John Thompson of Nether Compton, Dorset, and Philadelphia, Quaker Schoolmaster and Merchant, and His Philadelphia Descendants

JOHN THOMPSON OF NETHER COMPTON, DORSET, AND PHILADELPHIA, QUAKER SCHOOLMASTER AND MERCHANT, AND HIS PHILADELPHIA DESCENDANTS BY Do G. BR1NTON THOMPSON . Late in November 1770, John Thompson, a Quaker schoolmaster from Dorsetshire, England, landed in Philadelphia after a seven weeks' voyage in the Brig Concord, Joseph Volans, master.' Actually, he was not the first of his family to come to America, since his father Jonah, also a schoolmaster and a Quaker preacher of some note, had visited Philadelphia twenty years before. JONAH TRomrsoN, the fifth of six children of Isaac Thompson and his wife Hannah Lawson, had been born about 1703 near Penrith on the south border of Cumberland.' Here, in England's most northwestern county bordering the Solway Firth and the Irish Sea, the Thompsons had lived for many generations as owners of the Manor of Farmanby." But during the days of the Commonwealth, the family had suffered for its allegiance to Charles I, and lost its lands. Jonah had received his early education largely from his erudite mother Hannah, daughter of Thomas Lawson,' the Quaker preacher, • 1:7, Thompson, a native of Philadelphia and a member of the Genealogical Society, is Northam Professor of History at Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., and has been chairman of the History Department since 1911. He is the author of Ruggles of New York (1946), Gateway to a Nation (1956), and of numerous articles in his field. For arrival of the Concord, see Pennsylvania Gazette, 29 Nov. 1770. The newspaper items noted in the teat have been supplied by Hannah MIMI' Roach who has also located wills and d.ds cited in the text. The account of Jonah Thompson is based largely on the booklet, The Thompson of Compton, by C. W. Westlake, hereinafter cited as Westlake, reprinted from the Friends' Quarterly EX0InitUT, • photocopy of which has been deposited in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP). For an account of Isaac Thompmn and his forebears, one R. Denton Thompson, Parmanby and the Thompson Family (Kendal, Eng., 1956), reprinted from the Cumberland and Westmoreland Antiquarian and Archeological Society Transactions, Vol LV, New Scrim, a photocopy of which has been deposited ho HSP. The Rev. Thompson, a retired Anglican minister now living in Kent, England, has done a great deal of resurch on the Thompson family in England. He is a descendant of Jonathan, brother of Jonah Thompson. 'For Thomas Lawson (1630-1691), see Dictionary of National Biography, 2008II (1892), 297; also family notes of Oade Roberts (grandson of Jonala Thompson), Painswick, Eng., 27 Jan. 1812, copy of original in the Thompson Collection, HSP, in possession of the author. 141 142 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine botanist and friend of George Fox. After her death in 1713, Jonah had been apprenticed for a time to a weaver in Kendal, but he early developed a strong attachment to "literary acquirements" and became a schoolteacher. Brought up by his mother's relatives in the precepts of Quakerism, at twenty-six he accompanied William Longinire, a travelling Friend, on a "gospel visit" to most of the counties in England, the first of many such he would make. Possibly it was on one of these journeys in the south of England that he met and married in 1735 Mary Beaton, daughter of Samuel Beaton of Nether Compton, Dorset, and his wife Mary Cooling.' Compton, three miles from Sherborne in the northern part of Dorset, became their home; here for a time Jonah taught school. They were members of Sherborne Monthly Meeting. By 1745 Jonah was recognized as a preacher of considerable note, and in May of that year preached the concluding sermon at the Yearly Meeting held at Bristol. He made two trips to Philadelphia on religious concerns, the first in 1750. Armed with a certificate from Sherborne Meeting dated 11 1 m (March) 1749/50, he left his six small children, the youngest born that year, in the care of his wife, travelled to London, and from there took ship for the Colonies.' Where he landed is not known, but on 26 8m (October) 1750, he presented the certificate from "Sherbun in Dorsetshire" to the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting which noted in its minutes that he had "been sometime in this & the next Province on a Religious visit."' From Philadelphia he went south, visiting meetings in Virginia and North Carolina during the winter, then by March 1751, had returned to Philadelphia.' That month he tried to establish his grandfather Thomas Lawson's claim as a First Purchaser to land in Pennsylvania, but apparently without success. A letter written at his request by Richard Peters, 'According to R. Denton Thompson, in the Mends' Quarterly Examiner (51m 1936), 77, appan an amount of Jonah Thompson's courtship of Mary Beaton. 'Westlake, 3-4, cited in Note 2 above, eta. Jonah was requested to write the certificate himself, none other in the Meeting being considered competent to do so. The certificate is in Jonah Thompson Correspondence, 1730-1798, Autograph Collection, HOP. Until Sept. 1732, became in England and her colonies the church, civil and legal year began on 25 March, called by Quakers Sc,, nsonth (1m), although the historical year began 1 Jan., double-dating was used between this date and 25 March: 5 1 Ins 1749/50 for 33m. 1750. "Philadelphia Monthly Meeting Minutes," Publications of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, X. 123, hereinafter cited as PGSP. ° Certificates in the Jonah Thompson Correspondence, cited in Note 6 above, include one from Henrico Co., Va., dated 1 1 lm 1750(/51), one from Perquemans Co., N. Carolina, dated 6 12m 173s/(01); from Burlington Quarterly Meeting, 26 6m 1731; from the Yearly blaring at Philadelphia held 14-17 7m 1751, and from Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, dated 30 6in 1751, when Jonah was "now near ready m return" to England. John Thompson, Quaker Schoolmaster and Merchant 143 secretary and agent of the Penn family, dated 30 March 1751, outlined the problem: write this at the Instance of Jonah Thompson, a Publick Friend, who is, I suppose, well known to you, either in Person or by Character. He and his Brother in England are Grandsons and Heirs-at-Law of the late Thomas Lawson, deceased, whose name you will see the last in the City List as an original Purchaser of 250 acres, for which quantity and Lot appurtenant thereto, and Liberty Land, Mr. Thompson applied to the office, and desired a Warrant to take them up, as it was found none had heretofore issued, on a careful search of the Books. I declined giving him the Warrant, since he had not the Original Deeds, which I told him must be produced, the Descent proved before a Warrant could issue. He said the Deeds, by a Family Tradition were said to be given to your Father, & that he engaged to take the Land up for Mr. Lawson who was of his intimate acquaintance, and as may you receive Satisfaction of this upon the spot, he desired my Letter to you, setting forth his application and Disappointment, for he expected to have found the Deeds here, and the Land well located. I have, therefore, taken the freedom to give you a relation of this matter, and pray your answer. If you shall please to order a Warrant it will be of great service to the Family, if you favour me with it before Mr. Thompson departs the Province, which I understand will not be till the latter End of &unmet, for then he may see the Land located to the advantage of his Brother, as he think to give him his share of it.