The Thompsons and Related Families

Copyright © 2015 by Devitt Elverson. 539482

ISBN: Softcover 978-1-5035-2316-6

Hardcover 978-1-5035-2317-3

EBook 978-1-5035-2315-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 10/02/2015

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This book is dedicated to my grandfather Joseph Gilbert Thompson, who loving archived family material and began the research about the Thompson and Foster families and to my great great uncle, Jasper R. Hendrick, whom I never met, who did a considerable amount of research on the Hendrick family at a time when it was much more difficult to do.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE THOMPSON FAMILY

THE HISTORY OF THE FOSTER FAMILY

THE HENDRICKS

THE ELLIS FAMILY

THE CRAFT FAMILY

Bibliography

Guide to the Henry A. Foster Papers

Manuscript Group 5 Special Collections, Texas Christian University

Compiled by Jose Carlos de la Puente

Fort Worth, Texas

September 2006, March 20I0

Historical Recollections of Robertson County Texas

With Biographical & Genealogical Notes on the Pioneers & Their Families by Richard Denny Parker

Edited by Nona Clement Parker

Salado, Texas, the Anson Jones Press 1955

Log Cabin Village a History and Guide

Text by Terry G. Jordan

Catalogue by Bettie A. Regester and Selden A. Wallace

Photography by Elna Wilkinson

© 2000, 2006 by the Calvert Chamber of Commerce

All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

Mr. Hendrick Rancher, Oilman, Philanthropist

By Oscar Kimsey Bowen

© 1962 Hendrick Home for Children, Abilene, Texas

The Hendricks and Their Kin

Jasper R. Hendrick

© 1962 Jasper R. Hendrick

Clarendon Hills, Ill.

Tour Guide of Historic Calvert Texas

Sponsored by the Calvert Chamber of Commerce

300 Main Street Calvert Texas 77837

© 2000, 2006 by the Calvert Chamber of Commerce

Many people contributed to this book in many ways. I wish to offer them my deepest thanks. I hope that I have not left anyone out!

Editing

Michele Beier

Alix Elverson

Garry Hill

Elizabeth Schnur

Carter Thompson

Ginny Elverson Welch

Alan Edelstein, copy editor

Section Contributors

Adrienne Groh, for her father’s history and Muddie’s History and photographs

Suzy Nelson, for her father’s history and photographs

Sandra Staley, for the information and photographs provided about the Ellis and Craft families

Nancy Thompson, for her husband’s history

Rusty Wheaton, for her father’s history, her parent’s letters and photographs

THE THOMPSON FAMILY

The Thompson family originally hails from Scotland. The earliest known ancestor is Thomas Thompson, who was born in 1545 in Glasgow. Matthew Thompson (1692-1753) emigrated from County Donegal, Ireland to Philadelphia, in 1732. He then moved to Virginia in 1741. The Thompsons were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians.

Scotch-Irish (or Scots-Irish) Americans are American descendants of Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who migrated to North America during the 18th and 19th centuries. Most of the Scotch-Irish were descended from Scottish and English families who colonized Ireland during the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century.

MAP OF IRELAND

The origins of the Scotch-Irish lie primarily in the Lowlands of Scotland and in northern England, particularly in the Border Country on either side of the Anglo-Scottish border. In the near constant state of war between England and Scotland during the Middle Ages, the livelihood of the people on the borders was devastated. The uncertainty of existence led the inhabitants of the borders to seek security through a system of family ties, similar to the clan system in the Scottish Highlands. Known as the Border Reivers, these families relied on their own strength and cunning to survive, and a culture of cattle-raiding and thievery developed.

The counties are indicated by thin black lines, the traditional Province of Ulster by bright green, and the modern territory of Northern Ireland indicated by a heavy black border across the island that separates six of the traditional Ulster counties from the other three.

Scotland and England became unified under a single monarch with the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI, King of Scots, succeeded Elizabeth I as ruler of England. In addition to the unstable border region, James also inherited Elizabeth’s conflicts in Ireland. Following the end of the Irish Nine Years’ War in 1603, and the Flight of the Earls in 1607, in 1609 James encouraged English and Scottish Protestants to settle in Ireland’s northern province of Ulster. The settlement of Ulster was seen as a way to relocate the Border Reiver families to Ireland to bring peace to the Anglo-Scottish border country, and also to provide fighting men who could suppress the native Irish in Ireland.

