After receiving a message to day from another Jeremish Thompson descendant I decided to post a few pages from his widow's pension application. Rebecca Sankey Thompson filed for a widow's pension on 24 April 1878 and received approval on 20 February 1879. She died in February 1880, so only collected for about a year. There are other pages but these are the important ones. Especially the proof of marriage she provided. Needless to say, getting this document required a long wait for her. Not like today when we can usually get instant results. The affadavit from the Clerk in Franklin County Indiana probably took many months to be received by Rebecca in Sullivan County Indiana Several years ago I wrote a story about Rebecca & Jeremiah. I hope you enjoy it.
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Closs and Rebecca Wilson Thompson had nine children. The second child was, Jeremiah, my ancestor. I know he moved with the family group to Missouri. This is where he enlisted in, Captain Andrew Ramsey's Mounted Rangers, in the War of 1812. He was mustered for one year service from May 1, 1813 to May 1, 1814. He only had to serve for 120 days and was paid from January 1, 1814 to April 30, 1814. The Indian allies of the British were creating all sorts of havoc on this western front of our new nation and I imagine Ramsey’s Mounted Rangers were called upon to take care of that problem.
Closs and Rebecca Wilson Thompson had nine children. The second child was, Jeremiah, my ancestor. I know he moved with the family group to Missouri. This is where he enlisted in, Captain Andrew Ramsey's Mounted Rangers, in the War of 1812. He was mustered for one year service from May 1, 1813 to May 1, 1814. He only had to serve for 120 days and was paid from January 1, 1814 to April 30, 1814. The Indian allies of the British were creating all sorts of havoc on this western front of our new nation and I imagine Ramsey’s Mounted Rangers were called upon to take care of that problem.
As I studied the land records where their families lived in Franklin County Indiana, I plotted out their farms and where they were located in the county. I could then "practically see" the corner where they met and courted and where they fell in love. Rebecca would have been a young girl of thirteen when she first met Jeremiah. He could very well have been a friend of her older brothers. Being eleven years older than her, I am sure he seemed quite worldly and exciting to the teenage girl.
Jeremiah didn't marry until he was twenty nine years old, and apparently he was ready to settle down when he married, Rebecca Sankey in Franklin County Indiana. Rebecca was eighteen years of age when she married. They were married 17 Feb 1821 by Reverend Hughes, a Presbyterian Minister. After their marriage, they moved to Sullivan County Indiana and lived the rest of their lives there. All nine of their children were born in Sullivan County Indiana. Most of the children stayed in that area.
Jeremiah was born on 4 May 1791 in Madison County Kentucky and died on 4 May 1862 in Sullivan County Indiana. He was exactly seventy one years old. Rebecca Sankey Thompson lived until 1880 and she is buried beside her husband at Pound Cemetery in Sullivan County. In 1997 I visited the Pound cemetery in Sullivan County Indiana. It is a small cemetery that is on a farm and we had to drive through their yard and out behind their barn to reach it. It was quite humbling to stand in the place where this couple is buried.
I received Rebecca's Widow's Pension application and can feel the frustration she must have felt as the "officials" required more and more information. Finally, 20 Feb 1879 it was approved for $10.00 a month. She died 6 Feb 1880. She was seventy eight years old, and had lived a full life. She was surrounded by many sons and daughters and grandchildren.
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