Let us hear from you

DICK HODGMAN HAS POSTED HIS REUNION VACATION PHOTOS including THOMPSON ISLAND and ODIORNE POINT:

WATCH THIS PAGE FOR MORE REPORTS AND PHOTOS OF THE 2001 THOM(P)SON FAMILY REUNION!!

From Alice P.

Morning All Tommies, A BIG thank you goes to Don T. and his lovely wife Pat, for arranging the "1st Tommie Union." Hopefully we can all have a reunion soon. :)

Without Don's booklet and directions & maps to all places, I am afraid many would have been lost. Thanks to Don T. this sure helped all drivers.

I am sorry to say I did not attend all events. I missed Thompson's Island and the cemetery caravan day. :( So I can only give yas a few highlights on the other events.

First, let me thank Gen F. for the brilliant program on a possible descent of our David T. She certainly gave us all "Food for thought" about David T's descent.

During Gen's presentation, a huge thunder storm knocked the power out at the Center, and for some reason their generator did not work. However, our Gen , didn't let a little thing like that stop her. :) She continued her presentation, for a few minutes after . in the dark,:) and then we were told we'd have to vacate the building, for Security reasons. So we all went to lunch and later went back to Odiorne Park Center , with power restored, Gen was able to finish her presentation. Of course , I may mention here also we did get a little wet leaving the Center, however, the sun shone for us most of the day. As a bonus , New England weather certainly cooperated as each day , of the reunion was NE at it's best. Plus the fall foliage nearing it's peak..

I also want to Thank Dick H., his mother Dorothy and Jim T. for the transportation and great company, during our Sat. jaunts.

On Wed. , at our Get acquainted -meeting day. I also want to mention and thank , my 2 friends, Kay and Laure who helped me set up the hall,and Laure who contributed so much material on the area Thompson's, for our show and tell. She also took the group on a tour of Millville showing them the stone of the first Grist Mill owned by Samuel Thompson and also the site where this Grist Mill was under the bridge, and at that time called Thompson Island. We also were all able to have a tour of St John's Esp. Church, where many pictures were taken. What would an area tour be without a visit to a few cemeteries?? :) Well Our Dick T. before dark, did manage to take the group to two Millville Cemeteries. One I heard had more poison Ivy than stones!! :) But , all enjoyed the 2 to 8:30 PM, meeting -tour- show & tell - get acquainted day. The Highlight of this day on Wed. was meeting one another and all the Cuzship and friendship amongst all who attended and the sharing of the wealth of material, pictures, books, etc. that all brought to Show and Tell.

Yes, it was a family Union, at it's best. :)

Sorry I missed the other 2 days, maybe someone can give us Tidbits & Highlights of those days?? Alice

From Don T....

I want to thank the many people who made our recent reunion (or union, as Don Bryant says we can't have a reunion until we have a union) such a success.

First, I want to thank Nancy Thomson. She was not able to join us, but she was the one responsible for starting the Thomson/Thompson group as we know it today.

Secondly, I want to thank Don Bryant who did join us with his wife, Mindy, and son, Jacob. Don is responsible for our website, which is the glue that holds the whole group together.

Thanks to Dick Thompson who shared his countless hours of finding Thompson grave sites, with a one-day tour of many cemeteries.

Thanks to Alice Palladini for arranging our meeting hall and all the snacks, plus sharing her Thompson photos

Thanks to Dick Hodgman and his mother, Dorothy Ann for their chauffeuring services and finding the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal for the boat to Thompson Island. Dick had already made a major contribution to our Thompson research with his work on the Amy book.

Thanks to George Armstrong, the president of Thompson Island Outward Bound for arranging our day and the free lobster lunch. Also thanks to Matt Procino, our tour guide for the day on the island.

Thanks to Jim Thompson from Dallas who joined us and has already done so much research on our David's line.

Thanks to Shirley and "OD" Odsather who came all the way from Alaska to join us. They also did their share of chauffeuring, by driving us to Odiorne Park and Yokens. Yes, Shirley, we found Mehitable's last resting spot.

Thanks lastly to Gen Fraser, who has spent so much time researching David's birth. She thinks he was born in Scotland in 1588 instead of London in 1592. She presented her comprehensive findings. Then she said "It would not be sufficient proof in court, but wasn't it a wonderful trip?"

From Dick Hodgman...

Don T,

Also, thank you for the wonderful book you provided to the participants. It was a great guide and is a treasured keepsake.

And thank you for organizing the event! The different activities each day exposed us to some the variety of New England as well as taking us to some of the places that David and Amias and their descendents lived.

The Mendon area was a good location in which to base our visit. We stayed in the Quaker Inn on the Quaker Highway just a few miles from Rhode Island. I can see how John's descendents might choose to live there, further away from the strict Puritans of the Boston area and nearer to the more tolerant folks in Providence.

From Gen Fraser...

Don,

I wish all the Tommies could have joined us. It was a fabulous event -- we owe a debt of gratitude to you and Pat for organizing such a wonderful gathering.

From Shirley & 'OD'

Greetings from Alaska.

Yes, we made it home safe and sound late this afternoon. How I wish everyone of you could have been with us when we flew into Anchorage. Mt McKinley and Mt. Susitna (the Sleeping Lady) were out in all their glory to greet us.

We simply can't thank each of the Union participants (and those who were not able to join us) enough. We had a wonderful time and the added bonus is that we can now put faces to the names that come across the screen from this list.

To all the thank yous which have already been stated we want to add a big hug and thank you to Alice. Thank you Dear Cuz for the delightful tour of Mendon on Sunday, pointing out the historical hot spots and how our Thompson's fit into it all. We cherish that day.

As an experiment I took a digital picture in 3 parts of the left hand side of David Thomson's possible new lineage as presented by Gen. It doesn't include the right hand side, ie. his grandmother's lineage, but what I did get turned out well enough to decipher. If anyone is interested in seeing them, I'll be happy to send them as an attachment.

Don, so pleased to hear you found Mehitable. We found Benjamin (#163), his wife Abigail and their sons Benjamin (#415) and Joel (#421). And found Joel's in-laws, Frederick and Jemima Ware. Also found lots of evidence of a John Thompson in the Pomfret, Sharon and Woodstock areas of VT who I think might be #408. He witnessed a lot of land sales and did a lot of buying and selling as well. It'll take a while to digest everything we found (and didn't find).

Many thanks again to everyone who helped make the recent Union's memories a part of our history.

REUNION 2001 - THOM(P)SON FAMILY REUNION