William M. Thompson It was William Thompson who became the
grandfather of our subject. He
was born
in North Carolina, in 1804, and was consequently
three years of age when his parents came to Miami county. His father entered land from the government and gave to him one
hundred and sixty acres after his marriage.
He wedded
Nancy, daughter of Samuel
and Sally Rudy, and , about
1834 he sold his farm and removed to Illinois, but as
he
could find no
land to suit him in that state,
he returned to Ohio and repurchased the
old homestead from his brother John. He
then engaged in farming for a time, but afterward
once more sold the property to his brother
John and purchased what is now the Kilworth
farm, which was entered from the government
by Samuel Rudy. On
disposing of that property he purchased the Fox farm, near the Darke county line, remaining thereon for a few years, when he again sold
and bought thirty acres in Newton township
from Mr. Butterfield. When he found a purchaser
for that land he bought ton acres
east of Pleasant Hill, and there practically
lived retired until his death, which occurred
May 18, 1882.
His
wife, Nancy Thompson,
passed away in 1847, and he afterward
married Rachel Spillers, widow of William Kendall. She survived him for a few years. William
Thompson was laid to rest in the Greenville creek
cemetery. The
children by his first marriage were Mary,
who married John Arnold and afterward married William Murphy, but is now a
widow, and makes her home in Bradford; John,
who married Catherine Coates, and resides in Newberry township; Samuel, who married
Mary Ann Fachler and died near Red
River, Darke county, as did his wife James, the
father of our subject; Sarah, widow
of Emanuel J. Beard, of Newberry township;
Martha, wife of Calvin Brant, both now deceased; Margaret, who became the wife of John Swisher, and died in Newberry
township ;
Hannah, who became the wife
of Isaac Hollopeter and died near Houston,
Shelby county, Ohio, where her husband's death also occurred; William, who married
Elizabeth Smith, and died in Covington;
Nancy Ann, who became the wife of Henry Cassal, with whom she removed to Illinois, where her death occurred, her remains,
however, being interred in Greenville creek
cemetery; Henry, of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Nathan, who married Amanda Muck, and
is living in Ludlow Falls ;
and Sylvester, who married Miss Long, and resides in Pleasant
Hill. There
were two children by the
second marriage, Melinda, wife of Edward
Carson, who resides near Sidney, Ohio, and Susan, wife of Samuel Burns, of Piqua. James Thompson, the father of our subject,
was born in Newberry township, in 1826,
and was reared in the usual manner of farmer lads of that period. He had no educational
privileges and after the children attended
school they taught him to read and write. He married Mary Moss, who was born in Newberry township in 1826, a daughter
of William Moss. They resided in
Newberry township, where the father died in 1862. In the fall of 1861 ho enlisted in his country's service as a member of
Company B, Seventy-first Ohio Infantry, under Captain McConnell. In May of the
following year he was sent home on account of illness,
and died on the first of that month. His wife,
long surviving him, passed away in
1882, and both wore buried in the Greenville
creek cemetery. Their children were William
M.; Charles, who married Salome Matthews
and died in Newberry township in 1876; Peter,
who married Catherine Sheffbaugh
and is living in Covington; James, of Darke county, who married Catherine Rike, who is now deceased;
and Rachel M., who died in infancy. After
he returned home he resumed work on the home farm. During his boyhood he had been employed as a farm hand for two dollars per month and his board. After
his marriage
'he received as high as three dollars per day
for cradling wheat, being able to
cut four acres per day. On
the l0th of March, 1867, Mr. Thompson
was married to Miss Nancy J. Green, a daughter of Samuel Green, deceased, .of Newberry township. They remained on his mother's farm where they lived
for one
and a half
years and
then rented land in Concord township, where they made
their home for eight years. On
the expiration
of that period they returned to his
mother's farm, and after her death Mr. Thompson
purchased the property, to which he
has since added twenty acres, and there he built a substantial and comfortable residence. He raised tobacco and garden produce and attends the market at Piqua twice a week. He purchased forty acres
of land near
Fort Recovery and removed there in
1882,
but after remaining there a year and a
half he returned to his present home. He
is enterprising and progressive in his business
methods and receives a, good income as
the result of his energetic labors. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson now have six children
: Charles,
who died at the age of twenty
years ;
Oscar, who married Emma Stauffer
and lives in Covington; Walter E., who
married Flora Reiber, and resides in
Newberry township; Myrtie E., who married Asa Reck, a farmer
in Darke county; and
Hattie and George W. at home. The
parents
hold membership in the Greenville Creek
Christian church, of which Mr.
Thompson has been a member for many years.
In politics Mr. Thompson is a stanch Republican and keeps well informed on the issues
of the day, but has not sought office, desiring
father to give his time and energies entirely to his business interests, in which he has
met with signal success. Return to the Biography Index
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