Civil War

About the Thompson surname
The name 'Thompson' first found in Cumberland,where the family held a family seat from ancient times. Scottish Thomsons were found primarily around the Edinburgh area and the West Marches on the borders. The spelling with a 'p' distinguished them from the Thomsons who were a Scottish Clan,originally known as Thomsone or Thomsonis in early legal documents. The distinguished surname can be found in Scotland. It's derived from the name Thomas,an Aramaic name meaning 'twin' or son of Thomas The motto of the English name Thompson is a war cry- 'Nosce teipsum' which translates 'Know thyself.' The most prevelent motto associated with the border clan was "Honestie is the best policie."

Entered by Lesa Bethel (Cartwright) Edited my Mary Thompson
trying to locate the father of James Alexander Thompson we are at a dead end. Think he may be from another country unsure where.

Any hints your Thompson's are from Jefferson, Alabama? Because I have a dozen of them in my tree. Samuel and Tommy Thompson are "early settlers" of the county. You can read about them in some detail here:

http://moering.org/~family/Salmag.txt

No Erica, I don't think so. My Thompson's traveled as a group of three families, Leslie's, Thompson's and Carmichael's, together, from Abbeville,SC to Coweta County, GA then on to Coosa County, AL. I suppose some might have ended up in Jefferson, but they first came to Coosa County, where among other things they helped found Unity Presbyterian Church. And I don't find any variation of Sam or Sammy in my tree. Sorry!

The migrations and naming patterns are fascinating, aren't they. Thank you for sharing to yours.

Oh absolutely. I have to find a story I had somewhere about those three families traveling with wagons pulled by oxen. Cuimhnich air na daoine o'n d'thainig thu!