Thomas Jefferson Thompson was born
in Madison or Marshall County, Alabama in 1814.
He came to Texas
in 1835 and served in the Texas War of Independence, during which time he
became a staunch admirer of General Sam Houston.
After the war, he returned to Alabama where he was
married about 1840. Two children were
born to this union, a son, Sam Houston Thompson and a daughter, whose name is
not known. After the death of the mother
of these children, T.J. Thompson was married about 1850 to Martha Jane Evans. He brought his family by wagon train to Texas in 1858, settling first in Hunt County.
An important item hauled from Alabama was a bundle of
calmus roots for medical purposes. With
the scarcity and often total absence of doctors and pharmacists, many pioneer
families were obliged to diagnose their own ailments and make their medicine.
Webster’s dictionary defines the
calmus root as ‘a reed or sweet flag.
Its aromatic root is a carminative and tonic used in the treatment of
dyspepsia and colic.’
After living two years in East
Texas, the Thompson family came on to Tarrant County in 1860, bringing with
them a start of calmus roots, which they planted near a spring fed stream known
as Wilson’s Branch, about one quarter mile north of present day Farm Road 1709. The land is known now as the Jellico
farm. The plants are still growing in
the wet, mucky soil after more than one hundred years.
For his service in the Texas War
for Independence, Thomas Jefferson Thompson
received a land grant most of which was in Tarrant County. He chose one hundred sixty acres in Wise County,
about fifty miles distant in the Alvord-Chico vicinity. It became his life long habit to walk that
distance twice each year to inspect the Wise County
farm. He checked pastures and crops in
the spring and collected rents in the fall.
He always spent the night, going and returning, with his good friend
Charles Mitchell, who lived south of Haslet, just north of the historic
landmark, Blue Mound.
Thomas Jefferson Thompson and his
second wife, Martha Jane Evans, reared their family in the Jellico Community
three miles east of Keller. He passed
away in 1896 and she in 1908. Both are
buried in Mt. Gilead Cemetery.
Children of the first marriage are:
1)
a daughter who married William McGinnis.
2)
Sam Houston, 1845-1923, he married Mary Byas.
Children of the second marriage
are:
1)
Rebecca, 1856-1881, she married William H. White.
2)
California,
who married Frank Wall.
3)
Sallie, who married _____ Satterfield.
4)
Joseph, 1860-1881.
