Edward Fleming Thompson (Thomson) 1870-1931

Edward Fleming Thompson (Thomson)* was born 15 April 1870, at Plains, Lanarkshire, Scotland. His father was Edward Thomson and his mother was Jessie Fleming. When Edward was nine months old, his mother died and he was raised in the family of his Grandfather William Fleming. His grandmother, Janet McIndoe Fleming, died 5 December 1872, so Grandfather Fleming had the care of a large family. Eight children were born between the years of 1845 and 1862 to William and Janet Fleming and then a grandchild, Edward, born in 1870. Edward had a great love and respect for this family all his life. Edward's father, when still a young man, left his infant son with the Fleming family and immigrated to Australia. Grandfather Fleming cared for Edward through his childhood to maturity, teaching him the trade of a stone mason. Many years passed away before Edward saw his father again. Edward's Fleming uncles and his Aunt Kate (Catherine Fleming) all immigrated to America and settled in Idaho. They seemed to prosper in this wonderful land. They sent glowing letters telling of the prospects of success in the "West" and Edward decided to cast his lot with them. (Edward was about 19 years old when he emigrated from Scotland.) The deepest emotions of his soul were awakened in saying "goodbye" to the dear old Grandfather who had taken care of him since he was an infant. Edward had a rugged time after coming to America. He suffered with rheumatism which was made worse by the cold and exposure. He rode coal cars and freight cars making his way from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He went to Oregon and then to Idaho. The Fleming brothers and Kate settled in the Snake River country in Idaho (Pocatello area). They engaged in sheep raising. It was here that Edward became acquainted with life in the West, spending his time caring for the flocks. His uncles had a comfortable wagon. He had a good deal of time to study his dictionary and other books. In his studies he came in contact with some of the writings of Darwin and the theories of evolution. They had a great influence on his thinking and caused him to question some of the fundamental principles of the Christian religion. At this time, a great tragedy came to the family. A bitter range war was at its height between the cattlemen and the sheepmen. Edward's uncles had been warned to get out of the country and take their sheep off the range. They decided to ignore the threats of their enemies. Edward's Uncle Hugh (who was not much older than Edward) was left to bring in the sheep. The family waited for Hughie to appear but he never came. They investigated and found the sheep scattered and the form of Hughie stretched on the ground with a bullet in his back. Edward traced the tracks of two men who had left their horses down a ravine. They had put gunny sacks on their feet and had crept up to where Hughie was and had shot him. They made their escape to their ranch. Evidence of their guilt was produced in court, but they were never convicted. Soon after this incident, the Fleming brothers sold their sheep and decided on a move that was to greatly influence the future life and destiny of Edward. It seemed that a kind destiny led them to the little town of Bluff in San Juan County, Utah, to buy sheep. It was here that Edward first met Annie Jane Allan. He was introduced to her as "her future husband." The fact that both of Annie's parents were born in Scotland, the land of Edward's birth, no doubt contributed to a kindred friendship. Edward and Annie courted for five years. Edward was finally converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on 6 December 1900, He freely acknowledged that in the gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith, he had found the wondrous love which had been drawing him from the time he left his home in Scotland. As he looked back over the hard path he had followed, he considered the perils he had endured and the fortunate ending to which he had come--the plan of eternal life. He said, "It was like a lost star finding its proper orbit." One month after his baptism, Edward and Annie were married on 11 January 1901 in Bluff. They were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple a few months later on 10 April 1901. Their first child, Clyde Fleming Thompson, was born 8 November 1901. Less than one year later, 2 September 1902, Edward was called to serve a mission to England and Scotland. He left Annie to support him and to care for their new baby. A baby girl, Nellie Helen, was born a short time after he left on his mission, 11 April 1903. Edward and Annie kept in touch with letters and Annie sent pictures of the children. Edward expressed often his joy in teaching the gospel. He wrote, "When I look at the benighted nations and their downward course, it gives me cause to rejoice that the Lord has picked me, a wondering waif, and given me the coronet of a king. Surely the way of God is not the way of man." Edward loved the gospel. He lived it and taught it with every breath. He declared, "I love the joyful sound of the Gospel,." After Edward finished his mission, he and Annie were called by the leaders of the Church to help settle Grayson (now Blanding), Utah. Wallace was born in Bluff on 28 November 1905, before they settled in Grayson. Geneva and Max were born in Grayson (20 June 1908 and 28 January 1912 respectively). Dean (7 July 1914), Francis (30 November 1916), a stillborn boy (about 1918), West (2 May 1921) and Afton (16 December 1923) were all born in Blanding. While Edward was on his mission, he met his father for the first time since they had parted when Edward was a baby. His father, Edward Thomson, had come to Great Britain for a shooting contest. Edward also became acquainted with his father's brother, Robert and George, sisters Anne and Helen, and many Thomson cousins, as well as many of his Fleming family members. Edward preached the gospel to them while laboring in Scotland. Edward and Annie later moved to Salt Lake City. Edward died in Salt Lake City on 20 October 1931. *The surname was Thomson in the Scottish records and Edward's father carried the same spelling when he immigrated to Australia. Edward changed the spelling to Thompson when he immigrated to America in 1889. Most of this history was written by Annie Jane Allan Thompson. A few details were added by Sue Anne B. Thompson as it appears in "Histories of the Ancestors of Clyde Kent Thompson and Sue Anne Beckstrand Thompson, Who Converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints", 1997, The Pioneer Sesquicentennial Year.

