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[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Thompson Family Papers, 1869-1944, SC 0246, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.
Purchased at Jeffrey S. Evans' August 26, 2017 Summer Variety Auction (lot 286).
These materials descended in the Benjamin F. Thompson (1849-1913) family of Rockingham County, Virginia.
The collection was received in no particular order. As a result, the archivist imposed an arrangement based on material type and date.
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.
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.
The collections is arranged in three series. The contents are then further arranged chronologically.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1869-1873, 1944, is comprised primarily of approximately 17 letters between Benjamin F. Thompson and Martha E. Liskey Thompson, written during their courtship. The content is generally newsy in nature and includes community and family gossip. The letters are also sentimental, conveying feelings of longing to be in the physical presence of one another. Miscellaneous letters, from persons with an unknown relationship to the Thompson family, are also included. The letters are arranged by recipient.
Series 2: Personal Papers, 1886-1902, 1943, includes miscellaneous papers of the Thompson family primarily created by Benjamin F. Thompson. Papers include a listing of household accounts, a bargain agreement between Benjamin F. Thompson and Daniel Liskey for one hog and one piece of land adjoining the Mt. Vernon school house lot, and two diaries and one weather journal written by Benjamin F. Thompson. Thompson's diaries include brief daily entries in which he mentions visiting with neighbors, travel and work duties, and weather happenings. Of particular interest is a copy of an April 10, 1888 article of agreement between the Board of Trustees of Central School District of Rockingham County and Benjamin F. Thompson, et. al.. In this agreement the Board permits Thompson, Noah, L. Spitzer, and J. P. Brown to use school house number 10 (Dillard or Mt. Vernon) for preaching, Sunday school, and singing during the summer of 1888. In return, Thompson, et. al. will complete all necessary repairs to the building by October 1, 1888 in order to make it ready for public school.
The papers also include handwritten genealogical notes on the Thompson and Liskey families. Also included is an autograph album and war ration book belonging to Elizabeth F. Sharpes Thompson, Benjamin F. Thompson's daughter-in-law.
Series 3: Ephemera, 1872, 1907, includes two Thompson family photographs and a newspaper clipping from the December 19, 1907
One photograph, taken by Jas. O. A. Clary's Palace of Photography in Harrisonburg, depicts Benjamin F. Thompson on November 18, 1872. The verso is inscribed with the following: "No. 18th 1872. Age 23 y 6 m 8 d. B. F. Y." The identity of the person in the second photograph is likely Clarissa Moubray Thompson based on the genealogical clues provided in the inscription: "Joseph Thompson wife. My great grand mother. Mary A. Thompson." This photograph was also taken by Jas. O. A. Clary.
The newspaper clipping is the full front page of the December 19, 1907 issue of the