° Thomas Penn replied promptly in no uncertain words: . . . With respect to Jonah Thompson, you are not to grant him or any other Person a foot of Land, without their producing my Father's Deeds & the regular conveyance from the Person to whom it was granted; for if the Person has not the Deeds the Land may be sold. I never heard of these Deeds." Jonah remained in Philadelphia until after the Yearly Meeting in mid-September 1751, then with certificates from both that Meeting and from the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, attesting to his exemplary conduct, he went back to his family in Dorset. Two years later he made a second trip to Philadelphia. On 28 9m (September) 1753, the Philadelphia Meeting noted in its minutes that "Jonah Thompson having resided some months past among us, lately received a certificate from Quarterly Meeting at Bridport in Dorsetshire, dated 28 3m last, of his being a minister and Elder." ' The Meeting may have asked him to send for this certificate of his qualifications, since it was undoubtedly during this stay in town that Jonah held the position Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd Series, VII (1890), 253. Thomas Penn to Richard Peters, 29 July 1751, Governors of Pennsylvania, Case 2, Ron 33-A, MS, IISP. 059057. X, 219, cited in Na,, 7 above. Jonah remained in Philadelphia for about se,, yeus on this trip. The Philadelphia Meeting granted him e certificate to North Carolina 3 10m 1733, from which plau 1,, epparently sailed for England. PGSP, XI, 12. The same day the Philadelphia Meeting granted him a certificate addressed to Sherborne Meeting, Jonah "in a few days to embark on his return to you and his family." Jonah Thompson Corretpoodmte cited in Note 6 above. 144 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine of Latin master at the Friends' School conducted by Anthony Benezet." Although Thompson was ten years older than Benezet, the two men formed a close friendship. In after years Jonah recalled with pleasure "the loitering hours" he had "so agreeably spent" at Benezet's modest house, and for a time he even seems to have entertained some thought of removing with his family to Philadelphia. After he returned to England late in 1755, having moved into Bristol, he wrote Benezet: I have also taken again to the same Employment I followed with you, with a View to give my 3 Sons a good Education; p'haps they may hereafter serve you for Schoolmasters. My Eldest, about 20 years old, is my assistant in the School; a steady young Man, likely to make a good Scholar and I am not without hope may make a better Man than his Father. I understand you are agreeably furnished with a Latin Master, so that if I and my Family should incline to come over, there is no hope of resuming my former Employm't and I have now followed it so long that I know not whether I sho'd be fit for any other. I am close confined this Winter out of School Hours to the Study of the Greek Tongue to qualifie myself a little better for my Employm't but I find I am not so capable at this age to make the progress I could have done 30 years ago. . . Any thoughts Jonah had of eventually removing his family to Pennsylvania were put aside in 1760. His eldest son Samuel, now just turned twenty-one, in whom Jonah had held such high hopes, died unexpectedly, and for a time the whole family, except for himself, "were much affected with Sickness in this City." " When they had recovered, the family moved back to Nether Compton, and Jonah's hopes were now centered on his second son John. Just turned sixteen, young John Thompson probably began to take over his elder brother's place as assistant in Jonah's school. In Philadelphia, after Anthony Benezet had to leave the Friends' School because of poor health, the need to supply the school with competent instructors became a constantly recurring problem. Schoolmasters came, stayed briefly, and then departed for more lucrative fields. So hard was it to find suitable masters that in desperation, as Benezet lamented, "any person of tolerable morals, who can read and write, is esteemed sufficiently qualified for a schoolmaster." " 22 See George S. Brookes, Friend Anthony Bennet (Philadelphia, 1937), 37, hereinafter cited as Brookes, for Beneret's tenure as head of the school until the summer of 1754. Jonah may have succeeded him for a short time before his return to Englmd. 10 Jonah Thompson, Bristol, to Anthony Bement, 11 May 1758, copy in Jonah Thompson Papers, Quaker Preacher of Bristol, 1745-1760, Thompson Collection, HSP. See also letter from Benezet to Jonah, 24 4m 1756, mentioning Jonah's safe arrival ha England, "after a longer Delay than usual," quoted in Brookes, 220, and Jonah Thompson, Bristol, to Israel Pemberton, 5 Apr. 1757, in possession of the author. 1 '1 Anthony Beneret to John Smith, 5 Cm 1760, notes that a rment letter from Jonah "wholly puts an end to our expectations of seeing him hem; he is returned to his own home ... employed in teaching a few boarders," as given in Brookes, 242. Jonah Thompson to William Logan, 7 lm 1760, tells of the death of Jonah's no Samuel. Jonah Thompson Papers, cited in Note 11. 10 Anthony Benezet 00 Samuel Pothergill, 27 Urn 1753, Brookes, 232. John Thompson, Quaker Schoolmaster and Merchant 145 In 1770, the need for a master in the "Grammar School" in Philadelphia again became urgent. When that year Abel James, Quaker merchant and son-in-law of Thomas Chalkley, went to Bath, England, for his health, his business partner, Henry Drinker, suggested that he keep his eye open for a suitable person for the school. James found the situation little better in England, for likely candidates would "scarcely hear of a Teacher's place," since "a Man of principle & Ability can have so much greater Encouragem't as a Clerk to a Merch't or Banker & many other Trades in London where after serving a few Years if they behave well, they generally 13:;come partners." " In May, Abel James resolved to visit Jonah Thompson in Nether Compton and renew the acquaintance formed twenty years before; perhaps Jonah would have some suggestion to make." Two months later James was able to write back to Henry Drinker that he had "just this moment rec'd a Letter from Jno Thompson, Eldest Son of Jonah, in wch he agrees to go over to take charge of the public school & is desirous as I am that we shd go together as he is a very agmable young man so far as I can judge & I spent some time with him." To young Thompson, Abel James wrote that he had "not the least doubt" the terms they had discussed would be "approvd by the Trustees" of the school in Philadelphia...." " Though Jonah Thompson thus lost the services of his second son, his third son Thomas fulfilled the expectations which had previously been centered in the two older sons. With his help, the school in Nether Compton which Jonah had started came to be considered the principal school for Friends in the south of England, and was attended not only by boys from Quaker families but by the sons of families who esteemed the value of the sound training established by Jonah." In 1777, Jonah's wife Mary died, and in May 1780, after an illness of some months, Jonah followed her, aged nearly seventy-eight. Sherborne Monthly Meeting rendered a testimonial to his worthy life." 16 Abel James to Henry Drinker. 16 4m 1770, Abel James Letter Book, Item 17, Thompson Collation, HSP. James had apparently left for England late in the fall or mrly winter and had lmded at Deal "in thirty days from Chester," as reported in the Pennsylvania Gauger, 22 Feb. 1770. 17 From Bath, where Janes hod written Drinker, he went to Bristol the first of May, and on the 2Ist was about to set off for Nether Compton. Abel James to W. Nate, 21 May 1770, Abel Jam,, Letter Book, loc. cit. 18 Abel James to Henry Drinker, 16 July 1770, and to John Thompson, Ii 7m 1770, Abel James Letter Book, loc. at. James was then in London. 1.9 'Westlake, I. 20 /bid, 2, I. 146 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Children of Jonah Thompson and his wife Mary Beaton:" I. HANNAH THOMPSON, b. 1736; d. in infancy. ii. SAMUEL THOMPSON, b. 1737; d. 1760. iii. MARY THOMPSON, b. 1719; d. 1783; m. 1770, THOMAS WESTCOMBE. iv. SARAH THOMPSON, b. 1742; d. 1801; m. 1765, ALEXANDER NEAVE. 