HON. CHARLES ABBOTT THOMPSON

BIOGRAPHY

AS RECORDED IN:

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES.

PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 376

HON. CHARLES ABBOTT THOMPSON, junior member of the well-known firm of J.A. Thompson & Son, of Melrose, Hartford Co., Conn., is an enterprising and able business man. The firm, of which the father was the founder, does a large business in the manufacture of cider, cider vinegar and apple jelly.

The Thompson family has been identified with the town of Ellington, Tolland county, from an early date. Samuel Thompson, great-great-grandfather of Charles A., and a native of that town, married Elizabeth McKinney, who died in 1776, in her ninetieth year; he died in 1782, in his ninety-first year.

Samuel Thompson (2), the great-grandfather of Charles A., was born in the town of Ellington, and died in 1815, in his eighty-seventh year. He made his home upon the farm now occupied by Charles A. Thompson, which he inherited from his father, who bought it in 1741. He married Eleanor McCray, who died in 1850, at the age of ninety-four.

Samuel Thompson (3) was married, in November, 1809, to Mary Ellsworth, who died in January, 1868, aged seventy-eight years. He died June 22, 1875, aged ninety-three years.

Hon. J. Abbot Thompson, father of Charles A., and the head of the firm, was born at the old homestead April 29, 1828, and was educated in the common schools of Ellington. For some time he was interested in the manufacture of cider in partnership with his father, and in 1863 established the present plant at Melrose, beginning on a small scale. He is prominent in public affairs, having been elected in 1874, in 1882, and again in 1884, as a representative from the town of Ellington in the State Legislature. On Oct. 20, 1858, he married Miss Mabel Clark, a native of Enfield, daughter of Charles and Dorothy (King) Clark, and granddaughter of Capt. John King, of Enfield, Hartford county. Mr. And Mrs. Thompson have three children: Charles Abbott; Alice C., wife of Arthur H. Rice, of Pittsfield, Mass., who has one son, William Thompson; and Fannie Ellsworth.

Charles A. Thompson was born May 8, 1861, at the old farm in the town of Ellington, and after completing a course in the local schools attended Williston Academy, at East Hampton, Mass., where he graduated in 1881. His energy and sound judgement are recognized factors in the success of the firm. Politically he is a Republican, and in the fall of 1896 he was elected to the Legislature from the town of Ellington, being a member of the House in 1897 and 1899. In November, 1900, he was elected Senator from the 24th District of Connecticut, carrying every town in his District. He is an active member of the local Grange, and he and his wife are leading members of the Congregational Church of Ellington. His interest in educational progress led him to serve on the town school board; since 1896 he has been president of the Ellington Library Association, while in 1897 he was appointed treasurer of the State Board of Agriculture, on which he is still serving, and is treasurer of the board. He is also treasurer of the Union Agricultural Society.

On Dec. 9, 1886, Mr. Thompson married Miss Della Snow, of Ellington, daughter of Otis and Mary (Chapman) Snow, and they have two children: Mabel, born Dec. 13, 1895; and Abbott Bradford, born Jan. 1, 1898.

Reproduced by:

Linda D. Pingel - great-great granddaughter of Cyrus White of Rockville, Ct.