Act of Genealogical Kindness

     At the end of June, I got an email through Ancestry from a fellow named Don Burgett asking about E. Adelaide Thompson, the sister of our beloved naughty great, great grandmother Melvina Thompson Grandelmyer Warner.  He thought he had some information that might be of interest to me.
     I was a bit skeptical, especially after the first document he sent me seemed totally unrelated to anything I knew about the Thompsons, which I must admit was quite limited.  Doing a search on a name like Thompson in Ohio is daunting, especially if you have absolutely no other family information.
  Then Don sent me three letters.  They are indeed about our family!  It was so awesome to get these as they really flesh out the life of Sarah Jane Lewis Thompson Spencer in 1860 in Sherburne County, Minnesota.
     The first letter is written by Sidney Amanda Thompson to her uncle Thomas.  She is about 14 years old as she writes this letter to her uncle who lives Ohio.
     The second letter is from Sarah Jane to her mother-in-law Sidney Pettitt Thompson and her brothers-in-law who live in Belmont County, Ohio.  It is amazing how matter-of-fact she is in light of the fact that she has given birth to a son and lost a husband almost simultaneously in May 1860.  She gives an account of the troubles her family has experienced and how money given to her by the Thompsons was spent.
     The third letter was written by Sarah Jane expressing a desire to hear from the family.  It appears that she needs advice about some civil matters that have plagued her.
     Colette calls them the "Little House on the Prairie" letters!  It is really unbelievable the hardships Sarah Jane has experienced.  The letters give information that we would never otherwise know--such as the nicknames of the children Viney (Melvina), Sidey (Sidney) and Josey (Joseph).  It gives info about Melvina's schooling and the civil troubles the family experienced.
     I have found information about most of the family of Sarah Jane Lewis and Joseph Thompson. I cannot find Sidey/Sidney Amanda in records after 1865.  There is a possibility she married a Doyl.  The search continues.
     Sarah Jane remarried Benjamin N. Spencer before 1865.  She died about 11 May 1904.  There isn't a death record for her in Sherburne County. There is a short death notice in the Sherburne County Star News on May 19, 1904.

May 1904

 S  M Tu  W Th  F  S

 1  2  3  4  5  6  7

 8  9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

     "Mrs. Benj. Spencer of Livonia died last week Wednesday and was buried Friday. Mrs. Spencer was twice married, her first husband having been John M. Thompson (sic) one of the early settlers of Big Lake. She was highly respected by those who knew her."
     There was a John M. Thompson in the records of Sherburne County, but he was not related as far as I could find to Joseph Thompson the husband of Sarah Jane and the above information in the notice is incorrect.
     The first record of Sarah Jane and Joseph is in the 1850 census in the 1850 Minnesota Census in St. Paul when Minnesota was still a territory. With them is a John Lewis, whom I believe is Sarah Jane's father.  The other mention of Lewis as Sarah's maiden name is on the death certificate of her son William. There are land records that put the Thompsons in Sherburne County by 1852--at least land has been purchased. The family appears in the 1857 Minnesota Territorial Census living in Sherburne County. There is no record of Joseph's death.  He does appear in the 1860 census as a mortality.  Sarah Jane's letter (May 1860) corroborates this as the correct info for Joseph.
     Sarah Jane almost always is found in record as "Sarah Jane" or Sarah J.
     Don's generosity has added Joseph's family of origin to our tree. We would probably never have known that Sidey was named for her grandmother Sidney Pettit Thompson.