The first major influx of Scots and English into Ulster had come in 1606 during the settlement of East Down onto land cleared of native Irish by private landlords chartered by James. This process was accelerated with James’s official plantation in 1609, and further augmented during the subsequent Irish Confederate Wars. The first of the Stuart kingdoms to collapse into civil war was Ireland where, prompted in part by the anti-Catholic rhetoric of the Covenanters, Irish Catholics launched a rebellion in October. (The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that bound themselves to maintain the Presbyterian doctrine and policy as the sole form of religion of their country.) In reaction to the proposal by Charles I and Thomas Wentworth to raise an army manned by Irish Catholics to put down the Covenanter movement in Scotland, the Parliament of Scotland had threatened to invade Ireland in order to achieve the extirpation of Popery out of Ireland (according to the interpretation of Richard Bellings, a leading Irish politician of the time). The fear this caused in Ireland unleashed a wave of massacres against Protestant English and Scottish settlers, mostly in Ulster, once the rebellion had broken out. All sides displayed extreme cruelty in this phase of the war. Around 4,000 settlers were massacred and a further 12,000 may have died of privation after being driven from their homes. In early 1642, the Covenanters sent an army to Ulster to defend the Scottish settlers there from the Irish rebels. The original intention of the Scottish army was to re-conquer Ireland, but due to logistical and supply problems, it was never in a position to advance far beyond its base in eastern Ulster. The Covenanter force remained in Ireland until the end of the civil wars but was confined to its garrison around Carrickfergus after its defeat by the native Ulster Army at the Battle of Benburb in 1646. After the war was over, many of the soldiers settled permanently in Ulster. Another major influx of Scots into Ulster occurred in the 1690s, when tens of thousands of people fled a famine in Scotland to come to Ireland.

After a few generations in Ireland, considerable numbers of Ulster-Scots immigrated to the North American colonies of Great Britain. (between 1717 and 1770 alone, about 250,000 settled in what would become the United States). According to Kerby Miller, Emigrants and Exiles: Ireland and the Irish Exodus to North America (1988), Protestants were one-third the population of Ireland, but three-quarters of all emigrants leaving from 1700 to 1776; 70% of these Protestants were Presbyterians. Other factors contributing to the mass exodus of Ulster Scots to America during the 18th century were a series of droughts and rising rents imposed by often absentee English and/or Anglo-Irish landlords.

During the course of the 17th century, the number of settlers belonging to dissenting Calvinist sects, including Scottish and Northumbrian Presbyterians, English Baptists, French and Flemish Huguenots, and German Palatines, became the majority among the Protestant settlers in the province of Ulster. However, the Presbyterians and other dissenters, along with Catholics, were not members of the established church and were consequently legally disadvantaged by the penal laws, which gave full rights only to members of the Church of England and the Church of Ireland. These members of the state church were often absentee landlords and the descendants of the British aristocracy who had been given land by the monarchy.

THE CHEROKEE CONNECTION

One of the Thompson ancestors named Ludovic Grant married a full-blooded Cherokee woman. The Cherokee bloodline was passed down through the female side until it came into the Thompson family through Matthew Thompson, born in 1827.

THE THOMPSON HOME

Matthew’s son, the Reverend Gilbert Taylor Thompson, was born in Georgia and married Josephine King.

They had six sons and a daughter. Gilbert Taylor Thompson came to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in the late 1880s as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church. He was soon followed by three of his sons. The family was proud of its Cherokee heritage and in 1905 became registered with the Cherokee Nation.

GILBERT T. THOMPSON AND JOSEPHINE KING

TOP ROW: (L-R) JAMES WALTER REID, JAMES KIDD THOMPSON, INNIE FOSTER (DOLLY), HOLDING JOSEPH G. THOMPSON (PAPPY), ERNEST THOMPSON, JIMMIE SAWYER GRAVES (ERNEST’S WIFE), ALLISON DENMAN THOMPSON, LOUISE ELIZABETH BLACKSTONE (MILTON’S WIFE), MATTHEW THOMPSON, MILTON KING THOMPSON, CATHERINE (DAUGHTER OF MILTON)

SEATED: CLEO THOMPSON, HOLDING THOMPSON REID (SON OF CLEO), GILBERT T. THOMPSON, HOLDING ERNEST MARTIN THOMPSON (SON OF ALLISON), JOSEPHINE KING, WITH MAMIE (DAUGHTER OF ALLISON)

SEATED ON THE GROUND: PROBABLY ERNEST’S TWO OLDER BOYS, ALLISON AND ERNEST

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

COMMISSION TO THE FIVE TRIBES.

