Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. III, Part 118

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 876

USA > New Hampshire > Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. III > Part 118

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(VII) Albert, fourth son and eighth child of Nathaniel and Annie (Field) Thompson, was born at Swanzey, New Hampshire, October 18, 1836. At the age of fifteen he went to Keene, New Hamp- shire, where he remained eight years. Part of this time he was engaged in furnishing wood to the Cheshire Railroad on his own account, and for twenty-eight years he handled a large amount of the wood supply of that road. In 1860 he came to East Westmoreland, and for eighteen years conducted a general store there. He built the store and the house which became his permanent home in 1867. and became one of the prominent citizens of East Westmoreland. He was extensively engaged in the lumber business. both alone and in company with his brother-in-law. Chandler Britton. He was al- ways ready to aid in any movement for the better- ment of the town, and it was largely due to his ef- forts that Centennial Hall was built in East West- moreland in 1876. Mr. Thompson was a Democrat in politics, and held the offices of selectman and moderator a number of years. He was a Mason, belonging to Columbia Lodge of Walpole. Intelli- gent. upright and kind-hearted. Mr. Thompson was a citizen of the highest standing in the community.

Albert Thompson

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Albert Thompson married Carrie, daughter of Fos- ter Wight, the first postmaster of East Westmore- land. They had five children. of whom but two sur- vive: Abbic M., born September 1, 1860, died Feb- ruary 2, 1884. Omer G. and Olan A., twins, born November 1, 1864. Olan A., died August 31, 1865, and Omer G., is mentioned in the succeeding para- graph. Irving W., born August 9. 1874, died Octo- ber 26, 1889. Clifton A., born January 31, 1877. lives in East Westmoreland. Albert Thompson dicd in East Westmoreland, June 10, 1890. Mrs. Thomp- son died June, 1905.

(VIII) Omer George, eldest son and second child of Albert and Carrie (Wight) Thompson, was born at East Westmoreland, November 1, 1864. He attended the common schools of his native town and the high school across the river at Bellows Falls. Vermont, After finishing school he stayed with his father and helped to carry on the business till 1885, and April 1, 1886, he went into the business for him- self at Westmoreland Depot. He had a general store there and also dealt in lumber till November, 1895. He then moved to Boston and for three years was engaged in the wholesale and retail provision busi- ness with C. F. Whittaker on South Market street, under the name of O. G. Thompson & Company. Mr. Thompson then conducted the business alone for four years at the same placc. The succeeding two years he had a retail store of his own at the corner of Warrenton street and Shawmut avenue. In 1904 Mr. Thompson retired from the city and came back to East Westmoreland to take care of the farm left by his father. This farm is a valuable one of one hundred and sixty-five acres, one hun- dred and forty-nine acres of which is timber land, and he manages it in connection with his brother, Clifton A. He also owns the store at Westmoreland Depot and the residenec at East Westmoreland. Mr. Thompson is a Republican in politics, and holds the office of supervisor. For several years he belonged to the Grange, and he attends the Universalist Church. On August 18, 1885, Omer George Thomp- son married Minnie Haskell. daughter of Charles W. and Ellen (Ordway) Haskell, of Weathersfield, Vermont. Mrs. Thompson was born in Weathers- field, September 3. 1866, and her mother came from Chester in the same state. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have three children: Edward H., born January 24, 1888, attended the Mechanic Arts high school in Boston, and the high school in Keene, New Hamp- shire. Perley O., May 30, 1889. Albert, September 3. 1898.

(Third family.)

THOMPSON There were several early immi- grants of this name in Massachu- setts, and their descendants are now found in every locality of the Union, those of different lineages often being neighbors. They have borne an honorable part in spreading civiliza- tion, and have been found in many lines of human endeavor. Among the pioneer settlers of New Eng- land was George Thompson, of Lynn, Massachu- setts, who was there as early as October 25, 1650. when he had a daughter born who was christened Sarah. He soon removed to Reading, and had children born there, namely: John, Mary, George and Jonathan. He died September 7, 1674. It is possible that his son Jolin, born March 24. 1661, in Reading, was the one who settled in Salisbury, but the stronger probability points to John of Ips- wich.

(1) . Simon Thompson, whose origin is un- known, probably born about the beginning of the

seventeenth century, was early in Ipswich, Massa- chusetts, where his will was made March 28, 1076, in which instrument appeared mention of his wife, Rachel. He had children' born in Ipswich from 1655 to 1660, but probably had others before coming to Ipswich, presumably in England.

