Surname Saturday ~ THOMPSON of Gilmanton, New Hampshire

THOMPSON/ THOMSON/ TOMPSON

My 4^th great grandmother, Nancy Thompson (1804 – after 1847), is a complete mystery to me.  I don’t know when she was born, or who are her parents.  I don’t have a death record for her either.  She was widowed, and then disappeared from any records I have seen – so far.   This Thompson line is a real genealogical brick wall to me.

I also have two other New England THOMPSON lineages.  One is from David Thompson ( 1592 – 1628), the first European settler to live permanently in New Hampshire.  The other is from Alexander Thompson (about1636 – 1696), one of Cromwell’s Scots prisoners of war sent to New England to be sold into servitude.   It would be wonderful to find out that Nancy was from one of these lineages, or even to find out she was from a third colonial Thompson line.  But so far, she is a mystery.

This is what I know about Nancy.  She was born about 1804, probably in or near the town of Gilmanton in Belknap County, New Hampshire.  On 11 February 1822 in Belmont,  Belknap County, New Hampshire she married Jonathan Batchelder (the marriage record lists her place of birth as Gilmanton, a town contiguous to Belmont).  They had two children, the eldest, George E. Batchelder (1822 – 1848) is my 3^rd great grandfather.  The other child is Pauline, who was left an orphan when her father died very young in 1847 in the New Hampshire State Insane Asylum.   I have found the guardianship papers for Pauline, and Nancy was named her guardian.  

After the guardianship case, Nancy disappeared from the records. I have not found a death for Nancy Thompson in New Hampshire. I have not found her in a census record after 1840.  I have found no proof that she remarried.  She was not living with her son or daughter in any census record after 1840.  There are several Thompson families living in and near Gilmanton and the region near Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, but records do not show a Nancy/Ann/Hannah Thompson born near her supposed age.  I am sure there are missing records because New Hampshire did not require vital records to be recorded until later, and there was not total compliance in recording vital records until 1905.  

This is a very sad story.  I know that George married before his father died.  He married Abigail M. Locke in 1845.  His sister Pauline was only 14 years old when her father died in 1847, but two years later she married David C. Watson.  She seemed to live a nice life after this, since her husband was a merchant tailor in Concord, New Hampshire and Boston, Massachusetts according to census records.

George was emancipated from his father in 1840, the year he turned 18 years old, according to newspaper notices.  Sadly, he also died very young at age 25 in 1848.  His son George, Jr., my great great grandfather,  was born posthumously that same year.  I have no record of what caused his early death.   

George, Jr. was raised by his maternal grandparents in Chichester – Capt. Richard Locke and his wife Margaret Welch.  Young George, Jr. went to Boston and worked as a mechanic, on the railroads and in real estate looking after the estate of R. Esterbrooks in South Boston.  

My THOMPSON lineage:

Generation 1:  Nancy Thompson, born about 1804 probably in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, died after 1847; married on 11 February 1822 in Belmont, New Hampshire to Jonathan Batchelder, son of Elisha Batchelder and Sarah Lane.  He was born about 1800 in Hampton and died before 4 November 1847 in the New Hampshire State Asylum in Concord, New Hampshire.  Two children.

Generation 2:  George E. Batchelder m. Abigail M. Locke

Generation 3:  George E. Batchelder m. Mary Katharine Emerson

Generation 4:  Carrie Maude Batchelder m. Joseph Elmer Allen

Generation 5:  Stanley Elmer Allen m. Gertrude Matilda Hitchings

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ THOMPSON of Gilmanton, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 14, 2016,  (  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/surname-saturday-thompson-of-gilmanton.html: accessed [access date]).