My Genealogy Hound

LEWIS B. THOMPSON, a rising young business man of Kennedy, who, by his industry and intelligence, has reached an eminence in the business community of his town second to none, is a son of William and Roxana (Bates) Thompson, and was born in Buffalo, Erie county, New York, July 7, 1860. His grandfather Thompson was a native of Canada, but came across the lake and settled in the Empire State, where he followed shoe-making until he died. Joseph Bates (maternal grandfather) was a native of Ellington, and was a miller by trade. He married and reared a family, of eight children, — three sons and five daughters. He was a devout church member.

William Thompson was born in Toronto, Canada, in the month of September, 1830, and coming to the town of Silver Creek, followed shoemaking. From Silver Creek he went to Meadville, Pa., where he still resides. In 1854 he married Roxana Bates, a daughter of Joseph Bates, of Ellington, and they were blessed with one child, Lewis B. William Thompson spent nearly thirty years in various capacities on the railroad. He was conductor on the Erie, and held the same position on the old N. Y., P. and O., which is now a division of the Erie railroad.

Lewis B. Thompson is the only child of his parents. He came to Forestville with his parents, where he spent his childhood and youth until ten years of age, attending the common schools. His folks then went to Ellington, then to Poland, and finally down into the Keystone State. He spent three years at the latter place, and then began life braking on the railroad, — an employment that kills no less than three young men, the flowers of the country, for every working day in the year, and maims more than five times the number. Finding that there were much easier employments with superior remuneration and less risk, he left the railroad and its excitements, and learned the secrets of making confectionery. In 1886 he began the manufacture of baskets at Greenfield, Pa., and stayed there three years, but in 1889 came to Kennedy, where he is now located. The factory is one of the leading industries of the place, and employs from thirty to fifty men, making about three thousand to eight thousand baskets per day, or a total of over a million per year.

On November 7, 1883, he was united in marriage with Lola M. Luce, a daughter of Timothy J. Luce, of Kennedy, and they have two children: Harry L., born August 24, 1884, and Ford C., born July 14, 1886.

L. B. Thompson is a republican, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to which he has been attached for a number of years.