The boys grew up hunting, fishing, trapping, and working in the family orchards with no apparent interest in or opportunity to see the world beyond Oak Creek Canyon.
That all changed in 1918 when at the ages of 25 and 23, Charles and James were both drafted into the US Army to answer the call of World War I. The brothers were initially sent to Camp Cody in Deming, New Mexico. Later they were transferred to Camp DIx in New Jersey.
Always close to their family, the boys wrote letters home regularly during their service to let the folks back home know how they were doing. Those letters were passed from hand to hand, to be read by all the family. Many of the letters they wrote to others have been lost over the ages, and there are none remaining of the letters the two brothers received. However, the letters they wrote to their parents were treasured and stored away for safe keeping in a box in the attic.
Years later, "Uncle Jim" gave the letters to his niece, a young Garnet Thompson, daughter of Jim's brother W. Green Thompson and Gertrude Mary Kurtz. Garnet always had a special love of history and for her family. These letters captured some of both, so they were very dear to her. After Garnet's death in January of 2017 the letters were passed on to her surviving sister, Gloria Thompson James.
Now, one hundred years after they were originally written, these letters have been shared with me, a cousin to Gloria and Garnet. I have taken on the task of transcribing them to make them more accessible to others. It has been an honor to handle these fragile pieces of history and through them to get to know a bit more about the Thompson brothers.
Service to their country was an honored tradition in the Thompson family. The boys' father, J.J. Thompson, had been first a soldier and then an officer during the Civil War. In the account "A Biography of John James Thompson" by son Albert E. Thompson, there are a few stories of his father's service is that conflict. However, everything Albert knew of his dad was recorded years after the fact. He wrote:
"I do not know the name or number of any branch of the Army that he served in. I never wrote down anything about him while he was alive, and I asked very few questions. I learned what little I know of his Army life, and in fact all that I know about any of his life, by listening when he and an old crony would be telling stories of their past around the fireside on winter evenings".
The treasure of these letters written by both Charley and Jim is that we get a glimpse into their lives recorded at the time it was happening, with little room for errors of memory or embellishment to create more dramatic effect in telling tales.
Another reason why these letters have special value is the fact that Jim Thompson never married or had children. While stories of Charley are likely to be carried down through the generations of his children, grandchildren, and beyond, Jim's legacy could be relegated to a minor character simply because he had no posterity. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Jim Thompson was a remarkable man who was well loved not only by his immediate family, but by many nephews, nieces and cousins as well. He was a respected friend and neighbor among the Oak Creek Canyon families. He was a hard worker with a great sense of humor. While he certainly had his shortcomings, as we all do, he deserves to be remembered well in his own right, and not just as a footnote relative of others.
That all changed in 1918 when at the ages of 25 and 23, Charles and James were both drafted into the US Army to answer the call of World War I. The brothers were initially sent to Camp Cody in Deming, New Mexico. Later they were transferred to Camp DIx in New Jersey.
Always close to their family, the boys wrote letters home regularly during their service to let the folks back home know how they were doing. Those letters were passed from hand to hand, to be read by all the family. Many of the letters they wrote to others have been lost over the ages, and there are none remaining of the letters the two brothers received. However, the letters they wrote to their parents were treasured and stored away for safe keeping in a box in the attic.
Years later, "Uncle Jim" gave the letters to his niece, a young Garnet Thompson, daughter of Jim's brother W. Green Thompson and Gertrude Mary Kurtz. Garnet always had a special love of history and for her family. These letters captured some of both, so they were very dear to her. After Garnet's death in January of 2017 the letters were passed on to her surviving sister, Gloria Thompson James.
Now, one hundred years after they were originally written, these letters have been shared with me, a cousin to Gloria and Garnet. I have taken on the task of transcribing them to make them more accessible to others. It has been an honor to handle these fragile pieces of history and through them to get to know a bit more about the Thompson brothers.
Service to their country was an honored tradition in the Thompson family. The boys' father, J.J. Thompson, had been first a soldier and then an officer during the Civil War. In the account "A Biography of John James Thompson" by son Albert E. Thompson, there are a few stories of his father's service is that conflict. However, everything Albert knew of his dad was recorded years after the fact. He wrote:
"I do not know the name or number of any branch of the Army that he served in. I never wrote down anything about him while he was alive, and I asked very few questions. I learned what little I know of his Army life, and in fact all that I know about any of his life, by listening when he and an old crony would be telling stories of their past around the fireside on winter evenings".
The treasure of these letters written by both Charley and Jim is that we get a glimpse into their lives recorded at the time it was happening, with little room for errors of memory or embellishment to create more dramatic effect in telling tales.
Another reason why these letters have special value is the fact that Jim Thompson never married or had children. While stories of Charley are likely to be carried down through the generations of his children, grandchildren, and beyond, Jim's legacy could be relegated to a minor character simply because he had no posterity. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Jim Thompson was a remarkable man who was well loved not only by his immediate family, but by many nephews, nieces and cousins as well. He was a respected friend and neighbor among the Oak Creek Canyon families. He was a hard worker with a great sense of humor. While he certainly had his shortcomings, as we all do, he deserves to be remembered well in his own right, and not just as a footnote relative of others.
