That one could be him.

His pension records from the national archives are pretty sparse. No mention of wife or children or a place of birth. He never received his pension. Through some incident or injury on the long march he hurt his leg and it ulcerated, never healing and causing him enough pain that he could only work part time as a tombstone maker. They were apparently waiting for him to supply some proof of birth and closed his case as of 1902. Census records alternately say he's from Indiana or Pennsylvania. I have not found a record of a grave or any record of a civil war veterans head stone being supplied.
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

Mary

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2010, 09:31:28 AM »
Hi Mike ---- I LOVE this
Quote
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somwhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.
Thanks for starting my morning with a giggle.....

Our Thompson line is also connected with PA and IN, but I don't see any overlap with yours.....darn it! We keep hoping to find some more info on ours.

I checked our Rootsweb and we do have a couple of Levi listings, but not yours. Would you send your genealogy info to our genealogist to be included in the database for those searching in the future? The more we can add, the better the chance that sooner or later, someone will spot  match with their family. We've already had several of those occurrences!

I hope you find some other topics on the site interesting - or start some new ones! We are always searching and researching....and sometimes just having fun  ;D

Welcome to the funny farm............

Mary

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2010, 03:46:41 PM »
Hi Mary,

I've run out several other Thompson family trees (most of which ended in Ireland) playing the odds to try and find my own family. Thompsons are just really hard to track. At one point I was excited because I had just 3 Albert Thompsons to choose from at Ancestry.com. I ran through each of them until I reached a mother country. Did tons of research. Two Ireland, one Denmark. None of them were really my Albert Thompson. Frustrating. Now I believe I'm on the right track because I only have one to follow. Levi lived poor and died young and wasn't into keeping records.

Sure. I'll send my info to the genealogist. How do I do that?
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

Mary

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2010, 03:48:57 PM »
You can send a Gedcom or FTM file to her at cmctavish@zimbrick.com   If all else fails, just the info on a WORD doc.

We keep building our links....one by one!

Mary

Mary

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2010, 04:12:49 PM »
You may have this already, Mike, but I thought it was interesting -