(II) Alexander, presumably a son (possibly a brother ) of Simon and Rachel Thompson, was mar- ried in Ipswich, September 19, 1662, to Deliverance Haggett, and their children, born in Ipswich, were : David, Jolin, Mary, Elizabeth, Hannah, William, Alexander, Henry, Sarah and Matthew (these may not be in precise order of birth). The will of Alex- ander Thompson was made November 21, 1693, and proved in April, 1696.

(III) John, probably the second son of Alex- ander and Deliverance ( llaggett) Thompson, was a resident of Salisbury, Massachusetts, as early as 1690, and signed the Bradbury petition in 1692. 11c owned the covenant at the Salisbury church, Janu ary 26, 1707, and died July 30, 1717. His estate was administered April 6, 1719, and divided in 1724. He was married (first) to Elizabeth Brewer, who died December 25, 1706. She was a daughter of Peter Brewer. He was married (second) July 28, 1707, to Mary, widow of John Ash ( family name not recorded). There were ten children born of the first wife, and three of the second, namely : John (died 1706), Mary, Peter, Elizabeth, a son died in infancy, child died young, Thomas, Samuel. Abiel, John, Elisha, Sarah and

(IV) Samuel, fifth son of John and Elizabeth (Brewer) Thompson, was baptized January 26, 1707 (born about 1705), in Salisbury, and settled in Kingston, New Hampshire There is no record of his marriage, but that of the birth of his son shows his wife to have been Mary Bartlett.

(V) Moses, son of Samuel and Mary (Bart- lett) Thompson, born October 16, 1734, in Kings- ton, was baptized December 22, 1734. He removed to what is now known as Pleasant Valley, for many years in early times called Raccoon-borough, pos- sibly from Raccoon hill, in the old town of Deer- field, in 1764 or 1765. For a while he taught school in Wolfborough. He married. before going to Deer- field, Jane Page, of South Hampton, and they had three sons and four daughters: William, the eldest son, remained in Deerfield. Moses settled in Wolf- borough. Samuel in Wilmot. Two of the daugh- ters dicd young ; one became Mrs. Neal Cate, of Wolfborough, and one Mrs. James Prescott, of Deer- field.

(VI) Moses (2), son of Moses (1) and Jane (Page) Thompson, was born May 20, 1775. in Decr- field, from which town he moved to Wolfborough in 1800, when the country thereabouts had few set- tlers and stretched in almost an unbroken wilderness to the far north. There he cleared a spot in the forest which he enlarged year after year until he had a farm of fair size and of superior quality of soil ; there he made use of the trees he had to fe l to build a cabin and other buildings, and later a house of larger size for the accommodation of him- self and family as thic "fashions of civilization and refinement" were introduced. He married Sally Fox and by her had seven children : Benjamin F., who married Mary Brewster and Widow Hannah Wig- gin. William, who married Nancy Rogers, Samuel. who became the husband of Phebe Roger -. Hannah. Moses, who is mentioned below. Jane, who became the wife of George Y. Furber. Sarah, who married John M. Brackett.

(VII) Moses (3), fifth child and fourth son of

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Moses (2) and Sally ( Fox) Thompson, was born in Wolfborough, March 4, 1811, and died December 11, 1897, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. lle took his education in the district school and at the Wolf- b rough and luftonborough academies, attending the latter a few terms. At twenty-one years of age he received five hundred dollars from his father, who had laid aside this amount for each of his sons. He invested this capital in hides, which he tanned in a small tannery erected by him and his brother Ben- jamin on the farm. A portion of the latter he man- ufactured and carried to Boston and sold. receiving his pay in money and hides. A part of the leather he produced he cut and made into shoes, and these are thought to be the first shoes made in Wolf- borough. After carrying on business for himself for a time he took charge of the tannery at Wolf- borough Falls for Daniel Pickering. In 1847 he moved to Wolfborough Village and entered the employ of Daniel Pickering as a shoe cutter. and later became the punior partner in the firm of Pick- ering, Brackett & Thompson, shoe manufacturers, who in connection with their shoe business carried on a country store at Pickering's Corner. This partnership continued until the death of Mr. Pick- ering. In 1856 Moses Thompson, Captain Augustus Walker, of Concord, and J. M. Brackett built the brick block known as the Bank Building. There Thompson & Brackett made brogan shoes for the southern trade, and Mr. Thompson and George Rust were engaged in the grocery trade. In this building also were located the State Bank and the Carroll County Five Cent Savings Bank. Mr. Thompson being a trustee of each, and later president. He was treasurer of the Lake Boot & Shoe Company. He was in the marble business for some years and sub- sequently in the mill and lumber business, All through his life he was a successful real estate dealer. owned several of the most desirable lots on Main street, and toward the end of his life laid out Pine street. In politics he was a Republican and once represented Wolfborough in the general court, and was twice a member of the board of selectmen. In the time of the Civil war he was connected with the commission department. He was ever interested in the prosperity of the town and used his best efforts to provide good school and good roads. For many years he was trustee of the Wolfborough and Tuftonborough academics, and trustee of the Christian Institute, and gave liberally toward its support. Ile was a firm believer in the theory that it is better to give liberally to build schools and churches to educate the young that they may be good self-supporting citizens. rather than to pay & greater amount to maintain some of them in prisons, poor houses and asylums. In 1839 he was baptized by Elder Mark Farnald and joined the Christian Church. He was made a Mason in Morn- ing Star Lodge, No. 17, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, May 7, 18440. Moses Thompson married Hannah M. Rust, who was born in Wolfborough, February 23. 1821, died there December 11, 1879. She was the daughter of William (2) and Olive ( Deland) Rust (See Rust. VII). Six children were born of this union: William Rust, March 4. 1841, died May 24. 1865. Moses F .. May 20, 1840, married Abbie H1. Her-cy, December 28, 18;o, and died in Minneapolis, January 23. 1800, leaving two sons, Lester H. and Dana Ml. Ella ME .. March 20, 1847, married Henry R. Parker, and has two daugh- ters and one son, deceased. Ada F .. December 28, 1852, resides in Wolfborough. Albertre A., July 13. 1854, ched December 20, 1860, Fred A., Augu-t 20, 1857, resides in Denver, Colorado.