In the matter of the application for the enrollment of Gilbert T. Thompson Sr. et al. as citizens by blood of the Cherokee Nation, consolidating the applications of

Gilbert T. Thompson, Sr., et al…Cherokee D 3

Allison Thompson, et al.,………………."….…. D 4

Ernest Thompson, et al.,………………"……… D 5

James K. Thompson, et al.,……………"….….. D 6

D E C I S I O N

The record herein shows that the application for enrollment as citizens by blood of the Cherokee Nation were made to this Commission, by Gilbert T. Thompson Sr. for himself, his adult son, Gilbert T. Thompson Jr. and his minor son, Matthew Thompson; by Allison Thompson for himself and his minor children, Ernest W. and Mamie Thompson; that subsequent to the date of his original application an affidavit was filed with the commission as to the birth of his minor child, Allison Archibald Thompson, and the same is made a part of the record herein; by Ernest Thompson himself and his minor children Allison G., Ernest T. and Hugh C. Thompson; and by James K. Thompson for himself; and that subsequent to the date of his original application an affidavit was filed with the Commission as to the birth of his minor child Joseph G. Thompson, and the same is made a part of the record herein. Copies of the testimony taken at Tahlequah, Indian Territory, July 28, 1903, in the case of Cleo T. Reid, et al. are made a part of the record herein.

The evidence shows that on September 7, 1883, that said Gilbert T. Thompson, Sr. and his sons, Allison Thompson, Ernest Thompson, James K. Thompson and Gilbert T. Thompson Jr. were admitted, with others, as citizens by blood of the Cherokee Nation by the duly constituted authorities of said Nation; that the said Matthew Thompson was a minor, and is considered to have been a member of the family of his father, Gilbert T. Thompson Sr., at the time of the latter’s admission to citizenship; that all the said Minor applicants herein are the descendants of said Gilbert T. Sr.; Allison, Ernest and James K. Thompson respectively; and that all of said descendants, except Matthew Thompson, were born since admission of their said ancestors to citizenship, as above mentioned.

It further appears that all the applicants herein, except Allison, Archibald, Ernest T., Hugh C. and Joseph G. Thompson, are identified on the 1894 Cherokee Strip payment roll. The four minor applicants last mentioned are made by birth affidavits made a part of the record herein.

The evidence further shows that the said Gilbert T. Sr., Allison, Ernest and James K. Thompson removed to and in good faith settled in the Cherokee nation in 1883 and resided there about one year; that since about 1884 they left the Cherokee Nation and have not since that time and prior to June 28, 1898, resided in said Nation. It does not appear that they ever removed their effects from the Cherokee Nation, or became citizens of any other government. On the contrary, they have retained interest in property in said Nation from 1883 to the date of their application herein. It is considered that the residence of said minor applicants has been the same as that of their said parents. The evidence further shows that the said Gilbert T. Thompson Jr. was a minor on June 28, 1898, and his residence up to and including the date has considered to have been the same as that of his father, Gilbert T. Thompson Sr.

It is therefore, the opinion of this commissioner, following the decision of the department in the cases of Joseph D. Yeargain, et al. (I.T.D.2900-1903), and Martha Hill, et al. (I.T.D.3866-1902) that to the said party Gilbert T. Thompson Sr., Gilbert T. Thompson Jr., Matthew Thompson; Allison Thompson, Ernest W. Thompson, Mamie Thompson, Allison Archibald Thompson, Ernest Thompson, Allison G. Thompson, Ernest T. Thompson, Hugh C. Thompson, James K. Thompson and Joseph G. Thompson should be enrolled as citizens of blood of the Cherokee Nation, in accordance with provisions of section twenty-one of the Act of Congress, approved June 28, 1898 (30 Stats. 495), and it is so ordered.

COMMISSION TO THE FIVE TRIBES.

(Signed)       Tams Bixby,

                         Chairman

(Signed)       T. H. Needles,

                         Commissioner

(Signed)       C. R. Breckenridge,

                         Commissioner

(Signed)       W. M. Stanley,

                         Commissioner

Muskogee Indian Territory

This     Oct 28 1905

JOSEPHINE KING THOMPSON AND GILBERT T. THOMPSON

GILBERT T. THOMPSON AND JOSEPHINE KING WITH THOMPSON REID (SON OF CLEO) AND JOSEPH G. THOMPSON AND PROBABLY CATHERINE THOMPSON (DAUGHTER OF MILTON), PROBABLY TAKEN IN NORTH CAROLINA

The Thompson men were all prominent in Muskogee affairs. Dr. J. K. Thompson came as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, which he served from 1902 to 1918. Gilbert T. Thompson Jr., came to Muskogee with the Dawes Commission¹, continuing with that group until it was dissolved, at which time he entered the banking business. Gilbert T. Thompson III grew up in Muskogee and was an accountant. Dr. M. K. Thompson was an oculist for many years and was honored jointly with Sessler Hoss by the hospital for Oklahoma School for the Blind being named in their honor.

² The Dawes Commission was authorized under a rider to an Indian Office appropriation bill, March 3, 1893. Its purpose was to convince the Five Civilized Tribes to agree to cede tribal title of Indian lands, and adopt the policy of dividing tribal lands into individual allotments that was enacted for other tribes under the Dawes Act of 1887.

