52 Ancestors 2021: Week 9: Multiples

   John M. Thompson, who died in Henderson County in 1870, was the lawful father of twenty-nine children; eighteen were by his first wife, three by the second, and eight by the third. Thirteen of these children, eight sons and five daughters, are still living -- Union County History Book, printed 1886

The topic this week is "multiples," and nothing seemed more fitting than to talk about John M. Thompson and his twenty-nine -- yes, you read that correctly -- twenty-nine children. I have been doing my own family tree for twenty-one years now and I STILL haven't found all of the children: as of right now, I've only found 21. That count had been 20 -- until I made a discovery in my DNA.

We'll start from the beginning and I'll tell you a bit about my 4x Grandfather, John M. Thompson. John was born, roughly, in the year of 1810 in the Rolling Fork area of Washington County, Kentucky. He was the son of Thomas Thompson and Elizabeth Oard. By the mid 1820's, he had arrived in Union County, Kentucky, and married for the first time, to my 4x Great-Grandmother, Mariah Ann Mattingly, on December 30th, 1829. 

With Mariah, he fathered eighteen children -- I've only found 13. It's quite possible that the remainder of the children died in childbirth or shortly thereafter and back in those days, not every single birth was recorded. However -- John and his wife Mariah were Catholic, and the Catholics 99% of the time keep phenomenal records. That's how I've found a few of the children they had together. 

While I'm at this point -- I'll go ahead and tell you how I discovered one of the "missing" children of theirs. So my maternal Grandparents were 3rd cousins through their Nally lines.

Grandpa's line being -- himself > Dick Blanford > Agnes Nally > Thomas Sidney Nally > Pius Nally (this ancestor makes them 3rd cousins) > Leonard Nally.

Grandma's line being herself > Anna Thompson > John R. Thompson > Elizabeth Levina Nally > Pius Nally > Leonard Nally.

My Grandmother actually had a second Nally line.. herself > Anna Thompson > Janella Nally > Henry Oliver Nally > Sidney Nally > Leonard Nally. 

So my Grandmother's grandparents -- John R. Thompson & Janella Nally -- were 2nd cousins. 

Anyway. Dick Blanford, my Great-Grandfather, and Lorene LaRue, my Great-Grandmother (through my maternal Grandfather).. they married each others sibling. Dick's brother Tom, married Lorene's sister Opal. So every DNA cousin I have that is through Dick/Lorene or Tom/Opal (or more exactly, anyone who comes through Dick & Tom's parents -- Martin & Agnes) matches my Grandmother's side of the tree -- IE: the Nally's. 

Well for some reason, my Ganno cousins were matching my Grandma's side of the tree. Lorene LaRue & Opal LaRue had another sister -- Bonnie LaRue who married a Ganno. Bonnie LaRue has no Nally line, as she isn't a descendant of Martin Blanford & Agnes Nally. So why are these Ganno cousins matching my Grandma's side????

I took a look at the Ganno family tree. Martin Ganno was the son of Charles Ganno and Martha Ellen Thompson. Hmm, my Grandma's side has Thompson's in it. So let's pursue this. Martha's parents were a Peter Thompson and Nancy Ann Mills. The only record of Peter is his marriage record to Nancy Mills -- April 21st, 1873, in Henderson County, Kentucky. 

Nancy was born in 1841, so I've estimated Peter being born around 1840. Probably anywhere between 1835-1840, to be honest. We know Peter has passed away sometime between 1873 (the birth of Martha Ellen Thompson, his daughter) and the 1880 census, as his wife, Nancy, his re-married by then. 

But, who are Peter's parents? Well. I started digging in the "shared" matches between me and my Ganno cousins. They were absolutely matching my Thompson/Nally's... then I realized they were matching my Thompson/Mattingly's.... and then I realized, they're matching my Mattingly/Shanks'. Jackpot. 

Peter had to be one of the "missing" children of John Thompson and Mariah Mattingly. But why isn't he in the censuses with his parents? 1850, 1860, 1870? The answer could be -- Peter jumped household to household and never got pinned down for a census. It's also possible Peter wasn't his first name, or perhaps on census, he went by a middle name? There's tons of explanations. But as of yet, he hasn't been found in ANY census.. even though I know he was alive in 1850, 1860, and 1870. 

So thanks to my Ganno cousins, I was able to discover Peter and make the connection of him being a son of John & Mariah. The children I have, so far, for John & Mariah are...

One. George Washington Thompson -- I believe in the 1830 census, he is the "male, under age five" that is listed. By 1840, there is a boy listed between 10-14 years of age. This is probably George. But after that... he disappears. I believe he was born around September or October of 1830, as John & Mariah married Dec. 1829. 

Two. Martha E. Thompson, born about 1831 or 1832.. it's possible her name was Martha Ellen. She, too, probably died sometime between 1840-1850.

Three. John Henry Thompson, born January 23rd, 1831 (per church records), and buried September of 1831 in Sacred Heart Cemetery, per church records. 

Four. Elizabeth Jane Thompson, born December 16th, 1831, and died February 10th, 1878. She married George Henry Wedding on August 15th, 1849, in Union County, Kentucky. She, too, was buried in Sacred Heart. 

