Richard Charles Thompson

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARD CHARLES THOMPSON

Contributed By: ThompsonMarkJay · 23 May 2015 ·

Grandfather Richard Charles Thompson’s parents and older brothers and sisters came from England before his birth, his father was brought to Rhode Island by Gorham and Sons Silversmiths to help install machinery and operated a factory. When Grandfather was 5 years old the family left Rhode Island and came west to the Salt Lake Valley, then on to Clarkston, Utah. Grandfather’s life was short, he living only to the age 34, and we know very little about him. We do know, however, that he was a kind husband and father, a great sports enthusiast and loved dancing. Grandmother (Christena or Povine Kristine Larsen) was born in Kallehave, Praesto, Denmark on 23 August 1857, a daughter of Lars Larsen Sr. and Johanna Mogensen. When Grandmother was 5 years old her father went away on a fishing trip and when he returned his wife had died and his sister had taken grandmother and gone to the United States. On the journey across the ocean, Grandmother became very ill and they thought she was going to die. They cut her hair off and built a box to put her in to throw her overboard into the ocean. But Grandmother recovered! She kept that box that was to have been her casket for ocean burial until death many years later. Grandmother lived with her uncle and aunt in Clarkston where she had to work very hard. She drove the cows to the pasture and stacked hay. She also drove the oxen. One day when she went to get the oxen, one of them chased her. About this time in Grandmother’s life she had met and plan to marry my Grandfather Thompson, which her uncle (by marriage) didn’t approve of because he wanted her to become his second wife.. He told her if she didn’t marry him she would go to hell. He locked her in a room so she couldn’t get married but she climbed out of window and ran away and married Grandfather Thompson. They lived in Clarkston the first few years but like the others in the community, they didn’t have much to get along with. But they were happy. Grandmother also enjoyed dancing and they went to many dances. Four children were born to this couple: Joseph Louis, Hannah Penelope, Susannah and Richard Benjamin. While the children were still quite small they decided to move to Rigby, Idaho, where Grandfather took up a quarter section of land. He did some farming and also worked at the sawmill. While they were living in Rigby, Grandfather become ill and they returned to Clarkston and bought a two-roomed home in the south-west part of town by a hill which is known as Long Hill. Grandfather’s illness continued and he suffered severely. When he died he left blood stains on the wall by the side of the bed where he had beat his hands against the wall in agony. After Grandfather’s death Grandmother took up 160 acres of land by the foothills west of town, which her oldest son, Louis (who was only 14 years of age when his father died) broke up with two horses and a hand plow. One year they stored enough wheat in a cellar for their flour and someone broke in and stole part of it. 1
At this time Grandmother’s father had came to the United States and married again and was living in Rock Creek, Idaho. He was doing pretty good financially. He wanted Grandmother to move her family to Rock Creek and he would help her to support them. But there was very few L.D.S. in Rock Creek and her father had left the church and she felt her family would be better off raised in poverty in the church than in a community where there was so little church affiliation. So she decided to stay in Clarkston. Grandmother worked very hard to raise her family. She did washings, sewing and quilting for other people. She also cooked for harvest hands and did whatever she could to support her family. In those days there was no coal and the wood was cut in the hills and hauled home. After her family were all married, Grandmother married again, this time to Alma Goody. After 5 years he died leaving Grandmother alone again. Grandmother was a Relief Society visiting teacher and did quite a bit of Temple work. After several years of illness Grandmother passed away on 3rd of September 1938, at the age of 81.

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