1. v. JOHN THOMPSON, b. 17 2m (April) 1744; d. 7 9m (September) 1819, of whom further. vi. THOMAS 'THOMPSON, b. 1747; d. 1826; m. 1st, 1782, ANN GREGORY, d. 10 February 1802, ac. 46; m. 2nd, 1808, Mrs. ANNA (FOX) RAVES, d. 1823. vii. ANN THOMPSON, b. 1750; m. 1778, DANIEL ROBERTS. 1. JOHN THomrsow, born 17 2m 1744, at Compton, Dorset, second son of Jonah Thompson and his wife Mary Beaton, had just passed his twenty-sixth birthday when Abel James came to Compton in May 1770, to interview him. Four months later the two were ready to set out in the Concord. Though the autumn storms should have been over by then, they "met with many hard gales of wind," and on 10 October the maintopmast was carried away. Fortunately no other damage was done, in spite of the "great deal of lightening" which made Thompson "very apprehensive" because of the seventy barrels of gunpowder stored in the hold." His first impression of Philadelphia he described in a letter to his sister Mary Westcombe shortly after his arrival: The City of Philadelphia is very pleasant . . . the plan extremely noble, much exceeding the Idea I had formed of it, but many of the houses, except such as have been built lately, are low and small.... A relation of ours lives here with the greatest reputation & carries on a great deal of Business, we soon claimed Kindred, I went to dine with him a few days since, there are several more in Town. . . . I am at Abel James House, who has entertained me with the greatest Friendship as have his family, tomorrow I shall meet the Committee of the School and, if we agree. I shall remove much nearer to the House of an honest Friend with whom I have talked about boarding already, the House is not such a one quite as I should choose but the agreeable Family will make up for any inconvenience...." as Based on family notes of Oade Roberta cited in Note 4, and Westlake, 6-9, 13. =Pennsylvania Gazette, 29 Nov. 1770; John Thompson to Mary Wencombe, 20 [sic] Nov. 1770, copy in John Thompson Corrapondence and Miscellaneous Papers, 1770.1819, Thompson Collation, MP, hereinafter cited as John Thompson Correspondence. The date of this letter is at variance with the newspaper account of the arrival of the Concord on 22 November. 28 Md. The relation who carried on a great deal of business may have been the merchant Samuel Name (1707-1774), who had been in busieas be Philadelphi' for nearly 40 years. See The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (PMHB), XIII (1289), 100n. When Neave died he left 8100 to his kinsman Moses Nan of Poole in Dona; the relationship, however, to Alexander Nave who had married Thompson', elder sister Sarah remains undetermined. For will of Samuel Neave, see Philadelphia Will Book Q, 37, #35,1770 Nor has the aact relationship of "Our cousin Sarah West," who died 9 On 1772, aged 82, to John Thompson been established. She was the 2nd wife of Charles West, the John Thompson, Quaker Schoolmaster and Merchant 147 The interview with the school committee was entirely satisfactory, the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting noting in its minutes on 28 December 1770, that "John Thompson, son of our Friend Jonah Thompson, being lately arrived from Great Britain, and now employed by the Overseers of the Public School as Master of the Latin School," had attended with "a Certificate from Sherborn in Dorsetshire, G. B. dated 12th of 8th mo. last." " The "agreeable family" with whom John Thompson expected to live probably was that of Anthony Benezet; certainly a year later Thompson was living with them, and continued to do so up to and through the years of the Revolution.' When war came, as he was within the age limits of eighteen to fifty-three years, established by the militia act of 17 March 1777, he was liable for military service. Under this draft act, his billet was in the 8th Class of Captain Ezekiel Lett's 1st Company, First Battalion of the city militia. This class was not called out in the hectic days before the British occupied Philadelphia in the fall of 1777. When it was called to duty as city guards in September 1778, Thompson, being a teacher, was "Ex'd at Appeal," and was not liable for any fine. But as a strict Quaker, he had not taken the oath of allegiance required of all males over eighteen under the law passed by the Assembly in June 1777, and so for the duration of the war was prevented from leaving the city for fear of arrest and imprisonment." Some time during the years immediately following the British occupation of the city, John Thompson severed his connection with the Friends' School and turned to business. In 1773 he had purchased from the heirs of John Hort, formerly of Bristol, the right to Hort's original purchase of 1000 acres from William Penn." In 1753, the Hort heirs shipwright who had died in 1761, sod was a sister of James Parsons. See John Thompson to Thomas Thompson, 27 Feb. 1772, Jonah Thompson Correspondence, cited its Note 6 above, for John Thompson', m,00iOO of ber death "m a great age." For her will, see Philadelphia Will Book P, 230, #147:1772. wills, deeds and exemplification records are Philadelphia records, unless otherwise noted, Haslinafter us p0SP, XIV, 41. al 26 Anthony Beneut to Samuel Fothergill, 24 10m 1771, cited in Brookes, 241: "John Thompson, son of Jonas [sir] who resides with me, desires to be kindly remembered 6001w'." Thompson was taxed as single .111/1 in Middle Ward next to Anthony Benerst in 1774 and 1779. He Wil9 000 listed there in 1780 or 1781, but appeued again in 1782, the yeu of his marriage, assessed 81 100. geo,sue, was on the north side of Chestnut between Third and Fourth Streets; the garden is said to have extended to the banks of Dock Creek whkh crossed Chestnut Sueet just east of Beneues Pennsylvania Archives, 1rd Series, XIV, 249, 502; ibid., XVI, 548; John F. Watson, Ansel, of Philadel- phia . . (Philadelphia, 1927), 1, 371. 28 peaosyteaule Archives, 6th Series, I, 36; Minutes of the Provincial Conned of Pnnitylvania . . , XI, 581; John Thompson to Nancy Thompson, 16 Dec. 1777, Josiah Thompson Correspondence, cited in Note 6 above: "I have been since last Spring a Prisoner at large . . not on horseback for six "Deed Book 13-2, 364: 15 June 1773, Jacob Player to John Thompson. 148 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine had made John's father, Jonah Thompson, while he was "residing in Philadelphia," their attorney to investigate what had happened to this original purchase," but Jonah seems to have had no better success with this problem than with the Lawson purchase. Twenty years later the Hort heirs had sold the right for £100 to John Thompson, and in 1775 he conveyed the right to the Philadelphia merchant, Samuel Pleasants, for £400." The money obtained in this fashion may have formed the nucleus of the capital he needed to enter the mercantile field, for by late 1780 he was described in business transactions as a merchant, and was, within two years, in a position to marry.' In the presence of forty-eight witnesses at Friends' Meeting House "at Oxford" on 12 3m 1782, John Thompson, merchant, married REBECCA JAMES, spinster, born 17 2m 1753, daughter of Abel James and his wife Rebecca Chalkley. After the ceremony the wedding party repaired to Chalkley Hall, the country home of Abel James which fronted Frank ford Creek just east of the Frankford Road. Here the company "Dined at about 3 o'clock; an elegant tho' not large wedding—not more than 32 or 3 persons besides ye Family," Henry Drinker's wife Elizabeth noted in her journal." Abel James, son of George James and his wife Susannah Hingston, had been born about 1724 at the home of his grandfather Abel Hingston in Bensalem Township, Bucks County. On 9 2m (April) 1747, Abel James had married Rebecca Chalkley, born in 1722, only surviving child of Thomas Chalkley and his second wife Martha (Spicer) Brown." First in partnership with John Smith, Abel James subsequently had gone into business with Henry Drinker under the firm name of James and Drinker. Well before the Revolution the partnership had become what was prob2 8 Exemplification Book 6, 636: 18 Oct. 1753, Mary Powell et al., to Jonah Thompson. 