My Genealogy Hound

Hon. Frank M. Thompson, superintendent of Hot Springs Reservation, is a native of Osage County, Mo., born June 24, 1843, and is the only survivor of four children (sons) born to the union of James and Esther (Estes) Thompson, the father a native of Illinois, and the mother of Missouri. James Thompson followed agricultural pursuits as a livelihood, and died in Hempstead County, Ark., in 1880. The mother also died in that county. They came to Arkansas in 1849. The maternal grandparents were early settlers of Missouri. Frank M. Thompson was but six years of age when he came to Arkansas, and here he grew to maturity, receiving a limited education in the common schools. He was reared to the arduous duties of the farm, and remaining on the same until the breaking out of the war, he flung aside the implements of peace, to take up the weapons of warfare, and enlisted in the State troops, serving three months when they were disbanded. He then enlisted in the regular Confederate army, Company G, Nineteenth Arkansas Infantry, and served until the surrender, during which time he held the rank of sergeant, lieutenant and captain. He was promoted to the rank of captain in 1864. At Arkansas Post he was taken prisoner and confined at Camp Chase, Ohio, for three months, thence to Fort Delaware, where he remained one month, and then to Petersburg, Va., where he was exchanged. He was in a number of engagements, the most prominent being: Oak Hill, Mo., and Chickamauga. At the close of the war he located in Columbia County, Ark., and carried on the mercantile business until 1875, when he went to Hope, Hempstead County, of the same State, and there still continued that business until 1885. He then sold out and lived retired for a few years. He represented Columbia County in the legislature for one term, in 1871, was county judge of Hempstead County, from 1882 to 1884, and was mayor of Hope for three terms. He was elected to the State senate, in 1886, from the Twentieth district, composed of the counties of Hempstead and Nevada, and served four years, when he resigned, to accept his present position in June, 1889. He selected Miss E. C. Hicks, a native of Arkansas, as his companion in life, and was married to her August 15, 1865. The fruits of this union are two children: Frank M., Jr., and Floyd. The Captain is a member of the Masonic fraternity and Knights of Pythias. He is one of the prominent men of Southern Arkansas, and now holds an important position given him by the Government. He was Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, for the State, in 1884, is chairman of the Republican Committee of Hempstead County, and a member of the Republican State Central Committee for the State at large.