( Fourth Family.)

One of the first provisions made THOMPSON by the colonists of New England was for religious teaching. The Scotch-Irish were no exception to this rule, and from one of their educated and God-fearing pastors comes this Thompson family.

(1) In the year 1732 the town of Londonderry, New Hampshire, commissioned Mr. Robert Boyes, a prominent citizen of that town, to go to Northern Ireland, and with the assistance of the Rev. Mc- Bride, of Ballymony, select and invite a well quali- fied minister to come and take charge of them in the Lord, engaging to pay one who should consent to come one hundred and forty pounds a year with ex- penses of his voyage, and also to give him as a set- tlement, one-half of a home lot, and a one hundred acre lot. In 1733, Mr. Boyes returned to London- derry, with the Rev. Thomas Thompson, who on his departure was ordained by the Presbytery of Tyrone, as pastor of the Colonial Church of Londonderry. Mr. Thompson, whose ancestors had been driven from Scotland on account of religious views, was twenty-nine years of age when he came to the people of his charge, and he labored with them only five years when he died-September 22. 1738. He was a faithful and acceptable pastor, and by means of his labors the church was much enlarged. He married Frances Cummings, a daughter of an officer in the English navy.

(II) Rev. Alexander, son of Rev. Thomas and Frances ( Cummings) Thompson, was born in Lon- donderry, August 3. 1738, and took up the profession of his father. He lived only a short portion of his life in Londonderry, but preached for short periods at many places, and was pastor in St. Stephen's, New Brunswick, for many years, where he died in 1768. The name of his wife and the date of his marriage are not known.

(11I) Captain John, son of Rev. Alexander Thompson, was born in Londonderry, January II, 17h8, the year of his father's death, and died in Bow, September 3. 1812. aged seventy-four years. He was a mill-wright by trade, and during his life built many mills in nearly all the New England states, and was often gone from home for months at a time. The first saw mill on Penobscot river was built by him. In 1791. he moved to Garvins Falls settlement in Bow (now part of Concord, east of the Merrimack river). from Londonderry, and settled on a farm which his wife had inherited. where he made his home for the remainder of his life. He carried on this large farm which at his death con- tained four hundred acres, built bridges and mills, and soon became one of the most prominent men in town. Ile was a Whig. and always took a leading part in town affairs, and was a member of the Congregational Church all his life. He was married, March 8, 1701, by Rev. Lucius Colby, second min- ister of Pembroke, to Margaret Hemphill of Bow Gore. She was born April 11, 1771, and died at Garvins Falls. September 3. 1841. She always lived in the same locality, which became a part of Con- cord in 1804. They were the parents of eight sons and three daughters: John; an infant daughter, Elizabeth, James, Goin ( died young), Goin, Mary, Sarah, Alexander. Andrew, William and Charles E. Sarah Baker was an adopted daughter.

