© Kathy Duncan, 2024
I took a little brain break while chasing the Nevill and Patterson families, which was in itself a brain break from compiling James Piper's documents. Oops.
What I found indicates that documents continue to be added to the full text search feature on Family Search because the information that I found for Lodowick Thompson was not there the last time I searched, which was not that long ago.
On 24 May 1793, Lodowick was in court in Greensville County, Virginia, seeking payment from Nathaniel Thompson for three trips that Lodowick made for Nathaniel to represent him in court in his suit against Betty Atherton:
No relationship between Lodowick and Nathaniel is stated, but this seems like the sort of thing that would happen between family members. One person promises to pay a relative to perform a service for him. Then promises to pay him later - and later gets postponed and postponed until they finally end up in court. What is important here, is that Nathaniel Thompson is the first Thompson who I can link to Lodowick for any reason - after searching for decades.
A cursory look at Nathaniel Thompson reveals that he was administering the estates of his father James Thompson and his brother James Thompson Jr. at the same time. Enter Solomon Thompson, who also took Nathaniel to court for payment of services rendered. At one point Nathaniel and Solomon were joint defendants in a lawsuit. No relationship between Nathaniel and Solomon has bubbled to the surface. Sterling Thompson also factors into the Greensville County records. In adjacent records, there are members of the Rives family mentioned. These families seem to have been in the area since it was Brunswick County. Since Lodowick Thompson named two of his sons Solomon and Sterling/Starling, this all seems promising.
Lodowick Thompson married Delilah Womack in Greensville County, Virginia on 18 March 1793. His appearance in court two months later, on 24 May 1793, to collect payment from Nathaniel suggests a young man in need of funds to support his new and growing family.
Lodowick and Delilah Thompson had a son named Harris within the first year of their marriage. Delilah's father Thomas Womack left a legacy to Harris Thompson in his will which was written in early 1794 and which suggests that Delilah may have died in childbirth.
A widower with a tiny infant would have been highly motivated to remarry. With so many members of the Rives family in the area it is possible that Priscilla Rives was a near neighbor. Priscilla is a name that is repeated frequently in the Rives family. It's also possible that there was another wife between Delilah and Priscilla.
I'll be brainbreaking with the Thompsons off and on for a while.
