Thompson Family Papers
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Not requestable
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.
Dates
- 1869-1944
Creator
- Thompson family (Family)
Access 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.
Use Restrictions
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).
Bio/Historical Note
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.
Extent
0.2 cubic feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
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.
Arrangement
The collections is arranged in three series. The contents are then further arranged chronologically.
- Correspondence, 1869-1873, 1944
- Personal Papers, 1886-1902, 1943
- Ephemera, 1872, 1907
Provenance
These materials descended in the Benjamin F. Thompson (1849-1913) family of Rockingham County, Virginia.
Acquisition Information
Purchased at Jeffrey S. Evans’ August 26, 2017 Summer Variety Auction (lot 286).
Bibliography
- Obituary for Benjamin F. Thompson, Rockingham Daily Record, January 2, 1913.
- Obituary for Mary A. Thompson, Daily News-Record, November 26, 1997.
Processing Information
The collection was received in no particular order. As a result, the archivist imposed an arrangement based on material type and date.
- Agriculture -- 19th century
- Agriculture -- 20th century
- Autograph albums
- Black-and-white photographs
- Diaries
- Family papers
- Farm life -- 19th century
- Farm life -- 20th century
- Farmers -- Virginia -- Rockingham County -- 19th century
- Farmers -- Virginia -- Rockingham County -- 20th century
- Genealogies (histories)
- Housebooks
- Letters (correspondence)
- Ration books
- Rockingham County (Va.) -- Genealogy
- Rockingham County (Va.) -- History -- 19th century
- Rockingham County (Va.) -- History -- 20th century
- Rockingham County (Va.) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
- Rockingham County (Va.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
- Virginia -- Genealogy
- Weather diaries
- Title
- A Guide to the Thompson Family Papers, 1869-1944
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Tiffany Cole
- Date
- September 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the James Madison University Libraries Special Collections Repository
820 Madison Drive
MSC 1706
Harrisonburg Virginia 22807
(540) 568-3612
library-special@jmu.edu