Thompson, John & Electa Freeman
John Thompson (b.1797) & Electa Freeman (b.1799)
Fitzwilliam, NH
In 1819, three couples of color were married in Fitzwilliam, NH. One of those events was the marriage of John Thompson to Electa Freeman on December 2, 1819. John Thompson (aka Thomson) was born around 1797 in New York. His move to New Hampshire is unclear. Electa Freeman was born in New Hampshire around 1799.
The Thompsons remained in New Hampshire for a few years at least. Their son Henry A. Thompson was born in Fitzwilliam in March 1824. But by 1830, the family had moved to Shaftesbury, VT. The 1830 census lists John as head of household, while all other members of the household are not named but are denoted with tick marks sorted by gender, race, and age. In analyzing the census, one can determine John and Electa’s ages to be between 24 and 36 years old. They have a young son and daughter under the age of 10 as well as a daughter between 10 and 24 years old. Also in the household is a man over age 55, presumably a family member.
In the 1840s, son Henry A. Thompson had married a woman named Harriet and fathered a son of his own. Charles H. Thompson was born in Vermont in 1847. The 1850 census shows the entire extended family living together. John and Electa were in their 50s and John was working as a laborer. Next door, Henry Thompson was working as a 29 year old laborer while his 24 year old wife Harriet was at home with their 3-year old son Charles and 7 month old son John W. Thompson. The neighborhood also included other families of color, the Willes and Compstocks.
John and Electa (Freeman) Thompson may have died sometime in the 1850s. They do not appear in census records beyond 1850. Henry and Harriet continued to live in Shaftesbury, VT, for many years as their family grew. Amos Thompson was born in 1856 and Ann was born in 1858. In 1859, John and Electa had a daughter Harriet who died, unfortunately, six months later of measles.
During the 1870s and 1880s, John and Electa (Freeman) Thompson’s grandchildren had grown into adulthood, were getting married, and having children. Their son, Henry who had been born in Fitzwilliam, NH, died of typhoid fever on July 26, 1887 in Westminster, VT at the age of 63.
SOURCE MATERIALS
New Hampshire Marriage Records, Fitzwilliam, 1819- Ancestry.com
U.S. Civil War Draft Registration Card, 1863- Ancestry.com
U.S. Federal Census Records, 1820, 1830, 1850, 1860, 1880- Ancestry.com
Vermont Death Records, 1859, 1879,1887- Ancestry.com
Vermont Marriage Records, 1875, 1880- Ancestry.com
Whittemore, B.B. History of the Town of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, 1752-1887, p.300- Archives.org
GENEALOGY:
JOHN THOMPSON was born in New York around 1797. He married ELECTA FREEMAN (b.1799) in Fitzwilliam, NH, on December 2, 1819. They had: Henry A. Thompson (1824-1887), Daughter (aft. 1824). John and Electa died sometime after 1850.
HENRY A. THOMPSON was born in March 1824 in Fitzwilliam, NH. He married HARRIET JACKSON in Vermont in the 1840s. They had: Charles A. (b.1847), John W. (b.1849), Amos Lewis (b.1856), Ann (b.1858), Harriet (1859-1859), and Edward (1866-1879). Henry Thompson died in Westminster, VT, on July 26, 1887.