June, Now that I have read your entire post, I see that you are aware of the diary. Sorry, I didn't read further before posing the e-mail. Yulonda in IL -----Original Message----- From: jriccio <JRiccio1@compuserve.com> To: VAPITTSY-L@rootsweb.com <VAPITTSY-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Friday, October 20, 2000 9:27 PM Subject: [VAPITTSY-L] John & Mary [Unknown] Thompson,parents of Archibald - Part Two >The following synopsis is based on my own research over the years, and is >shared here so that we may all have a chance to input our thoughts on the >subject. > >June > > >JOHN THOMPSON > >It is not known if this is the "John Thomson" who made his statement of >importation to Virginia in 1738, but there is every possibility that it is >so. The preponderance of Thompson family members by the given names of John >and William make them extremely difficult to identify with any surety. It >is for that reason that close scrutiny must be made as to their location >and near neighbors, for these facts help us to identify them as >individuals. > >Although research is on-going on this Thompson family, I will endeavor to >transcribe what information has so far been found. It should be remembered >that Halifax County, Virginia was created in 1752 out of Lunenberg County, >and in 1766, Pittsylvania arose as a new county out of Halifax. It is >partly because of the evolution of these counties that research is so >difficult on this particular branch of the Thompson Clan. That, and the >fact that we are looking for a John Thompson, of whom there were literally >hundreds in the early settlements, makes it a difficult task indeed. > >The first record of our John Thompson purchasing land may be found in Land >Entry Book 1737-1780 , p. 167 (Land Entries In The Present Virginia >Counties of Halifax, Pittsylvania, Henry, Franklin, and Patrick), Chiarito, >1984, p. 132 as follows: > >"John Thompson, 400 acres on the little fork of Mulberry Begin: at two >White Oaks making an elbow at the upper line of the l[an]d belonging to >John Talbott, thence up both sides of the said Cr. for Compt." dated 14 >February 1753. > >The next mention I have found for our John Thompson is under the date of 16 >October 1753, Court of Halifax County, when he, along with Merry Webb, John >Blevins, and Thomas Shurley were ordered to appear at next court to give >evidence against his neighbor, John Talbot for misusing the orphan children >under his care. In checking further, we find that the Churchwardens of >Antrim Parish had bound Fanny, Mary, Sarah and James Gwin, orphans of James >Gwin, dec'd to John Talbot on 15 September 1753. > >The next document located pertaining to this John Thompson is that of a >survey for him in Pittsylvania County recorded in the Old Survey Book >1746-1782 Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1988, Marian Dodson Chiarito, p. >61. This document reads as follows: > >"Surveyed 22 April 1756 for John Thompson - 187 acres of Land on the So. >Fork of Mulberry Creek. Bounded as follows VIZ: beginning at pointers in >Tabots [Talbots] line, thence New lines, per S. Walton [Surveyor]" > >Looking to the land of John Talbot referenced in the above description, we >find a survey for him dated 20 April 1756 for 400 acres " . . on a branch >of Leather Wood Creek and Bounded as follows VIZ: beginning at Austins >Creek, Chestnut Tree thence new lines." [Ibid., p. 60] This is a very >important document as we will see later, for it helps us to identify this >John Thompson as the one we are looking for! We are fortunate in the fact >that a journal kept by his son Archibald Thompson from about 1755 until his >death sometime after 1805 has been preserved in the family, copies of which >have been made available to Thompson researchers. It is from this journal >that we know that Archibald once lived on or near Leatherwood Creek in >Pittsylvania County before he began his migration towards Montgomery >County, Virginia. [Note: If you would like to view a transcription of this >journal, it is available on Doug Moore's website at >http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore.] > >According to the laws of the State of Virginia in 1762, any person could >vote who had an estate or freehold of at least fifty acres if there was no >settlement on it, or twenty-five acres if it had a 'plantation house' of at >least 'twelve foot square.' The person had to have a legal title to the >land for at least one year before becoming eligible to vote unless he had >received it through marriage, or by descent or devise [inherited it]. No >woman, whether married or single was allowed to vote. Neither was a male >infant [under 21 years], a former Catholic, convict, or any person >committed of a crime in Great Britain or Ireland. Voting was mandatory! It >will be seen from this edict why we do not find all of our 'kinfolk' on >some of the Tithable Lists where we expect them to