28 Deed Book 1-14, 414: 7 April 1775, John Thompson to Samuel Pleasants. See also Pennsylvania Archives, 35,3 Series, 5, 376, for John Thompson', appmrance 29 March 1774, before the Bortd of Property, presenting his case regarding the original Hors property. 80 Bond of Michael Smith of Rockhill, Bucks Co., to Abel Janses and John "Thomson," both of Philadelplua, merchants, dated 25 Dec. 1789, Abel Junes Papers, Correspondence and Miscellmeous Papers, 1747-1790, Thompson Collection, HSP, hereinafter cited as Abel James Correspondence. An earlier business document, dated 3 Ilm 1780, is in the possession of the author. 81 Marriage certificate of John Thompson and Rebecca James, John Thompson Correspondence, cited in Note 22 above. Besides the James family, witnessea included the Drinkers, Anthony Benmet, Robrtt Morris, Nicholas Wain, William Fisher who had been mayor of Philadelphia in 1773, and his wife Sarah, as well as members of such Quaker families as Gillingham, Foulke and Pole. H. D. Biddle, ed., Extracts from the Journal of Elizabeth Drinker . . . (Philadelphia, 1889), 145. . 82 For the decimation of intentions, srt PGSP, TX, 239. Bible record in Abel James Correspondence, cited in Note 30. See 'ho "Thomas Chalkley," Dictionary of American BiograPhy (DAB). Chalkley's widely rmd Journal, first published in 1749, went through several editions. See Spitler et al., eds., Ti,, Literary History of !be United States (B(ew York, 1955), 84, John Thompson, Quaker Schoolmaster and Merchant 149 ably the largest dry goods firm in the city. "Famous as the greatest merchant of his day," according to John F. Watson, Abel James "had his dwelling on Water Street, by Elfreth's Alley, and his stores on the wharf." sa In 1765 James had signed the non-importation agreement protesting the Stamp Act, and the next year had been appointed one of the first Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia. He was elected a burgess, representing the city in the Provincial Assembly from October 1770 to 1772." His firm had been named the Philadelphia agent for the tea under the unpopular act of 1773; its arrival and reception in December of that year gave rise to the following story: Abel James, the head of the firm of James & Drinker, who occupied the house of his father-in-law Thomas Chalkley, immediately on the wharves, as represented in the old painting of Philadelphia by Peter Cooper, was waited upon by a crowd of citizens, and in response to a demand for his resignation then and there made, he gave the guarantee of his word and property that the tea should not be landed, but that the ship should go back to England; then pointing to his young daughter Rebecca, who stood. near him, perched on the head of one of her father's hogheads, he pledged her (a vivum vadium) to the fulfillment of his promise. This young girl in after years married John Thompson...." Though he had refused to accept the tea, as a Friend Abel James could not countenance war, and less than a month before the 'British entered Philadelphia he had been arrested as an alleged Tory. When he agreed to stay at his country house under parole, he was spared the exile to Virginia which his partner Henry Drinker suffered." The war which he could not condone proved disastrous for his business. He withdrew from the partnership with Henry Drinker and in the summer of 1783, with his sons Chalkley and Joseph, Abel James entered into a copartnership under the name of Abel James & Sons in an effort to meet his commitments. The post-war depression and inflation proved too much for him and on 29 July 1784, he assigned to trustees 88 For notice of the expiration of James' partnership with John Smith, see Pennsylvania Gazette, 24 May 1750. For discussion of the firm of James & Drinker, see Arthur L. Jensen, The Maritime Consomme of Cokmial PhiladelPhia (Madison, Wis., 1963), 301 and Patsies. Watson, Annals, 1, 225, cited in Note 25 above. 84 J. Thomas Scharf and Thompson Wesmott, History of Pbihdelphis . . . (Philadelphia, 1884), I, 272, hereinafter cited as Scharf and Westcott; PMHB, I (1877), 199; "Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Archives, 8th Series, VII, 6586; Mid., VIII, 6724. U P. M. Etting, TI,, Philadelphia Tea Party 1773 (Philadelphia, 1873), 6. This event is referred to in several other accounts of the time. se Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, XI (1852), 285; Riddle, 45-48. cited in Note 31 above. 150 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine all his estate for the benefit of his creditors." Somewhat broken in health, he spent his last years at Chalkley Hall where he died on 26 10m 1790. His widow Rebecca survived him for five years, dying 19 4m 1795.55 Although Abel James devised to his daughter Rebecca Thompson one-sixth of his estate in his will, dated 26 lm 1784," six months before he assigned his estate, because of its encumbrances her share in his estate was not likely to be very large, and he certainly was m no position to be of much assistance financially to her husband. These circumstances seem not to have prevented John Thompson from branching out for hunself. By the spring of 1785 he was advertising for sale at his own store in Water Street, between Chestnut and Market A General Assortment of Merchandise, Suitable for the season. He also has for sale English boots, Weather-proof hats of different colours, a great variety of garden seeds assorted in boxes, a few casks of excellent saltpetred hams, bottled porter in casks of about 10 dozen each. That autumn he added to his inventory "Excellent Port Wine in bottles, Seine and sail twine, wool cards, Powder, bar lead [and] Weston's snuff." " He also joined with a large number of other Quakers in presenting a petition to the Pennsylvania Assembly protesting the test oaths which had deprived him and other Quakers of "their inherent and inalienable rights" to the franchise. The Assembly, unfairly apportioned to begin with, rejected the petition, and it was not until 1789 and the overthrow of the Constitution of 1776 that the suffrage was truly liberalized." Early in January 1787, John Thompson removed his store and dwelling into Front Street, "the fifth Door above Chestnut street." Here 07 Declaration dated 16 2m 1784, of copartnership, entered into IR 7ns 1783; Memo, dated 16 Feb. 1784, in which Chalkley and Joseph James, Abel's sons, acknowledge that the capital of Abel James & Sons was to remain the property of Abel James; the whole, after paying the debts of the partnership, to be opplied to the debts of Abel James, "reserving only to each one-third of the profits on the Trade of the company." Abel James Correspondence, cited in Note 30. The assignment of Abel James' mate was recorded in Deed Book 0.14, 330: 29 July 1784, Abel James to John Swift, Henry Drinker, John Field and Cadwalader Evans, trustees. In an undated paper in the Correspondence, cited above, there is a note from an unstartd Friends' Meeting which states that Abel James and his wife had made distribution of 16s. on the pound, and that it was expected there would be sufficient to pay the whole of his debts, but that he had commenced suit at law against "a member of your Meeting." The Northern District Meeting, of which James was a member, issued a testimony 23 4m 1787, against Junes, possibly because of tlfis suit. 80 Bible Record, Abel James Correspondence. 09 For Abel James' will, no Will Book W, 21, #12,1790. "Penneyivania Packet, 5 May, 1 Sept. 1781 A wrtk after the 1 Sept. advertisement, Thompson and Abel James were offering for ode 21-55rt lots of woodland in Milltown Twp., Bucks Co., ..now in the tenure of William M'Elroy, near Col. Robeson's tavern." 