Thompson Family Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
James Madison University
Second Floor Room 203, MSC 1704
Carrier Library
James Madison University
880 Madison Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22807
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tiffany Cole
Phone: (540) 568-3444
Phone: (540) 568-3612
Fax: (540) 568-3405
Restrictions:

Collection open to research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Thompson Family Papers, 1869-1944, SC 0246, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Summary

Extent:
0.2 cubic feet 1 box
Creator:
Thompson family and Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates
Abstract:
The Thompson Family Papers, 1869-1944, document the lives of Benjamin F. Thompson and his immediate family. The collection includes correspondence, diaries, a weather journal, financial and legal documents, genealogical notes, and family photographs.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Thompson Family Papers, 1869-1944, SC 0246, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Background

Scope and content:

The Thompson Family Papers, 1869-1944, document the lives of Benjamin F. Thompson and his family. The collection includes correspondence between Thompson and his future-wife Martha E. Liskey Thompson, diaries, a weather journal, financial and legal documents, genealogical notes, and family photographs.

Biographical / historical:

Benjamin F. "Frank" Thompson was born March 10, 1849 to Joseph and Clarissa Moubray Thompson (b. 1820). He married Martha Ellen Liskey on November 13, 1873. They lived in the Mt. Sinai community of Rockingham County for many years and together had six children. He was a farmer by trade. Thompson died January 1, 1913 after complications from a runaway accident involving a one horse wagon he was driving. According to his obituary, Thompson had for some time been residing with his son John W. Thompson. The obituary later lists his surviving children, including Benjamin H. Thompson and Ida E. Thompson "who lived with their mother." This suggests that, for one reason or another, Frank Thompson was not living in the same residence as Martha Thompson, his children's mother.

Other family members documented in this collection include Elizabeth Frances Sharpes Thompson (1872-1958) who was married to John William Thompson (1874-1932), Benjamin F. Thompson's eldest son; and Mary A. Thompson (1903-1997), the daughter of John W. and Elizabeth Sharpes Thompson.

Acquisition information:
Purchased at Jeffrey S. Evans' August 26, 2017 Summer Variety Auction (lot 286).
Custodial history:

These materials descended in the Benjamin F. Thompson (1849-1913) family of Rockingham County, Virginia.

Processing information:

The collection was received in no particular order. As a result, the archivist imposed an arrangement based on material type and date.

Arrangement:

The collections is arranged in three series. The contents are then further arranged chronologically.

  1. Correspondence, 1869-1873, 1944
  2. Personal Papers, 1886-1902, 1943
  3. Ephemera, 1872, 1907
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard