Thomas Thompson (1759 - 1837)

Born 2 Oct 1759 in Guilford, North Carolina

Descendants

Died 24 Mar 1837 at age 77 in Davidson, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Private Thomas Thompson served with Guilford County Regiment, North Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.

Thomas Thompson was born on October 2, 1759, in Guilford County, North Carolina. He was the son of Robert Thompson.^[1][2][3]

Early Tennessee Pioneer

In 1779, at the age of 19, Thomas Thompson struck out west from Guilford County heading originally into Kentucky, were he stayed only a short time, and then beyond the frontier into the area which would later become organized as Davidson County, Tennessee.^[3] He arrived with the first group of settlers in what would become Nashville during the winter of 1779-1780, and was one of the signers of the Cumberland Compact.^[4] This compact, signed by 250 men of the new Cumberland settlement on May 1, 1780, established a representative form of civil government for the area until North Carolina created Davidson County in 1783. Nearly a third of the original signers of this compact were killed in battles with Native Americans by 1784.^[5]

Revolutionary War Service

In June 1780, a large mixed force of British and Indians attacking from across the Ohio River invaded Kentucky, capturing two fortified settlements, plundering them, and taking many prisoners.^[6] Shortly after that, Thomas Thompson returned to Kentucky and volunteered to serve as a patriot soldier in the North Carolina Line, Capt. Dogerty's Company, Col. Todd's Regiment, under the command of Gen. George Rogers Clark who was organizing a retaliatory expedition.^[3] Clark's force of Kentucky volunteers rendezvoused at Blue Licks, then marched north and crossed the Ohio River near modern-day Cincinnati to attack the Shawnee Indian villages in that region.^[3][6] They fought a bloody battle at the Shawnee village of Piqua on the morning of August 8, 1780, in which a large number of the Kentucky volunteers were killed but the village was ultimately taken and destroyed, and the Indian's crops burned. ^[3][6] Clark's men then returned to Kentucky where Thomas was discharged after three months of service in September 1780.^[3]

Two months later, Thomas volunteered again to fight as a patriot, this time with Capt. Daniel Gillespie's Company of Horse, an irregular light horse unit that operated against Tories throughout the Carolina Piedmont, including in Guilford, Randolph, Chatham, and Anson counties between December 1780-March 1781. ^[3] In March 1781, he was employed by Gen. Nathaniel Greene as an express rider, but was captured by Cornwallis' troops and held as a prisoner by the British until he was freed in a general prisoner exchange after Cornwallis' defeat at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.^{[3] [7]}

Later Life

After the war, Thomas returned to his homestead in Tennessee. In 1790, he established the Glen Leven farm, in what is now Nashville. With the exception of two years between 1969-71, this farm remained in his family until 2006, and is now preserved by the Land Trust for Tennessee and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[4]

Thomas was reportedly better at fighting Indians and taming the wilderness than he was at running a business. Due to various legal disputes, by 1800 his property holdings were at risk. However, his son John was a driven and skilled businessman who took charge of his father's affairs from a young age.^[8] Seemingly as a result of John's efforts, Thomas had become a wealthy planter and had acquired extensive property in land and slaves by 1820.^[9] He appears in the household of his son John in 1830. The number of slaves owned in this household doubled between 1820 and 1830, to 47.^[10]

Thomas Thompson died in Davidson County, Tennessee, on March 24, 1837.^[11][12]

Confusion Concerning Marriages

There is significant confusion among family historians concerning the identify of the wife of Thomas Thompson. She is identified in the Thompson family bible as "Nancy Thompson," and the bible record indicates that they were married on January 22, 1789, and that Nancy died on August 23, 1828, at the age of 59 years, 10 months, 8 days -- so, born on October 15, 1828.^[12] There was a bond issued for a marriage between a Thomas Thompson and an Anne Thompson in Orange County, North Carolina, on January 20, 1789,^[13] and many family historians (including earlier contributors to this profile) conclude that this was the same Thomas Thompson and that Anne and Nancy are the same person.^[8] The similar marriage dates and names lend support to the claim. However, there are two Thomas Thompsons listed in the 1790 census for Orange County, North Carolina, and two others listed in the 1790 census for immediately adjacent Rowan County, North Carolina. Any of these are also potential grooms in this marriage. Thomas Thompson had been living in Tennessee since 1779, so there is some doubt as to whether he is the same Thomas Thompson who was married in Orange County, North Carolina, in 1789. The different first names of Ann and Nancy Thompson also raise as question. It is possible that Thomas married Nancy in Davidson County, Tennessee, but that no record of the marriage has survived. However, this profile and the profile of Ann/Nancy Thompson assume that this conclusion is correct.

