My Genealogy Hound

HENRY THOMPSON. This early pioneer and most prominent and substantial citizen of Mason Township, Cass County, Mich., was born near Coventry, in Orleans County, Vt., December 16, 1818, and was the fifth in a family of eight children born to Samuel and Lucy (Woodbridge) Thompson. Samuel Thompson was born near. Troy, N. Y., m 1782, and was the son of James Thompson, who was born on the ocean, when his parents came from England to this country. The latter’s father was a Scotchman by birth, but went to England, where he married an English lady. Later he started for the United States, and after reaching this country settled near Troy, N. Y., where the grandfather of our subject grew to mature years. The latter was a sharpshooter during the Revolutionary War and served for more than seven years, taking part in many of the principal engagements. He lived to be over ninety years of age, and died in Kentucky at the home of one of his sons. Our subject has in his possession a relic given him by his grandfather, and this he prizes very highly. It is in the shape of a $7 pasteboard bill, called Continental money, issued by act of Congress and dated at Philadelphia May 20, 1777, payable in gold or silver, and was given to his grandfather in part payment for his services during the war.

Samuel Thompson, father of our subject, was the eldest of a family of ten children, and in early life was a school teacher. He went to Vermont from New York State with two of his sisters, Lydia and Polly, and there made a permanent settlement. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. At Vergennes, Vt., he was married to Miss Lucy Woodbridge, a daughter of William Woodbridge, who was a descendant of a prominent New York State family and of good old Revolutionary stock. He was born at Madrid, that State. The brothers and sisters of our subject were as follows: Harriet, who is a widow residing at Adamsville, Cass County, and who was ninety years of age September 22, 1893; Martha, deceased; Samuel, who went to Texas in 1838, and that was the last ever heard from him; Ransom N., who resides in Missouri; Cyreno W., who resides in Iowa; and Lucy A., who married Eber Monroe, who died in Lake City, Iowa. She has never remarried.

Henry Thompson, of whom we write, passed his youthful days on his father’s farm in Vermont, and received but the backwoods education of those parts. When twenty years of age the great West tempted him in that direction, and alone, and without means, he turned his face towards the setting sun. His health was not of the best, but he was possessed of an unlimited amount of energy and determination, and he went to work at whatever honorable employment he could find. He landed in Michigan and found employment in a flourmill at Adamsville, with the firm of Sage & Sons. Shortly afterward he was taken sick, and for eight months lay at the point of death. He boarded with a deacon of the Baptist Church, and when he recovered he was owing the latter a small amount that he could not pay until he had earned it. This did not satisfy the good old deacon, who took his trunk and all his clothing except those he wore, and sold them at auction. George Redfield, one of the wealthy citizens of the locality and later Secretary of State and State Treasurer, also Representative from this State and State Senator, bought the clothing and returned them to young Thompson. This naturally made a warm spot in our subject’s heart for George Redfield, but he has never had much affection for deacons since then. For six years he worked in the mill, and while thus engaged bought eighty acres of land, which is now a part of his large estate. After leaving the employ of Sage & Sons he bought a half-interest in the Redfield Mill, at Redfield, owned by his former benefactor, and for the next six years was in the milling business with him. At the expiration of that time he sold his interest and retired to the farm where he has since resided, and where he has accumulated a handsome competence.

In February, 1848, our subject married Miss Elizabeth Holmes, a native of Rochester, N. Y. She died in 1860, leaving seven children, three sons and four daughters. Harriet married William Everett, and later went to Kansas, where she died, leaving one child. Lewis C., a farmer, married Martha Bement, and has two children. Charles married Cynthia E. Bishop, who bore him two children, Verna and Edna. He resides with his father and looks after his extensive interests. Alice, for many years a teacher in the public schools, married M. A. Olds and resides on a farm in Mason Township. She is the mother of two children, Henry and Carlton. Delia married a Mr. Murry and resides in San Francisco, Cal. Wilbur J. married a Miss McLean and is a teacher in the High School of Neola, Iowa; and Jessie is single and resides in San Francisco, Cal. These children are all well-informed men and women, and Mr. Thompson has every right to be proud of them.

All his early life Mr. Thompson was a hard-working man, but of late years he has done but little, trusting to his son Charles to manage his affairs. He has spent considerable time in travel, and has made a number of trips to California. In politics he has ever been a stanch Democrat, and is ever interested in the welfare of his party. While he did not enter the army, he contributed liberally of his means to all worthy enterprises at that time, and probably accomplished as much good as though he had enlisted. He has held the office of Justice of the Peace for many years, was Supervisor of his township for seven years, and, in fact, he has held about all the offices of the township. He has never drank a drop of liquor in his life and has never used tobacco in any form. To such men as Mr. Thompson are due the progress and improvement of the great West, and to them we owe a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. May the sunset of his life be happy and contented. About 1848 his parents came from Vermont, and they made their home with their children until their deaths, his occurring in 1851, and hers in 1854.