Thompson Family Page
Welcome to The Thompson Family Page, which furnishes historical detail beyond the site index, exploring four generations of Thompsons in the line of William Thompson of Londonderry, Ireland.
7. Juliet Thompson (Bateman)‑‑Juliet Thompson was born Feb.23, 1804 in SC (or Anson Co. NC.) and died Dec.18,1876 in Houston Co.,TN. She was the wife of John Bateman and mother of Emmaline Bateman and nine other children. They married in Dickson Co. TN on July 10, 1823. Juliet was one of ten children of parents Charles Thompson and Mary Hodges. The children of John and Juliet Bateman were: Mary Ann (1825-1876), William (1827-1897), Emmaline (1829-after 1900) married Larkin Hooper, John Jeremiah (1831-1908), Sarah Caroline (b.1833 or 1840), Thomas W. (1836-ca.1864), Patrick Henry (1836-1907), Elizabeth F. (b.1837), Thena or Cena Arrena (Irene) -b.1838, and George Washington Bateman (1841-1878). Three of their sons fought as Confederate soldiers in the Civil War.
8. Charles Thompson‑‑Charles Thompson, father of Juliet, was likely born in 1760 in Dinwiddie, Co., VA. and raised in the environs of Chamberlayne Bed Creek. (A July 1833 US Pension record gives Charles' age at 73 "as of last June" for service in the Virginia militia, which would put his birth in July 1760.) He joined the Virginia Militia in Capt. Edward Pegram's Company in Dinwiddie Co. in the spring of 1779 as a private. According to the book, Come over into Macedonia: The Charles Thompson line, a generation earlier his family had moved into southern Virginia and purchased a good deal of rolling farmland. Unfortunately the Dinwiddie courthouse records were burned during the Civil War by Lee's confederate troops to warm themselves in the freezing winter. The available evidence suggests that the family probably owned land in both Virginia and North Carolina, the Dinwiddie Co. farmland remaining in the hands of Charles and his brother Amos until 1782. This would account for the birth and early residence of Charles and his parents in the area of Surry and Dinwiddie Counties in Virginia as well as the family's residence in North Carolina shortly after Charles' birth. According to his Revolutionary War pension, Charles moved from Virginia to Northampton Co., NC in the spring of 1781. He sold his farm near Five Forks, VA one year later. In August 1782 Charles appeared in Orange County, NC as executor for his deceased brother Amos' Virginia estate, which Charles inherited and sold.
Charles' brother, Amos Thompson was likely born in Dinwiddie Co.VA between 1752 and 1762 (one bio says 1758). He married Martha Strother in 1780 Suffolk, Nansemond, Virginia, had one son named Littlebury ca. 1780, wrote his will on March 25, 1781 in Orange Co. NC and died in battle in late 1781 or 1782. Amos bequeathed his family homestead in Five Forks, Dinwiddie Co. VA to Charles in his will. Per Angelfire.com, Amos fought for the British in the War of Independence and was mortally wounded at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in Guilford County, North Carolina (which took place March 21, 1781). Amos identified Charles as his brother and named him co-executor of his estate.
In 1782, Charles purchased land in Northampton Co. NC where he lived for over a decade, married and had his first children. In 1791 Charles' brother, Balaam, in Chatham Co. NC had a child that he names Charles Thompson, perhaps naming him after his brother. By 1800 Charles (Sr.) had moved with his family to a farm west of Wadesboro, Indian Camp Fork of Little Branch Creek, Anson Co. NC. Charles Thompson appears on the 1800 Anson Co. NC census. Some researchers think that in late 1800, Charles moved to the York District of South Carolina. The only evidence I have found that might substantiate this is Juliet's answer in the 1850 and 1870 censuses that she was born in South Carolina in 1804. (However, in the 1860 census she states that she was born in Tennessee.).