History of the 34th Indiana Infantry Contributed by Jim Beaty, jbeaty@tiptontel.com Excerpt from the Records of the Indiana Regiments in the Civil War. This book is at the Wells County Indiana Library. It was donated "8-5-1911, Compliments of J. B. Merriman, State Representative." Mr, Merriman was the husband of Cynthia Irene Beaty, daughter of William R. Beaty who was a private in A Company of the Thirty Fourth Regiment Indiana Infantry Volunteers There is a picture of the monument at Vicksburg National Park which includes the following inscription: 1st Brigade 12th Division 13th Corps 34th Infantry Colonel Robert A. Cameron Lieut. Col. William Swain Major Robert B. Jones Engaged: Port Gibson, May 1, Champion's Hill, May 16, Assault, May 22, Siege, May 23-July 4 Casualties: Killed 14, wounded 106, total 120: Lieutenant-Colonel William Swaim mortally wounded The history is: THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT INDIANA INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS This regiment was organized at Anderson on the 16th of September, 1861, and was composed of companies from the counties of Wells, Jay, Huntington, Grant, Howard, Madison and Blackford. The various companies were mustered into the service of the United States at different times from September 21st to October 10th. The officers at final date of muster were as follows: FIELD AND STAFF Anthony Steele....................................Colonel (others not included for brevity) Company A Captain William Swaim, 1st Lieutenant Games Gorrell, 2nd Lieutenant William Wilmington (others not included for brevity) On October 10th the regiment started for the field via Indianapolis, and on arrival at Louisville, Kentucky, went into camp, where it remained until the middle of November, when it was ordered to Camp Wickliffe, Kentucky, and from thence to Green River in February. On the 14th of February, 1862, the regiment was ordered to West Point, twenty miles below Louisville, where it was assigned to the division of General Nelson, and embarked on boats, arriving at Cairo on the 20th of February, where the 34th was detached from Nelson's Division and sent to New Madrid, Missouri, arriving there on the 3rd of March. The regiment was engaged in the siege of that place until its evacuation, on the 14th of March, where it marched to a landing, fourteen miles below, drawing with it, by hand ropes, two thirty-pound siege guns, which were placed in position on the night of the 15th, and resisted the attack the next morning of seven rebel gunboats in a two hours' engagement, sinking one boa and compelling the withdrawal of the remainder. The battery also cut off the retreat of the enemy from Island No. 10, which was the means of its subsequent capture, with its guns and garrison. Returning to New Madrid, the regiment remained there on garrison duty from April 7, 1862 to June 14th, during which time it assisted in the capture of Fort Pillow. Soon thereafter the regiment was ordered to Memphis, and from there during the summer and fall made short campaigns into Arkansas as far as Duvall's Bluffs, and finally settled down to post duty at Helena, Arkansas, during the fall and winter of 1862, with short expeditions, driving off, defeating or capturing the enemy. A very important duty was the clearing out the Yazoo Pass of timber, fallen trees, etc, which the enemy had felled to obstruct navigation, endeavoring to prevent the reaching of Vicksburg by the rear. On the 10th of April, 1863, the regiment was assigned to the 1st Brigade, General McGinnis commanding of Hovey's 12th Division of the 13th Army Corps, and remained in this command during the campaign and seige of Vicksburg. On the 10th of April it was started on the Vicksburg campaign from Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, to a point on the west side of the Mississippi River and crossed the river on transports and gunboats to Bruinsburg, on the east side of the river, on the 3oth of April, marched all night and engaged the enemy at daylight on the 1st of May, near Port Gibson, Mississippi. The regiment by command of General Hovey, supported by the 56th Ohio, charged a Confederate battery during the battle, early in the morning, and captured the two field pieces of artillery and 49 prisoners. In this battle the regiment lost 49, killed and wounded. On the 16th of May the regiment engaged in the battle of Champion's Hill, and, while advancing in line of battle, captured the 46th Alabama Confederate Regiment, with its colors, all field officers and 127 men. In this battle the 34th suffered heavy losses in killed and wounded, and among the latter was Lieutenant-Colonel Swaim, who died of his wounds on the 17th of June, 1863. Moving forward with the army, the 34th, with McGinnis' Brigade took position in front of the Confederate defenses at Vicksburg, opposite Confederate Fort Garrot, and participated in the siege until the final surrender July 4, 1863, suffering 13 men killed and wounded during the siege. On July 5th, the regiment moved with the brigade and division in pursuit of Johnston's Confederate Army, until he retired within the defenses of Jackson, Mississippi, where after a siege of nine days, Johnston evacuated during the night, crossing Pearl River and escaping eastward toward Meridian, Mississippi. In the siege of Jackson the regiment lost 8 men, killed and wounded. Returning to Vicksburg, the regiment embarked on August 4th for New Orleans, and from thence, on the 12th of September, it moved to Brashear City, Louisiana, and while in that section it took part in Banks' expedition up the Teche country, as far as Opelousas. On the return march it engaged the enemy at Carrion Crow Bayou on the 3rd of November, after which it proceeded to New Iberia, where on the 15th day of December, 1863, 460 of the regiment re-enlisted, and on the 23rd of December it embarked on a vessel for Pass Cavallo, Texas, reaching there January 8, 1864, where it remained until the 21st of February and then returned to New Orleans, and on March 20th left on veteran furlough for Indianapolis, reaching there April 1st. (William Beaty had re-enlisted and earned a bonus while home when brother Andrew enlisted and became a member of Company A for the duration of the war.) Returning to the field the regiment was placed on duty in New Orleans, where it remained until December, 1864. when in embarked for Brazos Santiago, Texas. The regiment fought the last battle of the war at Palmetto Ranch, Texas, May 13, 1865, and had a spirited engagement. Some 250 of the regiment fought 500 of the enemy, mounted with a battery of six field pieces, driving them three miles in the space of three hours, but the enemy, getting their battery in position, poured a destructive fire into our ranks, compelling the main body of the regiment to fall back, leaving Companies B and F, behind as skirmishers to cover the movement. These companies, being unsupported, were finally surrounded and forced to surrender. The loss of the regiment was 82 in killed, wounded and prisoners. After the engagement the regiment fell back to Brazos Island, and from thence it moved to Brownsville, where it remained until June 16th, and then marched to Ringbold Barracks, Texas, 260 miles up the Rio Grande, and were the first Union troops to occupy that place, which had been an important U. S. military post before the Civil War. After more than four years of military service, the regiment was mustered out at Brownsville, Texas, February 3, 1865. (This date has to be incorrect, and must be February 3, 1866 as they occupied the Ringbold Barracks after June 16, 1865.) The regiment lost during service 2 officers and 32 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 5 officers and 204 enlisted men by disease; total 243.