Other family historians identify his wife as Elizabeth Coots, but no known documentation for this claim has been found and it does not appear to be correct.

Children

Children of Thomas and Nancy Thompson reportedly had five children, including:

1. Sarah ("Sally") Thompson, m. Phillip Campbell
2. John Thompson, b. 1793, d. 1876
3. Robert Thompson, d. 1820

In addition, they reportedly had two other daughters.^[8]

Research Notes

The children listed in this profile other than John, Robert, and Sarah (Sally) are not verified and are not children of this Thomas Thompson if the history of the family recited in the MTSU study is correct. They may be the children of a different Thomas Thompson.

Sources

1. ↑ Wright Family Bible Record; images, Tennessee State Library & Archives, “Lists of Family Bible Records,” database with images (https://tslaindexes.tn.gov/database-tn-research/bible-records-pending : accessed 1 Feb 2020), Bible Location: Wright 1, file Wright 1.pdf; owner: Rebekah Jetton, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 1959.
2. ↑ Worth S. Ray, Tennessee Cousins : A History of Tennessee People (Austin, TX: Worth S. Ray, 1950), 685-86; images, Hathitrust Digital Library, (https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015002678640 : accessed 12 Jan 2020).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7} Fold3.com, "Revolutionary War Pensions," database with images, (https://www.fold3.com/image/20390385 : accessed 28 Apr 2020), North Carolina>T>Thompson>Thomas Thompson, pp. 1-19; citing NARA microfilm publication M804, roll 2379.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "Glen Leven Farm : History," The Land Trust for Tennessee, (https://www.landtrusttn.org/glen-leven-farm/history/ : accessed 28 Apr 2020).
5. ↑ Kenneth Fieth, "Cumberland Compact," Tennessee Encyclopedia, (https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/cumberland-compact/ : Tennessee Historical Society, accessed 28 Apr 2020).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} William Hayden English, Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778-1783, and Life of Gen. George Rogers Clark, Vol. 2 (Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill, 1896), 681-83; images, (https://archive.org/details/cu31924092886104 : accessed 28 Apr 2020).
7. ↑ Revolutionary War Soldiers for NC and SC, Data provided by the website Carolana. (accessed 13 May 2022)
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2} Multiple authors, "Glen Leven Historic Structure Report and Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey," MTSU Center for Historic Preservation, May 2010, pp. 5-7; digitized, (http://www.sitemason.com/files/b9c35K/Glen%20Leven%20HSR%20Davidson%20Co%202010.pdf  : accessed 28 Apr 2020).
9. ↑ 1820 U.S. census, Davidson County, Tennessee, [township not stated], p. 65 (penned), Thomas Thompson; image, FamilySearch.org, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYB8-XD6 : accessed 28 Apr 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication M33, roll 122.
10. ↑ 1830 U.S. census, Davidson County, Tennessee, [no township stated], p. 234 (penned), Jno Thompson; image, FamilySearch.org, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYY2-SFZM : accessed 28 Apr 2020); citing NARA microfilm publication M19, roll 174.
11. ↑ Ancestry, Find a Grave, database with images, (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/69861265 : accessed 28 Apr 2020), memorial 69861265, Thomas Thompson (1759-1837), Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee; gravestone image by Chuck Schubert.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Thompson Family Bible Record; images, Tennessee State Library & Archives, “Lists of Family Bible Records,” database with images (https://tslaindexes.tn.gov/database-tn-research/bible-records-pending : accessed 28 Apr 2020), Bible Location: Thompson 2, file Thompson 1.pdf.
13. ↑ FamilySearch, "North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ," database with images, (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP9V-BTT4 : 28 November 2018), Thomas Thompson and Anne Thompson, 20 Jan 1789; citing Orange County marriage bonds, North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History; FHL DGS 102,458,837.

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