In 1808,Charles finally moved with his family to Dickson Co. TN where they lived until his death. On Dec.23, 1786 (date is per Mary's deposition of 1840), Charles married Mary Hodges (1769-1848, died in Tennessee), who is thought to be the daughter of Thomas Hodges (ca. 1750-1817) of Northampton Co., North Carolina. Mary's 1840 deposition also confirms her surname: she was "formerly Mary Hodges." The 1790 Northampton Co. NC census shows Charles Thompson and Thomas Hodges on the same page--Thomas Hodges being the only Hodges listed in the census for Northampton Co. NC. The 1790 census shows Thomas with three white females in his household, but the 1800 and 1810 census do not show any older females in his household who might be a wife, suggesting his wife may have died before 1800. A 1792 Nothampton Co. land deal records Henry Weaver selling land to Charles Malone which borders the line of Thomas Hodges, with Charles Thompson as a witness. (Northampton. Deeds 1791–1808 on Familysearch). Thomas Hodges died without a will and his affairs were settled in probate court in 1817. Unfortunately. the court documents simply itemize his possessions and their sale and do not specify any heirs (however the lists of items and their buyers includes the names William Hodges, Thomas Hodges (Jr.?), and Meacham Hodges, who could be relatives). Thomas' wife is not mentioned in the probate report. It appears she predeceased him and is thus her name is unknown, although some researchers believe she may have been Elizabeth Cottrell.
Mary Hodges' family: The book, Come over into Macedonia: The Charles Thompson line..., by Thelma S. McManus and Grace E. Burlison (p.2) provides the following information about Mary's probable father:
In December 1782, Charles Thompson bought a 205 acre tract in the Williams District of Northampton County, North Carolina. The land was on Arthur's Creek, a branch of the Roanoke River. A local farmer and neighbor was Thomas Hodges, who had a daughter named Mary. The next important step in Charles Thompson's life was on December 23, 1786 when he and Mary Hodges were married. Mary, born in Northampton County in 1769, was a member of a family that had resided in that county for a number of years. For many years Thomas Hodges is listed as a resident of Northampton County and on the 1790 U.S. census, his family was the only one of that name in the entire county.
While the book's conclusions about Mary's paternity appear reasonable, other researchers have generally overlooked Thomas Hodges of Northampton Co. and looked farther afield for Mary's parents. On-line family trees tend to posit three other sets of parents for Mary Hodges Thompson, but each is located at a significant distance from Northampton Co. NC, where Mary married Charles Thompson and was likely brought up. (She would have been 11 years old when Charles moved to Northampton Co. around 1781.) The three sets of proposed parents are:
1. Thomas Hodges (ca. 1750-1808) & Susanna Bomar of Halifax Co., VA, who were married around 1770 (or before). This Thomas' will of 1808 also lists his children & includes no daughter named Mary. There is no evidence that they ever lived near Northampton Co. NC, nor are the names of their children familiar family names in the Thompson-Hodges line, nor do I show any DNA matches to any of them.
2. Thomas Hodges (ca. 1740-1842) and Elizabeth White of Maryland, who married in 1797 (almost two decades after Mary Thompson's birth). This Thomas left a will naming his eldest daughter Mary, however the date of their marriage and their location in Maryland would seem to rule them out as well.
I also show no DNA matches to this family.
3. Thomas Hodges (ca. 1750-ca.1815) and Elizabeth "Betsy" Cottrell (ca.1750/60-1820), who married sometime between 1769 and 1781, settled in Watauga Co. NC. The couple's children were primarily born in Virginia and Wilkes Co. NC. and several of them are named on the 1850 census. Their first child, Susanna Hodges Triplett, may have been born as early as 1771 or later in 1782 per various estimates. As there is no extant marriage record for the couple nor firm dates for the birth of their earliest children, the couple cannot be ruled out as parents of Mary, but it is difficult to account for Mary's marriage in Northampton County, far from her family in western North Carolina. And yet, I have 114 autosomal DNA matches to the children of Thomas & Betsy Hodges, 20 of them to their son, William Hodges (1782-1855). DNA seems to establish them as relatives of Mary, despite the problem of proximity. In the absence of further records my speculation at this point would be that Thomas Hodges of Northampton Co. NC and Thomas Hodges of Watauga Co. and Wilkes Co. NC might be cousins (because they share the same name they are not likely brothers) with Thomas Hodges of Northampton Co. NC. being the father. Otherwise we would have to posit that Mary wasn't born in Northampton Co. NC, but was the eldest daughter of Thomas & Betsy from Watauga Co. but she chanced to meet Charles Thompson Northampton Co. , or that she was, for some reason, living with relatives (perhaps Thomas Hodges) in Northampton Co. NC when Charles moved into the area. More research is needed to clarify these issues if paternity is ever to be proven.