be, for although adult, >they probably did not qualify regarding land ownership at the time. > >A Voters List for Halifax County dated 1764 included the following names, >all families that we know to be related by marriage or blood. > >Thomas Faris, Harris Wilson, Peter Bowman, Jno. Lucas, Jo. Faris, Jas. >Faris, William Bowman, William Faris, Jo. Collins, Thos. Mastin, Jacob >Faris, John Rowden, Jno. Byer, Jr., Jno. Moore, Jas. Chisum, William >Thompson, Richard Finch, Henry Farmer, George Moore, David Lawson, John >Lawson, Elexis Musick, Jas. Thompson, Thos. Wilson, Jos. Moore, William >Lawson, George Stubblefield. > >>From his sons' journal, we know that John Thompson married a woman by the >name of Mary. Unfortunately, although he was meticulous about almost all >the other names he recorded therein, he failed to note the maiden name of >his mother! Since their first child, Anne, was born 2 June 1734, we will >presume they were married in 1731/32. In an effort to approximate the ages >of John and Mary, we would surmise them to have been born between 1700 and >1710. However these dates are only approximates, and it is even possible >that John was older and this could have been a second marriage for him. At >any rate, we know they were living in this location in the middle 1750's, >and perhaps earlier. His neighbor John Talbot had received a survey for >land as early as 1751, again situated on Leatherwood Creek, in the amount >of 400 acres. Other neighbors in the same general area at that time were >Nathaniel & Ralph Elkins, James Skaggs, Christopher Bolling, William & >James Blevins, William Dugger, John Oldum, William Cox, Ambrose Jones, >Thomas Wilson and John Hickey. [We will see later that there are ties to >the Elkins and Blevins family through intermarriage with the Skaggs family. >We also note that both John Blevins, Ambrose Jones, and John Hickey are >mentioned in the estate papers for John Thompson.] > >Not too far distant, John Fuller Lane took up an 188 acre parcel on 15 >April 1756, and it could well be that the Lanes and Thompsons settled in >this area together, as the families intermarried a number of times over the >next generations. John Fuller Lanes' land was situated on a branch of Elk >Horn Creek in Robert Weakleys line, and was surveyed by James Terry. He had >previously claimed 400 acres on both sides on a branch of Sandy Creek on >the Banister River in 1747, and he purchased an additional 433 acres on the >branches of Mountain Creek in April 1770. > >Tidance Lane, a son of John Fuller Lane, had a survey dated 26 September >1746 for 135 acres on Sandy Creek of Banister River near his father, and >not far away from him, Richard Lain, Sr. [sic] had 400 acres surveyed in >his name on 24 February 1747. His land adjoined that of Robert Moor on one >side and Nathaniel Terry and Drury Stith on the other. Dutton Lain >purchased 400 acres on Elkhorn Creek on 15 December 1748, and Richard Lane, >Jr. is shown with 170 acres on a branch of Echols Fork which was surveyed >25 September 1746. Robert Sweeting [Sweeten], who married into the Lane >family, held two parcels of 400 and 370 acres surveyed in April and >November 1748. It is evident that the Lanes remained in this area for some >years, as the records show the next generation of young men in the family >also purchasing land, i.e. Edward Sweeting [Sweeten], 440 acres in 1762; >Dutton Lane 217 and 168 acres in 1762. Russell and William Bean lived near >by, as did Peter Perkins, upon whose Tax List for 1767 Pittsylvania County, >Virginia we find them all listed. By 1771, the tithables of Botetourt >County included Rubin Ratliff, James Been, Jessey Maxcey, Uriah Akers, >Daniel Blevins, Jonathan Grimes, Andrew Ferguson, Cornelius Davis. >Appearing on a list of tithables on the Head of Little River that year were >John Dispain,* Jeremiah Pate, Wm. Ratleff, John Elswick, Jonathan Elswick, >Blackburn Eakers [Akers], Thomas Alley, Jacob and Isrel [sic] Lorton, >Edmond Vancel, Richard Whitt, Robert Lyon, and "Long James Skaggs". After >the formation of Fincastle in 1773, the land of many of these families fell >into that county, and they may be found on the tax lists there. All of >these families were, for the most part, all related by marriage to the >Thompsons.