(IV) Charle, Edward. eighth son and twelfth child of Captain John and Margaret ( Hemphill) Thompson, was born in Concord. August 11, 1810. and died March 26, 1900, in Concord. He went through the district school and attended Pembroke Academy, and then learned the mason's trade. Soon

Denman Thompson

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after that he went to New York. where he was em- ployed in assisting his brother. William, a large building contractor, in the construction of a light- house and in doing other work. lle afterward re- turned to Concord and settled on the paternal es- tate, and besides carrying on his farm, which con- tained five hundred acres, he was engaged with his brother William in mason work at the state hospital in Concord for twenty-eight years. He was an up- right and active citizen. successful in business, and a man of influence in civil and political affairs. He was a member of the legislature 1859 and 1800, and for two terms alderman of Ward 7. lle was a member of the Republican ward committee forty years, resigning a year or two before his death, and for a long time was a member of the No. 3 fire com- pany. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and attended the Universalist Church. He married, April, 1848, Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Nevins) Cotton, of Pem- broke, and widow of Robert White, of Bow. She was born October 19, 1823, in Pembroke, and died October 31, 1881, at her home in Concord. They were the parents of four children: Helen M., Sarah Frances, Charles Edward, and Mary Elizabeth. The son was for many years engaged in the lumber busi- ness. He died June 4. 1905, at Canning. South Da- kota. The daughters occupy the homestead on West street, Concord, which Mr. Thompson purchased in 1850. All are members of the Christian Science Church of Concord, and also of the mother church In Boston.

( Fifth Family. )

The name of Thompson appears THOMPSON frequently among the seventeenth century settlers of this country. John Thompson, the ancestor of the Plymouth, Mass- achusetts, Thompsons, came over in the third embark- ation from England with his mother and step-father. He arrived at Plymouth, in 1622, being then but five years of age. In 1623 another branch of the family settled at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. David and Robert, two brothers, were the founders of this line. David was the agent of Mason and Gorges, and subsequently lived on an island in Bos- ton Harbor, which still bears his name. Robert ultimately settled near Durham, New Hampshire, and his descendants are still numerous in that town. In 1630 James Thompson, the ancestor of the Wo- burn, Massachusetts. Thompsons, came to this coun- try, settling first at Charlestown, Massachusetts, and afterward at Woburn, where he died. He was the ancestor of many of the most noted men bearing the Thompson name, including the famous Benja- min, who afterwards became Count Rumford.

Three brothers. Anthony, William and John Thompson, arrived at Charlestown, Massachusetts, about 1637. and soon settled at New Haven, Con- necticut. They became the ancestors of a numerous posterity. now found in that and adjoining states. Rev. William Thompson, who became the first pastor of the church in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1639, was the ancestor of numerous Thompsons in Massachusetts and in Maine. It has not thus far been possible to connect the genealogy of Denman Thompson with any of these lines, though he is undoubtedly descended from one of them. His first authenticated ancestor appears in Rhode Island in 1726. He was probably the grandson of one of these early settlers.

(1) Benjamin Thompson, of Smithfield, Rhode Island. married Mary Darling, March 10. 1726. They had twelve children: Benjamin, who died in infancy; Tamer; Mary and Martha, twins; Benja-

min, Samuel, Timothy, Elizabeth, Joanna, John. Roger, Ebenezer. Four of these sons, Samuel, John. Roger and Ebenezer, located in Swanzey, New Hampshire. David, son of Peter, was a graduate of Dartmouth College, became a teacher and lawyer. and went south.

(11) Samuel, third son and sixth child of Benjamin and Mary ( Darling) Thompson, was born July 20, 1733. Ile married Rhoda He

died about 1803. They lived in Swanzey, New Hampshire, and had fourteen children: Ebenezer, Benoni, Josiah. Jesse, Timothy, Rhoda, Beulah, Martha, Anna, David and Jonathan ( twins), Mary, Rufus and Fanny.

(111) Timothy, fifth son and child of Samuel and Rhoda Thompson, was born in Swanzey, New Hampshire, December II, 1778. He married Mary, daughter of Amasa Aldrich, September 30, 1805. She was born May 27, 1783, and died June 18, 1858. Timothy died a year carlier, in October,