Note: Available research on this family shows that Thomas Hodges of Watauga Co. might have been born in Augusta Co. VA or alternatively that he was born in Wales or near London, the son of a wealthy father named Thomas, and immigrated to Virginia at a young age. Immigration lists do include a 1775 arrival in Virginia or Maryland of a Thomas Hodges, but it is not certain which Thomas Hodges he might have been (U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s).
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Charles and Mary Thompson had the following known children: Mary Thompson Plant (1788-1830; born in VA?), Sally (1792-1849), James Hilton (1794-1868), William Jaspar (1797-1842), Amos Gillespie (1799-1854), Jeremiah (1801-64), Juliet (1804-1876), John (1805-1867), Nancy (1808-1837) and Charles Washington (1810-1895). It is thought that Sally, James, William and Amos were born in Northampton Co. NC, while Jeremiah was born in Anson Co.NC. Juliet may have been born in South Carolina in 1804 (per 2 out of 3 censuses) and the rest of the children in Dickson, TN, where the family settled presumably in 1808. There are earlier Tennessee records of land sales by a Charles Thompson, one in 1792, where Charles Thompson is selling 200 acres of land in Montgomery Co. TN (which borders Dickson Co.), land which was originally granted as a "pre-emption claim" by the State of North Carolina (Deeds Montgomery. Deed Books 1789–1805 on Familysearch). He sold 25 acres of land in Montgomery Co. in 1793 and in 1798 sold another plot of land in Robertson Co. TN involving a pre-emption claim from the State of North Carolina. Pre-emption claims gave grantees the exclusive right to purchase a specified tract of land, often before the land was officially put up for sale to others. None of these land deals show the presence of Charles Thompson's signature, so it is unclear if Charles was traveling to Tennessee for these transactions in the 1790s, or if this might have been a different Charles Thompson engaging in early Tennessee land speculation. There is a record of Charles Thompson selling his land to Anthony MacGregor in Anson Co., NC in Feb.10, 1807, which seems to agree with Charles' military pension statement that he left Anson Co., NC for Dickson Co., TN in 1808 (Anson. Deeds 1771–1809 on Familysearch). It is in Oct. 1811 that we find the first clear evidence of Charles in Tennessee when he buys 170 acres of land on Yellow Creek in Dickson Co. TN from seller Richard Allen (Deeds: Dickson. Deeds 1804–1823 on FamilySearch).
It is reported that four of Charles' and Mary's children were mentally retarded; Sally, Nancy, John and Charles Jr. Charles mentions them in his will as "my beloved helpless children." Charles lived out his days as a farmer and his wife lived until 1848. Charles' oldest son, James, inherited his land and helped care for the children. Charles Thompson died March 4, 1837 in Dickson Co.TN. Charles' parents are thought to be William Thompson and Hannah Bell. While there is not documentary proof of this, DNA evidence and proximity provide strong indirect evidence for this descendancy which is discussed in detail below.
Note: Virginia and North Carolina land records of the Colonial period include several individuals named Charles Thompson (or Thomson) who are not the Charles Thompson who married Mary Hodges and went to Tennessee. One Charles Thompson Sr., who had an adult son named Charles Jr., sold land in Surry Co., VA in 1766. Charles Jr. later appeared on a marriage list as marrying a wife named Mary Thompson in Rowan County, NC, witnessed by a Nathan Thompson. Another Charles Thomson who married Joanna Washington buys and sells land in Northampton Co., NC in the early 1770s and in his will names his wife and children including one named Etheldred Thompson. Another Charles Thompson buys and sells land and slaves in Lunenburg Co. VA in the 1770s and 1780s. A fourth Charles Thomson purchases land in Chatham Co., NC in 1781. (No other Thompsons are mentioned in the document and this is the year in which my Charles served in the military and bought land in Northampton Co. NC, making it unlikely (yet still possible) that it is him buying land near his mother who was then living in Chatham Co., NC.
