Flora Ann Thompson

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111269379

Place of Burial: Benson Cemetery, Grundy County, Iowa, which is near Whitten, Hardin County, Iowa.
Birth: December 15, 1863 Hardin Co, IA
Death: February 1, 1936 (72) - Whitten, Hardin Co., IA -

Daughter of Lewis Ellis Rash and Rachel Hammer-
Wife of Louis Wallace Thompson -
Mother of Jessie Lillian Thompson; Carl Earl Thompson; Clinton Wallace Thompson; James Franklin Thompson; Hazel Pearl Thompson, Henry Vern Thompson and Clarence Lewis Thompson

Excerpt from History and Recollections of My Father and Family, written in 1932 by Flora Rash Thompson:

I was next married and moved into Marshall County where Jessie and Clint were both born. The fall of 1899 we with our two children, Bennie (Flora’s brother Benjamin), Jim and Hulda (Flora’s cousin and her husband Jim Shultz) and their two girls Ethel and Lee, went to Oregon. We first went to Eli’s (Jim’s brother Eli Shultz) near the town of Rainer, Oregon. Lewis first worked in a shingle mill. Later ran an engine for a sawmill. Son Carl was born the following Feb. 28, 1890. When Carl was 10 weeks old I with the three children came back to Iowa, Lewis coming the following fall. We lived in Hardin County until 1892 and moved to Grundy County. Frank the first to be born in Grundy County, Hazel was also born here. When Hazel was three years old in Fall 1896 we moved to Whitten, Iowa. Here Henry and Clarence were born. Henry died at one year and is buried at the Miller cemetery.

Children of FLORA RASH and LEWIS THOMPSON are:

1. Jessie (female) Lillian Thompson, b. 1885-87 in Marshall County, Iowa
2. Clinton Wallace Thompson, b. Feb. 2, 1888, Bangor Twp., Marshall County, Iowa; d. Dec 26, 1984.
3. Carl Earl Thompson b. Feb. 28, 1890 in Oregon – At some point was a cashier at the bank in Whitten, Iowa.
4. James Franklin “Frank” Thompson, b. abt 1892 in Grundy County, Iowa.
5. Hazel Pearl Thompson, b. 1893 in Grundy County, Iowa – Went to school in Union, Iowa.
6. Henry Vern Thompson, b. 1898 at Whitten, Iowa. Died at one year, buried Miller Cemetery, Union, Iowa.
7. Clarence Lewis Thompson, b. at Whitten, Iowa.

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Complete text of recollections by Flora Thompson and her son Clint Thompson at:
https://media.geni.com/p9/2542/3588/53444837b44236ab/Flora_and_Clint_Thompson_recollections_original.pdf?hash=2558575f02e190600d915e797d8c0110d23977146722878d28300d95e9b5f70f.1712386799
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Miller Cemetery guide - Union, Hardin County, Iowa - A map to the location of all graves, with links to detailed information on each:
https://media.geni.com/p13/a3/88/43/e3/5344485ef6870d85/miller_cemetery_union_hardin_co_iowa_last_updated_june_2021_original.pdf?hash=84eb55a2877b60be7d0d73ddd78994d26a488a24262fdc575e201fbc7b2fd5fc.1712386799
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Our Iowa Family, by Robert Fahey. The History and Stories of these families and more: Rash, Higgason, Hammer, Brown, Campbell, Adams, Fahey, O’Neill, Phinney.
https://media.geni.com/p13/15/b5/20/9f/5344485ef55470e3/our_iowa_family_-_last_updated_6-9-2021_original.pdf?hash=9e0a9fde217266e75b1592e8dc18e445e15e2aa9c8c24c1e6a02335916b69a3c.1712386799

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Flora Ann Rash and Lewis Thompson in Nancy Miller Thompson Smith's 2015 book The Genealogy of the Rash and Hammer Families:

LEWIS WALLACE THOMPSON (2)
Born: 29 August 1862
Where: Marshall County, Iowa
Father: James Thompson (4)
Mother: Louisa Carter (5)
Married: 10 October 1885 (Marriage License)
Where: Marshall County, Iowa
Wife: Flora Ann Rash (3)
Died: 10 December 1937
Where: Union, Hardin, Iowa
Buried: Benson Cemetery
Where: Grundy County, Iowa

FLORA ANN RASH (3)
Born: 15 December 1863
Where: Hardin County, Iowa
Father: Lewis Ellis Rash (6)
Mother: Rachel Hammer (7)
Husband: Lewis Wallace Thompson (2)
Died: 1 February 1936
Where: Whitten, Hardin, Iowa
Buried: Benson Cemetery
Where: Grundy County, Iowa

Children:
1. Jessie Lillian Thompson 11 November 1886
2. Clinton Wallace Thompson (1) 2 February 1888
3. Carl Earl Thompson 28 February 1890
4. James Franklin Thompson 2 January 1893
5. Hazel Pearl Thompson 21 April 1895
6. Henry Vern Thompson 29 September 1898
7. Clarence Lewis Thompson 29 September 1901

Lewis Wallace Thompson was born on his parent’s farm between Bangor and Liscomb, Iowa, the year after the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and delivered the Gettysburg Address. Iowa was still an expanding state, and friendly Indians roamed through the countryside.
His father James Thompson was born in 1818, in Fauquier County, Virginia, and moved with his parents to Ohio when he was a child. He attended the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the University of Ohio. He was a lawyer and surveyor in Marshall County, Iowa, and farmed a small part of his acreage that was an original Land Grant. His mother, Louisa Carter Thompson, was a descendant of the Mayflower, and many early colonial families. She was a member of the Friends Church, and her family for several generations were Quakers. The volume which follows this publication will document the genealogy of their ancestry.
Lewis Wallace Thompson married Flora Ann Rash in Marshall County, Iowa where he leased a farm before moving to Whitten. Their first two children were born in his parents’ home.
He made an application for a one thousand dollar life insurance policy with Modern Woodmen of America on February 10, 1887 (his grandson Weston Thompson has the original copy). In the application he states: his birth date; his health was excellent; never had a major illness; none of his near relatives were insane, committed suicide, or had consumption. He said his father (James Thompson) died of stomach cancer at age seventy in 1889, but he was in good health until 1886. His mother (Louisa Carter Thompson) was sixty-six years old and in good health; his three brothers, John Carter Thompson, Owen A. Thompson, and William James Thompson, ages twenty-nine, twenty-six and seventeen, and two sisters, Mary Elizabeth Thompson McConnel and Anna May Thompson Reigles, ages thirty-nine and twenty, were in good health. His father’s father, Turner Thompson, died suddenly in July of 1875, at age seventy-nine, but his health had been good before that time. His father’s mother, Elizabeth Thompson, was in good health before she suddenly died at age ninety-two in 1892. His mother’s father, William Elliot Carter, died of heart disease at age seventy-three in 1877, but his health had been good until that time. His mother’s mother, Martha Chipman Carter, died of unknown causes at age seventy in 1881, and her health before that time was good.
There was a physician’s report attached to the application that was signed by H.C. Walla, M.D. The report stated that Lewis W. Thompson was of American nationality; weighed 200 pounds; was six foot tall; his “girth over nipples and under clothing” was 41 inches; forced chest expansion was 42½ inches, normal chest expansion was 40 inches; and he had large bones. His body was well formed with no physical deformities, and he had “full use of all his perceptive faculties.” He had dark hair, blue eyes, and “blond” skin. The doctor stated that he was in “first class” health, and that he thought the company should issue him the policy.
In 1889, the family with two small children went by railway to the new frontier in Oregon. In the 1920’s Flora Ann wrote a sketch about her father and his family (for the complete sketch refer to Lewis Ellis Rash). She included the following data about her own family:
“During the fall of 1889 we moved to Oregon with our two children (Jessie and Clint) ... and my brother, Bennie, went with us. We first lived with Eli and Nancy Rash Shultz near the town of Ranier. Lewis worked in a shingle mill for Kenyon Birne, and later he ran an engine for a sawmill. Our son, Carl, was born the following February 28, 1890. When Carl was ten weeks old, I moved back to Iowa with the three small children, and Lewis came back the following fall. We lived in Hardin County until 1892, and then moved to Grundy County where Frank and Hazel were born. In the fall of 1896 when Hazel was three years old, we moved to Whitten, Iowa where Henry and Clarence were born. Henry died when he was one year, and is buried at the Miller Cemetery.”
During an epidemic of “dysentery,” Flora’s sister, Nancy Rash Schultz, contracted the flu and died October 22, 1889. She is buried in Cedar Timber, Oregon. After her death, Flora Ann with her three children, and her brother, Benjamin Rash, with the Schultz children returned to Iowa (for more information about the family of Eli and Nancy Rash Schultz refer to the Index).
Lewis Wallace Thompson was Marshall of Whitten, and also a cement contractor. In 1980 his name as contractor was still on some of the sidewalks there. He was a member of the Friends Church most of his life, and somewhat of a Biblical scholar. Since there was no Friends Church near Whitten, he and his family joined the Christian Church where he taught Sunday School for many years.
Lewis and Flora celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on October 10, 1935. Flora died the following year, and Lewis died in 1937 of a stroke.
Flora Ann was born on her parent’s farm in Hardin County, Iowa. Her parents were members of the Friends Church, as were her mother’s progenitors for many generations. She had a wonderful childhood. There were twelve children in her family plus several adopted ones. She had loving, gentle parents who adored children. They hired people to help with household and farming chores.
Flora Ann attended Grinnell College, which was near her mother’s home in Hammers Grove in Jasper County. Ruth Thompson Hartzog, her granddaughter, has the diary she kept during college. In it Flora made family notes as well as personal notations about her friends. It was unusual for a lady in her day to have a college education, but her parents guided their children toward higher education.
Her disposition was quiet, gentle and even tempered. In her youth she had very deep auburn red hair that was thick and naturally wavy. Most of her family had red hair, and many of the Rash and Thompson descendants still have that strong family trait. Her eyes were hazel green, her complexion was medium, and she was about five foot seven inches tall.

