What We Have Found Out About Joseph Thompson From Primary Sources:
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This is Joseph Thompson's
gravestone
in Deerfield's Tilton Cemetery:
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In 1850, Joseph Thompson
was six years old and lived in Nottingham, NH with his family. He
was the oldest child,
but had a big family, with several older relatives
living with him - maybe grandparents.
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Transcript:
Name
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Age
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Sex
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Thompson,
Jonathan
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28
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M
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Mary
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26
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F
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Joseph
H.
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6
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M
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Susan F.
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4
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F
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Regina
(?)
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2
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F
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Charles
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4/12
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M
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Levi
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72
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M
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Comfort
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68
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F
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Elisabeth
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18
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F
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When the census was taken
tan years later, Joseph was fefteen and working as a shoemaker.
His father was a farmer.
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Transcript:
Name
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Age
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Sex
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Occupation
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Jonathan
Thompson
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37
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M
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Farmer
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Mary A.
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35
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F
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Joseph
H.
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15
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M
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Cordwainer
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Susan F.
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14
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F
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Regina
F. (?)
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12
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F
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Charles
H.
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10
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M
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George
A.
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8
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M
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Elizableth
(?)
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5
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F
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Anson F.
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3
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M
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| This is a summay of Joseph Thompson's
military record taken from A Revised
Register of the Soldiers and Sailors of New Hampshire in the War
of the Rebellion: 1861-1866, published in 1895. |
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Transcript:
Thompson, Joseph H. Co. B [11th
NH Volunteer Infantry]; b. Nottingham; age 18; res. Nottingham;
cred. Nottingham; enl. Aug. 16, '62; must. in Aug. 28, '62 as
Priv.; wd. Dec. 13, '62, Fredericksburg, Va.; must. out June 4,
'65. P.O. ad., Deerfield.
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These are the battles that Thompson's
regiment, the 11th NH Volunteers
fought in during the Civil War. All took place during his enlistment,
so he was probably present at all of them.
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From Thompson's military
record, we know that when he joined the Army, he was 5'5" tall,
had dark eyes and hair and that he spent at least one day on detatched
duty working for another unit as a teamster.
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Thompson was injured twice
during the Civil War -
once in the hand and once in the hip:
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This is Joseph Thompson's
account of how
he injured his hand at Fredericksburg:
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Transcript:
I, Joseph H. Thompson of Nottingham, County of Rockingham, State
of New Hampshire, late private in Co. B., 11th Regt. N.H. Vols,
Depose and say that at Fredericksburg, Va, on the 13th day of December,
1862, while in the line of duty, I was wounded in the left hand
by a ramrod passing through it, between the third and fourth finger
near the base of the hand. I was lying down, loading and firing,
had fired sixty rounds of cartridges and was ramming the cartridge
down for the sixty-first round, when the gun exploded and the ramrod
was driven through my left hand as aforesaid.
The fingers of said hand are stiff and the wound has broken out
every year since and I have not, nor cannot do the amount or the
same kind of work I could before I received the wound. I can do
no hard work or lifting with my left hand. The present summer, while
at work haying, the wound broke out and I was obliged to almost
wholly stop work until the wound closed up.
- Joseph H. Thompson
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This next document is a
letter written by Isaac Morrison
(one of our previous "Dead Guys"!), who was one of
Joseph Thompson's officers during the war.
In this letter, he tells how Thompson hurt his hip.
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Transcript:
Deerfield Center, NH Jan.
21, 1882
Dear Sir - Your favor of the 11 th is received and in reply, I would say that my testimony
in regard to the case of Joseph H. Thompson, Priv. Co. “B”,
11 th Regt. N.H. Vols is from personal knowledge, as I was present
and witnessed both the leap and the fall. I was standing on the
bank of the creek, not more than ten feet distant from where he
struck. Most of the men leaped easily, but he slipped and fell
heavily was very lame from the effectof the fall.
Very Respecfully,
Isaac Morrison
Late 1st Lieut. Co. “B 11th N.H. Vols.
To the Commissioner of Pensions, Washington, D.C.
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The 1870 Census shows Joseph
Thompson living in Deerfield, working as a "farm laborer", which
probably means that he did not own his own farm. He was married
to a woman named Hannah and had two small daughters.
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Transcript:
Name
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Age
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Sex
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Color
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Occupation
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Thompson,
Joseph
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25
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M
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W
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Farm Laborer
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- Hannah
G.
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23
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F
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W
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Keeping
House
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- Nettie
M.
