Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 372 - 373 

JOHN B. THOMPSON, capitalist, and dealer in real estate at Wichita, is of English and German ancestry, and the son of Robert Thompson, who was a native of Virginia, learned the trade of tanner, and migrated when a young man to Kane County, Ill. He was married in the Old Dominion, to Miss Margaret Surbaugh, probably a native of his own county, and their union resulted in the birth of eight children, namely: Robert, George, John B. of our sketch, Barbara, Jacob, Mary, Catherine and Elizabeth. The first-born died in infancy. The others are all living and residents of the United States. 

            The father of our subject departed this life at his home in Illinois in 1853, when in the prime of life, being but forty-two years of age. He had accumulated considerable property, being a man of sound sense and excellent judgment, and in political opinion affiliated with the Democratic party. The mother was a member of the Methodist Church, and is now deceased. Robert Thompson, although not a member of any religious organization, had great respect for the church to which his estimable wife belonged and attended quite regularly. Through his own efforts he possessed a well-informed mind, and took great interest in political affairs, being always prominent and efficient in times of election. He wielded a wide influence, and his retentive memory constituted him a man pleasing to converse with, and who drew around him many warm friends. His career was marked by honest industry, and he is most affectionately remembered by his children and friends. 

            The subject of this sketch, a native also of the Old Dominion, was born April 29, 1839, in Greenbriar County, and was but a lad when his parents removed to Illinois. He acquired a common-school education and developed into manhood in Kane County, where, after the first call for troops by the martyred President, Abraham Lincoln, he responded promptly and enlisted in Company B, 36th Illinois Cavalry. With his comrades he participated in many of the important battles which followed, being present at Chaplin Hills, Ky., Stone River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, the siege of Atlanta, and various other engagements and skirmishes. At Chickamauga he received a flesh wound which, however, did not seriously disable him. After the conflict was ended by the surrender of the Confederates he received his honorable discharge. At Atlanta he learned the trade of barber, remaining a few months in the South before his return to his home in Illinois. In the meantime he spent a few months in South Carolina and also in Philadelphia, Pa. 

            In 1869 Mr. Thompson crossed the Mississippi and traveled considerably among the more Western States. The month of October, 1870, found him in this county, where, not long afterward, he took up a Government claim in what is now West Wichita, upon which he remained, with the exception of two years spent in Texas, until 1879. In the spring of this year he returned to Colorado and employed himself at mining, together with his trade, until 1886. That year he returned to Wichita, purchased more property and began speculating in real estate, in which he has since been very successful. He is the owner of four houses, two of which were put up under his own supervision. He has the reputation of a straightforward and reliable business man, and uniformly votes the Republican ticket. He is constantly making improvements on his property, and has abundant confidence in the future of Southern Kansas. He delights in noting its growth and progress, and in proportion to the time which he has spent here probably no man has effected greater results.

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