Father: Elisha Thompson
Mother: Dorcas Wright

Spouse: Amanda Rhoda Smith
  m: ~1791 - CT

Child-1: Laura - Goshen, Litchfield Co., CT
          2: Harvey
          3: Ambrose - b: ~1795 - Goshen, Litchfield Co., CT
                               d: 1827 - NJ
          4: Ezra
          5: Julius
          6: Lewis - b: ~1803 - Goshen, Litchfield Co., CT

Biographical Details:

It is evident from federal census records of 1790 and 1800 that there were numerous Thompson family households then resident in Litchfield County, Connecticut, particularly in and around the town of Goshen.  Within this context, Edward Thompson is believed to have been the son of Elisha and Dorcas Wright Thompson and was born at Goshen in Litchfield County on September 30, 1766.  In contrast, some researchers have given his birth as having occurred exactly ten years later; however, according to the population schedule of the 1830 US Census for Erie County, Pennsylvania, Edward Thompson was apparently between sixty and seventy years old, which is consistent with the earlier date.  It is thought that Edward Thompson and Amanda Rhoda Smith were married about 1791, probably in Litchfield County, but this remains unconfirmed.  In any case, the household of Edward Thompson was listed in the 1800 US Census for Litchfield County and at this time consisted of an adult couple of between twenty-six and forty-four years of age, three male children under ten, and a young female between ten and fifteen.  Thus, it is reasonable to identify the adult couple as the parents, Edward and Amanda, the three boys as their sons, Harvey, Ambrose, and Ezra, and the girl as daughter, Laura.  Obviously, the implied age for Laura is inconsistent with the marriage of her parents in 1791; however, she might be a daughter from a previous marriage or the marriage of Edward and Amanda Thompson might have taken place earlier, perhaps, between 1785 and 1790.

Published sources affirm that the family of Edward Thompson migrated westward from Connecticut into New York after the turn of the nineteenth century.^1,2  (Indeed, at least three of his brothers also had moved to New York at about this same time or somewhat earlier.)  In further support of this presumption, the household of Edward Thompson was listed in the population schedule of the 1810 US Census for Ontario County, New York, as resident in Livonia.  Subsequently, this locality was included in Livingston County which was formed from portions of Genesee and Ontario Counties in 1821.  Within this context, it has been reported that Edward Thompson moved with his family to neighboring Allegany County, New York, in 1819, where he purchased and settled on three hundred acres of land (subsequently owned by Eldridge Black and/or Joseph Brodie) in Alfred (later Ward) Township.  Geographically, a gazetteer and directory for Allegany County published in 1875 would seem to indicate a location about four or five miles northeast of the village of Scio, which on current maps of the area corresponds to a location somewhere along Brody Slide Road (having a length of about two miles and connecting Wadsworth Hill and Vandermark Roads, the latter running with similarly named Vandermark Creek).³  Concomitantly, census records confirm that the household of Edward Thompson was resident at Alfred in 1820 (although it was listed at the extreme bottom of the corresponding page of the population schedule and nearly illegible).  In addition, households of Ezra and Harvey Thompson also appeared in close proximity and can be confidently identified with those of two of Edward's sons.  Therefore, it would seem beyond doubt that during the second and third decades of the nineteenth century, Edward and his three sons, Harvey, Ezra, and Julius, were all living with their families in western New York.  Nevertheless, the whereabouts of other children remains unknown, although it has been reported that in 1827 Ambrose drowned at Silver Lake, New Jersey, but this location has not been identified with any certainty.  Perhaps, some of the other children died young.

Of the more than twenty Thompson households listed in the population schedule of the 1830 US Census for Erie County, Pennsylvania, those of Edward and Julius Thompson, his son, were shown resident in Harbor Creek Township.  In addition, the household of son, Ezra, was then resident close by in Mill Creek Township, but the remaining, older son, Harvey, apparently remained behind in Allegany County.  As mentioned elsewhere, there is good evidence that Edward, Ezra, and Julius all became associated with the Latter-day Saints, i.e., the Mormons, in the 1830's either in Pennsylvania or Ohio (or, perhaps, even earlier in western New York), but Harvey evidently did not become a Mormon since he remained living in or near the town of Alfred for the remainder of his life.  In any case, it seems clear that these three Thompson families, viz., those of Edward, Ezra, and Julius, went west with the Latter-day Saints to Missouri and/or Illinois and, consequently, were all shown as taxpayers in Hancock County, Illinois, on August 20, 1842.  Accordingly, the household of Edward Thompson, consisting of an older couple, had been previously listed in the population schedule of the 1840 US census for Hancock County.  They were presumably living in or near the principal Mormon town of Nauvoo.  Subsequently, Edward Thompson died at Nauvoo on September 6, 1842, shortly after the tax list was compiled.

1. Anonymous, History of Allegany County, N.Y., F. W. Beers & Co., New York, NY, 1879: pg. 340.
     "Edward Thompson settled in Ward in 1819, having changed his residence from Goshen, Conn., to Livonia, in Livingston county, and from that latter place to Allegany county.  He bought three hundred acres of land, which included what is now known as the 'Beach farm' now occupied by Eldridge Black.  He subsequently moved to the West and died near Nauvoo, Ill."
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2. John Stearns Minard and Georgia Drew Merrill (eds), A Centennial Memorial History of Allegany County, New York, W. A. Fergusson & Co., Alfred, NY, 1896: pgs. 531-2.
     "Edward Thompson a native of Connecticut came to Livingston county, and from there to Ward in 1819 and settled on the farm now owned by Joseph Brodie.  He took up a lot of wild land, built a log house and made a home."
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3. Hamilton Child, Gazetteer and Business Directory of Allegany County, N. Y. for 1875, Printed at the Journal Office, Syracuse, NY, 1875.  (Vivian Karen Bush (tr), Allegany County NYGenWeb Archives, 2000.)
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Additional Citations:

4. 1800 US Census Population Schedule for Litchfield County, Connecticut, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 75, (microfilm: roll M32_2; img. 43).

5. 1810 US Census Population Schedule for Ontario County, New York, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 77, (microfilm: roll M252_2; img. 79).

6. 1820 US Census Population Schedule for Allegany County, New York, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 71, (microfilm: roll M33_64; img. 46).

7. 1830 US Census Population Schedule for Erie County, Pennsylvania, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 264, (microfilm: roll M19_147; img. 523).

8. 1840 US Census Population Schedule for Hancock County, Illinois, National Archives, Washington DC:  pg. 160, (microfilm roll M704_60; img. 320).

9. Tax Records of 1842, Hancock County, Carthage, IL: pg. 208, (LDS Family History Library microfilm: roll #007706 , Salt Lake City, UT, 2003).  (Lyman Platt (tr), "Nauvoo Tax Records, 1842", Orem, UT, Ancestry, Inc., www.ancestry.com, 1999. )  (Judi Gilker (tr), Hancock County ILGenWeb Archives, 2007.)

10. Ancestral File: 2ZT5-GQ, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, UT, continuously updated.

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