Great Grandfather John Allan, 1823-1908

John Allan, 1823-1908

     John Allan was born in Kirkintilloch, Dumbartonshire, Scotland, on 21 September 1823.  His parents were Robert Allan and Elizabeth Stirling.  His father was the proprietor and manager of a shop which employed weavers who wove woolen cloths on looms and other fabrics by hand.  John had an older sister, two older brothers and a younger sister and brother.  One of his older brothers died as an infant.  

     John's opportunities for schooling were not the best.  He said that he had no great love for the teachers of that day because their chief means of "persuasion" was the cat-o-nine tails or the rod.  He succeeded, however, in mastering the rudiments of reading, arithmetic and learned to write a fairly good hand.  At an early age, he quit school and entered his father's shop to learn the weaver's trade.  This was not to his liking so he soon abandoned it and became an apprentice in a print shop which had been established in town.  He became proficient at block printing.  

     During his boyhood and early manhood, he became friends with Robert Patrick, a game keeper on a large estate in the neighborhood.  Through this friendship, John was permitted to carry a gun and to participate in his favorite pastimes of fishing and hunting.  Being a great lover of nature--animals and birds in particular--he spent part of his leisure time in stuffing birds and became quite an expert taxidermist.

     He met Agnes McAuslan, who worked at his father's shop.  They courted and were married 27 August 1840.  Soon after their marriage, they moved to a place called Barrhead, not far from the large city of Paisley in Scotland.  It was here that the Gospel found them.  Two uncles of Agnes, Alexander and Dougal Adamson, had been working in another part of the country where they had heard of and accepted "Mormonism."  They were the first to bring the glad tidings of the Gospel to the neighborhood where John and Agnes were then living.  Among the first to receive the Gospel in that area was the Peter McAuslan Family, Agnes' father, mother and family.  They were baptized in about 1850.  

     John's father, Robert Allan, who was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, had formed a deep prejudice again the Mormons.  John, although converted at the time of his wife and her family, did not join the church until two years later on 10 April 1852.  His family had always read the Bible as he was growing up, but he had never taken kindly to some of the doctrines of the Presbyterian Church such as predestination and infant damnation.

     Agnes' parents and family immigrated to Utah in 1853 and John and Agnes followed two years later.  They arrived in Salt Lake City in October 1855.  They spent their first winter in the valley in the 19th Ward of Salt Lake City.  The following spring they moved about six miles south to Big Cottonwood and bought a piece of land on the banks of Little Cottonwood Creek where they lived for a number of years.

     In about 1856, John was married to Janet McAuslan, Agnes' younger sister.  In 1861, the family moved to land on the west bank of the Weber River a little north of Coalville, Summit County.  Not long after this move, Janet left the family and her two young sons, John and Peter, and eventually moved with her parents to California.  Agnes, who had never had children of her own, became the mother of young John and Peter.

     In 1865, John was married to Jane Gray.  Two years later, Jane died immediately after giving birth to her son, Robert Gray Allan.  This baby was left to the care of Agnes as well.  In the fall of 1869, John married Jane Fleming Ferguson Shaw, who, with her widowed mother and family, had emigrated from Scotland and settled in Coalville in the summer of 1868.  

     In 1871, John Allan and his family left Coalville and settled in Richfield, Sevier County.  He and his family became members of the United Order of Richfield.  While living in Richfield, John and his fourth wife, Jane, became the parents of three daughters, Agnes, Elizabeth and our Grandmother, Annie Jane, who was born in 1875.  

     In the fall of 1877, John was sent on a short mission to Scotland.  During the summer of 1878, John was called by Apostle Erastus Snow to go to the San Luis Valley in Colorado, to form a settlement there.  He sold his property in Richfield and with his two wives, Agnes and Jane, his three sons and three daughters, and his oldest son, John's wife, Jennie Hellstrom, moved to Colorado.  They settled on the Conejos River near the small Mexican town of Los Ceretos.