During this process, the Indian nations were stripped of their communally held national lands, which were divided into single lots and allotted to individual members of the nation. The Dawes Commission required that individuals claim membership in only one tribe, although many people had more than one line of ancestry. People often had mixed ancestry from several tribes, but had to choose one. Many people did not register on these rolls because they feared government persecution if their ethnicity was formally entered into the system.

James Kidd Thompson

STANDING: (L-R) ALLISON DENMAN, ERNEST, MILTON KING

JAMES KIDD, GILBERT TAYLOR JR., MATTHEW

SITTING: (L-R) JOSEPHINE KING, CLEO, AND GILBERT TAYLOR THOMPSON SR.

James Kidd Thompson was born in Tunnel Hill, Georgia on January 11, 1874 and was christened James Thompson.

The fifth-born of eight siblings of Gilbert T. Thompson Sr., a Presbyterian minister, and Josephine King. James later adopted the middle name of Kidd, after the pirate, Captain Kidd.

James Kidd Thompson took courses in the preparatory department of Drury College in Missouri, and at the McKinney Collegiate Institute in Texas. He entered Austin College in Sherman, Texas in the sophomore class of 1889.

At Austin College Cadets followed a classical liberal arts curriculum. The college catalog stressed that great care had been given to the arrangement of the required course of study to select such subjects as are best suited to give the mind thorough and varied training, and, at the same time, to fill it with the largest store of valuable, practical truths. During the military decade, the curriculum was revised to reflect a new modern era. In 1890-91, Bible studies were added to every term of every year. Students could pursue one of two courses of study: classical or scientific. During the 1890s, a course in Old English was added and two years of modern European languages (Spanish, French, and German) could be substituted for part of the Greek and Latin requirement.

Study Hall was mandatory, although requirements for it changed from time to time. Prior to the opening of the fall term in 1891, the faculty decreed that those whose monthly grades fell below 80 be required to attend. At other times all students were required to attend, at still others, seniors were excused. In 1890-91, Study Hall commenced at 7:15 p.m. and ended with tattoo at 10:00 p.m. This schedule served the dual purpose of encouraging study and keeping cadets on the hill at night.

Approximate cost for one year for a cadet who paid room and board was $240.50. This included two uniforms and laundry service. Students could rent a dormitory room for $1.00 per month, and purchase meals for $8.00 to $12.50 per month depending on whether they ate at a boarding house or the Student Mess Club. Dormitory students were expected to provide their own furnishings.

Membership in one of the literary societies was mandatory. Cadets were required not only to join; they were also required to attend the meetings. The purpose of the societies was to promote education in rhetoric. Those who declined to associate with either the Athenaeum or Philennoian Society were forced to attend a class in rhetoric in addition to their regular studies.

James was one of the founders of the Philennoian Society and author of its constitution. He was also one of the founders of the Reveille and remained on its staff until graduation. (The Reveille was the organ of the literary societies on campus. It began and flourished during the military era, but continued publication through 1907. It was a monthly literary magazine which contained editorials, articles on literary, historical, and political subjects, exchange notes or excerpts from other institutions’ publications, campus news, and anecdotes.) He won the San Jacinto orator’s medal in 1890, the first year it was offered; won the Greek medal in 1891; was president of the Y. M. C. A. in 1892; and was salutatorian of class of 1892. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1892 from Austin College.

AUSTIN COLLEGE

THE THOMPSON HOME

After that, he earned his M.A. degree in 1893 from Central University, in Louisville, Kentucky.

According to The Kentucky Encyclopedia: Central University, a 19th century institution in Richmond, Kentucky, had its origins in a schism within the Presbyterian Church growing out of the Civil War. The Presbyterian synods of the Confederate states severed relations with the national organization, as a result of the Kentucky General Assembly’s 1861 decision to support the Union cause, the Northern and Southern factions competed for control of Centre College in Danville.

JAMES KIDD THOMPSON, THIRD FROM LEFT

After the Southern faction lost several court appeals, it decided to form a separate institution. Central University was established at Richmond on September 22, 1874. Of the $220, 000 endowment used to fund the college, $101,000 was contributed by the citizens of Richmond and the rest of Madison County. A college of letters and science, a preparatory department, and a college of law were located in Richmond, and a college of medicine and dentistry was established in Louisville.

JAMES KIDD THOMPSON

In 1896, James earned his Bachelor of Divinity degree at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. This was a prerequisite for those who go on to become ordained as pastor. He was licensed by Louisville Presbytery on April 10, 1896, it is believed, to serve as an assistant pastor while still working on his degree at Louisville Seminary. James was then ordained September 21, 1896 at the Paris Presbytery in Paris County, Kentucky. He served as stated supply² at First Church in Texarkana, Texas, during 1896 and 1897 after taking over for his older brother, Ernest Thompson, who had been there from 1891 to 1895. In May of 1897, he moved to Calvert, Texas, where he served as the installed pastor at the Presbyterian Church until 1902. His annual salary was $2,155.55.

