My Genealogy Hound

STEWART S. D. THOMPSON, president Armenia Insurance company, Pittsburgh, was born in Manchester, now a part of Allegheny, September 4, 1841. His grandfather and father, both named Stewart Thompson, came from the north of Ireland to Allegheny county, and the father died when our subject was nine years old. Young Stewart then went to Penn township, where he was reared among relatives, his education being finished at Wilkinsburg Academy. When nineteen years old he returned to Allegheny and studied law for two and one-half years. His mother, Margaret Thompson, was a daughter of Maj. Thomas Sampson, who came from Ireland and served in the revolutionary army. John Sampson, son of Maj. Thomas, was a lieutenant in the war of 1812, and took part in the battle of Black Rock. He settled very early in Penn (then Wilkins) township, where he died in 1859. His son George died at Suffolk, Va., in 1863, while serving in the 101st P. V., in the Union army. In 1861 Mr. Thompson married Bella S., daughter of Andrew Scott, a native of Ireland. He soon after engaged in the fire insurance business, and was made almost bankrupt by the losses of companies in which he held stock, through the Chicago fire of 1871. In 1872 he organized the Armenia Fire Insurance company, was elected its president, and has ever since held the position without having a vote cast against him. He was for nine years a member of the Allegheny City council, and has served several years as school director. He is a republican, and a member of the Sixth U. P. Church of Allegheny.