“Union Star”
February 2, 1936
“OBITUARY”
“MRS. FLORA A. THOMPSON”
“Flora Ann Rash, daughter of Lewis and Rachel Rash, was born in Hardin County, Iowa December 15, 1863, and passed from earth February 1, 1936, aged 72 years, 1 month and 17 days. October 10, 1885 she was united in marriage with Lewis W. Thompson of Bangor, Iowa and passed their 50th wedding anniversary last fall. To this union seven children were born of whom six are living. Jessie of Whitten, Clint of Big Spring, Texas, Carl of Benson, Ill., Frank of Whitten, Hazel of Whitten, Clarence of Rockwell City, Iowa.
“She leaves to mourn her departure her husband, children and twelve grandchildren, four brothers: Columbus of Greene, Iowa, Bennie of Marshalltown, Iowa, two sisters: Mrs. Emma Hiller of Olivia, Minn. and Mrs. Bertha Swaim of Creston, Iowa and a host of friends. She was a faithful mother, loyal to church and friends, a citizen of that solid type of real worth that gives stability to a community.
“The funeral services were held from the Christian Church at Whitten on Monday February 3 at 2:00 P.M. Interment in Benson Cemetery. Those present from a distance were Carl Thompson, Benson, Ill., Mr. and Mrs. Henry Williams of Union, Iowa, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Rowen of Union, Solon Rash and daughter Marjorie of Union. Miss Alpha Ladd and Miss Violet Miller of Tama.”

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• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Oct 19 2016, 23:02:30 UTC