Pages 293-295

In a history of the agricultural development of Cream Ridge township it is important that mention be made of Julian Thompson, who has been a resident of Livingston county since 1868 and who since attaining his majority has been influentially connected with farming interests. He owns four hundred acres of land lying on sections 26, 30, 32 and 33, and in its cultivation has displayed the progressive business methods and the careful management which constitute the basis of his success. He was born in Corning, New York, November 27, 1865, a son of Richard and Hester (Booth) Thompson, the former a flour miller who passed away in Millport, New York, May 9, 1868, at the age of forty-six years. A father of a large family he left his widow in straitened circumstances and burdened with the support of the younger of nine children, of whom two had passed away before the father's demise. With the remaining ones she came west in 1868 and settled upon the farm which is now the residence of the subject of this review. She made her home here in 1868 and on the 3rd of October, 1869, her eldest son, John Thompson, who was her main support, passed away at the age of twenty-five years, finding his last resting place in the Wallace cemetery. The struggle against poverty was hard and long but the brave mother faced the difficulties and hardships of her life with confidence and courage and gradually overcame them, rearing her children in paths of honor and respectability, becoming widely known as an exemplary woman, loyal and faithful to all the duties and obligations of her life. Beside John there were in the family, George, who passed away on the home farm in May, 1908, at the age of sixty-two, and is buried in the May cemetery; Herbert and Stephen, who both met their deaths by drowning in Millport, New York, the accidents occurring three weeks apart; Frank P., a farmer in Cream Ridge township; W. K., a jeweler in Chula; Dr. R. V., of Jamesport, Missouri; Mary, the wife of Wilbur F. Marsh, of Chillicothe, Missouri; and Julian, the subject of this review. The mother died in 1895, at the age of seventy-four, and is buried in the May cemetery.

Julian Thompson acquired his early education in the district schools of Cream Ridge township and later attended the Chillicothe Normal School, leaving this institution at the age of twenty-one. He then returned to the homestead and with his brother George took charge of the farm, which consisted of five hundred acres, one hundred of which have since been disposed of. After the death of his brother, Julian Thompson assumed entire charge of the property and has since been developing it along progressive and modern lines. He has erected a fine residence, substantial barns and outbuildings, and has made other improvements in equipment and accessories, being today the owner of one of the finest agricultural properties in this section of the state. He raises grain and is also extensively interested in stock-raising, feeding cattle, hogs and other stock. He is in addition connected with business interests of Sturgis as a director of the People's Exchange Bank of that city.

At Keokuk, Iowa, on December 20, 1896, Mr. Thompson was united in marriage to Miss Viola D. Leaton, a daughter of Robert C. and Florence (Lillard) Leaton, the former a mason and contractor in Chillicothe. He is a veteran of the Civil war and was also active in suppressing several Indian uprisings in California. He and his wife became the parents of eight children: Arthur, on engineer residing at El Reno, Oklahoma; Viola D., the wife of the subject of this review; Fanny, who married William Boyd, an express agent at Sapulpa, Oklahoma; Alice, the wife of Walter Hay, a civil engineer of Seville, Ohio; Milton, who resides at Laredo, Missouri, and is an engineer on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway; Bertha who married J. G. Ebetts, manager of the Democrat Printing Lithographing Company of Little Rock, Arkansas; Valentine, who died at the age of twenty-five and is buried in the Edgewood cemetery at Chillicothe; and Harry, who resides in Chillicothe. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are the parents of three children: Florence H. and Helen S., who are attending district school; and Dorothy D.

Mr. Thompson gives his allegiance to the democratic party. He is a member of the Anti-Horse Thief Association. Well known in Cream Ridge township and throughout the county as one of its substantial and progressive farmers, he owes his advancement entirely to his perseverance and well directed labor. His friends entertain for him high regard by reason of his fidelity to every trust reposed in him and because of the upright and straightforward methods which have marked all of his business dealings.

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