ANDREW THOMSON.-The Thomson family is one of the oldest in Sullivan county, and was founded here by the grandparents of Andrew. Enoch and Lucy (Clark) Thomson, in 1816, the former a native of the state of New York. On arriving in Sullivan county they located in Fairbanks township and entered land there. This was about the time of the admission of the state to the Union, and Enoch Thomson became prominent in the public life of his community, following farming throughout his entire life for a livelihood, and for those early days he was also quite extensively engaged in the raising of stock.
Reuben Thomson, his son, also became prominently identified with the stock interests of Sullivan county, and owned about four hundred acres of land in Fairbanks township. That township was his birthplace, on the 5th of September, 1827, and the scene of his death, on the 24th of December, 1907. His politics were Democratic, and he was very prominent in the public life of his community, and he and his wife were members of the Baptist church. She bore the maiden name of Emily McKinney, and was born in Fairbanks township in 1827, and is now living there with a daughter, aged eighty-three years. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Thomson was blessed bv the birth of nine children, of whom six are now living: John, who married Jane Frakes and resides in Curry township; Rachael Trueblood, whose home is in Fairbanks township; Ezra, who married Nancy Lloyd, and their home is in Jackson township; Amanda Able, residing in Turman township; Price, of Fairbanks township; and Andrew.
The last named, Andrew Thomson, was born in Fairbanks township, Sullivan county, Indiana, October 14, 1865, and he remained at home and worked on the farm until his marriage, which occurred on the 24th of July, 1886, to Myra Pittman, who was born on the 9th of March, 1866, also in Fairbanks township, a daughter of David and Sarah Pittman, both now deceased. The young couple spent the first four years of their married life on her father's farm, but in 1890 Mr. Thomson bought the farm where he now lives, three and a half miles west of Farmersburg, in Curry township. The homestead contains two hundred and thirty acres of rich and fertile land, and in addition he also owns property in Farmersburg. During the past two years he has lived retired from an active business life, and in 1905 he and his wife went to Arizona in search of renewed health, returning in 1907, and he has been here ever since, but on the 17th of January, 1908, the wife died, leaving her husband and three small children, namely: Audie, born April 9, 1893; Clare, born December 29, 1896; and Velsie, born December 10, 1902. She was buried at the Drake cemetery at Fairbanks. She was a prominent and worthy member of the Baptist church, as is also Mr. Thomson, who is prominent in the public, social and business life of his township and is a Democrat politically.