My Genealogy Hound

John W. Thompson owes his nativity to Fayette County, Tenn., where he was born, in 1844, to the union of William and Martha (Hays) Thompson, natives of Kentucky and Alabama, respectively. William Thompson, the grandfather of John W., was drafted in the War of 1812, but furnished a substitute. The parents of John W. came to Arkansas in 1855 and settled in what is now Lonoke County, where the father resided until his death in 1884, his wife surviving him two years. He was a minister of the Baptist Church, and was a Royal Arch Mason, being also prominent as a Democrat. Mr. Thompson was seventy-nine years old at the time of his death; his father also lived to an old age, and the family are somewhat noted for their longevity. John W., the youngest of a family of seven children, lived at home until twenty-two years of age, when he commenced farming for himself on the place which he now occupies. He enlisted in the First Trans-Mississippi Regiment of Arkansas during the war, and on July 4, 1862, was captured at the battle of Helena and taken to Alton, Ill., where he was kept until February 17, 1865, then being sent to Point Lookout for exchange. He was exchanged at Richmond, Va., shortly before Lee’s surrender in April, 1865, after which he returned home and resumed farming on his present place. Mr. Thompson was married in 1866 to Fannie Deal, who was born in 1847, a native of North Carolina, and daughter of Jacob and Fannie Deal, who came to Arkansas in 1854. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents of three children: Anna, Oren and Beulah. They are both members of the Baptist Church, of which Mr. Thompson is deacon. He is a prominent Democrat and a highly respected citizen.