2. Andrew Sr. and Ann Thompson

Andrew Thompson "came to America from Ireland in colonial days, and fought for American independence in the Continental Army." [Bland History, pg. 164]. Andrew would have been born between 1750 and 1760, evidenced by his recorded age of 70-80 in 1830, and 80-90 in 1840 (see Table 1).

Andrew is first placed in the Wythe County area in 1774 [Somers, Annals of Southwest Virginia], in what was Montgomery County at the time. He was an Ensign in the local militia. His rank is typical for a young man of his early twenties, which matches our suggested birth range.

Andrew then became an Ensign in the Continental Army. [Spencer's Regiment, Continental Troops] Myrl Thompson's research shows only one Ensign by the name of Andrew Thompson in the Daughters of the American Revolution records [DAR Record 590408] [Thompson, Letter 8 Dec 1993]. This Andrew was born in 1750 and married an Anne. Thompson concludes, and I agree, that it is the same Andrew.

A brief outline of Andrew's military service follows [Spencer's Regiment, Continental Troops][Thompson, Letter 8 Dec 1993]:
- Sergeant 1st NJ, Dec 1776.
- Ensign 1st NJ, 3 Apr 1777. Col. Oliver Spencer's Regiment, Continental Troops (foot)
- Taken prisoner at Brandywine Creek, PA, 11 Sep 1777.
- Exchanged, 17 Dec 1780, from Long Island, New York.
- Retired with rank of Lieutenant, 1 Jan 1781.

The dates in the records are not quite precise. The date of Andrew's commission is shown as 1 Apr 1777 in a book of Congressional settlements for war veterans, 3 Apr 1777 in a list showing "Arrangement of Captains and Subalterns in the Regiment Commanded Oliver Spencer", 7 Apr 1777 on a Field and Staff Muster Roll at Stony Point 24 Dec 1780.

Andrew's pay as an Ensign was $20.00 per month.

Andrew married Ann (also called Nancy) in 1775 [Harris, 1976 notes]. She was born between 1750 and 1760. Her age is recorded 70-80 in 1830, and 80-90 in 1840 (Table 1.) Ann was a native of England [Bland History, p 160].

Andrew and Ann settled in Wythe County, Virginia in 1782, apparently right after Andrew's retirement from the military in 1781. Andrew appears on the 1810, 1820, 1830, and 1840 censuses. Andrew Jr. appears to have been born in 1781/1782 in Virginia [Wythe Census 1850]; timing that matches quite nicely with the 1781 retirement.

The children of Andrew and Ann are as follows:

There are three main sources for these children.

1. Harris [Harris, 1976 notes] lists exactly these eight children.
2. Exactly these eight children are found in the probate records for Andrew (discussed below).
3. Comparison of Thompson families in Wythe County 1810-1860 supports these same eight children. (Chapter 1.)

Andrew died in 1843. He left no will, dying intestate. Wythe County Will Book #6, pages 69-70, contains an inventory of his estate. Andrew Thompson and Bryant Thompson are named administrators of the will. On pages 373-376 [ibid.] the settlement of the estate is completed: "It appears that the whole amount of the Estate which came into the hands of the administrators is $3429.51 and the amount of charges against the Estate is $470.87, leaving the amount of Estate subject to distribution $2958.64 to be equally distributed among eight distributees, cash share being $369.83." Disbursements are then shown for six of the eight distributive shares: "John Thompson, a Distributee 369.83; Francis Thompson, a Distributee 369.83; Amos Thompson, a Distributee 369.83; Children of Mary Helvey Deceased, Distributive Share 369.83; Charles Havens and Nancy his wife, Distributive Share 369.83; Joseph Thompson, a Distributee 369.83." There is no record that Andrew (Jr.) and Bryant Thompson get their shares, but the amount that is unpaid is exactly equal to their two shares. I assume that since they were administrators, and had the balance of the Estate settlement funds, they paid the other children and kept what was left, which would have been their two shares.

The probate records suggest that there are no additional children of Andrew besides the eight listed. This conclusion is based on the treatment of the children of Mary Helvey, who is deceased. If there were other children of Andrew, they would have received similar treatment.

