My Thompson Heritage, Part I

Deep in the hills and down into a valley near the Walnut Forks area of West Virginia is where my Thompson heritage lies. The area is unofficially referred to as 'Thompson Holler' and my late grandpa's mailbox still sits on the property even though he passed almost 12 years ago on Nov. 9, 1999. My dad is somewhat estranged from our West Virginian heritage because he moved to Ohio as a child after my grandma divorced his biological dad (my grandpa Thompson) and remarried. He was still young at the time so he always related more, I think, to my grandpa Stone, his step-dad, who passed away Sept. 15, 2006. This Halloween, my dad's youngest full sister (he has a younger half-sister as well) passed away at the age of 51 of heart problems. This led the family back to West Virginia. The last time we were there was for my grandpa's funeral. My aunt, unlike most of the other Thompsons, was not buried on Thompson Hill. Thompson Hill is also referred to on maps as "The Tennant Cemetery" because I believe, at this point, that the Tennants (who are also buried on the hill) were on the land before we were. After her funeral, we went to the farm (the area that the Thompsons all live on that consists of a mill, a hunting cabin, barns, my grandpa's old trailer, some sheep and cows and Thompson Hill). Because I was not there for a funeral on Thompson Hill, I felt like I could go up there more freely to visit my grandpa and also take photographs of the headstones of my heritage since I do not know when we will be back, if ever. I also took pictures of the farm. Robyn, my brother's wife, took a lot more photos than I did because it was her first trip to the area. These are just the photos I took. I am thinking about doing some ancestry stuff on my Dad's side of the family because I would like to learn more.

This is where my Thompson heritage is.

My  Uncle Roger (dad's brother who is deaf) walking towards my late Grandpa Thompson's house

Grandpa Thompson's house in Thompson Holler

My grandpa's initials and the date he poured his walkway outside of the house

Inside Thompson Holler

Thompson Holler

Part of 'the farm'

The driveway to get down into the valley/Thompson Holler

The hills above

Mom outside in the yard

Continued in next blog......