     In 1881, John was released from his mission in the San Luis Valley by Apostle Erastus Snow.  He decided to try his fortune on the San Juan River in Utah.  He and his family obtained land about eighteen miles above the town of Bluff on the San Juan River.  All the family were finally located at the old Montezuma Fort by early August 1881, which was when John and Jane's next daughter, Florence, was born.  A son was born to John and Jane--John Alexander--in 1882.

     In 1890, nine-year old Florence and seven-year old John A. died of diphtheria.  Our Grandmother Annie Jane was very sick with diphtheria at that same time, but survived, grew to womanhood, married Edward Fleming Thompson and was the mother of nine children, Clyde Fleming Thompson being the oldest.

     John Allan died at Bluff at the age of 84 years on 27 April 1908.

     John Allan was about five feet six inches in height and weighed about 125 pounds.  His hair and beard were black.  In his work he was always careful, neat and orderly.  He had a quick and impulsive temperament and sometimes did or said things that he was sorry for afterward.  He had a deep reverence for God and never used profane language.  He was also submissive to the authority of the Priesthood.  He was a humble and God-fearing man devoted to the Church and to his family.  

History of Jane Fleming Ferguson Shaw Allan

This history can be found at the following website: http://www.shaweb.net/Histories/Jane%20Fleming%20Ferguson%20Shaw%20Allen%202007.htm

Jane Fleming Ferguson Shaw Allan 1840-1915

Jane was born in Kilsyth, Stirling, Scotland, on Nov 29, 1840. She joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a few months after her parents had joined in 1851. After her father died in an accident her family determined to save up what they could to make the move to Utah. She and her widowed mother and 4 siblings came to Utah in 1868. The following year she married John Allan on Nov 15, 1869. She was his plural wife. John had also come from Scotland in 1855 with the Charles A. Harper Company.

They moved south to Richfield, Sevier, Utah where their three oldest children were born (1871-75 Agnes Allan, Elizabeth Allan, Annie Jane Allan). They lived in Colorado according to the 1880 census where John was ranching and then moved to Fort Montezuma (now Montezuma Creek) on the San Juan River where their last two children were born. (Florence Allan and John Allan 1881-82). They lived there until a flood destroyed their home in 1884, after which they moved to Bluff, San Juan, Utah. In the fall of 1890 the two youngest children died of diphtheria, one being John, her only son.

The 1900 census lists John at age 74 as a gardener and Jane was 54. Their daughter Elizabeth Nix and her little 2-year-old daughter Lena were there too. Annie was working for the Cunningham family in a nearby community.

I found the photo at left on a site about the Jane Allan house. Jane is standing in front of her home that was built, in the early 1900's according to the article. “The foundation of the house was built of sandstone and the walls were made of Bluff sandstone blocks. This small two-room rock house was built by or for John Allan and his wife Jane Allan. Not much of the house remains. The remaining stone section of the house represents only one-third of the original house. That is what remains of the house after the flood in March of 1894. [There seems to be some discrepancy of dates or there were two separate floods.]

“There was a log cabin that was originally on the plot where the house was built. Presently, this house is a single structure with roughly squared masonry walls on the north, west, and south ends. The east wall of the house has been partially dismantled and is now covered with plywood. There are also remnants of a wooden foundation (made of horizontally-laid 3" boards) on the north side of the rock structure.”

“The house consists of two rectangular window openings with sills and a doorway (from west to east) across the south wall, one doorway in the center of the west wall, and a rectangular window opening and doorway on the north wall.”

“The window openings have been filled in with rock and concrete, and the doorway retains doors (which are now padlocked). The roof is a steeply pitched gable roof, presently overlain with corrugated galvanized steel. The building is presently unoccupied and used for storage.”

Another picture of the Allan home now used as a shed

John died on 27 Apr 1908 and was buried in Bluff. He was born 21 Sep1823 in Kirkintilloch, Dumbarton, Scotland according to a genealogical record on the FamilySearch site. He and his first wife Agnes immigrated with a group of saints in 1855. They were living in Coalville, Summit, Utah when Jane moved to that area in 1868.

The 1910 census stated that Jane was a 64 year-old widow who was a landlady at a boarding house.

Jane’s mortal life came to an end on 27 May 1915 in Bluff. She was in her 75th year if calculated by using the Scottish church records that give her birth as 29 Nov 1940. It looks as if she thought she was born about 1845 but one thing is certain, she had lived a long and productive life.