While the probate records make the names of the children clear, it does not state their ages or their place of residence. If we accept the families in the Wythe Censuses as the sons of Andrew, as suggested in Chapter 1, then the order of the children can be compiled by comparing sources:

* Administrator
** Probable error by Harris -- wrong Andrew.
# John Helvey and wife are listed as 26-45 yrs in 1810
## Charles Haven and wife listed as 16-26 yrs in 1810

These children will each be the subject in the next eight chapters. When it aids clarity, I may refer to father Andrew as Andrew Sr., and his son as Andrew Jr. However, there is no evidence that they actually used these names themselves. The only recorded use is in the 1820 census for Andrew Jr., and the 1830 census for Andrew Sr.

Myrl Thompson has studied the military service of Andrew and the land records which mention him. He reconstructs the time line of Andrew's life between 1750 to 1800 this way [Thompson, Time Line]:

Thompson's timeline neatly fits the birth information from censuses and the compiled birth order presented previously. Andrew's military service away from home from 1777 to 1780 explains the time lag between John's birth in 1776 and Andrew Jr.'s birth in 1781. (I had originally calculated Andrew Jr.'s birth in 1780, but Myrl points out that because Andrew was a prisoner until Dec. 1780, that Andrew Jr. must have been born in 1781.)

Figure 2: Land Record from Andrew's first plot of 100 acres in 1783. (River shape enhanced)

As shown on the time line, Andrew obtained 398 acres in 1782. This land parcel was on Walker Creek near Point Pleasant. [Thompson, Letter 28 Mar 1994] In 1783, he had the area surveyed and took delivery of the first 100 acres. Its location appears to be between the third and fourth bridges, some 3 miles east of Central Church on County Road 604 near Point Pleasant, as is shown in Figure 3. This first land purchase is important because it proves the earliest known year of Andrew's residence in Wythe.

In 1785, he had another survey of the land made, this time for an additional 113 acre plot from the 398. These were delivered on Sept. 12, 1785. The original 398 acres was apparently first Samuel Piercefield's original Treasury warrant. Piercefield later assigned it to Robert Fristoe, who later assigned it to a Cunningham, who later assigned it to Francis McGuire. McGuire was the one who sold the land to Andrew Thompson. [Thompson, Letter 28 Mar 1994][Thompson, Letter 13 Nov 1994]

In the late 1790's Wythe County was heavily involved in public road improvements. On 13 Aug 1799, a "bridle way" was "opened from the foot of Cove Mountain to Andrew Thompson's." [Somers, Annals of Southwest Virginia, pg 1371]. Cove Mountain is just North-East of Wytheville. A map from the 1860's shows two roads that go from Wytheville, past Cove Mountain and over Walker Mountain to Walker Creek. One road goes to the present-day town of Bland, the other to Walker Creek several miles East of Bland. [Thompson, Letter 16 Jan 1994] Myrl Thompson comments: "Bridle ways were basically improved paths, cut high for riding horseback. To get to Walker Creek from Wytheville, you would have to cross Little Walker and Walker Mountain. A bridle way makes more sense than a road." [Thompson, Letter 8 Feb 1994]. In 1994, I visited Wythe county with a copy of the 1860 map showing what must have been this bridle way. I was told by someone local to the area that the only route to Walker Valley besides Interstate 77 was "Old Cove Road" (Route 603). I was also advised that I'd need a four-wheel drive to make journey by that route.

Andrew and Anne are buried somewhere in Hoge's Chapel Cemetery in Bland County. A visit to the cemetery shows no stones with their inscription. However, on the north side in the center, there are two adjacent, badly-weathered stones, one with a spire, one of granite. Beside each of these stones is a D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) marker. The markers are also weathered to the point that they cannot be read. But this tells us something, too. The marker used by the D.A.R. is made of aluminum and plastic, with about 5x7 inches of area for text and a spike to place it in the ground. The materials weather relatively faster than headstones, become unreadable, and eventually fall apart. Myrl Thompson estimates these markers are more than 10 years old, since they are not legible, and less than 30 years old, since they are yet intact. [Thompson, Visit 1994] The D.A.R. submission for Andrew was finalized in 1974 [DAR Record 590408]. Since these are the only two graves with D.A.R. markers, it seems quite likely that they are the graves of Andrew and Ann. A diagram of Hoge's Chapel Cemetery is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Hoge's Chapel Cemetery diagram. (Adapted from Myrl Thompson diagram, 1994)

© Copyright Brian J. Cragun, 1994, 1997. All rights reserved.