41 Md., 12 April 1781; D. G. Brinson Thompson, Gateway Sr a Nation (Rinds, N. H., 1916), 120-121. John Thompson, Quaker Schoolmaster and Merchant 151 until 1812, at what was numbered in the Philadelphia city directories as 38 South Front Street, he now advertiezd "Superfine and second cloths, Low priced ditto, Coatings, Blue and red duffils, a Large assortment of cutlery, Calicoes and cottons, Irish linens, Leather hats, Dowlass womens shoes in trunks, Castor and wool Hatts," as well as Burlington pork and butter in kegs." In addition to his drygoods business and mercantile ventures, he invested in Robert Morris' North American Land Company in 1795," and since 1783 had been involved, as co-executor with his father-in-law, in the settlement of Grace Galloway's estate." He joined the Society of the Sons of St. George, and became a member of the Society for the Instruction and Support of First-Day or Sunday Schools. Although he remained a member of Friends' Meeting, his certificate of membership in the Sunday School society was signed by Bishop *White of the Episcopal Church." By 1808 he had brought his eldest surviving son, 2. James Beaton Thompson, into full partnership in the business, now styled John Thompson and Son," and as the years went by, came to rely on him more and more. In the summer of 1812, the family and business moved to a "handsome and comfortable Mansion," three stories high, at 34 North Front Street near Arch where he spent his remaining years." Following .2 Pennsylvania Parker, 12 Jan. 1787; Philadelphia oily Dirradr" '5 A stock certificate for three shares h in the possession of the author. As early aa 1773 Thompson had acted as trustee with Abel James in the sale of the "undivided moiety" of the land owned by Thomas Nickelson and his wife Elizabeth, sister of Grue Galloway, under the will of their father Lawrence Growden. See Deed Book I-11, 354: 17 Apr. 1771, Thomas Nickelson and Elizabeth m Abel James and John Thompson, schoolmaster. For Grace Galloway's will, see Will Book S. III, #245:1781. It was dated 20 Dec. 1781, and proved 15 Nov. 1783. In Mrs. Galloway's journal both John Thompson and Abel James are frequently mentioned. She seemed to have depended on Thompson for advice and help during the days immediately following the British evacuation of Philadelphia, when her house at Sixth and Market was taken from her, and appeared to be somewhat disappointed at what Thompson was able to do. At the rime, however, his own position was somewhat delicate, and there was not much he could do then to help her salvage mmething from the confiscation of the family mune, occasioned by her husband, John Galloway's Tory associations. See extracts Horn her Journal in PMHB, LV (1931), 15 - 94. 45 Certificate in John Thompson Correspondence, cited in Note 22 above. 4 . Philadelphia city Directories, Passim. 4.1 Thompson purchased the N. Prom Street house for £1110 ha 1795. See Deed Book 0-47, 244: 13 June 1791, Mary Foulke to John Thompson. Presumably it was rented to tenants at first, then when the family decided to move there, extensive alteratMns were made. See James B. Thompson to Jonah Thompson in London, 23 July 1811, James B. Thompson Papers, Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers, 1808-1821, Thompson Collection, NSF, hereinafter cited as James B. Thompson Correspondence. In this letter, James told his brother Jonah that "The Building in front street is now finished, and the whole family as well as every person who has seen it think the best has been made of it; it is a handsome and comfortable Mansion and preparations are making for a removal from the old Quarters in about a Week or ten days, much to the Chagrin of C. Evans who cannot let the Property." Evans had probably been the Thompson landlord. See also the for ansurance survey in James B. Thompson Papers, Estates of James B. and John Thompson, 1815-1819, Thompson Collection, 1 52 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine the sudden death in the summer of 1818 of his son 2. James, on whom he had so much depended, John Thompson's health deteriorated. After a brief rally, he died 7 9m 1819, "at 'A past 8 pm."" By his will, dated 21 9m 1818, two months after his son James' death, and probated 25 September 1819, John Thompson left to his wife Rebecca the houshold goods, "Plate and Linens and woollens purchased for family use," an annuity of £200 in gold or silver to be paid her quarterly, and a life interest in the house in Front Street. To his youngest son Samuel he left £2000 in specie, "having already advanced to my other children like sums of L2000." The remainder of his estate he divided into five equal shares for his surviving sons Jonah, George and Samuel; the children of his deceased son James; and his daughter Rebecca Lewis, her share to be held in trust for her "apart from her husband," and upon her death to go to her children or their heirs. If all John's heirs died, their shares were to go to the children of his brother Thomas Thompson, and of his sisters Mary Westcombe, Sarah Neave and Ann Roberts. He appointed his sons Jonah and George, and son-in-law Samuel N. Lewis executors. His widow Rebecca Thompson survived him nearly twenty years, dying 15 2m 1837, "at 10 man. before 10 pm," and was buried in "Friends Western Ground in Cherry."" Children of 1. John Thompson and his wife Rebecca James:" i. JONAH THOMPSON, b. 20 10m 1783; d. 4 10m 1784, or. 11m. fd. 2. ii. JAMES BEATON THOMPSON, b. 16 2m 1785; d. 26 7m 1818, of whom further. JONAH THOMPSON, b. 18 7m 1786; d. mm. 9 April 1861. As a young man and while his father was alive, he travelled extensively for the family business, and when in England in 1811, visited his relatives." After his father's death, as the head of the family he assumed the responsibility of maintaining his younger sisters and brothers and the small children left by his deceased brother 2. James. Always interested in civic matters, late in 1814 following the British raid on Washington, he and his brother-in-law Samuel N. Lewis participated in the organization of a society to distribute soup for the relief of poor and distressed persons "during the winter months." Earlier that year Jonah and young Roberts Vaux, with whom he had gone to school, were among the founders of the Philadelphia Atha. Bible record, John Thompson Correspondence, cited in Note 22 above. 49 Will of John Thompson, Will Book 7, 61, #105:1819; Bible record, cited above. Friends' Western Ground in Chesty presumably was the Cherry Hill ground adjoining the City Hospital on Coats (Fairmount Ave.) between Schuylkill Third and Fourth Ste. (zoth and 195h Sm.). See Scharf and Westeott, III, 2352, cited in Note 34 above. Unless otherwise noted, dates of John Thompson', children are from the Bible record cited above. 61 Sm letters to Jonah from his brother James B. Thompson, in James B. Thompson Correspondence, cited in Note 47 above, in the Jonah Thompson [Jr] Papers, Thompson Collection, HOP, and in the possession of the John Thompson, Quaker Schoolmaster and Merchant 153 enaeurn, of which Jonah served as one of its first managers. In 1818, upon the establishment of the First School District of Pennsylvania, he was among those elected directors of the First Section in Philadelphia, a position he held until 1827. 