9. William Thompson (IV) -- the likely father of Charles Thompson is William Thompson who was born in 1720 (or 1729) in Albermarle, Surry Co., Virginia and died on December 25, 1772, in Chatham Co., North Carolina, at the age of 52. His wife was Hannah Bell (1723–1788), daughter of John Bell (born in 1696 in Surry Co, VA, and died there April 1, 1746) and Hannah Stokes (born 1690 in Surry Co, VA and died there in March 1768). William and Hannah married in 1742. A Virginia, Apprentice Index, 1640-1800 lists a William Thompson as the son of "William Tomson" with residence in Virginia on Oct.9,1728 and shows that he was apprenticing as a shoemaker under Francis Edwards (Lancaster County Orders 7, 1721-1729, 301). This suggests that his training as a shoemaker began at around age 8. It appears that he also trained as a tailor--a 1747 Surry Co. land deal specifies that William Thompson, husband of Mary, was a tailor, and a 1751 document records that William Thompson, tailor, agreed to apprentice Levi Killingsworth as a tailor for five years in Surry Co. VA. Later, William became a colonel in the Colonial army of North Carolina.
A book entitled Historical Southern Families, Vol.1 provides the following details about William: William Thompson sold some of his land in Surry Co. VA on Nov. 25, 1751, his wife, Hannah, signing the deed. He then purchased land in nearby Brunswick Co. VA where he was deeded land in 1752 and granted land in 1753. In 1761 he sold the Brunswick Co. land. Orange Co., NC records show he was deeded land there in 1758 and he is shown to have residency in Orange Co. by 1764 and was deeded land there in May and November of 1764. He was a Justice of Orange Co. in 1768. His land fell into Chatham Co. NC when that county was formed out of Orange Co. and he died in Chatham Co., NC in 1772. He owned an interest in a saw-mill on Deep River in Chatham Co. and in the iron works which were of great importance during the Revolutionary War. William's wife, Hannah, died in Chatham Co., NC in 1788 and left a will appointing her two oldest sons, John and Balaam, as executors.
Dinwiddie Co. VA, where Charles stated that he was born and where his brother Amos owned land, borders Brunswick Co. VA. Unfortunately all of Dinwiddie County's records from that period were destroyed during the Civil War, so we cannot confirm whether or not William Thompson, who frequently bought and sold land in Virginia, also purchased land in neighboring Dinwiddie County and lived there anytime during the period of 1758-1763. Deed Book 7, 1761-1764, Brunswick County, Virginia Brunswick. Deed Books on FamilySearch records that on August 24, 1761, William Thompson and his wife Hannah Thompson, of Brunswick County, sold 750 acres of land to William Blunt of Sussex County, VA, which indicates that they are still in Virginia in 1761. William's residence in Orange Co., NC isn't documented until he appears there as a witness for a land deal in 1763. The evidence suggests that Charles and Amos inherited land with a homestead in Five Forks, Dinwiddie Co., property which Amos, in his early 20s, left to Charles in 1781.
If William and family lived in Dinwiddie Co. VA for several years prior to 1763 and left the land to Charles and Amos, this would explain Charles' pension statement that he was born in Dinwiddie Co. VA and account for how young Amos came to own a farm there, as well as why Hannah's will does not mention Charles (if he had already inherited land) or Amos (who had already died). Also Amos was living in Orange Co. NC, near Hannah Thompson and family when he wrote his will in 1781.
Charles Thompson's military pension declaration gives details of his military service and includes his interviewer's brief summary of where Charles lived: "Declarant was born and raised in the state of Virginia, Dinwiddie County, where he remained until the spring of 1781 when he removed to North Carolina, as before stated [Northampton County], where he remained until the year 1808 when he removed to the county of Dickson, State of Tennessee, where he has resided ever since." We know that William's family moved to North Carolina for part of Charles upbringing, but it is certainly possible that Charles did not go into detail about his childhood and the interviewer assumed that he never left Virginia until 1781. If we could be certain that Charles and Amos lived till adulthood in Dinwiddie County and never in Orange/Chatham Co.NC, then we would have to hyspothesize that perhaps William had a brother who lived in Dinwiddie who was their father, all records of the parents having been destroyed.