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2010, 10:00:38 PM »
Thanks Mary for looking up that information on Levi's regiment. I have seen a summary like that somewhere online I think. It may have been at the sons of union soldiers site. There is one family name that really sticks out in the one you've sent. Anthony Steele. I've seen on ancestry.com that there is a John L. Thompson that marries Rosanna Steele in the right time frame to be my Thompson, but I never see Levi anywhere else listed as John and have no real proof that it could be him other than it's the only time I see a marriage reference between an L thompson and Rosanna in that time. So John is one of the names that catches my eye. It seems that I found some civil war records of a tombstone for a John Thompson (again of course it could be a John Thompson from Dekalb or something).

Will it be okay if my gedcom file has others from my family in it? I've got a short tree that I use at myheritage.com. It's pretty sparse (250 or less records) but it does contain some from my Mom's family and my maternal grandmother's family (they were much easier to trace).
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

Mary

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #6 on: December 02, 2010, 07:22:20 PM »
Sure!  Just post it online (redact living members) and we'll all take a look.......or, send it as is on to Cathy at cmctavish@zimbrick.com and she'll add it to the rootsweb list.

Glad you found something interesting in the stuff anyway!

Mary
« Last Edit: December 03, 2010, 09:44:15 AM by Mary »

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #7 on: December 02, 2010, 09:08:08 PM »
Thanks Mary for all your help! I sent it off to Cathy a few minutes ago.

When I started working on my family tree. I wasn't even sure what my grandparents names were. I always just kind of lived in the dark. When my kid tried to fill out a family tree for school and I couldn't tell him anything, I got motivated to have "a past". Everyone else seems to know where they come from.

For many branches of my tree is has been fairly easy. Thompsons..my Thompsons anyway, seem to be pretty hard to follow. I've been told by a distant family member that I'll never find them. Can't seem to accept that. Just makes me want to prove them wrong.
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

William J. Thompson

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #8 on: December 02, 2010, 11:01:03 PM »
Hey, cousin! I sympathize with your plight. With so many Thompsons, you'd think it'd be easier to connect the dots. I grew up knowing names a few generations back on my mother's side, with loads of aunts and uncles and records and stories and stuff... My dad, on the other hand, was an only child, his parents were divorced, and no one had any information on the Thompson side of things at all! We're slippery people all over, apparently!  ::)

Ancestry has been a good resource as far as census records go. I've traced back a few generations, but run aground at 1830. My John Thompson (darn those common names!!) just appears out of nowhere. The fact that the whole family for his generation were apparently illiterate farmers doesn't help a great deal. Not a lot of filling out the family Bible and writing diaries, y'know.  :'(

Unfortunately, no Hoosiers in my branch of the tree yet. We were all in Tazewell county, Virginia, so no help to you there. Keep pluggin' away, a lead's bound to surface somewhere!

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #9 on: December 03, 2010, 05:08:53 AM »
Thanks for the encouragement William. I hate to say it, but it's nice to know others are in the same boat. In your case, exactly the same boat! My guy springs out of the soil too. Census records are only so helpful and I've already run into several instances where people were listed who were dead or their ages and names were wildly off. My guy was poor, none of his kids knew where he was from and he died in his 30s. I'm going to have to make some trips and start walking cemeteries to see if I can find some sort of grave marker. I think it will be tough though because he lives in a pretty blurry time.

Have you done any DNA testing? It hasn't been that helpful for me yet, but I think that is because participation among Thom(p)sons is pretty light compared to our biomass on the planet.
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

Mary

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #10 on: December 03, 2010, 09:48:53 AM »
Mike --

Forgive me, but I'm old  ;)

Did you post a copy of your DNA anywhere?  We actually have several members who sent my husband their DNA or posted it and found out that they are related on 67 markers with only 1 or 2 off (they DO spring from same family).  I have compiled and discussed this with so many, I can't remember if I saw yours.......?

William...we had a dead end too but it's our Antrim, Ireland end (Scotland > Ireland > US)   NEVER GIVE UP....NEVER SAY DIE!!!