0 A portrait of him in his prime shows him to have been handsome, blue-eyed and fair-haired." He died just three days before Fort Sumter was fired upon. In his will, dated 25 May 1857, and probated 8 November 1861, he left to his sister-in-law Lydia Thompson, widow of his elder brother 2. James, all his "books, house and office furniture, including clocks, watches and wearing apparel." To his nieces Phoebe P. and Mary Thompson, he left $7000 to be divided equally between them. The remainder of his estate was to be divided equally between his sister-inlaw Lydia or her heirs, his sister Rebecca, widow of Samuel N. Lewis, and his brother George." iv. SAMUEL THOMPSON, b. 19 8m 1788; d. 25 3m 1790. v. REBECCA CHALKLEY THOMPSON, b. 23 6m 1790; d. at her country house in Montgomery County, 28 July 1866; m. 15 June 1809, SAMUEL NEAVE LEWIS, b. 3 September 1785; d. 3 February I 8 41, son of Mordecai Lewis and his wife Hannah Saunders." In 1806 Samuel went 'ante business with his brother Mordecai Lewis, Jr., as commission merchants. They suffered financial reverses in 1817, following the War of 1812, and assigned their "lands, messuages, goods, wares, ships, vessels, notes, bank accounts and debts" to Jonah Thompson and Samuel Archer, trustees." In 1819, the Lewis brothers began the manufacturing of white lead and kindred products, establishing a firm which is still in business. In 1826 Samuel succeeded his oldest brother, who in turn had succeeded their father, as treasurer of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and upon Samuel's death he was followed by his son John Thompson Lewis, who held the position until 1881. A director of the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire, he was also a member of the Welsh Society and treasurer for many years of the State in Schuylkill. Issue: 1. MARTHA. S. LEwn, b. 1810; d. 19 March 1877; m. St. Peter's P. E. Church, Philadelphia, 4 April 1838, JOSEPH SAUNDERS LEWIS, d. 7 September 1886, both bur. Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia." 2. JOHN THOMPSON LEWIS, b. 12 December 1811; d. 29 March 1891; m. 15 May 1850, MARIA 142 Minute of the formation of the soup society 14 12no 1814, at Mordecai Lewis's, S. 3rd St., James B. Thompson Correspondence; Scharf and Wmtcott, II, 1206; III, 1926. Numerous letters in the family correspondence attest to the friendship with Roberts Vans. 08 The portrait is in the possession of John R. Drexel, 3rd. la Will of Jonah Thonapson, Will Book 45, 308, #146.1860. He named his nephew John T. Morris executor. 00 Based on the account of Mordecai Lewis (1748-1799) and his no Samuel, in F. W. Leach, "Old Philadelphia Families," as published it The North American, 7 Feb. 1909, F. W. Leach Collection, Vol. 26, 75-77, Collections of the Genealogmal Society of Pennsylvania (Gill'): Scharf and Westcott, 01, 2275-2276. 80 Deed Book MR-I4, 619, 12 Sept 107, Mordecai and Samuel N. Lewis to Jonah Thompson and Samuel Archer, m.o. 0, Children named in their wills were Edward Lewis, Rebecca (wife of William Morgan Phillips) and Lydia (wife of Jacob Shoemaker Wain). See will of Martha S. Lewis, Will Book 89, 388, #292.1877, and will of Joseph S. Lewis, Will Book 129, 255, 451009.1886. Burial records of Laurel Hill Cemetery. 154 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine LITCHFIELD Scam, bur. 4 April 1905, ae. 81, at Laurel Hill Cemetery. 3. SAUNDERS LEWIS, b. 7 September 1813; d. 2 May 1893; m. 18 October 1834, PHousE MORRIS JAMES, bur. 14 January 1902, or. 83, at Laurel Hill Cemetery." 4. REBECCA THOMPSON LEWIS, b. 17 August 1815; d. num. 28 October 1896, bur. Laurel Hill Cemetery." S. GEORGE THOMPSON LEWIS, b. 3 August 1817; d. 17 January 1900; m. SALLY FISHER, bur. 4 October 1909, or. 88, at Laurel Hill Cemetery. 6 JAMES THOMPSON LEWIS, b. 22 June 1819; d. unm. 22 July 1861. 7. SAMUEL NERVE LEWIS, Ja., b. 22 July 1821; d. 5 January 1857; m. 23 December 1846, SOPHIA HARRISON FRANCIS, bur. 18 January 1856, ae. 33, at Laurel Hill Cemetery. 8. LYDIA LEWIS, b. 28 October 1824; d. 17 January 1851; m. EDWARD H. HOPKINS, bur. 15 December 1890, ae. 73, at Laurel Hill Cemetery." 9. FRANCIS SAUNDERS LEWIS, b. 15 August 1827; d. 1MM. 15 June 1859. vi. MARY THOMPSON, b. 21 7m 1792; d. 3 10m 1798 at Burlington, N. J. vii. GEORGE THOMPSON, b. 7 I 1m 1794: d. unm. 25 January 1876. In business for many years with his brother, he travelled abroad a great deal Between 1840 and 1850, he served from time to time as warden of Pennsylvania's Eastern State Penitentiary. In a long article praising Pennsylvania's penal system in 1844, the Manchester Guardian referred to him as "the present intelligent warden." Always interested in metallurgy and industrial chemistry he was connected with some of the first efforts to smelt iron with coal, and after the Civil War was active in the chemical manufacturing companies which eventually merged to become the Pennsylvania Salt Company." Dying one month after his one-time ward, 3. John J. Thompson, son of his deceased brother 2. James, he left bequests of $1000 each to his other nephews and nieces, Rebecca T. Morris, John T. Lewis, Saunders Lewis, George T. Lewis, Martha S. Lewis, and Rebecca T. Lewis, as "Tokens of love and affection." The residue of his estate he left to his nieces Phoebe P. and Mary Thompson.° viii. SAMUEL THOMPSON, b. 13 12m 1797; d. unm. 15 May 1851, spent much of Isis life in New Orleans, the principal cotton port, as agent for his brothers' mercantile interests, and was living there at the time of his mother's death in 1837. A portrait of him by Thomas Sully, done in 1835, showing him to have been intelligent and attractive, rather than hand0 8 Children of Saunders Lewis, named in Isis will, were John Thompson Lewis of 1000 Spruce St., Elizabeth L, wife of George Meade, Morris James Lewis of 1316 Locust St., and Saunders Lewis, Jr. See will of Saunders Lewis, Will Book 167, 109, #673:1893. Burial records of Laurd Hill Cemetery. 5, Philadelphia Board of Health, Death Registers, Municipal Archives, Philadelphia, Book 1896, Vol. 2, 221. Will of Rebecca T. Lewis, Will Book 190, 273, #1670:1896. She left her estate to ha nephew William Hopkins, mn of her deceased sister Lydia L. Hopkins, to the children of her deceased sister Martha S. Lewis, and to her surviving brothers John T., Saunders and George T. Lewis. # According to the burial reeords of Laurel Hill Cemetery, Lydia Lewis HoPhiM was llest buried in Arch Street Presbyterian burying ground; her remains were removed to Laurel Hill 20 Oa. 1857. Manchester Guardian, 3 Jan. 1844. See George Thompson Papers, Thompson Collation, HIP, for letters relating to Eastern State Penitentiary, 1839-1850, sod for petition to the Pennsylvania legislature Jan. 1831, relative to the chemical industry, the Pennsylvania Salt Co., Pittsburgh, 1831-1876, Papers, George Thompson Papers, Thompson Collection. 82 Will of George Thompson, Will Book 86, 282, #91,1876, dated 21 Jan. 1876; proved Si Jan, 1876. His nephews John T Lewis and John T Morris were named executor& John Thompson, Quaker Schoolmaster and Merchant 155 JAMES BEATON THOMPSON 1785-1818 some, with grey eyes and brown hair, was a great consolation to his mother in her last days." In 1850 he suffered a stroke and returned to Philadelphia, making his home with members of the family until his death. Friends in New Orleans, on learning of his death wrote the family that he "never had an enemy," and praised his exemplary private and and business life." 2. JAMEs BEATON THOMPSON, second and oldest surviving son of L John Thompson and his wife Rebecca James, was born in Philadelphia 16 2m 1785. He attended Friends' Public School in Philadelphia along with his brother Jonah, his future brother-in-law Samuel N. Lewis, and Roberts Vault, a life-long friend of the family." Two silhouettes, one dated 1805 and the other 1809, made on the occasion of James' marriage, indicate a good-looking, almost debonnaire young man." " Portrait of Samuel in possession of the author; Lydia Thompson to Samuel Thompson, 28 2m 1817, Lydia Poultney Thompson Papers and Family Correspondence, 1792, 1805-1869, Thompson Collection, 551, ("Samuel Thompson, New Orleans, to John J. Thompson, Philadelphia, 28 April 1851; L. Matthews, New Orleans, to John J. Thompson, 28 May HUI, John J. Thompson Papers, Thompson Collection. Though Samuel died in 1851, letters of administration on hu estate were not issued until 17 Jan. 1871, to Saunders Lewis, 1216 Walnut St. George Thompson, 900 Pine St., ten one of the sureties for the bond of $1000. Adminntnnion Book T, 481, #181871. 