Starling J. Thompson

  ©  Kathy Duncan, 2023

Starling J. Thompson was the son of Lodowick and Priscilla (Reeves) Thompson. He was born c. 1810 in South Carolina, probably in Kershaw County.

In April 1841, he married Margaret R. Shiver in Kershaw County, South Carolina.

They were still living in Kershaw County in December of 1844 when Starling was arrested for defending himself from Ferdinand Hunter.

The DeKalb Factory was reportedly a cotton mill that provided cottages for its workers. I've found nothing further about this incident.

By 1850, Starling and Margaret (Shriver) Thompson were living in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

29 November 1850, Chesterfield Dist., SC, p. 152:

Starling Thompson 40 M Overseer b. SC

Margaret " 29 F b. SC

Jesse " 10 M b. SC

Amelia " 8 f b. SC

Lewis " 6 M b. SC

Anne " 4 F b. SC

Note that on this census Starling was working as an overseer. His brother Solomon Thompson was also an overseer in Fairfield District, South Carolina in 1860. 

On 31 September 1855, Sterling Thompson married Antoinette Jones in Richmond County Georgia.

They were still in Richmond County, Georgia in 1860.

27 June 1860, Augusta, Richmond Co., GA:

460-452

Sterling Thompson 47 Carpenter M b. SC

Antoinnett Thompson 38 F b. SC

Jessee J Thompson 19 M Carpenter b. SC

Amelia Thompson 17 F b. SC

Lewis Thompson 15 M b. SC

Anna Thompson 13 F b. SC

Mary Thompson 11 F b. SC

George Thompson 8 M b. SC

According to this census, all of the children would have been Margaret's. Margaret must have died between 1852 and 1855. There is no way of knowing if she died in South Carolina or Georgia. Sterling and Antoinette had no living children after five years of marriage. It seems unlikely that they ever had any children.

In 1860, Starling Thompson was in debt to Hiram Scarborough, who is believed to have been his brother-in-law and husband of Abigail Thompson. In Richmond Co., GA Deed Bk 2P on pages 84-85 is a mortgage that Starling took out from Hiram indicating that he owed Hiram $150 and was putting up his household furniture as collateral. Specifically, Starling mortgaged two bedsteads and bedding, three tables, one cook stove and utensils, six chairs, one sideboard, one bay mule and a wagon - all located in Starling's house at Number 410 on the south side of Broad Street in Augusta. 

Researching a house number from 1860 is not an easy task. Over time streets were moved, renamed, and houses renumbered. A house located at 410 Broad Street in 1860 cannot be expected to still be at 410 Broad Street today even if it is still standing. I looked for it anyway.

The earliest map I have found so far is a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map dated 1884. On the south side of Broad Street, there was a house numbered 410. It was near the intersection of Broad Street and 4th Street.

410 Broad appears to be what we would call a duplex today. The key indicates that it was a frame house.

Further studying of the 1884 map indicated something that absolutely should not be on the map, but is.

In the middle of Broad Street, which was a wide boulevard, was the Broad Street Market, often referred to as the Lower Market. Prior to the Civil War, it served as a slave market. In 1878, a tornado swept through Augusta and left a path of devastation. All period newspapers recount the total destruction of the Market on Broad Street. The path of the tornado was mapped out in the 1878 Army Signal Corps report.

The Signal Corps map shows the tornado's path when it reached Broad Street. The Lower Market took a direct hit. The map suggests that the house numbered 410 might have survived.

The question is why does the 1884 map include a structure that no longer existed? My guess is that mapping Augusta was a project that took several years. Some sources indicate that the population of Augusta in 1860 was 12,000. It would have increased much more by 1878. At this point, my theory is that the Broad Street neighborhood had already been mapped prior to the tornado, and it was not revised before the map was published in 1884. That makes me think that the 1884 map shows 410 Broad Street as it was prior to the tornado.

As far as I can tell, what was once the location of 410 Broad Street is now under an overpass. Of course, this assumes that the house numbered 410 in 1860 was still numbered 410 in 1878. 

By 1862, Starling Thompson was once again employed as an overseer. He ran this notice in the Daily Constitutionalist of Augusta, Georgia on 22 May 1862. Since he was over the age of 50, he would not have been expected to enlist during the Civil War.

I have been unable to locate Sterling and Antoinette Thompson on the 1870 census although they should be somewhere.

Starling was deceased when the following sheriff's sale notice was run in the Augusta Chronicle on 20 November 1879.

I have not been able to locate Antoinette Thompson on the 1880 census.

Antoinette (Jones) Thompson died on 29 February 1896 in the Widow's Home located at 124 Greene Street in Augusta, Georgia. The Widow's Home was originally intended for widows of Confederate soldiers, but after burning, it was reopened in 1887 with the intention of assisting needy widows.