I have 22 DNA matches to children of William and Hannah Thompson other than Charles, 6 of them over 21 cMs (including 3 over 21 cM to Balaam Thompson), and 10 verified by their family trees, indicating a very close relation between Charles and the family of William and Hannah Thompson. The Albermarl Parish confirms the birth dates of the three of the oldest children of William and Hannah Thompson: John, Balaam and Susannah. The children listed in Hannah's 1784 will are as follows:
Hannah Terryll (b.1742)
John (b.1744)
Balaam (1745-1798)
William (1747-1797)
Susannah Kendrick (1749-1845)
Mary (Martha) Self (1751-1784)
Sarah Terryll (1754-1808)
(Elizabeth) Ann Kendrick (1761-1800)
Another possible daughter who is not named in the will but who is a strong DNA match to the family is Mary Elizabeth Thompson Tharp (ca. 1752-1852), born in North Carolina and died in Alabama at 100 years of age. The following timeline suggests how Charles and Amos likely fit into the family of William and Hannah Thompson (the births of some of their children are omitted for brevity):
Timeline:
William Thompson born in 1720 in Surry Co., Virginia
Hannah Bell born 1721 (or 1723) in Surry Co., Virginia
ca.1742- marriage of William Thompson to Hannah Bell in Surry Co., Virginia
Birth of Balaam in 1745 and William in 1747 in Albemarle, Surry, Virginia
1747/8 William Thompson Jr., tailor, of Surry Co., VA sells Surry Co. land to John Montgomery
1751 William Thompson granted in Brunswick County, VA, per a 1767 land deed; also William
Thompson, tailor, agrees to apprentice Levi Killingsworth as a tailor for 5 years in Surry Co. VA
1752 William Thompson buys further land in Brunswick County, VA
Birth of Sarah Terrell in 1754 Brunswick, Virginia
Probable land purchase in neighboring Dinwiddie Co. ca. 1755-58 (all old Diwiddie records burned)
Birth of Amos, born ca.1758, and Charles, born in 1760 in Dinwiddie County, VA
William gets deed to land in Orange Co., NC in 1758 and sells his land in Brunswick, VA in 1761
(Brunswick Co. borders Dinwiddie Co. which provides proximity. It is unclear when the
family moved to North Carolina, but definitely by 1763. The land in Orange Co. became part of
Chatham Co. NC in 1768. )
Birth of (Elizabeth) Ann Thompson between 1758-61 possibly in Chatham Co., NC or Virginia
Death of William in 1772 in Chatham Co., North Carolina
1779: 19 year old Charles joins the Virginia militia under Capt. Pegram
Charles moves to Northampton Co. NC in 1781, the year his brother Amos died in the war
leaving his Dinwiddie Co.,VA homestead to Charles in his will
Charles 1786 married Mary Hodges of Northampton Co. NC
Death of Hannah Bell Thompson in 1788 in Chatham Co., North Carolina
Sometime after 1794 Charles moved to Anson Co. NC (then in 1800 may have moved to S.Carolina)
1807 Charles sold his land in Anson Co. NC and moved to Dickson Co, TN around 1808
Charles died in 1837 in TN; wife Mary died in 1848 in TN.
Geni.com Note: William & Hannah Thompson moved To Chatham Co., NC after 1755. ... He also served as H.M. (His Majesty's) justice of peace in Orange Co NC prior to the revolution. ... He operated a well-known ferry on Deep River very near Gulph Community. They owned 700 acres on the South side of the Nottawa river in Surry Co.,VA.
Two William Thompsons: Two of the mostly likely and oft-cited fathers of Charles are named William Thompson, and both of them had residence in Virginia and were born within a year of each other. Each of them have multiple descendants who show up in Ancestry thrulines as DNA matches to the line of Charles Thompson, though many more robust matches appear for the line of William and Hannah Bell Thompson. (The DNA matches I have to William and Rachel Thompson, have shared matches to another branch of my family--which is probably the reason for these matches.) These two Williams Thompsons could be cousins of some kind with a not-too-distant common ancestor, however, their exact relationship is unknown. Both of them (or their wives) left a will naming their children but neither mention Charles.
