Person:Jotham Thompson (2)

1860 Champaign Co., IL, census, p.529, P.O. Rantoul, August 8, 1860, E.T.M. Jones: 1798/1760, JONATHAN THOMPSON, 26 M, farm laborer, $800 real, $300 personal, OH; Nancy, 23 F, OH; Ellen, 1 F, OH; JONATHAN JONES, 63 M, farmer, OH.

1870 Champaign Co., IL, census, p.124B, Harwood Twp., P.O. Rantoul, July 27, 1870, John W. Hill: 9/9, J.C. THOMPSON, 36 M W, farming, OH, $1,000 real, $1,000 personal; Nancy, 32 F W, keeping house, OH; Ionay, 11 F W, OH, attends school; Sena M., 9 F W, IL, attends school; Hattie, 6 F W, IL, attends school; Carry, 6/12 F W, IL, Jan.; JONATHAN JONES, 73 M W, OH; Martin THOMPSON, 26 M W, farmer, OH.

1880 Champaign Co., IL, census, p.137C-D, Harwood Twp., June __, 1880: 108/111, JOTTAN C. THOMPSON, W M 45, head, farmer, OH OH OH; Nancy A., W F 43, wife, keeping house, OH OH OH; Iona I., W F 21, dau, OH OH OH; Hattie M., W F 16, dau, IL OH OH; Harriet, W F 10, dau, at school, IL OH OH; Charles E., W M 5, nephew, at school, IL OH OH; John M. Kinnear, W M 22, laborer, farm laborer, IN VA IN.

Copies of letters written by Jotham C. Thompson to [his daughter] Lena in the 1880's. I got these in the 1980's from my great aunt - they are copies of copies she had so not very good! --courtesy Michele Houchens, March 26, 2004

"Sat 14th all well this morning I do not no what to tell unles I tell you that I think the Indian terratory will be opened up for settlement this summer  Iff so I want a peace of it get where it is warmer this part is called (ok la homey) territory it is in the senter of the Indian territory Uncle (? could be Levi - the first letter is not formed the same as the J in Jones) Jones is talking of going down this spring to see the country Tailor Thompson trade his farme for land down on the indian lands perhaps he is on the way to it.  Jothey be a good boy for grand Pa rite often good by Jotham C. Thompson"

In another letter written 13 March 1885- Nancy talks about "one of the Indiana boys wrote to John H(?) or A(?) to recement him John's Father told him to come Eddie Wallas it is you know - has his picture as a little boy but I supose he is a big boy by this time Pa sent him word if he was able and willing to do a mans work to come on."

JOTHAM C. THOMPSON, whose portrait is presented in this connection was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, Dec. 25, 1832. The names of his parents were Price and Hannah (Johnston) Thompson. His grandparents were Price and Mollie Thompson. They were Scotch Descent. Hannah J. Thompson was the daughter of Nicholas Johnston and was born in America.

  Jotham C. Thompson was brought up on his father's farm with no higher advantages for education then those offered by the common schools, but a natural love of study and books led him to acquire a large fund of general information.  He remained at home on his father's farm until the age of twenty-four, having had the entire care of his family since his twentieth year, when his father died.   He was the fourth in a family of nine children.
  Dec. 6, 1857, at the age of twenty-four he was united in marriage with Miss Nancy A. Jones, the youngest child in a family of nine.  The names of her parents were Jonathan C. and Nancy (Cochran) Jones.  Her father was of Welsch descent although born in Ohio, and her Mother who was of Irish descent, was also a native of the Buckeye State.  Her father was the son of Joseph and Mary (Covalt) Jones, Natives of Wales.  Her mother was the daughter of Ephraim Cochran, a native of Ireland.  Mrs. Thompson on the Welsh side is a descendant of Lord Griffith and only three generations removed.
  After his marriage Jotham C. Thompson settled in Hamilton County, Ohio with the parents of his wife, where he remained for little more than a year.  Then, attracted by the superior advantages of the west, he moved to Illinois and located near Muncie in Vermillion County, where he commenced farming on rented land.  A year had scarcely passed before he was stricken down with typhoid fever and ague..........he purchased 120 acres of wild land on section 29, Harwood Township (Champaign Co.).   ....He continued in the business during four or five years and then on the death of Mrs. Thompson's father, who had always made his home with them on the farm, he retired from the grain business....
  He had a family of four children, three of whom are now living... Lena May, Hannah M., and Carrie A., Iona Irene married John Kinnear, a merchant in Rantoul and died on the 31st of May 1886, leaving two children.. Alzora A. and John T.;  Lena married Michael Knupp, formerly a mechanic and now residing on a farm in Cumberland County, Illinois, she has a family of two children, Jotham T. and Myrtle May,  Hannah married David Phillips, a farmer residing in Penfield in the county, They have one daughter, Clatie Ivaloo.  The youngest daughter resides with her mother.  Mr. and Mrs Thompson adopted Charles E. and Asa B. Thompson, when one was nearly three and the other four years old.  --Portrait and Biographical Album of Champaign County, Illinois (Chapman Brothers, 1887), transcription courtesy Michele Houchens, e-mail, March 10, 2004