1857. They had children: Rufus, Otis, Amasa, Roswell, Czarina, Caroline, who died in Oregon, Wisconsin; and Polly, who died in the same state. (IV) Rufus, eldest son and child of Timothy and Mary (Aldrich) Thompson, was born in Swanzey, New Hampshire, December 13. 1805. He married Anne Hathaway Baxter, born November 20, 1807. They were married August 14, 1831, and she died January 17, 1889. Rufus and Anne ( Bax- ter) Thompson had four children: Henry Denman, Mary Melvenah, who married William Granger, of Chicago: Sarah Melissa, who married Henry Ab- bott : and Timothy Elbridge. Captain Rufus Thompson, upon his marriage in 1831, decided to leave Swanzey, where he and his father were born, and where his grandfather Samuel and three brothers settled before the Revolution. He and his wife started out for what was considered the west in those days, and entered the wilderness of North- western Pennsylvania. At a distance of about three miles from what is now the town of Girard, Cap- tain Thompson made a clearing, and put up a log house. About a dozen hardy pioneers had already built in the neighborhood, and the settlement was called Beech Wood. Captain Thompson had a good deal of mechanical ability, and he soon became the carpenter of the neighborhood. The Thompsons lived at Beech Wood till 1847, and their four chil- dren were born there. After sixteen years of toil amid primitive surroundings, the love of home led Captain Thompson to bring his family back to Swanzey. He was a man of strong character, posi- tive and self-asserting, but with sound judgment and native shrewdness. Ile lived to be long past eighty : dying at Swanzey.

(V) Henry Denman, eldest son and child of Rufus and Anne (Baxter ) Thompson, was born near Girard, Erie county, Pennsylvania. October 15, 1833. It seems a strange caprice of fate that Den- man Thompson, as he is known to all the world, should not have been born in New Hampshire. For three generations his ancestors had lived in Swanzey, and Swanzey is the scene of the Old Homestead: but owing to circumstances mentioned in the previous paragraph, it was decreed that the man, who more than any other, has made New Hampshire life a reality to the whole country, should be horn outside the borders of the state. In 1847, when Denman was fourteen years of age, the family returned to Swanzey, and there he lived till 1850. For three winter terms he attended Mount Caesar Seminary in Swanzey, and the remainder of the year he helped his father at carpentering. Captain Thompson was desirous that his son should

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be educated, but the boy's bent was not toward books. He was a frank, open-hearted, generous youth, fond of pranks and adventures, with a long- ing for the excitement of the great world. His highest delight in Swanzey was the circus, whose coming to town was the event of the summer. For weeks afterward Denman, according to his father, "was walking t'other end up."

In the spring of 1850, when Denman was in his seventeenth year, he set out into the world. He had heard a great deal about Boston from his father's friends who lingered about the church porch, and from the Boston paper which his father read. It was an event, not only to himself, but to the whole town, when Denman left home. The journey was made the subject of general public and private re- mark. Not long after Denman reached Boston. he joined Tryon's circus as property hoy, but he soon developed ability as an acrobat. It was in the winter of that year that he earned his first money on the stage. Charlotte Cushman was play- ing Lady Macbeth at the old Howard Athenaeum, and Thompson appeared as supernumerary. In January of 1851 he went to New York City, where he became door-keeper for an exhibition of paint- ings of famous Indian chiefs by George Catlin. He soon tired of this life and came to Lowell, Massa- chusetts, where his uncle, D. D. Baxter, had offered him a place in his dry goods store. But selling ribbons was not to the future actor's taste, and he soon went to Worcester, Massachusetts. It is worth while to remember that it was in Lowell, Massachu- setts, that Denman had his first speaking part on the stage, that of Orasman in "The French Spy." For two or three seasons he wandered about with various traveling companies, until January, 1854. when he went west by invitation of the manager of the Athenaeum at Cleveland, Ohio. He joined the regular stock company as low comedian, and ap- peared with Anna Cora Mowatt and other stars.

In May, 1854, he became a member of the Royal Lyceum Theater, Toronto, and this city was his home for fourteen years. From the very first Thompson's dancing had attracted attention, and the hornpipes, Highland flings and Irish reels were very popular with the Canadian public. It was during his stay in Toronto that Denman Thompson married. July 7, 1860, Maria Bolton, of Niagara- on-the-lake, Canada, born November 20, 1839. Their three children, all born in Toronto, are: Melvenah, born February 25, 1863; Annie, born March 17, 1867, and Franklin, born August 23, 1869. While in Toronto Mr. Thompson played small Irish and negro parts. He became a great favorite there personally and professionally, but he never could be induced to put study into serious parts, for which indeed he was not adapted, and no matter how much money he earned, he spent it as fast as it came. Ilis tastes were plain, and he was al- ways strictly temperate, but he never could resist the appeal of distress. His salary was not large, much of the time less than twenty-five dollars a week, and with his generous disposition, his family were not always in the most affluent circumstances.

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Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, Vol. III, Part 118

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 876

Author: Stearns, Ezra S; Whitcher, William F. (William Frederick), 1845-1918; Parker, Edward E. (Edward Everett), 1842-1923
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: New York : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 876