Family History

The New England GOODWIN Project
Dedicated to the Genealogy of
New England Goodwins and Intersecting Genealogies and Family Trees

Thompson Family History pg. 4

He then became associated with Charles A. Frost, of Stoneham, for two years, again resuming market gardening on the homestead until 1890, when he bought his father's lease of the place. The farm belonged to the mother of William L. Thompson, and at her death her son inherited his share of the property. The farm is one of the oldest in the town. It is known still as the old Johnson place, part of the original Johnson grant when the town was first settled. Mr. Thompson makes a specialty of early lettuce, spinach, squash, celery, and raises rhubarb under glass for the Boston market. He has sixty-four acres of land in the northwest part of Winchester. He is domestic in his tastes and devotes himself almost exclusively to home and business. He is well known and much respected by his townsmen. He is a member of the Unitarian church of Winchester. In politics he is a Republican. He was made a member of Parkman Lodge of Free Masons at Winchester, March 14, 1882, but is now a member of Mount Horeb Lodge of Woburn. He was made a member of Woburn Royal Arch Chapter of Masons, May 29, 1889; of Medford Council of Royal and Select Masters, January 21, 1904; of Hugh de Payens Commandery, Knights Templar, at Melrose, June 21, 1906; of Aleppo Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine, February, 1907. He is a member of Middlesex Chapter, No. 64 Order of the Eastern Star, West Medford, Massachusetts. He is a member of Waterfield Lodge, New England Order of Protection, at Winchester; of the Boston Market Gardeners' Association. He married, January 27, 1881, Edith Maregena Mead, born August 14, 1857, on shipboard off the coast of England, daughter of Samuel Hartwell Mead, born August 23, 1830, and Ellen M. (Richardson) Mead, of Winchester, born October 15, 1824. Samuel H. Mead was a sea captain; served in the Civil war; was lost at sea in 1867. Children: 1. Margarita, born April 14, 1882, married, June 9, 1906. Isaac Brewster Hazelton, of Wellesley, Massachusetts; they have one child. 2. Mildred Eaton, born August 9, 1883 married, September 30, 1903, Waldo Snow Hadley, of Everett, Massachusetts ; no children. 3. Helen, born November 16, 1884, unmarried. 4. Caroline Reed, born May 13, 1886, unmarried. 5. Annie Zelinda, born June 17, 1887, unmarried. 6. Earle Lee, born July 21, 1892, died January 20, 1895. 7. Ralph Mead, born April 13, 1895- (For early generations see preceding sketches; also William Thompson 1.)

(IV) Benjamin (1), son of Alexander Thompson, was born October 14, 1702. He married, the intention being published November 27, 1726, Hannah Smith, daughter of Joseph Smith, of York, Maine. Children: 1. Benjamin, born September 7, 1727, mentioned below. 2. Hannah, married Jeremiah Linscott. 3. Alexander, February 20, 1733-34, soldier in the revolution; married, 1772, Abigail Emery; resided in Berwick. 4. Daniel, married, 1764, Sarah Linscott. 5. Abel, married, 1767, Eleanor Staples. 6. Ebenezer, married, 1772, Mercy Staples. 7. Meribah, married, 1760, Thomas Moulton. 8. Mary, married, 1767, Daniel Linscott.

(V) Benjamin (2), son of Benjamin (1) Thompson, was born in York, Maine, September 7, 1727. He came to Kennebunk, Maine, with his uncle, Jonathan Thompson, and lived with him. He married, December 31, 1752, Eunice Lord, daughter of Nathan Lord, of Berwick. He married, second, Mary Foster. Children of first wife: 1. Benjamin, born 1754, mentioned below. 2. Nathan, born 1756, died 1843; married, first, Hannah Thompson; second, Esther Littlefield. 3. Alexander, married Lydia Wildes, of Kittery. 4. Stephen, married Lois Taylor. 5. James, born 1761, married Anna Walker, died 1846. 6. Eunice, married Daniel Perkins. 7. Lemuel, married Susan Haley, of Bath, Maine. 8. Isaac, died at sea. 9. Hannah, married Abner Littlefield. 10. Ezra, married Mary Merrill. 11. Miriam, died young. Children of second wife: 12. Moses. 13. Mary, died young. 14. Lydia, married Israel Burnham.

(VI) Benjamin (3), son of Benjamin (2) Thompson, born in 1754, died February 6, 1839. He married (first) Elizabeth Lord, daughter of Captain Tobias Lord. He married (second) Hannah Luques, widow. He was a soldier in the revolution, and it is related that after he was discharged from the army he walked barefoot all the way from New York to his home in Maine. Children: 1.Nathaniel, 2. David, 3. Benjamin, mentioned below; 4. Eunice, 5. Mary, 6. Betsey, 7. Lavina.

(VII) Benjamin (4), son of Benjamin (3) Thompson, born December 29, 1793, on the old homestead at Kennebunkport, Maine, died March 6, 1894, over one hundred years old. When a youth he worked on the homestead and lived in the house built in 1779 by his father in Kennebunk near the present location called Day's Siding on the Eastern railroad, about four miles northeast of the village. At the time of its erection the nearest county or town road was three miles distant. It had the advantage, however, of being near a running brook, and surrounded with heavy timber land that afterward came into the possession of his father and descended to him. To the end of his long life Benjamin kept the first dollar he ever earned, a Spanish coin of 1798, received for a fowl that he raised, sold by one of his older brothers in the market at New Orleans. He remembered the death of Washington which took place when he was less than four years of age. He used to attend school in his own home where a schoolmaster named Thompson taught. When only ten years of age he rode horseback to Kennebunkport to sell butter from the farm. At the age of twenty-two he left home and went to sea.