Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

not discovered, but she is described as a
"genteel woman." They were the par-
ents of nine children. The sons seem to
have been possessed of an adventurous
spirit, and all except one went to South
Carolina. The eldest died in his thirty-
first year on the passage home from Cali-
fornia in 1794.
James Thompson, son of Robert
Thompson, was born August 18, 1764, in
Londonderry, and died in Buckfield,
Maine, December 23, 1845. He had three
wives. He married (first) Margaret (or
Peggie) Gregg, who died in 1793, in her
twenty-seventh year. One son, Jonathan
Gregg, was born of this marriage, August
12, 1792. He married (second) Martha
Gilmore, the daughter probably of Whitefield
and Margaret Gilmore, and who
was born in Bedford, New Hampshire,
January 1, 1773. She moved with him,
about 1801, to Buckfield, Maine, where
her death occurred, November 17, 1833.
Their children were : Whitefield Gil-
more, Robert, Margaret, Sarah, James,
Jeremiah Smith, Elizabeth, William Nel-
son, Mary, Adam, John, Martha, Charles.
Elisha was the only child by the third
marriage. Whitefield Gilmore, Jeremiah
Smith, James and William Nelson, all
moved in early manhood to the town of
Sangerville, Maine, where they became
prosperous farmers and leading men in
the community.
William Nelson Thompson, son of
James and Martha (Gilmore) Thompson,
was born at Buckfield, Maine, October
29, 1806, and died at Foxcroft, Maine,
November 26, 1886. He married Sarah
Lancaster Whitney, December 1, 1833.
Their children were : Martha N., born
September 17, 1834, and William Gilmore,
of whom further.
William Gilmore Thompson, son of
William Nelson and Sarah Lancaster
(Whitney) Thompson, was born at San-
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
46
gerville, Maine, May 22, 1836, and died
October 7, 19 12. He was reared on his
father's farm, and educated in the public
schools of Sangerville and at Foxcroft
Academy. During his early manhood, he
taught school and subsequently engaged
in business and farming. After his marriage
he removed to Guilford, where he
lived until 1905, and then removed to the
adjoining town of Foxcroft. He was a
Republican in politics, but always de-
clined to take an active part in political
affairs. He was a member of the Board
of Selectmen in Guilford for twenty years,
tax collector for ten years, and served
one term as county commissioner. He was
a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows. He married Sarah Hoyt, a
daughter of Isaac and Olive (Goodwin)
Hoyt, in 1864. They were the parents of
seven children : Whitefield Nelson, Martha,
William H., Sarah Elizabeth, Mary
Hubbard, Elbridge A., and Charles Hoyt.
Whitefield Nelson Thompson, A. B.,
M. D., physician and superintendent of
the Hartford Retreat, the eldest son of
William Gilmore and Sarah (Hoyt)
Thompson, was born in Guilford, Maine,
October 2, 1865. He attended the public
schools, and Foxcroft Academy, and was
there prepared for college, matriculating
at Bates College, September, 1884. He
left college in the middle of his course,
to pursue the study of medicine, and at-
tended the Portland School for Medical
Instruction, the Medical School of Maine,
and completed his medical course at Jef-
ferson Medical College in April, 1889.
His hospital experience began with an appointment
in August of the same year as
assistant physician, locum tenens, at the
Brattleboro, Vermont, Retreat. At the
expiration of this term of service in May,
1890, he was appointed on the Medical
Staff of the State Hospital at Taunton,
Massachusetts, and filled the position of