² Stated supply means that he supplied the preaching ministry on a temporary basis but was not installed as the pastor of that church.

THE CALVERT CHURCH

The Calvert church was not part of the Presbyterian Church of the USA denomination at that time, which would explain the notation that "he served pastorates in the PCUSA Church since 1892" in the document from the Presbyterian Historical Society.

While in Calvert, James met Innie Foster and the couple married on October 3, 1898. James and Innie went to Europe during 1899 and into 1900. James spent the winter at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and at the Free Church College of Edinburgh, where he studied but did not pursue a degree.

INNIE FOSTER (DOLLY)

Upon returning to the United States in 1902, James was sent to Muskogee, Oklahoma, to become pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. His salary was $5,000 a year, and he was supplied with a house, referred to as the manse by the Presbyterian Church. Prior to leaving for Muskogee, the Foster family encouraged one of their young black servants, Earl, to accompany the Thompsons. Earl became a fixture in their family and worked for them as a cook, driver and handyman until he retired. He helped raise their children and he always prepared Christmas dinner. He and his wife lived in a small cottage at the far end of the manse.

THE MANSE ON THIRD STREET IN MUSKOGEE WHERE THEY LIVED FROM 1902-1905

James was 28 years old when he assumed the pastorship of the first Presbyterian Church of Muskogee. He became the Moderator of the Synod of Oklahoma in the Presbyterian Church in 1909. He served as the Stated Clerk for the Muskogee Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in the USA from 1909 to 1919. He received an honorary degree, Doctor of Divinity, from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri in 1911. (When called by the author, Westminster College explained that it did not offer graduate education programs.)

James remained in Muskogee until mid-1918 when he was granted a leave-of- absence to join the United States military forces through the Y. M. C. A. Service Oriented Organization. He wanted to be closer to U. S. troops, and to minister to them spiritually. He was assigned first to Camp Stanley in San Antonio and later to bases on the East Coast. James was in Boston with overseas equipment issued to him when the armistice that ended WWI was signed on November 11, 1918.

He was registered as a member of the Cherokee Nation on October 28, 1905, and was granted land in 1906.

HOMESTEAD DEED.7808     (80)     Cherokee Citizenship     ROLL NO 30751

THE CHEROKEE NATION,

INDIAN TERRITORY.

To All To Whom These Presents Will Come, Greeting:

WHEREAS, By the Act of Congress approved July 1, 1902 (32 Stat., 716), ratified by the Cherokee Nation August 7, 1902, it is provided that there shall be allotted by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, to each citizen of the Cherokee Tribe, land equal in value to one hundred and ten acres of the average allottable lands of the Cherokee Nation, and,

WHEREAS, It was provided by said Act of Congress that each member of said tribe shall, at the time of the selection of his allotment, designate, or have selected and designated for him, from his allotment, land equal in value to forty acres of the average allottable lands of the Cherokee Nation, as nearly as may be, as a homestead, for which separate certificate shall issue; and,

WHEREAS, The said Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes has certified that the land hereinafter described has been selected by or on behalf of James K Thompson a citizen of said tribe, as a homestead.

Now, THEREFORE, I, the undersigned Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, by virtue of the power and authority vested in me by aforesaid Act of the Congress of the United

States, have granted and conveyed, and by these presents do grant and convey unto the said James K. Thompson

All right, title and interest of the Cherokee Nation, and of all other citizens of said Nation, in and to the following described land, viz: The South Half of the North West Quarter of The North East Quarter and the South West Quarter of the South East Quarter and The North Half of the North West Quarter of the South East

Quarter of the section Thirty-one (31), Township Seventeen (17) North and Range Twenty–three (23) East Of the Indian Base and Meridian in Indian Territory, containing Eighty (80) acres, more or less, as the case may be, according to the United States survey thereof, subject, however, to the conditions provided by said Act of Congress pertaining to allotted homesteads.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of said Nation to be affixed this the 28th day of May A.D 1906.

The next stop on James’ journey was Fort Worth, Texas. By 1915, the First Presbyterian Church and the Taylor Street Presbyterian Church, both in Fort Worth, Texas, had a combined membership of nearly 1,000. Plans soon got under way for a merger, and on January 30, 1916, the congregations approved the articles of federation for a new church, becoming the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth². On May 1, 1919, the First Presbyterian Church (Federated) called James K. Thompson as its first pastor. It was a difficult decision for him. He had a great many ties of love and friendship through the years in the First Presbyterian Church of Muskogee, where he had honed his craft. On June 3, 1919, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas to become the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, where he served for 25 years.

