San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOHN THOMPSON
Among the respected and successful
agriculturists of San Joaquin County, the late John Thompson devoted his
energies to farming for over thirty years.
He was a man of great individual worth and excellence, who performed his
tasks with credit, and who left behind him a family who, themselves an honor to
his name, will cherish his memory and works.
Since 1900 Mr. Thompson had resided at his pleasant home in Lodi,
relaxing in a measure the strenuous activity which characterized and brought
success to his younger years, although he continued to be an important factor
in the agricultural life of the county up to the time of his demise. His beautiful ranch of 160 acres situated
four miles northwest of Woodbridge bore visible evidence of his labors and
sagacious management. He was born in
Northampton County, Pennsylvania, September 22, 1838, a son of James and
Elizabeth Thompson, natives of Ireland, who immigrated to Canada in early life
and settled near Montreal. Later they
removed to Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where the father died. The mother passed away in Philadelphia.
John Thompson was reared and
educated in his native county, but the school advantages of that day were
rather meager, and were limited in his case to attendance for about three
months in each year until he was sixteen years old, when he went into the
practical school of experience and real life.
In 1856 he left his native state and went to Carthage, Illinois, where
he followed farming for two or three years.
About 1861 he removed to Douglas County, Kansas, where he pioneered and
at the time of the sacking of Lawrence by Quantrill, in 1863, he was one of the
men who hurriedly rode to the next town appraising the citizens of Quantrill’s
approach and advising the men to hide in the woods till his bushwhackers got
by. In 1874 he removed from Kansas to
California. Before settling on his
160-acre farm in the Woodbridge district, he farmed near Lathrop and Linden.
Mr. Thompson was married in
Carthage, Illinois, February 24, 1859, to Mrs. Catherine Shank, born on
September 3, 1837, a daughter of Christian Shank. Both of her parents were natives of Germany. In infancy she was taken to Lee County, Iowa,
where her parents remained until she was eight years old, then removing to
Illinois and locating near Carthage, where she grew to womanhood and was
married. For a number of years Mr.
Thompson served as a trustee of the Ray School District, San Joaquin County, in
which he was a former resident. In
politics he was a Republican. He was a
member of the Jefferson Lodge No. 98, I. O. O. F., at Woodbridge, and he and
his wife were members of the Rebekahs at Lodi.
Mrs. Thompson, also deceased, was a member of the Ladies’ Aid Society of
the Congregational Church at Lodi, and also of the Woman’s Relief Corps of the
same place. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were
the parents of seven children, five of whom are still living: Elmer E., represented elsewhere in this work;
Emery A., residing in Lodi; Wilson Henry, also residing in Lodi and represented
in this work; Anabel, Mrs. William Lossing; and Letty M., Mrs.
William Franklin. Mary Thompson, the
third child, is deceased; and the first child died in infancy.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1051-1052. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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