Five. Frances Elizabeth Thompson, born April 18th, 1833, in Union County, per church records. I've found no evidence of her marrying or dying... so I imagine she died pre-1850. 

Six. Jeremiah Thompson, born September 27th, 1835, and died August 8th, 1841. He was named for his Grandpa, Jeremiah Mattingly. Buried in Sacred Heart.

Seven. Minerva Jane Thompson, born around June 1837 (according to 1900 census). She married Richard Henry Wedding on December 15th, 1853, in Ohio County, Kentucky. Her will was made in 1899, but the admin bond wasn't registered until November 1905. So she likely died late October/early November 1905.

Eight. John Rowan Thompson, born November 10th, 1839, and died January 28th, 1898. He married twice -- first to Mary Elizabeth Fuqua in 1860, second to Sarah Ann Raley on April 27th, 1870. He had somewhere between 15-20 children, too, between his two wives. My 2x Grandfather, John Rowan Thompson, was named after him. 

Nine. Peter Thompson, born around 1840.. I've already given you the information you need on him. 

Ten. William Horace Thompson, born January 10th, 1841, and died May 23rd, 1913. He married Elizabeth Frances Fuqua in 1866. He and his wife moved down to the Fancy Farms, Graves Co, KY area and populated them with some more Catholic Thompson's. 

Eleven. Willis R. Thompson, born July 8th, 1844, married Emily Adeline Pritchett on November 10th, 1864, in Union County, Kentucky. He died sometime around 1870, and Emily re-married in 1871. 

Twelve. Sarah Ellen Thompson, born February 7th, 1846, and died April 6th, 1921. She married William Henry Girten on January 5th, 1863. 

Thirteen. Martin Henry Thompson, my 3x Grandfather. Born July 28th, 1850, and died August 16th, 1921, in Western State Hospital in Hopkinsville. He married first to Elizabeth Levina Nally on October 26th, 1869, then to Mary Belle Floyd on February 5th, 1911. They were divorced, however, by 1920.

Mariah Ann Mattingly Thompson then passed away on April 26th, 1851. It's possible she died during childbirth.. that could be one of the "missing" children. Ultimately, I'm missing five children between her & John Thompson as it's documented they had eighteen. 

John Thompson married for the second time on September 11th, 1851, to Anne Isabella Shanks. They had three kids, but I can only find two. 

One. Samuel Philip Thompson, born August 20th, 1852, and died March 15th, 1898. He married Susan Frances Raley on October 27th, 1874. He, too, moved down to the Fancy Farm area of KY. 

Two. Isabella Thompson, born about 1854. She's alive in the 1860 and 1870 censuses but afterwards, she disappears. 

Anne Isabella Shanks passed away on April 19th, 1855. It's possible she died during childbirth, perhaps that's the third child I'm missing between she & John. 

John Thompson married for the third and final time to Priscilla Cissell on October 21st, 1855. They're said to have eight children, I've found six, so I'm missing two. 

One. Thomas Hardin Thompson, born October 28th, 1857, and died September 10th, 1912. He married Laura Adaline Gibson on January 21st, 1885. They, too, migrated down to Fancy Farm. 

Two. Benjamin Joseph Thompson, born May 21st, 1859, and died March 25th, 1913. He married Nancy Hughes on April 26th, 1881, in Henderson County, Kentucky. 

Three. Robert Harrel Thompson, born January 18th, 1861, and died January 25th, 1938. He married Senie Ann Watts on October 27th, 1885. 

Four. William Franklin Thompson, born November 29th, 1862, and died November 2nd, 1940. As far as I can tell, he never married. 

Five. Julia Catherine Thompson, born July 10th, 1867, and died April 7th, 1958. She married first to Louis Clement Greenwell on November 23rd, 1897 in Union County, Kentucky. Secondly, she married Thomas Edward Kibby. 

Six. Mary Joe Thompson, born June 21st, 1870, and died March 9th, 1914. Mary was born four months after her father's death. She married John Thomas Girten on January 15th, 1901, in Union County, Kentucky. Her death certificate incorrectly lists her as 37 years old at her time of death, putting her birth year around 1877. She was actually 43 when she died. Age was more fluid back in those days, that's for sure. 

At this point, I'm fairly certain the rest of the "missing" children were probably ones who died in infancy/toddler/early childhood years. I believe my DNA and my Mom's DNA would have yielded some "surprise" cousins (like our Ganno mystery that was solved) if there were any more adult Thompson's who had children, but ya never know. DNA might unlock the door for one or two more. You'd think an obituary would help, but no... I can't find a good obituary for any of them that might list their surviving brothers and sisters by name. 

So the next time you meet a Thompson and they hail from in or around Union County, Kentucky, ask them if they've got an ancestor named John M. Thompson, because chances are, they just might. I have heard, too, that John might have owned a few slaves and bred with them as well -- but I haven't found evidence of him owning said slaves. I do know his father-in-law, Jeremiah Mattingly, did have slaves. Jeremiah Mattingly and John Thompson, both, were two of the largest farmers/land owners in Union County, Kentucky at one time. 

In the 1860 census, John Thompson's real estate value is $2,000. Personal estate value was $1,000. Those are pretty big numbers for back then. Thompson is still a very prominent last name in both Union and Henderson County. Still a heavily Catholic family, too.