According to Presbyterian Historical Society documents, he was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree in 1928 from Central Theological Union in Dayton, Ohio; and in 1929, he may have studied further at Trinity University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

³ See History of the First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth, page 123.

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF FT. WORTH

James Thompson authored two religious dramas, The Inn-Keeper of Bethlehem³ and Saul of Tarsis.

In 1930, James Thompson, along with his organist, produced their play The Inn- Keeper of Bethlehem, which was presented in the Christmas season for nine consecutive years, 1930-1939, in the Sanctuary of the First Presbyterian Church, for a total of twenty-six performances, capacity at every performance. His granddaughter, Virginia Lee Thompson, remembers performing in the pageant as a child.

During his tenure the congregation grew from 1,100 to 1,500 members. He retired on June 1, 1944.

After his retirement, he served as stated supply in the position of associate pastor of the Polytechnic Church of Fort Worth.

James was involved in many civic activities. He was Director of the Family Service Association, a member of the City Associations Community and the Vice-President of the Amon G. Carter Foundation. He was also President of the Rotary Club of Fort Worth. He was a 32 degree Mason, the highest degree achievable.

James K. Thompson had a weekly newspaper column in the Fort Worth Star Telegram called What Troubles Me. People would write him through the newspaper to seek his advice.

He was a close personal friend of Amon G. Carter Sr., who was the creator and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and a nationally known civic booster for Fort Worth.

⁴ see page 122

He was very close to his granddaughter, Virginia Lee Thompson, and wrote the following poem for her:

First Presbyterian Church

507 TAYLOR STREET

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

December 8.

JAMES K THOMPSON D. O. MINISTER

My dearest little girl:

A pollywog clib ub a sigabore tree,

An’ clode his eyes sight atryin’ to see—

A watchumaycallit bit him abeam,

He laughed out still, then he let out a scream,

An’ clib down fas’ fum de sigabore lib—

Dis pollywog fat— dis pollywog slib.

He put his finger in boff of his ear,

Atryin’ his best some moosic to hear.

He shet his mouf tight when he try to zing,

Die poolish pollywog, digbusted thing.

He scratch his node wid de back o’ his neck,

Ant sit on his haid, ant look like a heck.

He bulled out his hanky an’ blowed his eye,

An’ wrinkled his foot, an’ started to cry—

Then scrabbled back home, an’ opped his door,

To keep out de win’ an’ edemies sore,

He bull down de blinds to let in-de sun,

An’ cried an’ cried, he was havin’ such fun,

He push down de cubbers to keep hisself hot,

An’ de bed fell asleep on his whatsomenot.

He woge negz day so huggry ant full,

An’ drank his toast fas’, an’ then went to school.

JAMES KIDD THOMPSON AND AMON CARTER AT POLY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, EASTER SERVICE CIRCA 1950

J.K., as he was called by his wife and friends, was a very strict practitioner of his faith. He did not drink alcohol or dance, nor did he allow his children to. He named his son Joseph, born on January 2, 1901 and his daughter Mary Josephine, born on August 10, 1906. His granddaughter, who often spent summers with him and his wife, was not allowed to do many things, such as read the comics on Sunday, because it was the Lord’s Day. She recalls that she once had her mouth washed out with soap and received a spanking for using the word Lord as an expletive. However, J. K. was generally very indulgent with his grandchildren and was loved and respected by his family and congregation. He was a keen golfer and enjoyed playing games. He regularly played checkers with his friends and played other games with his grandchildren. He and his wife rented a cabin in Manitou, Colorado, every summer and they took their granddaughter, Virginia Lee Thompson, with them on several occasions. Doc, as he was called by his grandchildren, could be counted on to give good advice. He had the pleasure of officiating at his granddaughter’s wedding and later baptized her two children.

JAMES KIDD THOMPSON AND INNIE FOSTER

DOLLY AND DOC IN MANITOU, COLORADO

JAMES KIDD THOMPSON, JAMES KIDD THOMPSON AND INNIE FOSTER

J. K. was warm and very interested in people. Dolly, as his wife was known, was entertaining and loved to tell stories. She played the piano by ear. She had come from a fun-loving family that was very musical, and being the wife of a minister did not come to her naturally.

Virginia Lee remembers her summers with her grandparents as idyllic. When Doc would come home from work, he would often take Dolly and Virginia Lee to the movies. Afterwards they would go to the cafeteria for dinner. On Sundays, when they returned from church, the cook, Lou Earl, would prepare a meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, canned peas and a sliced tomato salad on the back porch of the pastor’s house, the Manse. As a special treat, Virginia Lee would be allowed a glass of iced tea. Dolly was a doting grandmother. She would wrap Virginia Lee’s hair in rags so that she could have curls like Shirley Temple. She arranged for Virginia Lee to meet with girls her own age so that she had someone with whom she could play. When Doc would go to the country club to play golf, Virginia Lee would spend the morning at the pool. Virginia Lee was allowed to play with the beads that Doc used in his annual Christmas pageant. Dolly rarely left the house.