The other William Thompson was born Jan.25,1719 in Gloucester, VA and died in Halifax, Va in 1780. He lived his whole life in Virginia and married Rachel Coleman in 1749 in Virginia. The daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Coleman, Rachel Coleman was born in Abingdon Parish, Gloucester, VA in 1730 and died in 1780 in Halifax, VA. Her husband, William Thompson, is thought to be the son of Henry Thompson (born before 1700 and died after 1723) and Savannah (unknown). This William also had a brother named James. While William and Hannah Bell Thompson were born in Surry Co. VA which borders Dinwiddie Co. where Charles was born, none of the Virginia counties (Gloucester, Halifax & Pittsylvania) associated with William and Rachel Coleman Thompson are very near Dinwiddie Co. VA. Records indicate that William and Rachel Thompson were living in Pittsylvania Co. VA around the time that Charles was born, several counties away from Dinwiddie Co. The couple had the following known children (who are mentioned in William Thompson Sr.'s will):
Mary Morgan (1751-1798)
William Lee Thompson Jr. (1771-1840 or b.1753)
Susannah Terry (1775-)
Ann Terry (1767-1860)
(Martha) Patsey (1761-)
Rebecca Austin or Cocke (1757-)
Note: William Thompson, the tailor, who married Hannah Bell should not be confused with Gen. William Thompson (1736-1781) who immigrated from Ireland, married Catherine Ross and served as a brigadier general in the Continental Army in Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War.
10.William Thompson (III) - The father of Col. William IV, who married Hannah Bell, William Thompson III was born in 1693 in Prince George Co, VA and died in 1752 in Albemarle, Surry County, VA. His wife was Mary Clifton, born in 1700 in Virginia and died in 1730 in Granville, Orange County, NC. William married Mary Clifton in 1720 in Surry, Virginia. Their children were: Sarah, William, Mary Killebrew, Sarah, James, and George W. Mary's parents were Thomas Clifton (b.1656 in Lytham, Lancashire, England and died Dec.1, 1724 in Brandon, Prince George, Virginia) and Mary Parr (b. Jan.11, 1659 in Saint Peter, Sheffield, York, England and died in 1769 in Colonial Virginia). Mary Clifton’s lineage allegedly extends back many generations. Her line obstensively traces back to Henry Plantagenet (1068-1135) and his father, William “the Conqueror” of Normandy (1024-1087). His line in turn traces back to the Viking line of Rollo Ragnaldsson (846-932), which allegedly traces back to Memnon Phrygia of Troy, Turkey, several centuries B.C.E.
A book entitled Historical Southern Families vol.3 by Jon Bennett Brodie provides the following information about William Thompson III, his uncle Samuel, and two of William's children (pp.224-25):
A William Thompson [III], probably the "nephew William" mentioned in the will of Samuel Thompson, 1721, as a son of his brother, William Thompson [II], made his will in Surry, Parish of Albermarle, Dec. 28, 1751, probated April 21, 1751. It was a very short will. He gave to his daughter Sarah Killebrew a cow and a calf, and all the rest of property was left to son James. James and "my wife Mary" [Clifton] were executors.
11.William Thompson (II) - William's parents were William Thompson (born about 1658-62 in New London, Connecticut and died Dec. 20, 1791 in Albemarle Parish, Surrey, Virginia) and Martha Mosely (born in 1675 in Rappahannock, Essex, Virginia and died in 1734 in Albemarle, Surry County, Virginia). She was the daughter of Col William Mosely (b.Jan,21,1628 in Rappahannock, Essex, Virginia and died Feb.28,1685 in Rappahannock) and Martha Brasseur (b. in 1636 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, and died in 1730 in Chuckatuck, Nansemond.) William Thompson (II) was born in New London, Connecticut where his father was a minister. When William was about four or five years old, the family moved to Surry County, Virginia. William (II) is first listed as one of Rev. William Thompson's children on a headright grant dated 1670. He gave his age in 1673/4 as sixteen years of age and gave testimony concerning damage to his father's tobacco. The children of William and Martha Thompson were:
John (died 1755 in Surry Co., VA. m. Anne), Katherine (m. Joseph King), Hannah, Samuel (1686-aft. 1751 in Surry Co., VA) and William (II).