[John Dispain was one of the appraisers of the estate of John >Thompson in 1767. His son Peter was married to Nancy Skaggs, a daughter of >Henry and Mary [Thompson] Skaggs.] > >A copy of the journal of Archibald Thompson, son of John and Mary Thompson, >has been placed in the William B. Harlan Memorial Library at Tompkinsville, >Kentucky. This old journal, the pages of which measure 4 x 6 inches, covers >a time period from about 1755 and continues through subsequent ownership by >family members to about 1820. Unfortunately, many of the pages in the book >are very dark with age. I would like to sincerely thank the present owner >for sharing a copy of it so that those of us still looking for our Thompson >connection have access to this valuable data. > >Because the journal was obviously handed down within the family, the >subsequent owners recorded events in their lives throughout the book, >wherever there was blank space, and many pages will show as many as four >individual penmanships. > >I have been told that this journal was once loaned out, and when returned, >was missing some of the original pages. It is a shame that the information >on those pages now seems lost to us, but I have hope that perhaps whomever >might know their location presently would be considerate and kind enough to >have copies made and mailed anonymously to the library as follows: > >Archibald Thompson Diary - Addenda >William B. Harlan Memorial Library >500 West 4th Street >Tompkinsville, KY 42167 > >I feel certain that receipt of copies of those missing pages would be >greatly appreciated by a multitude of Thompson descendants who have found >no other way to validate their connection to this family. Posting the >information contained therein on the THOMPSON-L@Rootsweb.com website would >be another method of sharing this vital information with all Thompson >researchers. > >Although we do not know for sure that the following data refers to 'our' >John Thompson, it is certainly a more than a possibility. We do know that >his son Archibald was a fairly religious man, who often quoted bible >passages in his journal, showing that he had received a better than average >education. We include the entries below strictly to show that there was, >indeed, a man by the name of 'John Thompson' living in the vicinity where >Archibald and his family lived at the same time. According to his journal, >Archibald states "On 1st and 2nd of February 1769 I removed my self and >family from Leatherwood Creek in Pittsylvania County up to the mountains on >the head of Smith's River in the same county and made four crops there." If >the 'John Thompson' mentioned below was his father, as I now believe, >perhaps he and Mary had preceded Archibald and his family to the Smith >River area. > >On 22 November 1760 John Thompson was appointed Reader for the "Smiths >River Settlement" by the church elders, and the records show ". . . he was >to be paid the usual Sallery". On page 56 of that record, a notation is >made dated 28 November 1761 that "Rev. James Craig was paid for preaching >four sermons, and John Tomson [sic] was paid L800." > >Although we don't yet know the relationship, if any, we find that on 18 >June 1762 Rev. Thomas Thompson was involved in selecting a place for a >Glebe "near Walters cabins on Double Creek for Divine Service." Soon after, >on 20 August 1762, the Vestry Book shows that a letter from Rev. Thomas >Thompson was received by the church elders. It follows here in its >entirety. > >"18 August 1762 Halifax County > >Dear Sir: > >I beg the favour of you to acquaint the Gentlemen of the Vestry from me >that I am not able to discharge the duty of an Incumbent in their Extensive >Parish by Reason of my own advanced age and Growing Infirmities and >therefore quit all Pretensions to it and leave them at liberty to choose >another Minister whom they shall think fitt that I hope theyl Consider in >an Honourable way my great Expense, fatigue and Disappointment and so >deserve my best wishes and Thankfull acknowledgement. I am, Sir, your >Obedient Hbl. Servant, > >[signed] Thomas Thompson" > >He was allowed 2,000 pounds Tobacco in salary. On 16 February 1763 a >notation was made in the Vestry register "To Revd. Thomas Thompson, 4,720 >lbs. Tobacco". On the same day also entered in the record "To John >Thompson, Reader, 800 lbs. Tobacco". > >This Rev. Thomas Thompson [also referred to as 'Thomson'] was ordained by >the Bishop of Litchfield on 15 November 1730 and settled at St. >Bartholomew's Parish in Colleton, SC from 1734 to 1744. He then served St. >George's Parish, Dorchester, SC from 1744 to 1746 at which time he returned >to England. He was back at St. John's Parish, Colleton, SC from September >1758 - 1760, and after that served at Salem, NJ, Chester and Concord, DE, >until he was sent to Antrim Parish, Halifax Co., VA in 1762. He died there >"an aged man." [Ref: Colonial Clergy of the Middle Colonies, Frederick >Lewis Weis, 1957, Reprint 1978.] > >On 29 November 1763 it was ordered that the Collector pay John Thompson his >salary, " . . levyed last year". On 22 June 1764 John Salmon was appointed >Reader "at the Old Chappell on Leatherwood at or near John Blevinses." >[Could John Thompson have been in failing health and unable to continue his >duties to the congregation at this time? It seems very likely, as we find >notice of his demise in the June 1765 Court records. I also believe this >"John Salmon" may well be the same as "John Solomon", named as one of the >prospective appraisers of John Thompson's estate.] > > >==== VAPITTSY Mailing List ==== > >