65 A carved wooden statuette in the possession of the author bears the inscription in front, "Dedicated by Roberts Yana in Testimony of Friendship Ardent and Sincere Commenced in Youth and Cherished in Manhood." On the back it is inscribed, "Club Inst. 1795 at Friends Pub. Sch 1 Foundd by Ch" of Wm. Pala 3. B. Thompson S. N. Lewis J. Thompson It. Vann W. Morris 1809." See J. T. Morris, A Tribute to lobo J. Thompson (Philadelphia 1911), a privately printed bookItt. 156 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Taken into his father's firm in 1808, the following year on 29 11 in 1809, James B. Thompson married at Pine Street Meeting in Philadelphia, LYDIA POULTNEY, born 26 12m 1788, daughter of Benjamin Poultney, Philadelphia Quaker merchant, and his wife Phoebe Cook. The silhouette made at the time of her marriage, and a miniature a halfcentury later, show Lydia to have been an attractive woman." Active in civic affairs as well as in business, James Thompson's most exacting task, outside of the firm, was as manager for a time of the Philadelphia Alms House. When he wrote in 1812 to his brother Jonah, who was then in London, he said: My time is much taken up by my engagements as a manager of the Alms House and my afternoons generally spent there. The duties are more arduous than I had an idea of, it is a serious undertaking to accomodate and inspect the Conduct of a family of 950 persons from 200 to 250 of which are enduring almost every species of disease to which human nature is liable and a great number of idle disorderly and unprincipled persons who undeservedly trespass on the public bounty during the Winter and spend the Summer in drunkenness and riot. • .. 8 Nor was he pleased with the advent of the War of 1812. As a Federalist he felt the "impolitic War into which We have been plunged by the madness of our Government has placed our Commerce, the well earned produce of enterprise and Industry, at the mercy of our Enemy. . . ." " As a Quaker he could not turn out for militia duty, and was summoned in February 1814, to answer a charge for non-attendance at the place of rendezvous, when men had been called out the previous April and May during the British blockade of the Delaware." He did serve as chairman of the Society for Supplying the Poor with Soup which he and Jonah helped to establish, and which supplied thousands of quarts of soup and other provisions before it disbanded in 1817. After the war he served on Philadelphia's Common Council in 1816 and 1817. He was also for a time treasurer of the Fellowship Fire Company, and contributed to the Pennsylvania Hospital." On 26 7m 1818, after an illness of fourteen days, James B. Thompson died in his thirty-fourth year. As he was dying he said, "I hope I am willing to abide the event let it be what it may. If the Almighty spare .17 Marriage certificate in possession of the author. Witnesses included Roberts Vans, Wistars, Walns and others among a host of relatives. J T. Morris, cited above. se James B. Thompson to Jonah Thompson, 26 Feb. 1812, James B. Thompson Correspondence, cited in Note 47 above. James B. Thompson so Jonah Thompson, 30 July 1812, ibid. Simmons, 9 Feb. 1814, ibid. In 1815 his militia billet was in Capt. William PoyntelPs 7th Co., Ninth Regime., Pennsylvania Militia. 71 Philadelphia city Directories, 1816, 1817. Treasurer's Reports, James B. Thompson Papers, Thompson Collection, HSP; receipt for $30 from Pennsylvania Hospital in of the author. John Thompson, Quaker Schoolmaster and Merchant 157 me I hope I may be permitted to live ever submissively to His will." A newspaper obituary stated that "in the loss of such a man society has much to regret; and in his nearer and more endeared connections, that loss must be irreparable." " Dying intestate, letters of administration on his estate were granted 3 September 1818, to his brother Jonah and to Samuel Williams. James' brother George, his brother-in-law William C. Poultney, and his cousin Dr. Thomas Chalkley James, were appointed guardians for his four small children, Rebecca, Phoebe, John and Mary Thompson." His young widow, Lydia Poultney Thompson, well cared for by her husband's brothers, lived for fifty-three more years, dying 27 4m 1871. Children of 2. James Beaton Thompson and his wife Lydia Poultney:" i. REBECCA THOMPSON, b. 4 2m 1811; d. 22 3m 1881; in. at Orange Street Meeting, Philadelphia, 17 urn 1841, ISAAC PASCHALL MORRIS, b. 24 7m 1803; d. 11 lm 1869, son of Isaac Wistar Morris and his wife Sarah Paschall." An iron manufacturer, he entered into a partnership in 1827 which later became known as I. P. Morris and Company. His brother-inlaw. 3. John J. Thompson, joined him in business. An invalid for much of his later life, Isaac Morris could always count on John Thompson to support his interests and those of his children. The fact that Isaac chose the middle name Thompson for three of his children is an indication of the love and respect he bore his brother-in-law. Issue: 1. JAMES THOMPSON MORRIS, b. 18 9m 1842; d. 23 9m 1874; m. at Emmanuel P. E. Church, Boston, Mass., 5 December 1872, JANE GLOVER MONTAGUE. 2, ISAAC WISTAR MORRIS, b. 14 7m 1844; d. unm. 5 1 1m 1872. 3. Join.; THoursox MORRIS, b. 12 7111 1847; d. unm. 15 8m 1915. A tall man, with welltrimmed beard and mustache, and penetrating but kind eyes, he was active in the family firm until it was sold. During the winters he lived with his sister Lydia at 826 Pine Street, a handsome brick building opposite the Pennsylvania Hospital. The house was full of interesting and beautiful objects collected in travels to many parts of the world. In other seasons he and his sister Lydia stayed at Compton, their house in Chestnut Hill." Belonging to many organizations, both social and intellectual, John T. Morris was called on frequently for advice and leadership. 4. LYDIA THOMPSON MORRIS, d. unin. 27 January 1932. A gracious, dignified woman above average height, after her brother's death she spent much time at Compton, the large stone structure set above the Wissahickon and across Germantown Pike from Sugar Loaf, at that time the Thompson W James B. Thompson Correspondence, cited in Note 47 above; J. T. Morris, cited in Note 66 above. 78 Estate Papers, James B. Thompson and John Thompson, cited in Note 47 above. /4 Their children's dams are entered on their marriage certificate in the possession• of the author. ' , For a more extended account of Isaac P. Morris and his family, see Robert C. Moon, The Morris Family of Philadelphia . . • (Philadelphia, 11398), II, 541, 544, 693-695, and the Supplement (1909), V. 247; also J- W. Jordan, ed., Colonial Families of Philadelphia (New York, 1911), I, 49-80. ' , Recollections of the author. 158 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine country house. The grounds of Compton were filled with a magnificent collection of trees and shrubs arranged in gardens of different styles. She left the property to the University of Pennsylvania, with an endowment for its support, and at now forms the Morris Arboretum. She also arranged to have Cedar Grove, the colonial home of her Paschall ancestors, removed to Fairmount Park, where it now stands furnished with much of the original furniture. PHOEBE THOMPSON, b. 9 lm 1813; d. ones. 29 12m 1891. 3. iii. JOHN JAMES THOMPSON, b. 3 12m 1815; d. 24 5m 1875, of whom further. iv, MARY THOMPSON, b. 10 10m 1817; d. unrn. 31 lm 1884. 