Adrienne Hendrick, his daughter-in-law’s niece, remembers Doc as being very kind and protective. Against her mother’s wishes, Adrienne attempted to streak her hair. At the advice of her neighbor, she put food coloring in her hair. Later that day she and her parents went to the Fort Worth Country Club as guests of Doc. The day was very hot and Adrienne was wearing a white dress. As she began to perspire, the yellow dye ran onto her dress. Her mother was furious. Doc, sensing this, suggested that she sit next to him. Thus he protected her at least temporarily from her mother’s anger.

CHRISTMAS 1952

DOC AND DOLLY WITH GINNY AND DEVITT ELVERSON

James K. Thompson died on December 30, 1958, in Houston, Texas. On January 20, 1959, resolution number H. S. R. 42 was adopted unanimously by a rising vote of the House of the State of Texas setting aside a page in the journal in Dr. Thompson’s honor.

From The Presbyterian Historical Society with Interpretations

Explanations in blue by George Stulac, Presbyterian minister, St. Louis

Thompson, James Kidd-b, Tunnel Hill, Ga, Ja 11, 1874; f, Rev Gilbert Taylor T; m, Josephine Amanda King; w,

AusC, BA, 92, DD, 28;

Cnt1U, MA, 93;

Louisville Presbyterian T Seminary, BD, 96; stu, FreeChCEdin Free Church of Scottland Edinburgh & UEdin; TrinU, 29; University of Edinburgh:

Trinity University

Licensed, Ap, 95, Louisville Pby; 0rdained, Sp 21, 96, Paris Pby;

ss, 1st ch, Texarkana, Tex, 96-7;

pastor, Calvert, 97-02; in USA Ch since 02:

pastor, 1st ch Muskogee, Okla, 02-19;

pastor, 1st Fed ch, Ft Worth, Tex, 19-44;

ss, Poly ch, Ft Worth, 44-;

DD, WestmCMo, 11; Mod, Syn Okla (USA), 09;

sc, Muskogee (USA) Pby, 09-19;

Auth rel dramas: The Inn-Keeper of Bethlehem,

AusC, BA, 92,

I’m guessing this would mean that he graduated from Austin College with BA in 1892.

DD, 28; Cnt1U, MA, 93;

He was awarded the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1928, probably from Austin College since there is only a comma rather than a semicolon separating it from the Austin College, BA, 92.

Then he earned his MA degree in 1893 from Cntl University, perhaps a Central University.

LouisvPTS, BD, 96;

He earned his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1896. Most seminaries now have changed the name of that degree to M.Div for Master of Divinity. By either name, it is the basic seminary degree for people who then become ordained as pastors.

stu, FreeChCEdin & UEdin; TrinU, 29;

I’m guessing here, but perhaps this means that he studied (but did not earn a degree) at the Free Church College of Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh. Then he perhaps studied further at Trinity University in 1929.

L, Ap, 95, Louisv Pby; 0, Sp 21, 96, Paris Pby;

He was licensed by Louisville Presbytery(to serve as an Assistant Pastor?) in 1895, so that would be while he was still working on his degree at Louisville Seminary.

He was ordained on September 21, 1896, by Paris Presbytery. Might that have been a presbytery centered in Paris, Texas?

ss, 1st ch, Texarkana, Tex, 96-7;

He served as stated supply at First Church in Texarkana, Texas, during 1896 and 1897. Stated supply means that he supplied the preaching ministry on a temporary basis but was not installed as the pastor of that church.

p, Calvert, 97-02; in USA Ch since 02: p,

He served as the installed pastor, either of Calvert Church or of a church in the town of Calvert, from 1897 to 1902.

(Earlier notation said he was married in Calvert, TX, so I guess he went back as pastor to the church where he was married.) I’m guessing that perhaps that Calvert Church was not part of the Presbyterian Church in the USA denomination. Hence the notation that he served pastorates in the PCUSA Church since 1892.

1st ch Muskogee, Okla, 02-19;

He served as pastor (designated by the p from the line above) of First Church in Muskogee, OK, from 1902 to 1919.

p, 1st Fed ch, Ft Worth, Tex, 19-44; s

He served as pastor of First Federated Church in Ft. Worth, TX, from 1919 to 1944.

s, Poly ch, Ft Worth, 44-; DD, WestmCMo, 11; Mod, Syn Okla (USA), 09;

He served as Stated Supply (s from the line above joined to the s in this line) at Poly Church (Poly may be an abbreviation for the church’s name). He started there in 1944 and was still serving in that role at the time of this publication. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Westminster College in Missouri in 1911.

