Daniel In the 1870 Census, Benjamin F. Thompson is 29 years old and his wife Emma is also listed as 29. (her age is incorrect here) Their children are John - 11 years old, Margaret is 9 and Mary is 6. This Census shows Emma and the three children born in Pennsylvania. Margaret was born in Pennsylvania, so the family will not be in the 1860 Census. Later censuses show Mary as born in Illinois. That would mean the family migrated to Mercer County between 1861 and 1864. I believe this to be correct. (This is not the same Benjamin F. Thompson featured on Page 621 of the "History of Mercer County - 1882".) Although this family shows up as farmers with real estate of considerable value in Rivoli Township 1870, they do not appear as landowners in my 1875 Platt Book. In the 1880 Census, Benjamin F. Thompson is 40 years old, his wife Emma is 36. Their children; Maggie, born in Pennsylvania, is 19, John, also born in Pennsylvania, is 21, Mary, who is now shown as born in Illinois is 16, Robert is 9 and they have a 2 month old daughter that has not yet been named! (First time I've ran across that in a census) The 1890 Census was destroyed by fire. The 1900 Census shows that Benjamin is 59 years old, born in June 1848 in New York. His parents were both born in Pennsylvania. His wife, Emma is 56 years old, born in January, 1844 in Pennsylvania. Her father was born in England and her mother was born in Pennsylvania. Robert C., born Illinois in August, 1873, is 26 years old and single. His sister, Daisy, born in June, 1880 is 20 years old and single. In the 1910 Census, Robert Thompson - age 39 and his wife, Josephine - age 29 are living in dwelling 448 in Greene Township with their children; Earl -age 7, Lila - age 5, Eva - age 4 and Elsa - age 2. Robert is a farm laborer. Next to this family in dwelling 447 lives Ben F. Thompson - age 76 and his wife, Emma - age 69. Ben was born in New York and Emma was born in Pennsylvania. Ben died on March 6, 1923 in Viola. (This is Robert's parents.) The Illinois Death Record Archives show that Robert Cain Thompson died on February 20, 1920 in Greene Township, Mercer County. The census was taken on 15-16 January, so he still shows up on the 1920 Census. Read on. In the 1920 Census, Robert is 48 years old and farming, Josephine is 37, Earl St. C. (?), is 16, Lilla V. is 15, Eva M. is 13, Elsie F. is 12 and Robert R. is 8 years old. I don't have the 1930 Census yet. If your grandfather was Earl C. Thompson, he was living in Rivoli Township in Section 30 in 1935 with his wife, Sylvia J. (Anderson), and their children; Claire, Wanda, Carl, Verla and Kathleen. They were farming on the 130 acre farm of R. H. Spicer who owned another 90 acres in nearby Section 19. Mind you, I was a 1 year old baby living just 2 miles east of here at that time! In 1940, your grandfather's family was farming in on the M. Garret farm in Section 1 in Rivoli Township and they have added two more children, Eleanor and Earl Jr. Not knowing which of these offspring you sprung from, my search ends here. Doesn't matter. You can probably just go to a relative and fill in the blanks from here. ----- Original Message ----- From: Daniel Harley Cindy Thompson To: gcarp@qconline.com Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 3:54 PM Subject: THOMPSON FAMILY I WOULD LIKE ANY INFORMATION ON ROBERT CAIN OR JOSEPHINE TYLER THOMPSON WHO WERE THE PARENTS OF MY GRANDFATHER [EARL THOMPSON ]. THANK YOU. DANIEL THOMPSON --------------------------------------------------------------------------------