A Small Act of Charity in Chautauqua County

A newspaper story about the adoption of twin babies and the difficult circumstances faced by their family

One of the goals of this blog is to place real stories alongside the names and dates that appear in family trees. Occasionally a newspaper article provides a glimpse into the lives of the people who lived alongside our ancestors. In this case, several small newspaper notices from Chautauqua County, Kansas reveal a tragic story that briefly intersected with the lives of my relatives Archibald and Misseniar Robbins Thompson.

The death of a young mother

In January 1890, the Cedar Vale Star reported the death of Mrs. Elrod shortly after she gave birth to twin daughters. The article describes a series of misfortunes that had already affected the Elrod family since their arrival in Kansas several years earlier.

Lost of team of horses

According to the newspaper, the father had previously lost his team of horses to theft. The following season a flood destroyed much of his livestock and even his expected crop. Another tragedy followed when his young son died after being severely burned in a household accident. Later, a fire destroyed the family’s home and belongings. The final and most devastating loss came when his wife died only hours after giving birth to twin girls.

Neighbors step forward

AI generated image of the adoption.

The newspaper also recorded an act of compassion by members of the community. Because the babies had been left motherless, neighbors stepped forward to help care for them. One of the infants was adopted by Mrs. Arch Thompson, while another neighbor, Mrs. Levi Winchell, adopted the second child. The article described the decision as “a true deed of charity.”

This brief notice provides an unexpected connection to my own family history. Mrs. Arch Thompson was the wife of Archibald Thompson, my second great granduncle. Archibald and his wife Misseniar Robbins were married in Arkansas in 1876, probably in Madison or Washington County. Sometime before the 1880 census they moved to Chautauqua County, Kansas, where they lived for more than twenty years.

A short life remembered

Three years later, the Cedar Vale Star returned to the story. By that time one of the twins had already died. The other girl had been raised in the Thompson household and was described in the newspaper as a healthy and beloved child who had “won a place in the hearts of her foster parents.”

Sadly, the article reports that she also died after a short illness and was buried in the cemetery at Chautauqua beside her mother. The notice ends with the image of a father burying his daughter after already losing his wife and another child. Although only a few paragraphs long, the story reminds us how fragile life could be for families living on the frontier.

The Thompsons after Kansas

Archibald and Misseniar Thompson continued to live in Chautauqua County for many years after these events. Census records show that the couple had three children, although only one was still living by 1900. Their daughter Mary Etta Thompson, who had been born in Arkansas before the family moved to Kansas, later married William Tresner and eventually moved to Idaho.

Later in life Archibald and Misseniar moved to Oklahoma. Archibald Thompson died in 1910 in Mayes County, Oklahoma. His widow Misseniar Robbins Thompson lived until 1931.

A Census Clue That Raises an Interesting Possibility

An additional record adds an interesting detail to this story. In the 1900 United States census, Archibald and Misseniar Thompson were living in Hendricks Township, Chautauqua County, Kansas. In that census Misseniar reported that she was forty-eight years old and that she had given birth to three children, with only one still living at that time. The census does not identify the deceased children, but it does raise an intriguing possibility. Because the Cedar Vale Star reported that one of the Elrod twins was adopted by Mrs. Arch Thompson and later died after a short illness, it is reasonable to wonder whether that child may have been counted by Misseniar as one of the children she had lost. The census itself does not confirm this, but the timing and circumstances make the question worth considering.

Putting faces on the past

These small newspaper stories do not change the basic facts of the Thompson family line. However, they do something just as important. They place our relatives into the community around them and reveal the kinds of experiences that shaped everyday life.

The brief mention of Mrs. Arch Thompson adopting one of the Elrod twins is only a few lines in a local newspaper, but it shows a moment of kindness during a time of deep tragedy for another family. For genealogists, these small stories are often the ones that bring the past closest to the present.

Sources:

• The Cedar Vale Star (Cedar Vale, Kansas), 31 January 1890, p. 2.
• The Cedar Vale Star (Cedar Vale, Kansas), 21 April 1893, p. 3.
• 1900 U.S. census, Chautauqua County, Kansas, Hendricks Township, Archibald Thompson household.