Sources:

1880 Conejos Valley, Conejos, Colorado; Family History Film: 1254089; Page: 170.2000;

Enumeration District: 28

Jno. ALLAN Self M 56 SCO Ranchman SCO SCO

Jane ALLAN Wife M 36 SCO Keeps House SCO SCO

Agnes ALLAN Dau S 9 UT At Home - Attended School SCO SCO

Lizzie ALLAN Dau S 6 UT At Home - Attended School SCO SCO

Annie J. ALLAN Dau S 4 UT At Home SCO SCO

1900 > UTAH > SAN JUAN > BLUFF PCT

John Allan head 74y Sep md.30y all scot immi 1855 gardner

Jane wife 54y Jun 1844 mom 5-3 all scot immi 1868

Elizabeth dau

Lena M.Nix grn dau 2y May 1898 Ut Ind Ut

1900 - LaSal prct San Juan Utah ED 118

Annie J. Allan servant 23y un Aug 1876 Ut sct sct housekeeper for Cunningham family

1910 > UTAH > SAN JUAN > BLUFF PCT

Allan, Jane 64y wid mom of 5-3 living all scot landlady at boarding house

www.sanjuan.k12.ut.us/sjsample/bluff/janeall2.htm The life of Jane Allan

www.bluffutah.org/tour/allen.htm Jane Allan House

Edward and Annie and Family, 1929

Left-right: Clyde, Wallace, Max, Dean,

Edward and Afton, Annie holding Boyd

(Clyde's son) and West.

Edward Fleming Thompson as a missionary

in England and Scotland, 1902-1904

Grandfather Edward Fleming Thompson’s Idaho Relatives

When Edward left his home and his Grandfather Fleming in Scotland to come to the United States, he was essentially following his Fleming uncles and aunt—his mother’s brothers and sister.

The oldest was Uncle John Fleming, his mother’s oldest brother. John came to the United States in June 1868, two years before Edward was born. His brief history is contained in an earlier post.

While Uncle John was still in Idaho, others of the Fleming family immigrated to the United States and came to Idaho. By the 1880 census, Uncles Peter, William, Walter, James and Hugh Fleming were all living in Idaho. The census records state that William immigrated in 1876 and Walter and James in 1877. No immigration date is given for Peter and Hugh.

In 1889, Edward’s Aunt Kate (Catherine Fleming Crum) and her husband and children came to Idaho. This family included the parents, Robert Crum and Catherine Fleming Crum and their children, Mary, Janet, Robert, William, James, John, Walter and Peter. All the children were born in Scotland and young Peter was just two years old when the family immigrated. The family remained in Pocatello where the sons worked for the railroad. Robert and Catherine and most of their children are buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Pocatello.

Robert and Catherine’s oldest daughter, Mary Crum, was born in 1874 in Scotland. Mary was 15 when the family immigrated to the United States. I can find no other information about Mary. Next in the family is Janet. She was born in 1875 and was 14 when her family immigrated. Janet was married at age 16 to Claiborne Porterfield Graves, a native of Virginia. They were the parents of seven children. Janet died in 1908, the same year her youngest child, John was born. She was not quite 33 years old at the time of her death, leaving her husband with seven motherless children. Claiborne’s work took his family to Arizona where they settled.

Robert, William, James, John, Walter and Peter mostly worked and lived in Pocatello and southern Idaho. John served in World War I. According to one source, he was a captain in World War I and was killed by a sniper on Armestice Day in France. His death certificate reports that he died in 1918 in Argone Forest, France. Walter Crum never married. John and Peter were married but had no children. William and James married sisters from Utah: Nora and Anna Camilla Rohde. William and Nora had one son, William Earl. William was also married to Mabel Mattie Potter.

James and Anna Camilla had six children (James Robert, Fern, Robert Hugh, Wilma, William Joseph (who was born and died in 1918) and an unnamed baby. James and Anna were later probably divorced. Anna and the children moved to the Los Angeles area.

Their daughter, Fern, became an actress and was married to Al Christie who became famous working in films in Hollywood. Fern and Al were divorced and she was married again to Robert Wesley and third to Jack Murray. Cousin Fern died in 1964.

(See http://shirleycollins.blogspot.com/2008/06/what-i-know-so-far.html )

James R. and Robert H., both married in California, lived and died there. I have not been able to find any further information on Wilma Crum.

The following pictures of the Crum Brothers come from originals in the possession, I think, of Keith and Mary Ann Smith. They were probably sent, years ago, from Idaho to Cousin Edward Fleming Thompson, living in southern Utah. The picture of Fern Crum, daughter of James, comes from the above referenced internet site. The picture of John R. Fleming comes from a book on Wisconsin history.

John Fleming (middle name Russell adopted after coming to the United States)