Hello, Thompsons! I'm a 68 year old Thompson who just a month ago, more or less, started looking up his roots. I have to say that, until I got into this, I hated the name "Thompson" because I MISTAKENLY thought it sounded common and boring. Little did I know what bunk THAT is!
My family moved from Mingo County, WV, to Albuquerque in 1950, when I was three. Since I left for college in 1965, I've lived extensively in Austin, Denver, and now in Johnson County, KS, in the Kansas City area. In the past, whenever I've been asked about my ancestry, I've told folks I'm half Danish (my maternal grandparents immigrated from Denmark) and half hillbilly (because all I knew about the paternal side was that my Dad's people had lived in West Virginia for at least the last several generations, and I was told I was related to Daniel Boone through my paternal grandmother.
So, about a month ago I joined Ancestry.com, and I have traced my Dad's male line back to my 19th great grandfather, born in 1260 in Dumbarton. One source names him as Sir Thomas Thomson; other sources I've found so far give only the last name. He would have been in his late 30's during William Wallace's battles, so I figure there is a better than even chance that he and his sons fought alongside Wallace and/or Robert the Bruce.
Down through my 16th GGF, all of them were born and died in Dumbarton. James Thompson, 16th GGF, died in Dumbarton in 1425, which I've learned is the year that James the Fat burned the city to the ground after he failed to take the castle. I figure James was probably killed in either the battle or the fire, although he was pretty old and might have just passed away that year coincidentally. The next couple generations lived in northeast Scotland, in Banffshire. My reading indicates that the region was a popular place of refuge for displaced lowland Scots. When they returned to the lowlands, they appear to have moved around in the area surrounding Edinburgh, north and south, and as far west as Glasgow.
I need to clean up the details, but it seems that my 7th and 6th GGF both lived part of their lives in Ulster, and married Irish women. My 5th GGF, William Thompson, was born in Scotland and died in Connecticut. His wife, Sarah, was born in Ireland and died in Augusta County, VA. Her son, my 4th GGF, was born in Ireland, and from that point on the family seems to have settled into the Tug Fork area of Virginia and West Virginia, where I was born.
I would love to compare notes (in the proper section of the forum) with anyone who may have common ancestors. I have a long way to go before I've got it all fixed in my own tree, but I'm thrilled to now be able to say "Scots-Irish" instead of the generic "hillbilly"! Incidentally, I also found the link to Daniel Boone: He's my 5th great uncle, through my grandmother Willie Boone Thompson and Daniel's brother, Samuel.
Finally, my name is Ronald Lee Thompson ("Ron", please). I'm going by gpront here. That stands for "Grampa Ron Thompson", in honor of my sweet granddaughters.