3. JOHN JAMES THomPsoN, born 3 12m 1815, was the only son and third child of 2. James Beaton Thompson and his wife Lydia PoultneyAs he was not yet three years old when his father died, it was fortunate that he had well-connected relatives and devoted uncles. After finishing school, he started work in a "counting house." His uncle Samuel advised him by letter to work late and not to "forget your French."" By 1835 he was being addressed as John J. Thompson, merchant. Within the next ten years he became permanently associated with his brother-in-law's firm, I. P. Morris Company, Ironmasters, and eventually became president of the company." During the Civil War, because the firm supplied material to the Union Navy, he came under the censure of the Philadelphia Meeting of Friends. In his defense he pointed out that he had renounced for himself dividends or extra compensation for the duration of the war, and since practically all the employees and some of the owners were non-Quakers, he had felt it his duty to carry on. Nevertheless, he was declared no longer in unity with Friends. Though the war thus adversely affected him personally, it did not alter his attitude. Writing in March 1865, to his cousin John Thompson in Hitchin, England, he described President Lincoln as "a self made man, rough, perhaps, but earnest, honest and capable,—a great favour to have had such a man as President in this great Crisis." Two weeks after Lincoln's assassination, in another letter to his cousin, he wrote that "They [the South] have lost their best friend and we a President in whose honesty and soundness of Judgment we placed the greatest Confidence...." " Over the years he became a director of the Western Savings Bank and of the Savings Fund Society, the American Dredging Company, the Samuel Thompson, New Orleans, to John J. Thompson, 13 Dec. 1832, Thompson Collection, copy in possession of tlae author. '18 John 3. Thompson Papers, Philadelphia Iron Pounder, Thompson Collection, HSP. CoF.pondeme with Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Peb.—Aug. 1862, John J. Thompson Papers, Thompson Collection; John J. Thompson to John Thompson, 6 March, I May 1865, Society Miscellaneous Collection, HSP. LYMAPOULTNETMOMPSON SAM LINI THOMPSON 1788-1871 1797-1851 "MNIMINSIT 1 ELIZABETH Houcz THOMPSON JOHN JAMES THOMPSON 1818-1836 1815'1875 John Thompson, Quaker Schoolmaster and Merchant 159 Crane Iron 'Works, was a manager of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and belonged to several social clubs." At the age of thirty-six, John J. Thompson married at Northern District Meeting in Philadelphia on 14 12m 1852, ELIZABETH HOUGH TROTTER, born 12 10m 1818, daughter of Nathan Trotter and his wife Susan Hough." He died in Philadelphia 24 May 1875. In his will, dated 11 2m 1868, and proved 7 June 1875, he called himself an ironmaster. To his wife he left all household effects, including books, silver, jewelry, watches, paintings, engravings, etc., and all horses, carriages, harness and appurtenances, as well as an annual income of $4000. To each of his unmarried sisters, Phoebe P. and Mary Thompson, he left $5000 "free of collateral inheritance tax and U. S. legacy duty." The feversion of his half-interest in the house in Pine Street, then numbered 900, he left to the sisters after the death of his mother who predeceased him three years after his will was written. The income from the balance of his estate, principally vested in I. P. Morris, Towne & Company, was to be used for educating and maintaining his children, and then to be divided equally. His wife Elizabeth, and nephew John T. Moms, were named executors and guardians of the children." His wife survived him eleven years, dying in 1886. John J. Thompson appears to have been noted for his high character as well as for his ability. In 1911, his nephew John Thompson Morris published privately a booklet, A Tribute to John J. Thompson, in which he summed up the character of his uncle: He was a devoted son. He was an adored brother. He became the advisor of his uncles. He was attached and devoted to his invalid brother-in-law. He was a true, affectionate and loving husband and father. He was a friend of the sick and the poor. . He was a trusted confidant and advisor of many. He was fair in thought and deed. . Children of 3. John James Thompson and his wife Swan Hough Trotter: " 1. SUSAN TROTTER THOMPSON, b. 27 12m 1853; d. 18 January 1879; m. Si John J. Thompson Papers, Thompson Collusion, HSP. 81 Notes on the marriage certificate of James B. Thompson and Lydia Poultney, cited in Note 67 above; Elva Tooker, Nathan Trotter, Philadelphia Merchant (Cambridge, Man., 1951), 10, 13. Elizabeth Trotter'. mother, Susan Hough, wae a daughter of Samuel Hough and Susannah Newbold. See J. W. Jordan, II, 1016, cited in Note 75 above. See also the Trotter Chart by Newbold H. Trotter (1868), GSP. m will of John J. Thompson, Will Rook 84, 414, #494,1875. 88 5ased on records in possession of the author, and information from John Thompson Emirs and Miss Gainor Roberts, granddaughter of Charles Trotter Thompson. 160 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 13 December 1877, JAMES EMLEN, son of James Emlen and his wife Sarah Foulke. Issue: 1. JoHN THominoN EMLEN, b. 21 December 1878; d. 10 February 1955; m. 6 March 1906, Maar CARPENTER Drum's." JAMES BEATON THOMPSON, b. 20 2m 1855; d. 8 January 1915; m. at St. Stephens P. E. Church, Philadelphia, 2 February 1895, EMELIA GARRISON BRINTON, b. 27 April 1874; d. 24 January 1952, daughter of Dr. Daniel Garrison Brinton and his wife Sarah Maria Tillson." James B. Thompson grew up at the family's favorite residence, Sugar Loaf, in Chestnut Hill. He attended Friends' Select School and Haverford College, graduating "Examine rigoroso cunt laude superato" in 1874." A year later his father died, and he became in many ways the head of the family. For seventeen years he was treasurer of I. P. Morris Co., until the firm was sold to William Cramp & Son in 1891. He was a member of the Philadelphia, the Rittenhouse, the Philadelphia Country Club, the Anchorage, as well as other social clubs. Issue: 1. ELIZABETH THOMPSON, b. 13 January 1896; d. 27 January 1943; m. 27 April 1918, JOHN Roof DREXEL, JR. 2. DANIEL GARRISON BRINTON THOMPSON, b. 9 July 1899; M. 1 August 1931, ANNE HARRISON BIGELOW. iii. CHARLES TROTTER THOMPSON, b. 19 1 lm 1856; d. 2 September 1919; m. 11 January 1881, MARIA LOUISE McKAY, daughter of Stephen Kingston McKay and his wife Ella Cecilia Buaby. Charles T. Thompson followed his older brother to Haverford College, and was also an executive of the I. P. Morris Co. Issue: I. ELLANORA CECILIA THOMPSON, b. 14 December 1888; d. 4 June 1938; m. 29 April 1915, THOMAS WILLIAMS ROBERTS. 2. PHOEBE POULTNEY THOMPSON, b. 9 November 1891; d. unm. 5 January 1937. 3. Mama LOUISE THomrsoN, b. 8 May 1901; m. 12 December 1925, TALBOT JONES ALBERT, JR. iv. JOHN JAMES THOMPSON, JR., b. 20 12m 1858; d. unm. 13 June 1938. Graduating from Harvard in 1879," he was of an intellectual turn of mind, one of his special interests being genealogy. In 1892 he was one of the founders of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania and served on its first Board of Directors." For many years after his brothers married he lived at Sugar Loaf. His health began to fail after the turn of the century and he lived in retirement or in hospitals for the last thirty years of his life, dying intestate." It was his collection of manuscripts which constitutes the Thompson papers in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Comprising approximately 6,000 items, originally in 125 volumes, it contains a mine of information on Philadelphia business affairs, commercial ventures, the growth of the city over a period of 100 years, as well as family papers relating not only to the Thompson family but to Abel James and his affairs, Grace Galloway, the Trotter family, and other persons with whom John Thompson and his family were connected. OS See J. W. Jordan, I, 49 ff., for an account of the Emlen family. 86 Gilbert Caps and J. W. Schoonover, The Bristol% Genealogy (Trenton, N. J., 1924); also DAB and EncyclopaedP Britannic,' for Dr. Brinson. Diploma in possession of the author. 85 Records of Harvard University. SS Records of GOP. 50 Recollections of the amhor.