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3
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F
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W
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- Annie
F.
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1
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F
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W
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In 1880, Thompson was working
as a shoemaker. He and his wife Hannah had had several more children
by this time.
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Transcript:
Name
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Color
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Sex
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Age
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Relationship
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Occupation
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Thompson,
Joseph
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W
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M
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34
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Shoemaker
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" Hannah
G.
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W
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F
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33
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Wife
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Keeping
House
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" Nettie
M.
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W
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F
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13
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Daughter
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At School
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" Annie
F.
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W
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F
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11
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Daughter
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At School
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" Ella
E.
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W
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F
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8
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Daughter
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At School
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" Henry
B.
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W
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M
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7
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Son
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At School
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" Marnie
A.
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W
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F
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3
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Daughter
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In order
to apply for a government disability pension for his war wounds,
Joseph Thompson submitted affidavits from neighbors about how those
wounds had affected his ability to work. This is one of those affidavits:
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Transcript:
[I] have known claimant from his birth, lived within ¾
of a mile of him until the last six years, and about six miles
from him during the last six years. He has been lame ever since
he came home from the Army,
was not lame before he went to war. The lameness is in his right
hip and he also has a wound in his left hand. When he gets cold,
he is lamer than usual and
cannot do one half of what is reckoned a fair day’s work.
He has worked for me before and after the war. He used to complain
a good deal at times about his hip. He would tire out
easily. [I] have heard him say many times that wished he was as
well and able to work as he was before he went to war. His hand
used to trouble him a good deal. He would complain
of pains going from his hand up his arm. I don’t think he
has been able to work much more than one half of the time on an
average, since he left the Army in consequence of
the injury to his hip and hand. [I] have known of his being poulticed
and other ways treated for his disabilities and he has, at times,
been a great sufferer from his said wounds. He was born within sixty rods of my house and lived there
until he went to the war. He was as straight[?], hearty and well
[a] boy as we had in the neighborhood. I know this from my own personal knowledge, as I had two boys about the claimant’s
age and they were together most of the time and I had every[?]
facility for knowing all about him.
- John H. Chesley, aged 73
years
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This is
another affidavit from a neighbor:
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Transcript:
[I] first knew claimant in 1862. [I] have livd within one half mile
of him and know him intimately. When he returned from the war, he
was suffering from an injury in the right hip and a wound on the
left hand. He has been lame ever since his discharge and apparently
suffers greatly at times from his injuries. [I] employed him more
or less for seven years after his discharge from the Army. He can
do about one half the labor that a [illegible] well man can do.
I should say that he has not been able to work more than one half
of the time on an average since his discharge. I see the claimant
as often as once in three weeks now, and he is still lame and I
believe that he still suffers from the injury to the hip and the
wound in his hand. When there is a change in the weather, or he
takes cold, he is laid up and unable to work. I have heard Dr. George
H. Towle of Deerfield, NH speak of the claimant's lameness and that
in his opinion, he was entitled to a pension.
- Charles E. Tilton, aged 47 years.
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There are
no Federal Census records from 1890 - they were destroyed in a fire.
The 1900 Federal Census shows that Joseph Thompson and his wife
were still living in Deerfield at the turn of the century. Their
grandson Arthur
was living with them. Joseph was working as a "day laborer" and
Arthur was working as a "farm laborer".
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From Thompson's
pension application paperwork,
we know that as of 1897, these were his children:
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This is
Joseph Thompson's will. By the time he wrote this in 1920,
he and his wife were living in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
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Deaths - From the Deerfield
Town Records, 1921
Name - Joseph H. Thompson
P. of Death - Haverhill, Mass., 328 Washington St.
D. of Death - October 17, 1921
Yrs/Mos/Ds - 77/1/20
Sex - Male
Color - White
C. of Death - Myocarditis
Brought for burial
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Deaths - From the Deerfield
Town Records, 1921
Name - Hannah G. Thompson
P. of Death - Haverhill, Mass., 328 Washington St.
D. of Death - November 7, 1921
Yrs/Mos/Ds - 74/6/24
Sex - Female
Color - White
Condition - Widow
C. of Death - Lobar Pneumonia
Brought for burial
Widow of Joseph H. Thompson
Place of Internment - Deerfield
Name of Cemetery - Deerfield Mansion
Undertaker - J.W.E. Farrell, Haverhill, Mass
Certified - Geo. T. Lennon [?], Haverhill
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When Joseph
Thompson died in 1921, his everything he owned
was appraised and this is the value it was given:
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