Four Generations: Stacy, Walter, Ellsworth And Herbert

Today we look at four generations of Thompson’s:

Stacy Clay Thompson, my great grandfather,  born in 1856 and died in 1944

Walter Stacy Thompson, my grandfather, born in 1877 and died in 1960

Ellsworth Walter Thompson, my father, born in 1906 and died in 1989

Herbert Walter Thompson, my brother, born in 1936 and still very much alive

These two photos are the only ones I have of the four generations of Thompson’s in a single photograph. I believe these photographs were taken in 1939 in the back yard of my Grandfather’s house in Detroit, Michigan.

A lot has transpired since Stacy accompanied his father Stacy Webb Thompson and three of his brothers on foot from central Pennsylvania to southwestern Michigan.

Stacy  arrived in Manistee as a young man with his bride and my great grandmother, Ida Mae Goodenow Thompson. He remained in Manistee his entire life. Stacy and Ida Mae had three children: Claudia, Walter and Bess.  After his first wife died in 1906, he married Florence M. Thompson and together had three children: Ida Mae, Stacy Jr., and Gail.

Walter, left Manistee with my Grandmother, Blanche Bucher Thompson and their three children, Goodenow, Ellsworth and Hazel in 1918 to start a new life in Detroit, Michigan.  He remained in Detroit until his death in 1960.

Ellsworth went to public schools in Detroit, Michigan and remained in Detroit his entire life, marrying my mother, Mabel Annetta Smith Thompson in 1935. Together they had five sons: Herbert, John, myself, David, James and Douglas.

Herbert went to public schools in Detroit and graduated from Wayne State University Medical School. Herbert and his first wife, Jean had three daughters: Karen, Susan and Diane. After Jean’s death, he married Sharon O’Grady Thompson who has one daughter, Kathy.  Their blended family of four daughters all have families of their own and live in Illinois.

So that is the basic information on the four generations of Thompson’s.

Enjoy!