Mary

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #11 on: December 03, 2010, 03:42:19 PM »
I have a few accounts on ybase and ysearch. I'd love to have someone else take a crack at it! I'm never sure if I'm looking for the right thing. One thing I run across all the time is that I have 46 markers with ancestry.com so there is some conversion to be done when I search on ysearch. Would you like to see my original ancestry.com numbers or the ysearch/ftdna converted numbers?

Thanks much.

mike
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

Thomas Thompson

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #12 on: December 04, 2010, 10:56:10 AM »
Hi Mike

     I have been working on other projects haven't been active on the forum. Booner and I were able to convert the DNA results form Ancestry to the Family Tree format. I have a spread sheet using the DYS data for each marker and have added those who have only 2-4 distance from mine. I realize that is not much of a help to those who differ greatly form my self established model.
  The family Tree has started a new program of publishing the Thompson markers. I am in Group 9 perhaps because on the Irish connections.
 I also found several possible connections in the unrelated or 'need more information, section.
  I have written a new History of Clan Thomson for our Lord Lyon Petition and have included a short section on DNA Thompson connections. At the present time I am reconsidering that. Is it appropriate? I can not find any references to DNA in all of the various Lyon Court cases - I am not sure it will add anything to our case and am fearful of doing anything that might harm our position. I have emailed several experts asking for advice but to date none of them the taken the time to reply. I have the same problem on how to address our blazon desires on the cover letter. I guess I have gotton off topic.
Tom

uneven

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #13 on: December 04, 2010, 01:17:15 PM »
Hi Tom,

Given what I've found about my own Thompsons and DNA it seems pretty inconclusive all the way around. The only thing I could definitely say about Thom(p)sons in general is that we encompass a large swath of the genepool with Thompsons in multiple different DNA groups. One thing I found disconcerting when I asked some of the MacTavish crowd about their DNA was the implication that DNA proves Thompson is MacTavish (something they still seem to hold to on their facebook site). That's a position I don't think even their Chief supports, given articles I saw on electric Scotland. I'm positive some MacTavish's became Thompsons, why dispute it? From what I've read it's really common for individuals to join a larger clan and take their name. I don't think every Thompson was a MacTavish, that seems ludicrous given that not all Thompsons even fall under the basic Western European DNA group R.

That's one thing I really like about this group. Sanity. My proto-Thompson's may be genetically Anglo Saxons or Danes or Jutes or Britons. One way or another I think they made their way to Northern Britain, then Northern Ireland and then to the U.S. along with hundreds of other Thompson Families on the same journey. They lived and loved, fought and died as Thompsons.

As I move through my own DNA results it seems like I'm moving through the work of others over years of time. I fit exactly in OGAP group 19. Nobody thinks that's relevant now but it was nice to fit something! That group is supposed to represent the western isles and highlands. In 2007 I'd have been a Highlander. A few years later and those groups have fallen by the wayside. Once you have more evidence to consider, they just fall apart.

Given how fast and loose things are with DNA. I think you're right to question the use of DNA evidence in official work with Lord Lyon. 

For fun and clarity I made a few maps for myself. There's one Thomson, one Thompson and I fused together a Thom(p)son map myself using the 1891 census at world names profiler. http://thompsonhunt.blogspot.com/2010/10/thompson.html

I'd like to read the new history of Clan Thomson.

Should I post my DNA as a reply to this thread or upload a file somewhere? My ysearch id is QNYHC (one of many) it may contain mistranslated numbers. 

mike
Mike Thompson from Michigan..then Indiana..then Pennsylvania and further...probably somewhere there are sheep. Call me Legion for I am many.

Mary

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Re: Levi Thompson b. 1834ish lived in Alexandria Indiana..brick wall.
« Reply #14 on: December 05, 2010, 09:26:20 AM »
I have a few accounts on ybase and ysearch. I'd love to have someone else take a crack at it! I'm never sure if I'm looking for the right thing. One thing I run across all the time is that I have 46 markers with ancestry.com so there is some conversion to be done when I search on ysearch. Would you like to see my original ancestry.com numbers or the ysearch/ftdna converted numbers?

Thanks much.

mike

YES!  We have some from other members and could compare. Please either post or send to us at tomaryfarm@yahoo.com