He was the Moderator of the Synod of Oklahoma in the Presbyterian Church in the USA in 1909.

sc, Muskogee (USA) Pby, 09-19;

He was the Stated Clerk for the Muskogee Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in the USA from 1909 to 1919.

Auth rel dramas: The Inn-Keeper of Bethlehem,

He was the author of The Inn-Keeper of Bethlehem which apparently was a collection of dramas. Rel might be abbreviation for religious.

Joseph Gilbert Thompson

Joseph Gilbert Thompson was born on January, 4, 1901, in Muskogee, Indian Territory³, the eldest child and only son of James Kidd Thompson and Innie Foster.

The following is an account written by him about his childhood:

In 1902, when my father was called to the church on Third and Okmulgee, I was just a lad having just passed my first birthday. Then, I didn’t know much about Muskogee, Indian Territory, which it was then. But as I grew a little older, three and four, things started percolating, started sticking in my thoughts.

The Manse was on Third, right back of the church which was directly on the corner. The streets were all muddy then. Most of the time, I remember the board sidewalks, three planks, each 6 to 8 inches wide, laid parallel to each other. This gave a walk 18 to 24 inches wide. The boards must have been supported at the ends by 2-by-4 cross-ties. When it rained you walked single file. I can recall that my father and mother had an umbrella, and as I walked along, my father closely guarded me, holding the spread low so that little of the wind-blown rain would reach me.

JOSEPH G. THOMPSON

The church was all brick; rather nice-appearing but I cannot remember the inside. The Manse was a rather commodious frame cottage. My father’s study was in the front of the house to the right of the front entrance. I seem to remember what looked to be leaded-glass windows in this room. Though he gave me all of the time and attention I needed without stinting, he did reserve this room for his preparation of his sermons and religious activities.

My father, James K. Thompson, was a devout man who had no trace of austerity or unbending sternness. He had a glorious sense of humor and an anecdote appropriate for any suitable circumstance. I usually sat down close to the front, third or fourth row, with my mother. On one Sunday, my mother was detained elsewhere in the church and I was there alone. We had a visiting preacher that Sunday, and as he got up to talk I became frightened and started to cry. My father immediately got up, came down the pulpit steps, gathered me up and took me under his wing, back to the shelter of the altar.

The new church at Fifth and Broadway was built and the congregation moved in and we moved to the new Manse, in 1904 or 5. I can’t place the date for sure as I had little to do with the move. I was then 3 or 4 years old. The contractor for both the church and the manse was a man by the name of Culp.

³ Separate Statehood Wins but Killed by Teddy

A heavy vote was cast in Indian Territory in favor of separate statehood, to be called the state of Sequoyah and there was much jubilation. But President Roosevelt gave it the death blow December 15 with the following headline: TEDDY DECLARES FOR SEPARATE STATEHOOD. It was his feeling that by combining Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory that he would have one Republican state rather than a Democratic state in the case of Sequoyah and a Republican state from Oklahoma. Incidentally, he was very unhappy when the state went Democratic at the first election.

JAMES KIDD THOMPSON AND INNIE FOSTER WITH JOSEPH G. THOMPSON

I went over to the new place with my mother and father on several occasions. One time we had to make our way upstairs on temporary planks since the permanent foot treads were not in place. This was for me a hazardous venture.

Finally we moved in. The church, again, was next door. Both buildings were of compatible architectural styling. They were of solid brick; 13 inch construction rather than brick veneer and had slate roofs. The Manse had a basement with a hot-water furnace, first and second stories and an appropriately sized attic.

The new church edifice was magnificent, I thought, with its new water powered pipe organ. That is, water power was used to pump the blowers which in turn furnished the compressed air for the pipes. Then there were the magnificent stained glass windows which today stand-out in their great charm and artistic beauty. I saw them again only last year, for the first time in nearly 50 years. Their great meaningfulness and beauty was still the same.

We saw from the front porch of the Manse and from the living room window, the great parade signaling the advent of statehood. This was the year 1907. The parade consisted of horse- drawn covered wagons, mounted cowboys and Indians, floats carrying the dignitaries of the occasion and last, but not least, the fabulous horse-drawn Muskogee fire department, steamer and all, belching dense black smoke from its fired-up boiler.

The southwest bedroom, where I slept, looked out upon the slate roof of the Sunday school annex to the church and upon the roof of the main sanctuary toward an area almost immediately above the altar section, the choir and pipe-organ loft. One night we were awakened by the acrid smell of smoke carried in by a gentle south breeze, then by the harsh crackling of