Sacramento County
Biographies
FREDERICK F. THOMSON
Frederick F. Thomson came to Sacramento
from Richmond, Chittenden county, Vt., ten miles from
Burlington. His father, Corey Thomson, who was an owner of land holdings,
died in 1908, aged ninety years, and his wife, who was over ninety-five years
at the time of her death, passed away in 1910. She was a descendant of
John Fay, a heroic soldier at the Battle of Bennington, whose story has been
told in Revolutionary annals. Her father, John Fay, was a captain in the
war of 1812 and his grand-uncle, Samuel Thomson, was the founder of the Thomsonian system of medicine and was an extensive writer
on materia medica.
There were five children in the family of
the parents, of whom only Frederick F. and Herbert R. are living. The
latter is identified as a stockholder in the Thomson, Diggs Company. He
came to Sacramento several years later than did his brother.
Frederick F. was born October 21, 1847, in Jericho, Vt. Like many young
men of his day and place, he taught during the winters and worked on the farm
in the summer. It is too cold in a Vermont winter for outdoor work, consequently the young men have some time for
schooling. The farms are so poor that all the farmers must work all
summer to get a harvest. California is a paradise compared with the
eastern states. When Mr. Thomson arrived in Sacramento, in 1872, he went to the
Whitcomb ranch and worked for his uncle, John Whitcomb, for about a year, then
taught school in Sacramento until 1877. He was employed in San Francisco
by the Frank Brothers, an agricultural implement firm, and was sent by that
company to open a branch store in Sacramento with R. L. Holman, at the corner
of Second and J streets. He remained here two years when the firm became
Holman, Stanton and Company, and after four years under this management,
Frederick and Herbert Thomson bought out Mr. Holman. In 1900 the
Thomson Brothers bought out Mr. Stanton and incorporated, taking in the
Diggs Implement and Vehicle Company. The title is now The Thomson, Diggs
Company, and in 1911 they built a large warehouse on third and R streets,
160x160 feet in dimensions and four stories high, and here they have their
offices. Located on both the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific
Railroads, they have a large warehouse on Third street opposite
their new building. Mr. Thomson is the president and is very active in
the management.
Frederick E. Thomson was married to
Miss Sarah Anderson of Franklin, Sacramento county,
and their children are Evelyn E., who is now the wife of George F. Fetherston, the latter the bookkeeper in the Boston Machine
Shop at Oroville; Edith, wife of C. L. mason, the hardware buyer of Thomson,
Diggs Company; Fred F., Jr., an assistant in the office of the company; and
Roxana, who died at the age of three years. Mr. Thomson is one of the
pioneers in Odd Fellowship, having been an active member of that order for
thirty-five years. He is an earnest believer in the doctrines of
Christian Science and has been reader in the church of that faith for several
years.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages 795-796. Historic
Record Company,
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.