10. Bryant and Barbara Thompson

Bryant Thompson, the eighth child of Andrew Thompson, was born in 1797 in Wythe [Wythe Census 1850]. The census information says Virginia. He died sometime after 1850, since he was still alive for the 1850 census.

Bryant married Barbara in about 1815, based on the ages of children.

The children of Bryant and Barbara are as follows:

Bryant Thompson Jr. b. 1819/1824  
(female) b. ca. 1822  
Ellenor Thompson b. 1824 md. Jezreel Fannon 2 May 1839
(female) b. ca 1826  
(female) b. ca 1828  
Louisa Thompson b. 1831 md. Henry Devor 26 Jun 1851
Andrew J. Thompson b. 1833 md. Martha Grills 15 Mar 1860
Julia Ann Thompson b. 1835  
Ephraim Thompson b. 1838  

The source for the birth information is the 1850 Census. The four younger children are living at home in this census [Wythe Census 1850, pg 680, Family 1623]. Bryant Jr. is living right next door [Ibid., pg 680, Family 1624]. Ellenor is detailed on the next page.

There are probably other children I have not found yet. In particular, there may be one additional female child, depending on how you compare the 1830 and 1840 censuses and whom you assume is Louisa.

1820 1830 1840 1850
M 16-26 M 30-40 M 40-50 M 53 Bryant Thompson
F 16-26 F 30-40 F 40-50 M 52 Barbara
M 0-10 ? M 26 Bryant Thompson Jr.  
  F 5-10 F 15-20  
  F 5-10 (married) (F Ellenor)
  F 0-5 ?  
  F 0-5 F 10-15  
  F 0-5 F 5-10 F 19 Louisa
    F 0-5 F 15 Julie Ann
    M 0-5 M 12 Ephraim
    ? M 17 Andrew

Ellenor

Ellenor Thompson married Jezreel Fannon, 2 May 1839 in Wythe. She and Jezreel are found in the 1850 census [Wythe Census 1850, pg 674, family 1583]. Her age in this census is given as 26. This matches the 1830 census which lists her as 5-10 (she would have been 6). This means she was 15 when married in 1839, a little young, but not unheard of. (Often when they married that young, they lied about it in the marriage records).

Andrew J.

Andrew J. Thompson is living with the family in the 1850 census [Op. Cit.] and the 1860 census [Wythe Census 1860, family 250], however, he does not appear on the 1840 census transcript [Douthat, Wythe Settlers, pg 148, family 1623]. His age is 17 in 1850 and 24 in 1860. Andrew married Martha Grills on 15 Mar 1860 [Bogle, Letter 23 Aug 1994], and indeed Martha is mentioned in the 1860 census next to Andrew.

Louisa

Louisa Thompson escaped me for years because I always interpreted the name in the 1850 census as Sonia. Douthat transcribes the name as Louisa, and it fits perfectly with the marriage record for Louisa, daughter of Bryant, to Henry Devor on 26 Jun 1851.

Louisa and Henry also appear in the 1860 Wythe Census [Wythe Census 1860] (Douthat, has a transcription error, listing Louisa as 50 instead of the actual 30 shown in the census records.) especially considering the oldest child is 8, perfect timing to match the 1851 marriage.

Transcript

Bryant and family are found in the Tazewell 1860 Census [Tazewell Census 1860, family 250 pg 725].

Bryant Thompson M 63
Barbara F 64
Ephraim M 17
Andrew J. M 24
Martha F 22

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