Thompson, John W.

THOMPSON, DEETER, JONES, PARKER, TAGGART, KINTZ, DODD, NORRIS, CAPRON, WALKER, SIGNS, HAND, CORBETT, SNOOK, FISHER, TRAUGER, HAMPTON

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 10/22/2009 at 19:25:03

Thompson, John W.

Among the successful agriculturists and stock men of Jasper county whose efforts and influence have contributed to the material up-building and general business activity of their respective communities, J. W. Thompson, of the vicinity of Collins, Clear Creek Township, occupies a conspicuous place. Early in his career he realized the fact that practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, never fails of success; that it carries a man onward and upward brings out his individual character and acts as a powerful stimulus to the efforts of others; that the greatest results in life are often attained by simple means and the exercise of the ordinary qualities of common sense and perseverance; that the everyday life, with its cares, necessities and duties, affords ample opportunities for acquiring experience of the best kind and its most beaten paths provide a true worker with abundant scope for effort and improvement, consequently Mr. Thompson has ever been alert to seize the small opportunities that he has encountered on the rugged hill that leads to life's better things.

Mr. Thompson was born in Collins Township, Story County, Iowa, November 25, 1866, but nearly all his life has been spent on the fine farm which he now occupies in Clear Creek Township, Jasper County, whither his parents, Samuel and Catherine H. (Deeter) Thompson, brought him when he was a child, this family being one of the earliest to settle in this township, in 1855. Owing to the prominence of these parents here and in Marshall County, where the elder Thompson now resides, the biographer deems it best to devote some space here to them, before continuing with the immediate subject.

Samuel Thompson, farmer of State Center Township, Marshall County, was born in Venango County, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1830. When ten years old he moved to Wayne County, Ohio, and remained there until 1851, in which year he removed to Jasper County, Iowa, and has made this section of the Hawkeye State his home ever since, living to see the wonderful development of the same from the wild prairie to one of the richest agricultural sections in the Union, and he has taken no small part in this development. William Thompson, his father, was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and he came to Iowa in an early day and died here. He was a member of the famous band of "forty-niners" who crossed the great Western plains in search of gold in California. The mother of Samuel Thompson was known in her maidenhood as Margaret Morehead, who was born in Pennsylvania and who died in Iowa. To William Thompson and wife there were born nine children, namely: Mrs. Nancy Jones, deceased; James died in Des Moines; Samuel, father of J. W., the subject of this review; Mrs. Sarah Parker died in 1910; Joseph lives in Nebraska; Mrs. Margaret Taggart died in Ohio; John lives at Collins, Iowa; William lives in California; Mary Ann married Commodore P. Kintz, he being now deceased, and she is living on a farm in Clear Creek Township, Jasper County

Samuel Thompson was married in 1852 to Harriet Deeter, who died in 1853, and he was subsequently married to a sister of his first wife, Catherine H. Deeter, who was born in 1833 and whose death occurred at Rhodes, Iowa. By the first union one child, Mrs. Margaret Ellen Dodd, was born November 19, 1852, and she is residing in Jasper County. To the second union eleven children were born, named as follows: Mrs. Mary Aluia Norris, living at Valley Junction, Iowa; Mrs. Anna Capron, who was born March 1, 1861, died July 14, 1900; Samuel lives in Mapleton, Kansas; Mrs. Lillie Walker is deceased; Mrs. Jennie Signs is a resident of Olathe, Kansas; Mr. Rose Hand lives near Colo, Iowa; Mrs. Sadie Corbett lives in State Center, Iowa; John W., subject of this review; a son died in infancy.

Samuel Thompson is the owner of a valuable farm of two hundred and eleven acres in Clear Creek Township, Jasper County, but being retired from active life he is making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Corbett, of State Center, Iowa. He is a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted in Company F, Fortieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, at Newton, and he served for two years and eight months in the Army of the Potomac under Gen. A. J. Garrett, of Newton, seeing much service, including the Battle of Wilson's Creek, and he was wounded at Brownsville, Tennessee.

Politically, he is a Democrat and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Church at Rhodes. He belongs to the Van Pelt Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at State Center; also belongs to Eden Lodge No. 466, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Rhodes. He talks interestingly of the pioneer days and of his experiences in coming overland from Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio, before the days of railroads in Iowa, and also of his trip in wagons to Pike's Peak, Colorado, in 1860.

John W. Thompson, the immediate subject of this sketch, grew to manhood in Clear Creek township and was educated in the public schools there, and with the exception of three years spent in Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska, having homesteaded in the last named state, and three years spent in the hardware business in Rhodes, Iowa, he has been identified with the agricultural interests of this community all his mature years, having been very successful in this line of endeavor. He farms two hundred and eleven acres of the old homestead in Clear Creek Township in a manner that stamps him as a progressive twentieth-century farmer, having kept the old place well improved and well tilled, carrying on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale. He is also the owner of one hundred and sixty acres in Texas. He has a modern and well-furnished home. He has always taken a deep interest in local affairs.

Politically, he is a Democrat. He has been a member of the town council of Rhodes. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of J America, Camp No. 2358, of Collins.

On November 28, 1894, Mr. Thompson was married to Linnie Snook, who was born in Collins Township, Story County, Iowa, March 7, 1873, the daughter of William and Sarah (Fisher) Snook, The father who was a native of Maryland, died in Illinois, May 31, 1899, at the age of seventy-four years; the mother was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 25, 1838, and her death occurred on November 15, 1902.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Snook, and were reared in Story County, all still living, namely: Mrs. Lottie Trauger is living at Whiting, Iowa; James lives in Kansas; Mrs. Mary Hampton lives in Nebraska; Ed. lives in Washington; William lives in Illinois; George is a resident of Ames Iowa; Linnie, wife of Mr. Thompson, of this review, is the youngest.

Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, namely: Vilda, born August 13, 1895, is attending high school at Collins; Loveda, born July 27, 1899; John, born in Rhodes, August 10, 1905; Jessie, born December 6, 1907; all but John were born in Clear Creek Township. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 1321.