12. Rev. William Thompson (I) - William's parents were Rev. William Thompson I (born in 1629 in Winiwich, Lancastershire, England and died between 1686 and 1700 in Westmoreland County, VA) and Katherine Treat (born before 1637 in Pitminster, Somerset, England and died after 1690 in Virginia), the daughter of Richard Treat (born Aug 28, 1584 in Pitminster, Somerset, England and died after Oct 11, 1669 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut) and Alice Gaylord (born before May 10, 1594 in Pitminster, Somerset, England and died after Feb 13, 1669 in Wethersfield, Hartford, Connecticut).
William attended Harvard and graduated in 1653. He married Katherine Treat on Nov 29, 1655 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston records show that Katherine and William were married by Governor John Endicott. Rev. William went to Springfield, Massachusetts, to preach from 1654-1656. According to John L. Sibley's Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard College (pp 354-357) on Dec. 20, 1656 "Mr. Thomson came to Misticke" there he set out to learn the Indian language in order to preach to them. He was appointed missionary to the Pequots in 1657. 12 June 1659 "Mr. Tompson taught at Mr. Buttow's (house, near Mystic)" He probably removed thereafter to New London, where he bought a house. When he left New London supposedly feeble health after 1664, his house was sold to Oliver Manwaring whose descendant Frances Manwaring Caulkins, the historian referenced herein. On Sept. 7, 1659 he received ten pounds "paid to Mr. William Tompson whoe studdieth the Indian Language that he may Teach and Instruct the Pequotts." In 1662 twenty pounds were paid to him for "teaching the Indians about New London" On Sept. 18, 1663, Mr. William Thompson made a tender of property to the Court of Magistrates at Hartford: "Whereas Mr. Wm. Thomson, of New London, is removing himself from thence to Virginia." The Connecticut tribes were warring with each other, and the English settlers of New London were predisposed to assist Uncas, Sachem of the Mohegans, with his more troublesome enemies. Convinced that the best interests of the colony lay in letting the indians fight their own fight, Boston issued decrees to that end. Uncas was fortunate to find continued assistance with one Brewster,of Brewster's Neck and this William Thompson. They gave him shelter and supplied him with gun powder and other necessities. He settled in New London as missionary to the Pequot Indians, by 1659. After moving to Surry Co.,Virginia, William received a headright grant of land, and was minister to three parishes for the next several decades before his death. Some sources put his death in 1686 but other evidence suggests he may have lived until around 1700. William and Katherine had at least five children: Catherine (born in Connecticut), Samuel (born ca. 1656 and died ca1720 in Surry Co., VA; m. Mary Marriott) , William, Elizabeth (b.ca 1660 in CT), and John (b.ca.1661 and died ca.1699 in England; m. Elizabeth Salway). Below is more information about Katherine's father:
Richard Treat Esquire (1584-1669)—Born in Pitminster, Somerset England, he married Alice Gaylord and had at least 10 children in England before the family joined the Puritan immigration to the Massachusetts Bay Colony shortly after Katherine's birth (ca.1637). From there, the family settled in Wethersfield, Hartford Co., Connecticut where Richard amassed 900 acres of land. From 1658 to 1665, he was elected assistant magistrate of the colony eight times, and was named in the royal charter of Charles II as one of the original patentees of the Charter of the Colony of Connecticut. Their son, Robert Treat Jr. (1624–1710), served as governor of Connecticut from 1683 to 1698.
Although the evidence is somewhat weak, a number of researchers show the parents of Rev. William Thompson as being another Rev. William Thompson (born ca. 1597 in Winnich, Lancashire, England and died Dec. 10, 1666 in Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts) and Abigail Collins (1591-1642). Frances Manwaring Caulkins, who wrote a History of New London, and whose family purchased land previously held by Rev. William Thompson, stated that he was the son of Rev. Thompson of Braintree, Mass. William Thompson’s line allegedly extends into antiquity, with several lines going back to English and French royalty in the Middle Ages. The Thompson paternal line goes back to Samuel Thompson (1460-1510) of Kent, England. In this line is Thomas Thompson (1530-1648) whose mother is Elizabeth Warren, whose Warren lineage goes back to John Warren (1414-1475), whose mother is Margery Bulkely. This line is said to extend back to the Viking, Ivan Halfdansson (b.770).