| Notes |
- He came to Texas in 1835.
Cyrus had been a fur trader and an Indian fighter in the Great Lakes region before he came to Liberty County. He fought in the Battle of San Jacinto and obtained a Texas land grant. After they married, Melina and Cyrus settled on a farm in Chambers County. Their names appear in the census records there in 1850, 1860 and 1870 and Cyrus served as Sheriff of Chambers County in 1868.
He had a brother who preceded him to Texas in July 1834 named Seth Orville Thompson. S.O. Thompson died in Texas in 1835 and Cyrus became the administrator of his estate. Seth Thompson's obituary, published in an Oswego, New York newspaper, states he was a doctor.
Family lore says Cyrus was one of six men who captured General Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto in the revolutionary war in Texas. Whether this is factual or not is not known. Carol Whittington wrote "I did see a copy of a letter that was signed by the men who fought at San Jacinto under Capt. Logan's Company (including Cyrus) stating that they divided out the spoils of battle between themselves. I have no idea if this was money or goods and valuables confiscated from the Mexican Army."
He served in the Liberty County militia.
He and Melina resided in present day Chambers County and raised Bill and Clara there. No children were born to their marriage. It is possible the family resided near Lake Charlotte during this time (1840-1850) although the exact location of their homestead has not been determined.
In 1859, C. W. Thompson is listed in the Chambers County tax rolls as owning 27 acres of land in the EHR Wallis survey on the Trinity along with 25 horses and $815 in personal property. Cyrus also owns a town lot in Huntsville, Texas valued at $100.
In 1867, he filed paperwork at the Chambers County courthouse to legally adopt George J. White, his step-grandson, as his sole heir. In 1868, he is appointed Sheriff of Chambers County by General Buchanan and serves until August 1869 when he removed from the county. In 1894, George J. White files a lawsuit against Bill and Clara to claim his rightful inheritance as sole heir of Cyrus Thompson. Clara at that time is living in Jefferson County.
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Obituary Notices of Cyrus Thompson as reported in the Galveston Daily News
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Issue of April 4, 1876
Cyrus W. Thompson, a veteran of the Texas Revolution and one of the heroes at San Jacinto, died in Galveston at the residence of his son-on-law Mr. John Crozier, yesterday at the advanced age of 74. He had lived upwards of 40 years in Texas.
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Issue of April 6, 1876
Cyrus W. Thompson veteran of the Texas Revolution who died in Galveston on the third instant was a member of Capt. Logan's Company of Liberty Volunteers who attached to Colonel, later General Sidney Sherman's command. The Company joined General Houston's command on the Colorado previous to the Battle of San Jacinto in which it was engaged. It was eighty strong.
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Issue of April 28, 1876
A Chambers County correspondent of the NEWS gives the following incidents from the life of Mr. Cyrus W. Thompson, an old Texas veteran whose death in Galveston on the 6th instant has already been announced.
He was born in the City of Utica in the State of New York on the 1st day of May 1802. At the age of sixteen he was employed by the Northwest Fur Company, the head of which was John Jacob Astor of New York. His travels along the great lakes and rivers of the great northwest collecting furs from the trading posts located in the extreme portions of the then almost unknown wilderness and conveying them to points to be forwarded to the head of the company at New York, would make a volume. When the Black Hawk war broke out Thomson (sic) volunteered with others, and being familiar with the Indians and their mode of warfare, rendered valuable services in the army under General Dodge.
In 1835 Thomson came to Texas. When General Cos invaded and took San Antonio and the Texans were called upon by committees of public safety, Thomson volunteered in the Company of Capt. Briscoe and was at the fall of San Antonio from the Mexicans. After the fall of that post, and Cos and his garrison had been paroled, he returned to Liberty, where he concluded to reside. When the letters of Travis called for assistance were sent through the country in March 1836, Thomson was again ready, and, as a private in Wm M. Logan's Company marched for the relief of the Alamo. When the Company had nearly reached San Felipe, it met the news of the massacre. The Company then decided to push on and join the army under Houston in which Mr. Thomson remained until after the battle of San Jacinto and the Mexicans had been driven beyond the Rio Grande.
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1802 - 1876 (73 years)
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